Starbucks: Forty Years Strong

Schultz, Howard, and Joanne Gordon. Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul. New York: Rodale, 2011. N. pag. Print.

Star Bucks Problem Statement Howard Shultz and the senior management at Starbucks have to decide how to react to the opportunities that are being made available because of their rapid growth. The decision for a strategic growth plan has to be made in the near future. This will prove to be key for Starbucks reaching their long-term goal of becoming the most recognized and respected brand of coffee in the world. Situation Analysis Starbucks is currently the industry leader in specialty coffee. They purchased more high quality coffee beans than anyone else in the world and keep in good standings with the producers to ensure they get the best beans.

Brief Background: Starbucks is a worldwide company, known for is delicious brews of coffee and seasonal varieties of tasty drinks for any occasion. Starbucks opened with two main goals, sharing great coffee with friends and to help make the world a little better. It originated in the historic Pike Place Market of Seattle, Washington in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker. The creation of Starbucks’ name came from the seafaring tradition of early coffee traders and the romance evoked from Moby Dick. At the time, this individual shop specialized in the towering quality of coffee over competitors and other brewing services enabling its growth to becoming the largest coffee chain in Washington with numerous locations.

In “ The Starbucks Experience” author discusses essential business strategies that allowed Starbucks from its establishment in Seattle in 1971 as a single-location coffee shop to go worldwide. Nowadays, Starbucks has more than 11,500 non-franchised locations worldwide with annual sales more than $600 million and has been recognized as one of the best Fortune 500 companies to work for. The Starbucks former CEO and the current chairman, Howard Schultz, implemented the five core Starbucks principles for turning “ordinary into extraordinary”. By following these principles, Starbucks became extremely successful and since 1992 the Starbucks stock has grown a staggering 5,000 percent. The author discusses the five core principles that lead to Starbucks’ success such as: make it your own, everything matters, surprise and delight,

However, such success requires high maintenance. In fact, due to high competition and declining revenues, in year 2005, Starbucks introduced new products to their menu, which included pastries, sandwiches, and deserts. Such strategy helped the company regain its market power. Regrettably for the investors, such static fixture provides only a short-term relief in a highly volatile and competitive market. Mr. Schultz have expressed his concern that the company is taking a route that is causing the brand to lose its well known image of friendly coffee house (Seaford, et. al, 2012). The market that was once cornered by Starbucks has started to slip away from the grips of the company once McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts,...

The structure of Starbucks business communication is exceptional. Rather you are in their store buying a Caramel Frappuccino®, visiting their website or watching one of their advertisements on television; as the consumer, the message is loud and clear. Pick up any newspaper and you are likely to find an article about the coffee giant. Starbucks pledges a commitment to their over 172,000 partners (employees) and the community. “We realize our people are the cornerstone of our success, and we know that their ideas, commitment and connection to our customers are truly the essential elements in the Starbucks Experience” (Starbucks, 2008).

Nithin Geereddy. 2013. Strategic Analysis of Starbucks Corporation. [ONLINE] Available at:http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/nithingeereddy/files/starbucks_case_analysis.pdf. [Accessed 18 April 14]

Section 1: Executive Summary Starbucks is the world’s largest coffee roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. We have enjoyed great dividend returns over the past 5 years, and our growth has been on the rise. We are currently saturating the US market, while the emerging markets of developing countries offer many possibilities for growth and increased revenues. In our US market we should look at offering more items on the menu that complement our long-standing tradition of pleasing our customers.

Like many other organizations, executives at Starbucks realized the importance of planning. Planning involves making sound business decisions and goals for the company, specific divisions, a store, and for individuals (Bateman-Snell, 2004, p. 108). Starbucks’ executives have defined their business with the mission statement to “establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow” (Starbucks mission statement). Executives have found various ways of increasing their market by examining alternative paths to conduct their business. Most recently they are marketing to the younger generation by allowing them to download music and drink coffee at the same time. Tactical, or operational, planning involves breaking the mission statement into more specific goals and creating plans that are related to lower levels of the company (Bateman-Snell, 2004, p. 112). These plans are most often thought of by middle management and are developed into goals for sales, marketing, advertising, human resources, accounting, and financing. These goals will reinforce the company’s predetermined goal and help Starbucks achieve their desired success.

Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spice opened its first store in April 1971 in the Pike Place Market in Seattle, by owners who had a passion for dark-roasted coffee that was popular in Europe, but hard to find in the U.S. (Harrison et al., 2005; Venkatraman & Nelson, 2008). The company’s mission was to provide Seattle with the best access to dark-roasted coffee, and sought to educated customers about the product. As a matter of customer education and acceptance of the product, Starbucks grew and expanded into the successful domestic market it is today. Much of this success can be attributed to a focus on the total customer experience and s...