Reflections of the Year of the Founding of Corporations Operating in Similar Sectors on Corporate Culture: An Analysis of Coca-Cola and Pepsi Corporations in the Context of Alfred Adler

Abstract

This study reveals a correlation between the chronological order of companies' founding and the creation of a corporate culture. The first part outlines the thinking of Alfred Adler, which focuses on birth-order classification and inferiority and superiority complexes. From that point, the second part concentrates on the creation of corporate culture, and the importance of a corporation's metaphorical "birth order" and the two aforementioned associated complexes. Finally, the third part compares the corporate cultures of Coca Cola and Pepsi. Within the scope of the analysis, press releases and advertisements from the two corporations are examined. The founding of the corporation provides a starting point for relevant analysis that follows the chronological order of the establishment of competing corporations. The results indicate that the chronological order of establishment tends to attribute certain qualities to corporations, which in turn play a determinant role in shaping their corporate cultures. Therefore, corporate culture is a deterministic phenomenon, and companies' activities are determined to some degree by the corporate culture. Furthermore, such cultures are shaped by the chronological order of the establishment of competing corporations. Corporate systems of thought can thus be analyzed using an interpretive approach, through focusing on their activities and discourses.