Starbucks Case Study Essay

Words: 1753
Pages: 8

1. In the beginning, how was Starbucks different from other coffee options for coffee drinkers in the United States? What activities and assets did Starbucks leverage to differentiate itself from competitors?
2. When Starbucks was rapidly expanding its store locations in 2006–2009 it made specific changes in order to facilitate that growth. What did Starbucks gain—and give up—as a result of each change?
3. When Schultz returned to Starbucks as CEO in 2008, how had the competitive context changed since his first tenure running the firm? What had caused or facilitated the changes?
4. Why did Schultz respond the way he did to the changes he found in 2008? What was he trying to achieve? Were his responses effective or ineffective?
5. Did
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This reduced the amount of money needed to open a new store, but there were limited variations so stores couldn’t adapt to specific communities.
Also during its phase of expansion, Starbucks concurrently executed two initiatives: (1) Selling Starbucks products through mass distribution channels, and, (2) Dramatically expanding its store locations. By 1996, it had opened about 1,000 stores. By 2001, the count stood at 5,000 stores. In 2007, it was operating about 15,000 stores. This move resulted in a mixed bag of reactions and consequences. Schultz remained undeterred by critics and revealed that in the course of time, Starbucks and its customers realized that their coffee was found filling a need that customers themselves didn’t know that they had.
3. When Schultz returned to Starbucks as CEO in 2008, how had the competitive context changed since his first tenure running the firm? What had caused or facilitated the changes?
In general the coffeehouse industry in the United States was experiencing an increase in coffee consumption per capita due to the “Starbucks effect”. At this time Starbucks was operating approximately 20,000 stores in the United States and was living a fast expansion strategy worldwide. During this time Starbucks was perceived as “heartless corporate predator”. Fast food restaurants such as Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s started offering specialty coffee. MCD’s aggressive advertising with attacks on Starbucks worked in its favor as the