POST BUS411 UNIT 2 DISCUSSION-Starbucks Coffee

Starbucks

Review the closing case on Starbucks at the end of Chapter 3 in your textbook.This case is well positioned to use for analyzing the external environment, competitive advantage, competitive positioning, employee incentives and culture.Post your answers to the following questions on the discussion board after reviewing the external (industry) and internal (company) analysis factors in chapters 2 and 3, as well as any other additional research you wish to perform on the company. (At least one substantive paragraph on each question required, plus at least two comments on classmates’ posts. Copy each question with your answer.)

1. Analyze the specialty coffee café industry using Porter’s Five Forces and Macroenvironmental Analysis. What are the key success factors in this industry?
2. What are Starbucks’ strengths and weaknesses? Does it have any sources of sustainable competitive advantage
3. Porter argues that to achieve a sustainable position, a company has to make trade-offs that its competitors are unable or unwilling to make. What trade-offs has Starbucks made? What different activity choices has it made from its rivals?
4. How is Starbucks’ product positioned in the market? How do its functional-level strategies align (or fail to align) with this positioning?