COCA-COLA CO. Beverage maker seeks replacement for retiring CEO

Few outsiders would have the experience needed to run Coke, analysts say.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Coca-Cola Co. is looking outside its ranks as it searches for a new chief executive, but some company-watchers say the beverage giant's size and complexity along with its recent legal and image problems may make an insider the right choice.
Only a handful of outsiders such as the bosses of major consumer products companies such as Gillette or Procter & amp; Gamble would have the knowledge, strength and experience to run a company like Atlanta-based Coke, executive search experts and industry analysts said Monday.
They say that because the pool of qualified outsiders is so small and the candidates might be unavailable or unwilling to take the job, Coke would be better off tapping an insider, like No. 2 executive Steve Heyer, to replace the retiring Doug Daft.
"You need someone who has proven their mettle in the consumer products industry," said Gerald Kraines, head of Jaffrey, N.H.-based executive development firm The Levinson Institute. "You can't take a chance with a company this size that he or she doesn't have the skilled knowledge."
Coke officials have said little about their search for a new chief executive beyond that Heyer is the top internal candidate and that other candidates from outside the company will be considered.
Daft, 60, said last week that he will step down at the end of the year.
Who's on the board
Whoever Coke hires will have the support of a strong and involved board made up of experienced business leaders like investor Warren Buffett and Home Depot chief Bob Nardelli, said Nathan Lewis, an analyst with Jackson Securities in Atlanta.
But, Lewis said, the problems Coke has faced -- from a major restructuring that included several thousand layoffs to a whistle-blower lawsuit that led to an ongoing criminal investigation -- make its selection a challenge if it decides to hire outside.
"Given the amount of changes they've made over the past two years, a person that understands the strategy would be the best person to carry that strategy out," Lewis said.
Heyer, a former Turner Broadcasting System executive, was appointed president and chief operating officer of Coke in December 2002.
Heyer also has experience at Coke. He previously served as president and chief operating officer of Coca-Cola Ventures and Coca-Cola Latin America. Though he would seem to be the likely choice to succeed Daft, Heyer has also had some difficulties.
Sales in Coke's North America unit have not been as high as officials would like. Also, Heyer was a key figure in the lawsuit that started the criminal investigation.
Former Coke manager Matthew Whitley said in the lawsuit that he was fired a month after detailing in a memo to Heyer fraud allegations against the company. Heyer has denied in court papers any recollection of receiving the memo.