Coca-Cola and corporate social responsibility

The launch of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 included the private sector as a key actor to improve sustainable development across 17 targets, including education. Utilizing a qualitative case-study approach, the research provides insight into the implementation of a Fortune 500 U.S.-based company's investment in sustainable development through exploration of the Coca-Cola Company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) education programs in Kenya and their impact on the beneficiary. The following questions guided this research: a) How does Coca-Cola represent its CSR education activities in public relations materials? b) Who are Coca-Cola's partners for program planning, implementation, and evaluation of CSR education activities in Kenya and what is the value of Coca-Cola's work to these partners? c) What challenges have Coca-Cola partners experienced implementing CSR education activities in Kenya? d) What strategies did Coca-Cola develop to overcome such challenges? e) What challenges or tensions remain and what does this suggest for the futher of CSR in education? Through an exploration of Coca-Cola's partners, specifically those working on water conservation, entrepreneurship, and scholarships, this study illuminates the ways business-society relationships in education can work to overcome structural barriers limiting access to education, such as financial constraints, discriminatory sociocultural beliefs, and gender inequality. The study contributes to the literature on corporate social responsibility, education, and international development.