The CEMS International Business Project (IBP) is designed as a real-life learning experience for students, providing a unique opportunity to gain insights into corporate practice of an international player. Student teams deal with a real-life management challenge as a one-term activity tutored by university faculty and the CEMS IBP partner.
Project title: Holistic sustainability as new competitive advantage? Aligning internal and external perceptions
Project partner: Coca-Cola HBC and The Coca-Cola Company
Focus: sustainability, human resources, strategy, marketing
Project brief: The aim of this CEMS IBP is to adopt a holistic perspective on sustainability in order to understand possible gaps as well as alignment between Coca-Cola HBC’s/The Coca-Cola Company’s internal (employee) and consumers’ (young B2Cs)/customers’ (established B2Bs) external sustainability perceptions. Students will engage in comparative research to contrast geographical regions and the extent to which Coca-Cola HBC’s/The Coca-Cola Company’s value proposition meets external B2C/B2B sustainability needs, and is backed by internal employee expert perceptions. Based on these analyses, students will derive strategic recommendations including necessary directions both internally and externally to potentially leverage sustainability as competitive advantage.
Primary research will be conducted in the form of focus groups (B2C), interviews (B2B), and expert interviews (employees in specific functions/job roles). Secondary research will involve market analyses, competition benchmarking including innovative local brands, and scrutinizing of relevant internal materials (e.g., extant employee surveys). Besides leveraging research to challenge the sustainability status-quo, students will define what sustainability means and implies within and across the regions based on their analysis.
Useful prerequisites: Besides interest in and previous knowledge about corporate sustainability, students with in-country experiences in Central, Eastern, and South-East Europe as well as associated language skills will bring valuable assets to this IBP.