Preview

Starbucks Case 1

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
734 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Starbucks Case 1
Case Study #1:
STARBUCKS
Seattle, Washington

QUESTION #1

So, what does Starbucks need to do to return to growth and profitability? Should it lower prices? Should it expand its menu? What should be its strategy?

In order for Starbucks to return to growth and profitability they should focus on the cost structure and tackle the net margin issue which would increase its Return of Equity and make a better use of its existing assets to increase its Return of Assets. A strategy of this would be cost management. A day-to-day business analysis is needed to integrate the decision-making of what are controllable, preventing costs from getting into the structure of unnecessarily. Investing only where investment makes sense and addressing the total cost of the business. The focus of this would facilitate the profitability, will support formulation of pricing strategy, enables financial analysis and achieve long-term growth and sustainability objectives. I personally would advise against lowering of prices and expanding its menu. Lowering of prices is a risky attempt and everything should be considered how it would affect the bottom line. It is a short-term solution to higher number of sales but not long-term in terms of profitability and covering the operational cost and cost of goods. Expanding the menu is a big no-no, Starbucks is famous for its coffee and should only focus on that until such time that the company can recuperate from the losses.

QUESTION #2

As founder, Schultz brought enormous success to Starbucks. But is he the right leader for Starbucks now? Should he continue as CEO? Is he meeting his basic responsibilities as Starbucks’ top manager? What key mistakes is he making?

Shultz is the right leader for Starbucks but not as a CEO. He is a very detail-oriented person and hands on boss but he is feared by the management and employees if they voice out for suggestions and he would comment on it. The key mistake he is making, he is

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Org 581

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz helped facilitate in the companies structure a matrix of communication that both works internal and external, this key to the primary benefits of the success of the company. On the inside, Starbucks’ reinforcement of exposed communication among workers, higher administration, and administrators permits more open innovation in ideas, correcting problems through a process of identifying, discussing, plan of action, and follow through to solutions in a timely manner.…

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    * Taghred khattab, Ehab Aziz, Bassem Naguib. (2008). Strategic analysis of Starbucks. Available: http://www.scribd.com/doc/9913996/Starbuck-strategic-analysis-term-paper. Last accessed 29 September 2011.…

    • 4211 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Starbucks Case Analysis

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages

    From analysis of the Porter’s Five Forces above, it shows the biggest challenge for Starbucks are the company like McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts and Peet’s Coffee & Tea, due to their ability of offering fast service and capacity of their stores. Therefore, the low…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    BA 440 Starbucks SWOT

    • 870 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Starbucks has long enjoyed the top spot as the premier specialty coffee retailer in America. However in recent years the company has begun to see a trend in sales that puts them on the downhill slope. Although there are a great many strengths that the company maintains in the marketplace, there are also several weaknesses. In this paper I will discuss the SWOT analysis of Starbucks to include the strength and weaknesses of the company and several courses of action to correct the drop in sales that has had a hold on the organization in recent years.…

    • 870 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Starbucks Casestudy

    • 4337 Words
    • 18 Pages

    The company grew but very slowly because advertising mainly consists of word of mouth. In 1981, ten years later, Starbucks had only grown to four stores and one roasting plant in Seattle. It was about this time that the present Chairman, Howard Schultz began to take note of the company. Schultz met with Baldwin and Bowker and immediately fell in love with Starbucks Coffee. Schultz became the marketing manager for the company in 1982 and went to Italy on a business trip in 1983 to…

    • 4337 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Starbucks has and should continue to use this strategy to help control its competition and be able to reach out to new markets (as discussed in product differentiation). They have already done a good job of accomplishing this by using the acquisition of Seattle’s Best coffee and Torrefazione…

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The issues of concern within company for the purpose of understanding the strategic planning the initiative of expanding their product base. After careful evaluation of the financial records and information on the new initiatives, Starbucks provided, it is clear that this particular initiative is important to the company. The review and evaluation of this strategic plan will provide an idea of the direction the company is heading and how the implementation of this new plan facilitates the goal of the company and where they are headed. We will explain how this initiative will affect the company in the areas of cost and sales and just as importance is how this will affect the future success of the company.…

