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Q1: Keurig Dr. Pepper is one of the leading beverage companies in North America. It was created in 2018 with the merger of Keurig and Dr. Pepper Snapple. The firm's main sources of income are the products that it provides which include various flavored (non-cola) carbonated soft drinks and non-carbonated beverages, including water, juice, tea, mixers, and coffee, which all together make up the four segments of the firm. It is also home to the number one single serve brewer in the U.S. and Canada and the K-cup pods that go along with them, which provides the firm with a relative advantage over other firms in the industry. Some of the most well known and popular brands of these products include Keurig, Snapple, Dr. Pepper, Hawaiian Punch, 7UP, Crush, Mott's, Core, Green Mountain, and The Original Donut Shop. Many of these brands have high levels of consumer awareness, preference, and loyalty which ensures that the company has consistent customers. This portfolio of products also provides retailers, bottlers and distributors, and other customers with the items that they might need at any time and any place. The company has also made forming long term partnerships an important part of its business as it provides for the opportunity to bring in these partner brands when the market calls for it. In order to drive growth the company has an innovation program that is designed to meet the changing flavor and beverage preferences of consumers and to also find a way to increase the number of households that use the Keurig single serve brewing systems.

Q2: Keurig Dr. Pepper has four business segments for which it reports results of operations. These segments include coffee systems, packaged beverages, beverage concentrates, and Latin America beverages. The coffee systems segment is made up of its single serve brewers and the different brands of K-cup pods. The beverage concentrates segment is made up of the concentrates and syrups of its key brands like Dr. Pepper, Crush, 7UP, etc. which are sold to retailers and fast food restaurants. The packaged beverages segment consists of many of the same brands mentioned above that are sold in aluminum cans or plastic bottles to different retailers, with Walmart being its number one customer. The Latin America beverages segment has brands such as Penafiel, Clamato, Squirt, Motts, etc. which are sold in various stores and restaurants in Mexico. The characteristics that differentiate the segments, based on the description given of each segment, are based on how the beverages are packaged, disbursed, and in what country they are sold. All of these factors impacts how the products are classified. For example, the Keurig coffee products are placed in one segment since they don't really relate to the soda, water, or juice brands that were previously only manufactured by Dr. Pepper. I believe that this indicates that the firm is largely decentralized. This is because since it is split up into four different segments it is most probable that each segment would have a managing team that would be able to make key decisions regarding the segments and the products that are in them. They would know the most about each segment relating to its production and marketing costs and profit levels, therefore enabling them to be able to make better decisions than the top management/leadership team.

Q3: I believe that Keurig Dr. Pepper uses market-based pricing. This is because the company operates in a competitive market made up of different firms that all sell similar types of products. Companies in this type of market tend to use the market-based approach. This is supported through facts that are mentioned on D&B Hoovers. The first fact is under the financial performance section of the company description area, the company states that it had a 9% increase in net income due in part to a net price realization of 3%. This indicates that the company changed its prices, most likely to try to match competitors, which in turn led to a positive impact on sales and consequently net income. A second fact that is found under ratio comparisons is that the company's ratio for price/revenue is 3.59 compared to 3.85 of the industry. This shows that the company uses market-based pricing as the ratio is close to the industry amount since it is pricing based on its competitors. A third fact found on the SWOT analysis under the company summary states that a big threat to the company is intense competition. This indicates that Keurig Dr. Pepper is a company that feels the need to ensure it is giving competitive prices for its beverages, especially for its different soda brands since they are one of the company's biggest selling products. Since competitors also have very well known sodas, it is crucial that the company needs to maintain similar prices or even slightly lower prices when possible to ensure that it doesn't lose direct consumers or its partnerships with retailers and restaurants.