Abstract
Nowadays more than ever, with this financial crisis that does not seem to end and creates more and more losses every day, it is very crucial for companies to not only settle for a long term strategy but also a back-up strategy to face problems such as the ones they could face during those times. A company has to have a strategy in order to be able to focus on the main points of the company. That is when strategic management comes in handy, since it allows companies or executives in charge of the strategies of their companies to really study the situation, consider and weigh the various advantages and disadvantages the company has, where the company is heading as well as what the company is really aiming at. This finally leads to a clearer view of the overall situation (the market, the position on the market and the expectations of both the company and the sector). Therefore, setting a strategy, weather it is an emergency one or a long term one, is easier to do.
Strategic management basically raises three questions: Where am I? (and by I, I am referring to the company or the executive in charge of the strategy), Where do I want to go (or be)? And how do I get there? I have decided to apply these questions to a very famous company, Coca-Cola and this, for two main reasons. The first one is that I am very curious about the future of such a company, that is present in almost every country and whose market is going through some serious changes. I wonder what their strategy might be as well as their objectives in the long term. The second reason is my wondering about the effects the financial crisis could have on a huge food company, if there are any at all.
