After reviewing the videos from Coca-Cola, Southwest Airlines, and VF Company, Team A discussed the following for each company. With Coca-Cola Team A discussed how diversification and concentration applied with this company. Diversification came about when Coca-Cola made the decision to branch out to non-carbonated drinks. Pepsi Co. made a similar decision when it branched out with Frito Lay and leaked into the food industry. According to PepsiCo’s website, they own very popular snacks like Doritos, Cheetos, Lays, and Ruffles chips. The CEO of Coca-Cola at the time decided that the food industry was just not for them. Instead, Coca-Cola expanded into the remainder of the vast beverage world. For example, according to Coca-Cola’s website, they own the following products such as Dasani, Seagram’s, Nestea, Sprite, Mr. Pibb, Fanta, Minute Maid, PowerAde, Odwalla, Fuze, and many other drinks. The concentration in this company is beverages, any and all types of beverages including plain bottled water.
With Southwest Airlines, Team A felt that vertical integration was the strategy most displayed in this company. The team came to this decision after viewing the video and viewing how at one point Southwest was fueling up their own planes to cut costs instead of having an outside contractor perform this task. In addition, employees took pay cuts and worked longer hours to cope with the financial burdens the company was going through at the time. Employees focused on the bigger picture of assisting the customers and not simply sticking to their “own jobs”. Southwest Airlines continues to be the only airline that does not charge baggage fees.
Lastly with VF Company, Team A felt concentration was the main strategy for this organization. VF Company focuses on lifestyle clothing and not on fashion or trends. VF Company is geared toward a wide range demographic and the styles