Competitive Advantage Paper

Starbucks is dominant coffee brand in North America, which also is well-known worldwide. Established in 1971 as coffee shop oriented to a niche of coffee purists, in late 1980’s it turned to be a constantly growing chain of stores that sold whole-beans and premium-priced coffee to mostly affluent, well-educated customers. In years 1992-2002 company was showing at least 5% annual growth. And by 2002 Starbucks was serving already 20M customers in 5886 stores (both operated and licensed) around the globe, had $3.3 billion net revenues and was opening 3 new stores a day in average.

As Starbucks moves into new markets all over the world, it continues to build its brand through the delivery of the Starbucks Experience. "Our success at every market that we have entered into reiterates our commitment to become a great, enduring company with the most recognized and respected brand in the world, known for inspiring and nurturing the human spirit. Our Mission: to be a global company, making a difference in peoples ' lives by leveraging our brand and the coffee experience to foster human connections." (www.starbucks.com)Starbucks ' development strategy adapts to different markets addressing local needs and requirements. Starbucks currently uses three business strategies: joint ventures, licenses, and company-owned operations.

“Every business has its own business strategy which leads the company towards success and accomplishment.” (Stankeviciute et al., 2012, p. 1200). The following analysis will examine the similarities and differences between Starbucks and Walmart in regards to people, profit, and planet.

Starbucks celebrates 40 years with 17,000 stores in more than 50 countries (Goals & Progress, 2010). Starbucks thrive on their values as a company to improve the lives of people who grow their coffee, neighborhoods where the company does business, and they care for the environment (Goals & Progress, 2010). Starbucks strives to incorporate good business practices and ethics across the globe not only for the enhancement of the company but also for the enhancement of the stakeholders and the communities the company impacts. Starbuck’s mission statement is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit. As said by Howard Schultz, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, in the 2010

starbucks Corp., an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington, has expanded rapidly since its opening in 1971. These outrageous success was due to its well-developed strategy vision which lay out the company's strategic course in developing and strengthening its business. Starbucks is a global corporation that sells authentic coffee in 30 countries, reporting revenues of nearly $5.1 billion in 2006. The main goal of Starbucks is to embrace diversity by applying the highest standards of excellence. Starbucks strives to perfect the relationship with the working class by making the service as fast as possible because they believe that every customer has their own personal rate. One

Riordan’s organization sells heart valves, plastic bottles, fans, and medical stents. Clearly, Riordan has a large variety of products. Organizations use a competitive strategy with cost leadership, which seeks tight cost controls. Cost controls pursue efficient ways to cut cost and be more efficient than the competition. Decreasing business costs every way

Starbucks opened in 1971, as a single store in Pike Place Market, Seattle. Starbucks only grew and grew since its first store, selling more than 30 different blends of exotic coffees along with a large plethora of other beverages and snacks (Company Profile). The coffee company grew into the world's largest coffee marketer of coffee, Starbucks has dedicated itself to honour its mission which is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit- one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time (Company Profile) . The company believes in reducing its impact on the planet and to promote a positive change through its actions. Starbucks provides their goals and processed on how their game plan of how they are planning on achieving their environmental goals. The company claim that they have been promoting the use of reusable cups as well as increasing the amount of recycling that is done in their stores (Starbucks Recycling) Starbucks has made a goal to cut their water consumption by 25 % by last year (Energy and Water) Moreover, Starbucks has installed Energy Management Systems in over 4,000 of their stores (Water and Energy). Starbucks acknowledges their responsibility in becoming more sustainable, claiming that they are only doing the best for the planet. Starbucks has also been LEEDS (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) certified

Starbucks coffee company is one of the most powerful American Corporations, it founded in 1971, inside a historic public market called Pike Place Market in Seattle Washington by three partners (lee, n.d). Starbucks company commenced with a small shop specializing in brewing products and providing high-quality coffee addition to teas, today it become a leading retailer of specialty beans, large variety coffee beverages, different pastries, and snacks, with approximately 24,000 stores in over 70 countries such as Belgium, Brazil, china, and Cyprus, and it is serving millions of costumers daily with unique product and premium prices (“Starbucks company profile,” n.d). The main international competitors of Starbucks are Costa the British coffee