    • 1351 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before Howard Schultz joined Starbucks, they were a small company in the market of selling fine quality coffee beans. Howard Schultz's strategic vision was to modify the format of Starbucks' stores, incorporating an American version of the coffee bar culture. His vision was met with great initial resistance by Starbucks' management, which was eventually quelled by strong sales performances. Also included in Schultz's strategic vision for a new Starbucks was a plan for massive expansion.…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Schultz is a very hands on leader. In his book Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul (2011), he demonstrates his leadership abilities and the trial and tribulations Starbucks went through after he…

    • 1269 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Starbucks: Expansion

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The expansion of a company takes not only takes leadership, but dedication and passion. QSR magazine’s article Over the Hill: 40 Years of SBUX highlights how a small company from Seattle expanded to the international company it is today. The writing discusses the journey of Starbucks’ early ages and the company’s current Chairman and CEO, Howard Schultz. The company was founded in 1971 by Gerald Baldwin, Gordon Bowker, and Zev Siegl with an initial investment of only $9000, with Schultz joining Starbucks in 1982 as its marketing chief. Despite being disencouraged by the initial founders of the company at first, Schultz was able to translate his ideas and thoughts into profit and mold Starbucks into the coffee bar with an atmosphere that he had envisioned. Throughout the 1990s, Starbucks blossomed into an American giant, growing from a local retail business into a national name with more than 1300 units.…

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    37067113Assignment1

    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages

    in the world and each year its net profit shows consistent increases [1]. After the recession, Starbucks…

    • 914 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Starbucks Case Questions

    • 917 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Howard Schultz actually has a really good business plan in our opinion, one that is actually very difficult to find an aspect to challenge. Any problem that has risen with it, Schultz has taken the necessary steps to correct it. For example, when the finances of the company as well as the massive growth were getting to be too much to handle, Schultz took the company public and listed its stock on NASDAQ. When growth began to slow Schultz’s stepped back into the chief executive spot. Some said it was because of rapid expansion and oversaturation. He made menu cuts, closed the least profitable stores, and focused on getting the company back to what led to its success in the first place. He also knew that international expansion was very crucial to the recovery of Starbucks. The only aspect that wasn’t really focused on as much as the competition was advertisement, but they really didn’t need to. It would have been unnecessary expenses since popularity skyrocketed due to word of mouth. Shultz also has incredible employee benefits that allows for good employee morale as well as employee retention. He offered health-care coverage that included part-time workers with as little as 20 hours a week as well as also covering employees who had terminal illnesses, paying full medical costs until they were covered by government programs. He also introduced a stock option plan for everyone, including part-timers had been with the company at least six months which made employees partners.…

    • 917 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Diversification Strategies

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages

    After a couple rough years coffee giant, Starbucks is back with profits on the increase. After suffering losses the company decided to revamp. They began to highlight access to Wi-Fi, localized shops and employee training. These changes helped because profit began to pick up again encouraging the company to go international.…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Starbucks Case

    • 854 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Howard Schultz is one today’s most influential corporate leaders. Although he no longer holds the Chief Executive Officer position at Starbucks, he is responsible for bringing Starbucks where it is today. Leadership is a process whereby an individual, in this case Schultz, influences others to achieve a common goal. Schultz has influenced a wide range of people from the highly educated and trained executives Orin Smith and Howard Behar to each and every one of the 140,000 employees of Starbucks. Schultz only brought in people he knew had the same values and great vision he did for Starbucks. The common goal between Schultz and every person at Starbucks can be viewed on the mission statement: “Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow.”…

    • 854 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    This article is about Harvard Business Review’s interview with Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz. From the article, we can see how and what Howard’s thinking about the leader, and the company. Also he truly answered all the questions that will be inspired most of readers.…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics