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Starbucks : a story of growth / Craig Garthwaite, Meghan Busse, Jennifer Brown & Greg Merkley.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextSeries: Publisher: [London] : SAGE, 2016Description: 1 online resource : illustrations (black and white, and colour)Content type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • computer
Carrier type:
  • online resource
ISBN:
  • 9781473977273 (ebook) :
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 658.406 23
Online resources: Founded in 1971 and acquired by CEO Howard Schultz in 1987, Starbucks was an American success story. In forty years it grew from a single-location coffee roaster in Seattle, Washington to a multibillion-dollar global enterprise that operated more than 17,000 retail coffee shops in fifty countries and sold coffee beans, instant coffee, tea, and ready-to-drink beverages in tens of thousands of grocery and mass merchandise stores. However, as Starbucks moved into new market contexts as part of its aggressive growth strategy, the assets and activities central to its competitive advantage in its retail coffee shops were altered or weakened, which made it more vulnerable to competitive threats from both higher and lower quality entrants. The company also had to make decisions on vertical integration. This case study discusses these issues.
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Originally Published in: Garthwaite, C., Busse, M., Brown, J., & Merkley, G. (2012). Starbucks: A Story of Growth (case revised 03/01/2012). 5-211-259. Evanston, IL: Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Founded in 1971 and acquired by CEO Howard Schultz in 1987, Starbucks was an American success story. In forty years it grew from a single-location coffee roaster in Seattle, Washington to a multibillion-dollar global enterprise that operated more than 17,000 retail coffee shops in fifty countries and sold coffee beans, instant coffee, tea, and ready-to-drink beverages in tens of thousands of grocery and mass merchandise stores. However, as Starbucks moved into new market contexts as part of its aggressive growth strategy, the assets and activities central to its competitive advantage in its retail coffee shops were altered or weakened, which made it more vulnerable to competitive threats from both higher and lower quality entrants. The company also had to make decisions on vertical integration. This case study discusses these issues.

Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on May 4, 2016).

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