Coke was attacked last year when a series of management changes left Ware, president of Coke’s Africa unit, reporting to a fellow senior vice president–effectively a demotion. In response, Ware announced he would retire at the end of this year. The episode fueled questions about Coke’s commitment to diversity, particularly in the wake of a racial-discrimination lawsuit filed against the company last year.
But last week Douglas Daft, the Coke veteran charged with getting the company back on track, announced that Ware, 56, would run a new division, responsible for improving Coke’s worldwide image. Ware will oversee public and government relations, and will report directly to Daft, the new CEO. Ware, rising to his new image-tending responsibilities, calls his new job “absolutely exciting.''
