What Is the Organizational Structure of the Coca-Cola Company?

The Coca-Cola company’s organizational structure consists of a board of directors, elected by the shareholders, that has final decision-making power in the running of the company. Members of senior management and a number of standing committees carry out the decisions of the board of directors.

The board of directors of the Coca-Cola company is answerable only to the shareholders. The board’s responsibility includes the selection and oversight of senior management, including the chief executive officer and the vice CEO. As of May 2014, Muhtar Kent was both the CEO and the chairman of the board of directors. The seven standing committees include audit, compensation, directors and corporate governance, executive, finance, management development, and public issues and diversity review. The committees evaluate themselves and report to the board of directors. The board of directors is responsible for annual self-evaluation and evaluation of the CEO. Besides the board of directors, further leadership structures include the senior operations leadership, which is responsible for Coca-Cola operations and oversight on various continents, and senior functional leadership, which is responsible for administration, public affairs, finances and other practical considerations.

The Coca-Cola company itself does not distribute and sell the finished product. Instead, it manufactures and sells syrups, concentrates and beverage bases to bottling partners that are responsible for packaging, merchandising and distributing. These bottlers work with customers such as grocery stores, restaurants and many other outlets to get the finished products to consumers.