Assessing Coca

A Cola
Crisis In
Belgium

Advanced
Holly Organizational
Benavente Communication
Introduction
On June 14, 1999, the Coca Cola Corporation faced a severe crisis after it was reported

that 200 people in Western Europe had become sick after drinking the company’s products.

In Belgium, Coca Cola was severely criticized for what many saw as a negligent response to the

crisis. This response paper examines how Coca Cola’s organizational culture and pre-existing

factors within Belgium played a role in the crisis.

Coca Cola’s Organizational Culture

According to George Ritzer, author of the controversial book The McDonaldization of

Society, Coca Cola’s organizational culture is characterized by formal rationality: an emphasis

is placed on efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control. Coca Cola produces a product

that is predictable (a Coke produced in Congo tastes similar to a Coke in Iceland) and effi-

ciently produced. In the addition, the corporation has gone to great lengths to control costs and

streamline operations.

Ritzer, however, also argues that there is a negative element to this type of organiza-

tional culture. As organizations strive for more rationality, they also become more irrational.

Ritzer argues that as more emphasis is placed on quantitative results (how many Cokes are

sold), less emphasis is placed on quality. Coca Cola, in the late 1990s, exemplifies this irra-

tionality and it is a key factor in the crisis of the tainted Cokes.

The Crisis
A dysfunctional organizational culture is clearly evident in how Coca Cola handled the

crisis. When the first reports of poisonings emerged, Coca Cola responded by denying that a

problem existed and went as far as to blame those who had fallen ill. The crisis did not abate.

The Belgian government was the first to order the company to recall its product. Other coun-

tries across Western Europe soon followed with similar recalls.

As time passed, the slow response affected levels of trust among consumers. Many felt

betrayed when the company refused to believe their claims of illness. It wasn’t until 9 days af-

ter reports of sickness had been reported that Coca Cola’s CEO finally flew to Belgium to ad-
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dress the situation. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done.

The cultural context of Belgium

Although the tainted products were distributed across Western Europe, Belgium’s re-

sponse was one of the harshest. There are several reasons for this. The primary reason was

that in the months prior to the tainted Coke crisis, the Belgian government had been severely

criticized for failing to properly handle a problem poisoned livestock feed. Humiliated by this

scandal, the Belgian government sought to make an example of Coca Cola so as not to be ac-

cused of again failing to protect the public.

Other clues to why the Belgian response was harsh can be seen by looking at Geert

Hofteede’s (1984) classification of cultures. Hofstede argues that cultures differ in four pri-

mary areas: Power distance, Individualism, Masculinity and Uncertainty Avoidance. Much can

be learned about a culture by simply by breaking it down using these four categories.

Belgium is characterized by what Hofstede calls a high power distance. In this type of

society, individuals are more likely to look to government (rather an a corporation) to lead a

response to a crisis. Belgium also scores high on the masculinity index. What this means is

that unlike in feminine cultures (where the emphasis is on dialogue) masculine cultures stress

action that is often impulsive. Denmark, Sweden and Norway (which rank high on the femi-

nine index) were slower in recalling and took time to engage in dialogue with Coca Cola.

Belgium also scores high on the avoidance index. This characterizes societies in which

people have a high tendency to feel threatened and uncertain in ambiguous situations. In con-

trast, Norway and Sweden score lower on the avoidance index. This gives insight into why

their response to the crisis was less hurried.

Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be seen that both external and internal culture played an important

role in how the Coca Cola crisis manifested in Belgium. Coca Cola’s dysfunctional organiza-

tional culture, a preexisting crisis with tainted products, and the nature of Belgian all played a

role in exacerbating the crisis.

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 References

Hofstede, G. (2004). Cultures and Organizations: Software for the Mind. New York: McGraw Hill

Ritzer, G. (2004) The McDonaldization of Society Thousand Oaks, CA, Pine Forge Press.