President and COO Steven Heyer Leaves Coca-Cola

Steven Heyer quit as president and chief operating officer of Coca-Cola after losing the contest to become the next chairman to Neville Isdell. Initially, Mr. Heyer was seen as the hand-picked successor to Douglas Daft, who retires from the chairman's job this summer. But with only 3 years' experience at the company, some board members decided they'd rather have someone else -- which is an example of a board acting in the right way.

There is nothing in Mr. Heyer's past to suggest that he would have been anything other than a first-rate captain for the ship of Coke. Mr. Daft's support suggests that Mr. Heyer got along with the rest of the crew. But Heyer joined Coke in April 2001, and before that he was with Turner Broadcasting -- not exactly a related industry.

Mr. Isdell, on the other hand, joined Coca-Cola in 1966 with the local bottler in Zambia. In 1972, he moved to South Africa as general manager of the largest bottler in the country. The rest of his resume shows increasing responsibility in Europe, also bringing fizzy sugar-water to India, the Mid-East, Africa and the former Soviet bloc. In 2001, he resigned as vice-chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola HBC. He has run his own investment company since then, but retained a directorship with Coke in the Philippines as well as a non-executive directorship with Scottish and Newcastle Breweries. In short, he knows bottled beverages inside and out.

There was certainly some internal politics that led to the decision to appoint Mr. Isdell rather than Mr. Heyer -- there always is in business. Yet, it is hard to say the board did anything other than choose a highly qualified candidate.

As for Mr. Heyer's departure, that is also a wise decision. He doesn't appear to be a sore loser but rather, he understands that Mr. Isdell needs his own people. No matter how well the two of them may have worked together, there would be those who find any honest disagreement as a continuation of the contest for the top job. The lesson is that, even when a company is properly run (Coke despite its local difficulties is a world-beater), it will still have to make decisions that don't always make everyone happy.


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


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