穆泰康重塑可口可乐

    穆泰康是一位土耳其外交官的儿子，从小在泰国、印度和伊朗长大。现在，他掌管着一家业务遍及全球200多个国家的跨国企业——可口可乐（Coca-Cola）。日理万机的穆泰康很少会拜访一个之前从未到过的地方。不过，当我们驱车来到沈阳——一座拥有700万人口的大都市后，可口可乐公司首席执行官穆泰康很快发现自己进入了一块神秘地带：广袤荒凉的中国东北地区，曾经的中国工业中心。我们此行的目的地是一座新建立的可口可乐瓶装厂，这是可口可乐在中国的第42个瓶装厂，也是迄今为止最大的一座。在距离我们目的地8公里的地方，我们看到无数红色条幅，足有1520幅之多，顺着公路，一直延伸到新工厂。数以百计的工人带着大红色帽子，欢呼穆泰康先生的光临。穆泰康表示，“中国将成为可口可乐最大的市场。虽然我无法给出确切时间，但这是必然。”

    此前，许多投资者已（和无数消费者）开始意识到，在历经多年的管理不善后，穆泰康已将可口可乐带上正轨，他已为这家饮料巨头定下了宏伟目标，要在全球市场获得显著增长，他坚信可口可乐在中国的销售额将会增长一倍以上，中国将一举超过墨西哥和美国，成为可口可乐最大的市场。这种志在必得的信心，无疑佐证了可口可乐的强势复苏。

    自穆泰康2008年7月升任可口可乐公司首席执行官后，他重塑了可口可乐的企业文化并大刀阔斧地替换了70%的高级管理人员，接任者们都像穆泰康所说的，“懂得如何创造业绩”。新的管理团队增加了公司投入，强化了可口可乐的市场营销力，还开启了收购机器：可口可乐正与能量饮料制造商Monster Beverage进行谈判，内容可能涉及合作或收购事宜。

    可口可乐一直在忙着整合以41亿美元收购而来的“酷乐仕维他命获得”（Glacéau's Vitaminwater），穆泰康还亲自运作了一项价值123亿美元的复杂交易：可口可乐重新恢复了对其北美瓶装生产线的控制权，此举促使可口可乐在这一曾经停滞不前的市场再度腾飞。最后结果是：可口可乐去年营收飙升33%，达到465亿美元，这在一定程度上得益于瓶装生产线的收购。运营利润则上涨20%，达到101亿美元。自穆泰康上任后，标准普尔指数（S&P）上涨了10%，而可口可乐的股票涨幅高达48%，其竞争对手百事可乐（PepsiCo）的股价仅仅上涨了5%。

    可口可乐和百事可乐好像一直在坐着跷跷板：当一家繁荣时，另一家就会衰败，这种神秘巧合就好似它们的宿命一般。现在正是可口可乐和穆泰康的时代。可口可乐是美国市场排名第一的软饮料，健怡可乐则力压百事可乐排名第二。可口可乐开发了雪碧、芬达、美汁源、动力、Dasani water等品牌，价值高达150亿美元。当百事可乐的投资者在尖锐抨击卢英德的表现时，可口可乐的股东和董事们则对穆泰康非常满意。投资公司Allen & Co的首席执行官胡伯特•艾伦将穆泰康称为“过去25年来可口可乐最好的首席执行官”。

    现在，穆泰康计划在2020年实现公司营销翻倍，对于今年营收将达480亿美元的可口可乐来说，这个目标难度不小。为了实现这一雄心壮志，穆泰康正把可口可乐塑造得更全球化、更敏捷、更具开创性——从本质上讲，更像穆泰康自己。首次购入可口可乐股份的可口可乐董事、IAC公司董事长巴里•迪勒表示：“我从没见过这么认真的人。”今年3月底，59岁的穆泰康花费了5天时间造访亚洲，整个行程异常紧凑，没有任何停顿。在旅途中，他不停地告诫员工和管理层们要迅速行动。穆泰康告诉他们“这是终生难遇的大好机会。千万不要错过。”

    译者：项航

    Muhtar Kent, the son of a Turkish diplomat, grew up in Thailand, India, and Iran, and he runs a company that operates in more than 200 countries. So it is rare for him to visit a place he's never been before. Yet as we travel by van out of Shenyang, a bustling metropolis of 7 million people, the Coca-Cola CEO quickly finds himself in uncharted territory: an increasingly desolate expanse of land in China's northeast, the nation's former rust belt. Then, eight kilometers from our destination, we are greeted by a ribbon of red banners -- 1,520 of them -- leading the way to a new bottling plant, Coke's 42nd in China and its largest to date. Hundreds of workers, all in bright red hats, cheer his arrival. "China will be Coke's largest market," Kent says. "I can't give you a time. But it will happen."

    This unflagging confidence that China will more than double its sales of Coke products to leapfrog Mexico and the U.S. and become the company's No. 1 market confirms what many investors (and millions of consumers) have come to realize: Kent has put Coke (No. 59 on the Fortune 500) back on track -- after years of mismanagement -- and he's set up the beverage giant for significant growth around the world. Since he ascended to the CEO job in July 2008, he's redefined Coke's culture and replaced about 70% of its senior managers, filling the ranks with operators who, he says, "know how to generate results." The new team has ramped up spending, energized Coke's marketing efforts, and cranked up the dealmaking machine: The company is discussing a potential partnership or possible investment in energy-drink maker Monster Beverage. Coke has been busily integrating its $4.1 billion purchase of Glacéau's Vitaminwater, and Kent personally devised an intricate $12.3 billion deal that restored company control of its bottling operations in North America and positioned Coke to ignite growth in a once-stagnant market. The upshot: Revenue last year soared 33% to $46.5 billion, in part because of the bottling deal, and operating profits rose 20% to $10.1 billion. The stock is up 48% during Kent's tenure while the S&P has risen 10%. Shares of rival PepsiCo (PEP)? Up only 5%

    Coke (KO) and Pepsi perpetually seesaw; when one is up the other is down, an uncanny pattern that seems destined to continue. Right now it's Coke's -- and Kent's -- time. Coke is the No. 1 soft drink in the U.S., and Diet Coke has surpassed Pepsi as No. 2 in the category. Coca-Cola has built 15 billion-dollar brands, including Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade, and Dasani water. While PepsiCo investors are critical of Indra Nooyi's performance, Coca-Cola's shareholders and directors are feeling content. Herbert Allen, the CEO of investment firm Allen & Co., calls Kent "the best chief executive Coke has had in 25 years."

    Now Kent aims to double Coke's business by 2020, no small feat for a company on track to hit $48 billion in sales this year. To achieve that ambitious goal, he is pushing Coke to be more global, agile, and entrepreneurial -- in essence, more like himself. "I've never met anyone so intense," says Coke board member and IAC chief executive Barry Diller, who is buying Coke stock for the first time. During a nonstop, five-day trip through Asia in late March, the 59-year-old Kent constantly exhorted his employees and managers to act with urgency. "This is your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he tells them. "Don't miss it."