USING “STARBUCKS”

 Research the company on its own website, public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s and any other sources you may find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these questions. 

Requirements

Write a 6-8 PG in which you do the following:

• Analyze the business-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the business-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your opinion.
• Analyze the corporate-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the corporate-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your opinion.
• Analyze the competitive environment to determine the corporation’s most significant competitor. Compare their strategies at each level and evaluate which company you think is most likely to be successful in the long term. Justify your choice.
• Determine whether your choice from Question 3 would differ in slow-cycle and fast-cycle markets.
• Use at least three quality references.

HELPFUL HINTS

The two types of business-level complementary alliances are vertical and horizontal. Firms with competencies in different stages of the value chain form a vertical alliance to cooperatively integrate their different, but complementary, skills. Firms combining their competencies to create value in the same stage of the value in the same stage of the value chain are using a horizontal alliance. Vertical complementary strategic alliances are formed more frequently than horizontal alliances.

Corporate-level cooperative strategies are used to facilitate product and market diversification. As a cooperative strategy, franchising allows the firms to use its competencies to extend or diversify its product or market reach, but without completing a merger or an acquisition.

Strategic networks formed to implement international cooperative strategies result in firms competing in several countries. Differences among countries’ regulatory environments increase the challenge of managing international networks and verifying that at a minimum, the network’s operations comply with all legal requirements.