Starbucks:
Strategies to Sustain Competitive Advantage
Key Issues
 Definition
of “industry”
 Coffee?
 Pursuit
of growth:
 Control
of independent vendors, partners, and
licensees
 Suppliers:
 Quality,
stable supply
 Rivals:
 Grocery
producers, fragmented houses, foreign
Outlook
 Growth
in consumption:
 15%
per year
 per capita rebounding to 2-3 cups/day
 Shift
in demand for coffee types/channels:
 Specialty
coffee growing faster than basic
 More being sold via specialty stores vs. grocers
General Environmental Forces
 Social
 Political
 Technological
 Global
 Legal
 Economic
 NET
EFFECT?
Five Forces
 Buyers
 Suppliers
 Substitutes
 New
entrants
 Rivalry
 NET
EFFECT?
External Analysis
 Opportunities:
 Threats:
Value Chain of Firm Activities
Firm Infrastructure
Human Resource Management
Technological Development
Service
Marketing
& Sales
Outbound
Logistics
Operations
Inbound
Logistics
Procurement
Internal Analysis
 Strengths:
 Weaknesses:
Mission and Goals
 Mission/vision:
 Define
industry, values, customers, etc.
 Overall strategic approach
 Goals:
 Financial
 Strategic
Strategic Recommendations
 Do
XX
 Value
chain activity ‘a’
 Value chain activity ‘b’
 Result: Eliminates vulnerability to SWOT
 Do YY
 Value
chain activity ‘a’
 Value chain activity ‘c’
 Result: Increases extent of experiential
differentiation, buffers against new rivals