Prepare Implementation plan with Power Point slides based on the following Recommendation

RECOMMENDATION

Through analyzing Starbucks Corporation through different matrices, I was able to come up with a couple of different strategies that Starbucks could implement within their corporation.

Short term objective

Lowering Costs: If Starbucks is able to lower its operating costs, expansion costs, and the prices of the inventory that they order, while maintaining the same amount of quality on its products and service, it could potentially rid itself of 3 major weaknesses in its company. This also allows them to compete at the same level as their low-cost competitors.

Further Their Differentiation:

Effective differentiation is critical to building a strong business, especially in a highly competitive marketplace. Starbucks products are not very different from other coffee companies, other than their quality. If Starbucks provided a new type of drink that could not be easily imitated by the public then that would increase its customer base because there would be another option on the menu that no one could obtain anywhere else. One way Starbucks can differentiate itself is by emphasizing on its superior product quality. Success in differentiating a coffee brand on taste quality revolves around impacting advertisements backed by a great product. it is critical that customers believe the taste quality exceeds the quality of less expensive competitors.

Hedging is another important aspect that ensures Starbucks can minimize commodity risks by arranging to sell its coffee and complementary food products at a future date. Coffee beans are a significant input into Starbucks value chain and there have been wide fluctuations in the market prices of high quality coffee beans. Starbucks could mitigate this price volatility risky by implementing an effective hedging strategy like future contracts to lock in their estimated quantity inputs at a low swing price so that the future costs can be managed to a greater extent.

Specific Strategies and Long-Term Objectives

The two main aspects of Starbucks Corporation that they could improve on are lowering their costs and setting themselves apart from their competitors. To lower their costs, they could purchase cheaper ingredients, while maintaining the same quality in their products and lower their costs in operations or land. This could lead to a lowering in their products for customers, which could lead to customer growth and market share growth within their industry.

Secondly, Starbucks could come up with a new drink that has never been thought of. This leads to differentiation within their industry and will also cause consumer growth because, assuming the new product is a massive success, and will also lead to growth in their market share.

Key Recommendations:

Starbucks biggest growth is in its International segment. The emerging markets of Brazil, India, China, South Africa and Mexico with a growing middle-class population continue to offer significant opportunities to add new stores and serve more customers. Starbucks has already made significant inroads into the Chinese market but there still is a lot of untapped potential growth in these markets. Starbucks should grow in these emerging markets by winning locally Starbucks must remain relevant to the customer in order to grow in these markets, and its management teams should have the freedom to operate within their overall framework to tailor store format, introduce local product mix and price points to the needs, lifestyles and tastes of each individual market/community.

Under Starbucks international strategy, it should transfer its core competencies and capabilities country to country and then gradually build profit drivers in several countries as it continues its global expansion in an organic way.

In terms of employees, Starbucks can link everyone to the performance of the company as a whole, every employee would have the same attitude, morale, and spirit as the CEO. By doing this, Starbucks can have a lower attrition rate than the other players in the industry. Also, the best way to achieve loyalty and goodwill in employees is to treat them like family. A sense of belonging would help them put their best foot forward and this would not only help achieve better performance but also cut the costs of training and recruiting.

Starbucks actually have the best value offering in the sense that by pricing its coffee competitively with the prevailing high-end coffee prices, Starbucks represents an attractive combination of price, its features, high quality, good service, and other attributes customers find attractive even when high price Is one of the key issues. The fact that Starbucks prides itself in customer service, providing the Starbucks experience for the customer, means that the business is mainly customer-oriented, and thus translates to strong customer power. Nonetheless, the greater the importance of the products quality or services to the customers, as is the case with coffees, there is the little extent of the buyers price sensitivity. This indicates that as long as Starbucks maintains quality products and superb customer service, individual customers are unlikely to be able to exert their buying powers. Therefore, it is good for Starbucks to maintain its prevailing high-end coffee prices.

From their 10-K, we can see that Starbucks invests very little in advertising and marketing initiatives. It would be recommended that Starbucks make significant investments in advertising and marketing initiatives in the face of increased competition in the market.

Further build and retain customer loyalty, by building on the beta concept of on-the-go home delivery.

Their mobile apps business drove 10% of the sales in the US, so it would be recommended for further building to streamline ease of use and payment process which would help drive more customers, decrease wait time in stores and increase efficiency. Integrating the Starbucks loyalty program with the mobile application would also be recommended.

Taking into consideration, the short-term and long-term strategies mentioned above,

We, therefore, recommend:

Market Development by generating revenues through new market segments and international store openings. It is the best alternative course of action and our preferred method to attain the company's strategic operation. Moreover, it is inclined to the company's stated vision, mission, and objectives since increasing international presence and exposure through entering new markets and opening stores are preferable to improving and creating a variety of products and growing market share for current products. In addition, the more stores throughout the world, the more loyalty and familiarity can be built among its existing and potential customers, which can positively impact the company's sales of food, beverages, and other merchandise.

Some more Recommendations SWOT Analysis of Starbucks Corporation

The industry environment of Starbucks involves diverse challenges, especially because of the companys moderate diversification. The coffeehouse chain business faces issues such as competition, imitation, and social trends that oppose international players in local markets. Based on the current condition of the business, some of the most notable strategic management concerns enumerated in this SWOT analysis of Starbucks Coffee Company are the imitability of products and the corresponding threat of imitation, the threat of competition involving low-cost sellers, and independent coffeehouse movements.

A recommendation to protect Starbuckss business against imitation is to aggressively innovate, especially in the area of product development. Innovation can make the companys products more difficult to imitate. It is also recommended that Starbucks Corporation consider pricing strategies that attract more customers. For instance, bundle pricing can help address the threat of competition involving low-cost sellers. Furthermore, a suitable recommendation, in this case, is to implement creative marketing and branding strategies that build Starbuckss corporate image as a contributor to community development. Such an image can help reduce sociocultural opposition against the companys expansion. These recommendations focus on minimizing the negative impacts of the internal and external factors enumerated in this SWOT analysis.