Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose

3. The Chaotic Interregnum

Tom Stoppard's Arcadia character Valentine first uttered "The future is disorder." before an audience in London's National Theater in April 1993. A baker's dozen years later, that future has arrived in the world of business. The globally iconic Coca-Cola brand is wallowing in disorder. Its maker is trying to regain its footing under CEO Neville Isdell, who replaced Doug Daft in May 2004, who replaced Doug Ivestor in 2000, who followed the legendary Roberto Goizuetta, whose death in 1997 ended an era of plenty for the world's most recognizable brand. Shortly after taking office, Isdell vowed to "double the value of the Coca-Cola trademark within a decade by reviving the icon through advertising with a youthful point ...