Starbucks has become the world leader as the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 23,132 stores in 65 countries, including 12,937 in the United States, 2,004 in China, 1,416 in Canada, 1,135 in Japan and 849 in the United Kingdom (www.starbucks.com). Since its creation in Seattle, 1971, the coffee giant has several different product lines from pastries, flavored hot and cold drinks, whole-bean coffee, micro ground instant coffee, bear, wine (at some locations), entertainment to include music, books and grocery store packaged products. Their mission is to establish Starbucks as the premier

The company founded Starbucks has experienced rapid growth since its first store opened in Seattle in March 1971. The impressive expansion over recent years has left it penetrate within the market of the top 100 best global brands of 2012, according to Interbred, and also it has been considered by Fortune magazine as one of the 500 largest companies in the world. Starbucks is now the largest coffee retailer in the world.

Starbucks is undoubtedly an international brand. The history of coffee traces back to Ethiopia, Africa, India, Arabia, and Europe, and has been traded abroad since the 11th century. Understanding the demand and widespread market for coffee, Starbucks has triumphantly capitalized both the domestic market, and the varied international markets as well. Possessing about 6,500 retail sites worldwide, Starbucks’ net is spread across thirty countries and has been found as one of the most recognized brands all over the globe in equality to McDonalds and Toyota. This organization’s ability to build an international brand has been unprecedented- particularly since it represents a specialty

In general the coffeehouse industry in the United States was experiencing an increase in coffee consumption per capita due to the “Starbucks effect”. At this time Starbucks was operating approximately 20,000 stores in the United States and was living a fast expansion strategy worldwide.

Starbucks first opened its doors in Seattle’s Pike Place Market with the name being coined from that of Moby Dick’s first mate (Schultz & Yang 1999). It has spread its shops across North America, all over Europe, the Middle East, Latin America as well as the Pacific Rim with an estimated 35 million customer weekly (Michelli, 2008). With tremendous growth from a small time coffee shop, the company has matured to an international icon that today it is one of the world’s leading retailer, roaster and brand specialty coffee (Story, 1971). The company offers whole bean coffees, espresso beverages, and confectionery and bakery items.

The following essay is going to attempt to assess the above proposition and try to find if it is possible to add value continually over a period of time. I will first discuss what competitive advantage is and what it means to a firm. Then I will explain the sources of competitive advantage and how the distinctive capabilities of a firm allow it to sustain added value. The discussion is based on a number of viewpoints from different authors who will be clearly indicated and acknowledged. I begin with explaining what competitive advantage is.

Competitive advantages are conditions that permit an organization or nation to deliver a decent or administration at a lower cost or in a more alluring manner for clients. These conditions permit the gainful element to produce a bigger number of offers or unrivaled edges than its opposition. Competitive advantages are ascribed to an assortment of components, including cost structure, mark, nature of item offerings, dispersion and system, licensed innovation and customer support. Samsung had settled on the choice to receive design as a wellspring of competitive advantage in the 1990s. Prior, the company 's items had been unsatisfying and undifferentiated. In the mid1990s, the Group administrator, Kun-Hee Lee, started Samsung 's change from a low-end OEM into a world-class gadgets organization. Honing the company 's design aptitudes was a critical part of the activity. Be that as it may, this required significant changes in culture, procedures, and frameworks inside the organization. Samsung understood that competitive advantage can be accomplished through the design innovation. Samsung 's voyage toward design greatness began in 1993. That year, Lee supposedly went by a gadgets store in Los Angeles, USA. He saw, sadly, that the Samsung items in plain view looked ugly, while the results of Sony and some different organizations looked a great deal all the more engaging. He discovered too that the business staff at the store were themselves overlooking the Samsung