Analysis of Starbucks

UNIVERSITY OF LA VERNE

La Verne, CA

Analysis of  Starbucks

Submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree

of Master of Business Administration 

Professor Si Hyun Kim

BUS 551 Seminar in Organization Theory & Behavior

Ke Han 11803955; Junfeng Lin 11810808; Yue Huang 11813184; Cong Liu 11828483

Nov 4, 2015 

College of Business and Public Management

Department of Business Administration

Introduction

Starbucks Corporation, an American company founded in 1971 in Seattle, WA, is a premier roaster, marketer and retailer of specialty coffee around world. Starbucks has about 182,000 employees across 19,767 company operated & licensed stores in 62 countries. This paper will include those aspects about Starbucks: Vision, Mission, Strategies, Goal; Structure; External environment; Management of change; Culture; Management of training and workforce diversity; Leadership styles.

Vision

“To establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow.” This vision statement has the following components relevant to Starbucks:

1.         Premier purveyance

2.         Finest coffee in the world

3.         Uncompromising principles

4.         Growth

Mission

“To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” This mission statement reflects what Starbucks does to keep its business running.

Strategy

There are many strategies Starbucks use, but the key strategy is Product differentiation offering differentiators. For example, premium products mix, locations, coffee beverages reputation and supreme customer service. The aim is building a premium-valued brand, which is costly to imitate for competitors. Starbucks has also followed a shrewd strategy of strategic alliance and making smart acquisitions. Starbucks didn’t follow franchising model. They just operate the chain store and licensed store in international markets. Starbucks also use the product diversification strategy to grab market share, like some key products: Teavana (Tea products), Bay Breads (premium bread products), Evolution Fresh (fresh juice products) etc. Another important strategy is their international strategies which expanding into key developed markets. And it has operated spanning 60 countries. All of these strategies help Starbucks has the competitive advantage over its competitors.