Factors of Starbucks Success - Research Paper Example

Starbucks Since last two decades, one can observe a huge expansion in terms of launching of new companies and organizations in different parts of the globe; however, simultaneously, one can observe closing down of huge number of business organizations due to enormous level of competition and various factors such as financial crisis that have resulted in non-survival of organizations globally. Still, in midst of such huge competition and crises, many business organizations have been successful in surviving and even in expanding their business activities locally, as well as internationally due to their specific business strategies. In this regard, this paper will focus on one of such business organizations that have been successful in proving itself as a business leader in the field. For this purpose, focus of this paper will be on Starbucks Corporation (2010), and the researcher will put efforts to identify and analyze the changes that the corporation has brought in its different business processes, and the factors that have played a crucial role in the success of this organization. As mentioned earlier, Starbucks Corporations (2010) is one of the few companies that have been successful in surviving effectively in the market, at the same time, it has expanded its business activities in various parts of the globe, and it is still in continuance of doing so. Particularly, the year 1971 (Starbucks, 2010) witnessed commencement of this corporation in the form of a corner-coffeehouse at one of the streets of Seattle, and since, the corporation has not stopped, and has continued to develop itself and turn into one of the most famous and popular coffeehouse businesses on global level. Today, Starbucks Corporation (2010) is proud to have approximately seventeen thousand coffeehouses in more than fifty countries, which is a big accomplishment and evidence of success of the organization. Analysis (Solomon, pp. 51-58) has indicated that this success of Starbucks Corporation (2010) is not the result of a one-day effort, and the corporation has carried out a number of alterations in its different processes due to various reasons. Began with a small cup of coffee, today, the corporation is active in handling a wide range of products related to coffee and other products. In other words, the corporation has not only carried out changes on evolutionary basis on time to time; however, it has become a notion of revolution by introducing various unusual additions and subtractions that indicate the character of corporation as a true business leader. For instance, the corporation started with coffee; however, after analyzing the situation and demand of the consumers, it did not remain limited with only coffee; however, continued to develop and expand its products by adding new range including snacks, drinks, etc. Additionally, one of the most revolutionary alterations that played a vital role in success of Starbucks Corporation was establishment of the Starbucks Entertainment Department (Starbucks, 2010) that changed the perspective of business organization and especially role of a coffeehouse from a retail shop to a diversified organization. In particular, this entertainment department is responsible to deal in music, films; etc that is an efficient and creative methodology of marketing different products of Starbucks, and one can call it a revolutionary change in the corporation. In addition to the department, the Starbucks Corporation (2010) brought a number of alterations, such as it launched ice-cream product range at a number of grocery stores that enabled the corporation to acquire its place in the global retail market, an evolutionary alteration. Further scrutiny of resources (Riezebos, pp. 48-57) has specified that before Starbucks, coffeehouses were only places for consumers to buy coffee and drink it; however, the corporation has made a revolutionary alteration by transforming coffeehouses into places of experiences, and nowadays, people visit Starbucks coffeehouses to experience moments rather than just drinking coffee. In other words, Starbucks (2010) has been successful in offering quality products, services, and environment while implementing marketing strategies in an effective and efficient manner. In the result, the corporation is busy in opening a new coffeehouse in a new country every other week that indicates its huge level of expansion and success of its evolutionary and revolutionary changes. Until now, the paper has discussed different changes brought by the Starbucks Corporation (2010); however, analysis has identified few factors that played the role of forces of such change, whereas, few played the role of obstacles. In this regard, the paper will now include efforts to discuss and analyze few of such factors. One of the major forces that have inclined the corporation to bring abovementioned changes has always been its competitors (Usunier & Lee, pp. 51-59). Since the day one, Starbucks has been tackling its competitors effectively that are always in the struggle to obtain a higher percent of sales on annual basis. In particular, Caribou is one of the major competitors that are offering quality products and services in the global retail market, and thus, it is an observation that Caribou has been a major force that inclines the Starbucks Corporation to bring different alterations in its business processes. Besides competitors, Starbucks Corporation (2010) has been confronting