Insights from the Top: Charlie Bitzer ’91S (MBA)
Leading with Values Across Generations
For Charlie Bitzer ’91S (MBA), nearly a century of family business history has reinforced a simple lesson: a company's legacy isn't defined by the businesses it owns. It's defined by the values that endure as the business changes.
Bitzer, executive chair of ABARTA, joined Interim Dean Mitch Lovett for a recent Insights from the Top webinar exploring leadership, succession, organizational change, and the challenges and opportunities of leading a multigenerational family enterprise.
A third-generation leader of ABARTA, Bitzer has helped guide the company through significant transformation, including a transaction that tripled the size of its Coca-Cola beverage business while the company divested other holdings. Today, ABARTA Coca-Cola Beverages is one of the largest Coca-Cola bottlers in North America.
Putting People First
Bitzer's leadership philosophy was shaped early in his career, when he worked in frontline, customer-facing roles. The experience gave him an appreciation for how decisions made at the top of an organization affect the people carrying them out.
“As a leader, you can either make those jobs easier or you can make those jobs harder,” he said.
Even as he moved into senior leadership, Bitzer continued to periodically ride along with drivers, service technicians, and account managers. Understanding their experiences, he said, helps leaders make better decisions.
That people-first philosophy also shapes what he looks for when building leadership teams. Values come first, followed by a commitment to learning and a willingness to take risks in pursuit of growth.
“If you’re not failing, you haven’t reached your limit,” Bitzer said. “Getting comfortable with that, particularly as a young person, [is important] because nobody likes to fail.”
Preserving Values While Embracing Change
ABARTA has evolved significantly since Bitzer's grandfather founded the company. Over generations, it expanded into businesses ranging from newspapers and energy to frozen foods and Coca-Cola bottling.
Rather than defining the company's legacy by those individual businesses, Bitzer said his family came to see something deeper as the connecting thread.
“We don’t put the legacy in the business, but we put the legacy in our values,” he said.
That distinction became particularly important as ABARTA transformed its portfolio and dramatically expanded its Coca-Cola operations. Integrating more than 1,000 new employees required more than a business strategy. It required frequent communication about the company's values, direction, competitive advantages, and expectations.“Communicate, communicate, communicate,” Bitzer advised. “Be honest with people about what’s happening, why it’s happening, and how it may or may not impact them.”
Just as important is following through. Leaders build trust, he said, when employees see them do what they say they will do and acknowledge mistakes when they happen.
Succession Is a Process
For a multigenerational family enterprise, planning for the future also means confronting one of leadership's most difficult responsibilities: succession.
When Bitzer became CEO in 2019, the lead director of ABARTA's independent board began asking him almost immediately about his succession plan. At first, Bitzer thought the conversation could wait. He soon realized how much preparation a successful transition actually requires.
“It’s not an event,” he said. “It’s a process.”
ABARTA began planning across multiple dimensions, including leadership, management, authority, values, knowledge, relationships, and ownership. Bitzer also established a firm “no later than” date for his transition so that the organization and family could plan accordingly.
The process illustrates a broader lesson for family enterprises: continuity requires intentional planning long before a transition occurs.
Building a Career with Purpose
Asked what advice he would give students and alumni, Bitzer encouraged them to set short-, medium-, and long-term goals while remaining willing to adjust those goals as circumstances change.
He also stressed the importance of intentionally building a network of people with different expertise.
“You can learn something from everybody you meet,” he said. The key is remaining curious enough to discover what they know.
That same curiosity informs his approach to leadership. As executives advance, Bitzer said, their role increasingly shifts from supplying answers to asking better questions.
“What you think is the least important thing in the room,” he said. “The most important thing in the room is what everybody else thinks.”
Lessons That Last
Looking back on his Simon education, Bitzer pointed to several ideas that remain part of his decision-making decades later: there is no free lunch, business is a marginal science, and incentives and agency costs matter.
He has carried those analytical principles into a leadership philosophy grounded in simplicity.
“Simplicity is a strategy,” Bitzer said. “Complexity is easy. Simplicity is hard.”
Ultimately, his advice for leaders returns to the people affected by their decisions. ABARTA employs approximately 2,000 associates, but Bitzer estimates the company's success touches thousands more family members whose lives are connected to those jobs.
That responsibility shapes how he thinks about stewardship and the generations that will follow him.
“If you take care of your people and you take care of your customers, the financials will take care of themselves,” he said.
Watch the full video of the webinar here.
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