Starbucks; How to Sustain a Competitive Advantage?
Howard Schultz, for CEO and founder of Starbucks, and now a member of the Board of Directors set out to provide a completely new consumer experience
when he started Starbucks based on the coffee bars he experienced in Italy. Starbucks Mission as always been a place where consumer can experience
ambience, music, soft sofas and chairs that encourage its consumers to sit awhile, WIFI, food and beverages. Starbucks' core competency is creating a
unique experience. To the consumer, Starbucks created a rare and intangible value which allowed Starbucks grew rapidly from 2000 to 2017 to a $27 billion
company. However, somehow Starbucks lost its way. Baristas, who use to personally grind coffee were replaced with large grinding machines. Consumers
began to have choices through new coffee grinding expresso machines that were available for purchase that were efficient. Other businesses, such as
supermarkets, got into the coffee grinding market as well, which began to chip away at the Starbucks market share. Even McDonald's jumped into the field by
providing specialty coffees as a substitute to Starbucks coffees. Schultz, who had retired and taken a board position, came out of retirement to take the
helm.
Utilize various resources to gain an understanding of what Schultz did to turn Starbucks around and then answer the following questions utilizing the APA
format.
- What strategic initiatives did Schultz put in place to recreate Starbucks after his return in 2008?
- In 2018 Starbucks suffered another blow when it encountered a controversial situation involving two of its customers in Philly. Describe the merits of the situation and how it was handled by the company?
- Do you agree with the strategies used? What recommendations would you give them?
Sample Solution