Coca-Cola has named Mr Neville Isdell, as its chairman and chief executive-elect, ending a three-month search at the world's largest soft drink maker.
Mr Isdell, an Irish citizen who worked for Coca-Cola and its bottlers for more than three decades before retiring in 2001, will succeed chairman and CEO Mr Doug Daft, who had announced that he would step down at the end of this year.
"It's a smart move for the company," said Mr John Sicher, editor of Beverage Digest, a leading industry newsletter. "He will be a positive, stabilising influence on a company that has seen a lot of turnover lately."
However, Mr Isdell's arrival could lead to at least one more senior manager's departure. In naming the former Coke veteran as its new chief, the company passed over Mr Steven Heyer, its president and chief operating officer.
Mr Heyer, 51, was initially seen as the odds-on-favorite to replace Mr Daft, but speculation has since surfaced that key members of the board were uncomfortable betting the future on a man with just three years experience at Coke.
Coca-Cola's chief executives generally have climbed into their jobs after being groomed for decades in the cloistered halls of the company. Mr Daft, like Mr Isdell, had about 30 years of experience when he took over the top job in 2000.
Mr Isdell, who led Coke's operations on five continents during a tenure that stretched from 1966 to 1998, will take over at a time when the firm is under pressure to boost sluggish soft drink sales in its more than 200 markets around the world.
The company has been dogged in the past five years by the impact of a global economic slowdown, marketing miscues and, most recently, US government investigations into its business practices.
Sales of Coke's soft drinks have been particularly disappointing in North America, its largest market.
"I think the strategy of the Coca-Cola Company is a very sound strategy," Mr Isdell said in a conference call shortly after his selection was made public. "I in no way accept that the growth in Coca-Cola is in any way over."
He added that he would spend the next four months "in the field" to understand the challenges facing the company, a process that is likely to include meetings with key bottlers.
Coke's star-studded board of directors, which includes billionaire investor Mr Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., also appeared at ease with Mr Isdell's ascendancy.
"He has developed new markets and injected innovation and competitiveness into existing operations," said Mr Jimmy Williams, a member of the board committee responsible for finding Mr Daft's replacement.
"He has created major bottling companies and built outstanding leadership teams while staying true to the enduring values of our brand and company," Mr Williams said.