Geographic DepartmentalizationGeogr

Geographic Departmentalization
Geographic Departmentalization organizes work and workers into separate units responsible for doing business in particular geographic areas. Exhibit 8.6 shows the geographic departmentalization used by COCA-COLAENTERPRISES (CCE) ,the largest bottler and distributor of
Coca-Cola products in the world.(The Coca-Cola Company develops and advertises soft drinks. CCE, which is a separate company with its own stock, buys the soft-drink concentrate from the Coca-Cola Company, combines it with other ingredients, and then distributes the final product in cans ,bottles, or fountain containers.) As shown in Exhibit 8.6 , CCE has two regional groups: North America and Europe. As the table in the exhibit shows, each of these regions would be a sizable company by itself. The European Group serves people in Belgium, Great Britain, France, Luxembourg, Monaco, and the Netherlands, sells half a billion cases of soft drinks a year, employs 10,500 people, and runs 46 bottling facilities.
The primary advantage of geographic departmentalization is that it helps company respond to the demands of different markets. This can be especially important when the company sells in different countries. CCE’s geographic divisions sell products suited to taste preferences in different countries.