Strategic Management Capstone | Coca-Cola
As part of my final capstone course for the Business Management degree at Texas Tech, I led a semester-long strategic project analyzing The Coca-Cola Company. This course is designed to apply everything learned across the major through an intensive group-based simulation. With ten groups in the class and five industries represented, each team was assigned a major firm – meaning each company has a direct competitor. Our team represented Coca-Cola, and throughout the semester, we went head-to-head with a rival group representing Pepsi in a series of competitive presentations and deliverables.
Developed For
Strategic Management Course
Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech University
Date
Fall 2024
Role
Team Lead | Research Analyst | Visual Designer
Working as team lead, I was responsible for managing deadlines, facilitating group communication, and submitting all deliverables. I also handled the full formatting and visual design of our final materials—going as far as downloading Coca-Cola’s official brand package to ensure our presentations and reports met real-world brand standards.
My research contributions focused on the Current Performance section, where I analyzed Coca-Cola’s financial performance, innovations, and internal/external factors. I compiled data on return on revenue, shareholder value creation, and economic value creation, and presented competitive benchmarking against PepsiCo, Nestlé, and Keurig Dr Pepper. I also authored the SWOT analysis.
We took our branding seriously - even arriving on presentation day in coordinated red, black, and white business attire, complete with a rolling cart stocked with Coca-Cola products. After introducing the mission statement - “to refresh the world” - we distributed drinks to the audience to reinforce our message. We also created a fictional press release as a supplementary handout for the audience.
Examination of Coca-Cola's customer satisfaction ratings against competitors.
Slide outlining Coca-Cola's exposure to global trade and water usage risks.
Slide showing Coca-Cola's brand perception challenges and sustainability gaps.
Strategy summary slide weighing the potential of a proposed fitness app.
Report excerpt highlighting strategic risks tied to Coca-Cola's bottling model.
Graph created to illustrate Coca-Cola's continued reliance on traditional soda products - a key internal weakness identified in our analysis.
Report section on sustainability lawsuits and repetitional risk.
Project Deliverables
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A comprehensive final report analyzing Coca-Cola’s strategic position, financial performance, SWOT analysis, and strategic recommendations.
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A 15-minute executive style presentation highlighting current company performance, competitive benchmarks, and strategies from the report.
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A faux press release, distributed to the audience during our final presentation, summarizing a fictional market stranding and vision.
View Full Press Release (PDF)
Final Reflections
What began as a class project quickly turned into one of the most rewarding academic experiences I’ve had. Our professor later described our work as the best she had ever received and asked to use it as a future course example. More than anything, this project gave me the opportunity to lead a team, deliver a polished final product that I was proud of, and blend creativity with strategy.