another environmental force, government that plays an interfering role in different business activities of the corporation. However, analysis of its activities and decisions has indicated that the corporation has confronted and dealt with government policies and actions in an efficient manner. As Starbucks has now become a global corporation, thus, it is imperative that it fulfills requirements of every governmental structure in different countries. For instance, marketing plan of a European country might be ineffective or impractical in an Asian country, and thus, the corporation has been involved in creating specific strategies for every country that has been the reason of its success in most of the regions on global level. For instance, in the United Kingdom, Starbucks has been taking pleasure from flexible government policies for its corporation that has enabled it to launch revolutionary products and services in the country; however, this is not the case in other countries, for instance, in the Chinese market (Coe, pp. 44-50). In particular, in China, the Starbucks Corporation confronted restricted policies of the government; however, the corporation continued its business activities in the region by introducing traditional price-tag products that has been one of the successful strategies of Starbucks to accept and transform according to the environment. Further scrutiny (Stone, pp. 20-25) has indicated another important obstacle that has been the reason of various alterations in the corporation, demographic changes. It is an observation that social and economic background of consumers and customers has been playing a crucial role in the success or failure of Starbucks’ (2010) marketing activities. For example, studies have indicated in the United Kingdom or in some other developed countries, Starbucks coffeehouses have made good business due to their sumptuous and luxurious environment, resulting in status of Starbucks coffeehouses as ‘third places’ in developed regions. On the other hand, the corporation made alterations in its marketing strategies by establishing low-cost coffeehouses to accommodate families with low-income backgrounds, which was an efficient marketing decision to acquire its position in the developing world as well (Michelli, pp. 47-51). Furthermore, it has been an observation that culture (Rothacher, pp. 23-39) is one of the most important forces of changes, and has resulted in significant impact on marketing strategies of Starbucks Corporation (2010). Due to expansion of corporation on the international level, Starbucks confronted a number of cultural conflicts. For instance, while its establishment in Muslim countries, the corporation confronted a number of religious restrictions that often resulted in failure of its offers; however, Starbucks dealt with the situation effectively by applying the concept of ‘haram (prohibited)’ and ‘halal (non-prohibited)’ with its products that brought an optimistic effect on its sales in such regions (Varley, pp. 81-84). Since few years, there have been huge advancements in the field of information and technology, and last of all, technology is one of the imperative tools that have facilitated the corporation in fulfilling its objectives while confronting different obstacles during its establishment in different parts of the globe. In this regard, Starbucks Corporation (2010) has done a remarkable job by utilizing different tools of technology to market its products and services in different parts of the globe. For instance, the corporation used the technological tools to issue free coupons on the internet that resulted in huge increment in its sales. In this regard, internet is an efficient tool that is allowing huge number of business organizations to interact with their consumers in a creative manner (Schneider & Barsoux, pp. 51-56). In particular, Starbucks Corporation played a critical role by shifting a number of its processes to ‘e-marketing’ that enabled it to grow rapidly on the retail global market. In conclusion, the paper included efforts of the researcher to discuss and analyze some of the different factors that played their role in the success or failure of business activities of Starbucks Corporation (2010). It is an observation that the corporation confronted a number of obstacles and difficulties while carrying out its business and marketing activities; however, at the same time, it utilized various forces of change effectively to acquire success in the field, and become a business leader in the global market. Finally, it is anticipation that the paper will be beneficial for students and professionals in better understanding of the topic. Works Cited Coe, John. The Fundamentals of Business-to-Business Sales & Marketing. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2003. Michelli, Joseph A. The Starbucks Experience. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2007. Riezebos, R. Brand Management. Prentice Hall, 2003. Rothacher, Albrecht. Corporate Cultures and Global Brands. World Scientific, 2004. Schneider, S. C. & Barsoux, J-L. Managing across cultures. Prentice Hall, 1997. Solomon, M. R. Consumer Behaviour. Prentice Hall, 2002. Starbucks. Starbucks Corporation, 2010. Retrieved on March 11, 2010: www.starbucks.com Stone, Phil. Make Marketing Work for You. How to Books Limited, 2001. Usunier, Jean-Claude & Lee J. Marketing across Cultures. FT Prentice Hall, 2005. Varley, Rosemary. Retail Product Management. Routledge, 2006. Read More