Cola Wars on Pepsi in 2010

For the first written homework assignment, I want you to take the role of a consultant to the Coke or Pepsi CEO. You should place yourself in the time frame of the case (2010). I ask you to answer the following two questions in your decision brief:

1) Why, historically, has the soft drink industry been so profitable and what changes have occurred to the industry that threatens future profitability?

2) What recommendations do you have for Coke or Pepsi to sustain profits amid flattening demand and the growing popularity of non-CSDs?

Once again, this must be concise yet thorough enough to get your position across. You have a total of 500 words to do so. I welcome the use of tables and analysis based on information provided in the case (no external analysis). However, every number counts as a word.

This written assignment will be posted to Canvas and graded anonymously by me. Therefore, please enter only two things at the top of the page. 1) your student ID number (not your name!) and 2) the word count.

The assignment is due at 11pm on Sunday, September 8th. Refer to the syllabus for the policy (and penalty) on late submissions.

Technical details:
1. Your formal writing skills are also evaluated and contribute to your grade in this assignment. Please avoid common mistakes such as subject-verb agreement, double negative, verb tense shift, run-on sentence etc.
2. Your submission should be maximum 3 pages long, with 1-2 optional figures or tables (not included in page limit). Page limit is strict.
3. 12 font size and double spacing.
4. Submission file type: Doc, Docx

In general, when working on individual assignments you are expected to read the requiredmaterials,provide detailed answers to posed questions, including laying out your argumentsclearly and providingevidence from cases/articles.Use of any source other than the coursepack is strictly prohibited and may have negative bearing on your evaluation. Brevity, structure, andlogic are mostappreciated. As such, you are limited to 500 total words for each of the non-common written assignments. If you utilize tables or figures, each number counts as one word. You are required to write your word count at the top of the assignment. Additional instructions on the common assignment will be posted on Canvas and discussed in class. The assignments will be evaluated as follows:Unacceptable (0%): no submission or late submission (via guidelines below). Very poor (20%): Little to no evidence of having read thematerials or little effort to answerquestions. Poor (40%): Responses are poorly formulated,unsubstantiated, or incomplete. May showevidence of familiarity with the material but does notapply course frameworks or informationfrom background readings.
5 Does not meet expectations (60%): Course frameworks areapplied, but some omissions are evident; lack of coherence and structure in answers.Meets expectations (80%): Responses show evidence ofstructured reasoning and applicationof course readings.Exceeds expectations (100%): Responses are exceptionallyanalytical, well-reasoned andthorough, citing evidence and examples from the case, includingtables and figures, where applicable.There will be reduced credit for late submissions.Submissions will close at 11pm the night before class for case analysis/write-ups, so plan ahead. The grade will be reduced by ½ point every hour the assignment is late (i.e. 8 hours late = 0 points). The reason for such strict rule is that we will be discussing assignments in the class; therefore, it is impossible to evaluate assignments fairly if they have been submitted afterwards. Submissions will close at 11pm the night of the simulation. You must upload yourdocuments on Canvas. I will not acceptemailed submissions