????穆泰康是一位土耳其外交官的兒子，從小在泰國、印度和伊朗長大。現在，他掌管著一家業務遍及全球200多個國家的跨國企業——可口可樂（Coca-Cola）。日理萬機的穆泰康很少會拜訪一個之前從未到過的地方。不過，當我們驅車來到沈陽——一座擁有700萬人口的大都市后，可口可樂公司首席執行官穆泰康很快發現自己進入了一塊神秘地帶：廣袤荒涼的中國東北地區，曾經的中國工業中心。我們此行的目的地是一座新建立的可口可樂瓶裝廠，這是可口可樂在中國的第42個瓶裝廠，也是迄今為止最大的一座。在距離我們目的地8公里的地方，我們看到無數紅色條幅，足有1520幅之多，順著公路，一直延伸到新工廠。數以百計的工人帶著大紅色帽子，歡呼穆泰康先生的光臨。穆泰康表示，“中國將成為可口可樂最大的市場。雖然我無法給出確切時間，但這是必然。”

????此前，許多投資者已（和無數消費者）開始意識到，在歷經多年的管理不善后，穆泰康已將可口可樂帶上正軌，他已為這家飲料巨頭定下了宏偉目標，要在全球市場獲得顯著增長，他堅信可口可樂在中國的銷售額將會增長一倍以上，中國將一舉超過墨西哥和美國，成為可口可樂最大的市場。這種志在必得的信心，無疑佐證了可口可樂的強勢復蘇。

????自穆泰康2008年7月升任可口可樂公司首席執行官后，他重塑了可口可樂的企業文化并大刀闊斧地替換了70%的高級管理人員，接任者們都像穆泰康所說的，“懂得如何創造業績”。新的管理團隊增加了公司投入，強化了可口可樂的市場營銷力，還開啟了收購機器：可口可樂正與能量飲料制造商Monster Beverage進行談判，內容可能涉及合作或收購事宜。

????可口可樂一直在忙著整合以41億美元收購而來的“酷樂仕維他命獲得”（Glacéau's Vitaminwater），穆泰康還親自運作了一項價值123億美元的復雜交易：可口可樂重新恢復了對其北美瓶裝生產線的控制權，此舉促使可口可樂在這一曾經停滯不前的市場再度騰飛。最后結果是：可口可樂去年營收飆升33%，達到465億美元，這在一定程度上得益于瓶裝生產線的收購。運營利潤則上漲20%，達到101億美元。自穆泰康上任后，標準普爾指數（S&P）上漲了10%，而可口可樂的股票漲幅高達48%，其競爭對手百事可樂（PepsiCo）的股價僅僅上漲了5%。

????可口可樂和百事可樂好像一直在坐著蹺蹺板：當一家繁榮時，另一家就會衰敗，這種神秘巧合就好似它們的宿命一般。現在正是可口可樂和穆泰康的時代。可口可樂是美國市場排名第一的軟飲料，健怡可樂則力壓百事可樂排名第二。可口可樂開發了雪碧、芬達、美汁源、動力、Dasani water等品牌，價值高達150億美元。當百事可樂的投資者在尖銳抨擊盧英德的表現時，可口可樂的股東和董事們則對穆泰康非常滿意。投資公司Allen & Co的首席執行官胡伯特?艾倫將穆泰康稱為“過去25年來可口可樂最好的首席執行官”。

????現在，穆泰康計劃在2020年實現公司營銷翻倍，對于今年營收將達480億美元的可口可樂來說，這個目標難度不小。為了實現這一雄心壯志，穆泰康正把可口可樂塑造得更全球化、更敏捷、更具開創性——從本質上講，更像穆泰康自己。首次購入可口可樂股份的可口可樂董事、IAC公司董事長巴里?迪勒表示：“我從沒見過這么認真的人。”今年3月底，59歲的穆泰康花費了5天時間造訪亞洲，整個行程異常緊湊，沒有任何停頓。在旅途中，他不停地告誡員工和管理層們要迅速行動。穆泰康告訴他們“這是終生難遇的大好機會。千萬不要錯過。”

????譯者：項航

????Muhtar Kent, the son of a Turkish diplomat, grew up in Thailand, India, and Iran, and he runs a company that operates in more than 200 countries. So it is rare for him to visit a place he's never been before. Yet as we travel by van out of Shenyang, a bustling metropolis of 7 million people, the Coca-Cola CEO quickly finds himself in uncharted territory: an increasingly desolate expanse of land in China's northeast, the nation's former rust belt. Then, eight kilometers from our destination, we are greeted by a ribbon of red banners -- 1,520 of them -- leading the way to a new bottling plant, Coke's 42nd in China and its largest to date. Hundreds of workers, all in bright red hats, cheer his arrival. "China will be Coke's largest market," Kent says. "I can't give you a time. But it will happen."

????This unflagging confidence that China will more than double its sales of Coke products to leapfrog Mexico and the U.S. and become the company's No. 1 market confirms what many investors (and millions of consumers) have come to realize: Kent has put Coke (No. 59 on the Fortune 500) back on track -- after years of mismanagement -- and he's set up the beverage giant for significant growth around the world. Since he ascended to the CEO job in July 2008, he's redefined Coke's culture and replaced about 70% of its senior managers, filling the ranks with operators who, he says, "know how to generate results." The new team has ramped up spending, energized Coke's marketing efforts, and cranked up the dealmaking machine: The company is discussing a potential partnership or possible investment in energy-drink maker Monster Beverage. Coke has been busily integrating its $4.1 billion purchase of Glacéau's Vitaminwater, and Kent personally devised an intricate $12.3 billion deal that restored company control of its bottling operations in North America and positioned Coke to ignite growth in a once-stagnant market. The upshot: Revenue last year soared 33% to $46.5 billion, in part because of the bottling deal, and operating profits rose 20% to $10.1 billion. The stock is up 48% during Kent's tenure while the S&P has risen 10%. Shares of rival PepsiCo (PEP)? Up only 5%

????Coke (KO) and Pepsi perpetually seesaw; when one is up the other is down, an uncanny pattern that seems destined to continue. Right now it's Coke's -- and Kent's -- time. Coke is the No. 1 soft drink in the U.S., and Diet Coke has surpassed Pepsi as No. 2 in the category. Coca-Cola has built 15 billion-dollar brands, including Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade, and Dasani water. While PepsiCo investors are critical of Indra Nooyi's performance, Coca-Cola's shareholders and directors are feeling content. Herbert Allen, the CEO of investment firm Allen & Co., calls Kent "the best chief executive Coke has had in 25 years."

????Now Kent aims to double Coke's business by 2020, no small feat for a company on track to hit $48 billion in sales this year. To achieve that ambitious goal, he is pushing Coke to be more global, agile, and entrepreneurial -- in essence, more like himself. "I've never met anyone so intense," says Coke board member and IAC chief executive Barry Diller, who is buying Coke stock for the first time. During a nonstop, five-day trip through Asia in late March, the 59-year-old Kent constantly exhorted his employees and managers to act with urgency. "This is your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he tells them. "Don't miss it."