The second case study is Starbucks after Schultz: How to Sustain a Competitive Advantage on p. 470.
The chapters to focus on are Ch. 4 (Internal Analysis) and Ch. 6 (Differentiation, Cost Leadership, and Blue Ocean Strategy).
Some questions to help guide your analysis:
- What was Starbucks’ competitive advantage that led to its initial success?
- What were its core competencies? Its valuable resources and capabilities? How dynamic were its capabilities? What differentiated it from the competition? What value did it provide its customers?
- What changes did it make that led to its difficulties in the late 2000s? What was the cause of the difficulties?
- How did its focus on cost control take away from their differentiation?
- What was happening to Starbucks’ brand in the marketplace?
- What changes did Schultz make upon returning? How did these changes restore growth to the company?
- Which of Schultz’s changes do you agree and disagree with? Why?
- What is Starbucks’ current status? Do some research on the company.
- What is Starbucks’ current competition? What is the competition doing to compete with Starbucks (and each other)? Consider Porter’s Five Forces in assessing all of the competitive forces impacting Starbucks.
- If you were consulting for Starbucks, what recommendations would you make to the management going forward.
The case study is due on Sunday night. Remember to use the case study guideline
