QUESTIONS ABOUT STARBUCKS

What are the reasons behind Starbucks success in international strategy entry to different
markets? What do you think of the cultural influence on a business such as Starbucks?

The main reasons behind the success of Starbucks in entry to international markets are its
choice of partnerships and partnership strategies, in addition to its adaptation to the local
cultures and customer preferences in the new market.

Starbucks had to choose a partner that would facilitate their creation and expansion of
coffee bars in the international arena, under the principle of putting the goals of the
companies as a top priority.

Starbucks offers coffee, which is not a new commodity. Therefore, it needed to have a
competitive advantage by distinguishing its services.

Such an advantage was apparent in the way it delivers its products and the setting,
atmosphere of its shops.

Starbucks also succeeded in adapting to the culture in that country by providing a casual
atmosphere, ample seating areas and dine in or carry out services.

How Starbucks uniqueness is expressed in developing partnerships and how it gained its
competitive advantage and how to sustain it?

As far as the competitive advantage is concerned, Starbucks believes that it is their work
force that is their competitive advantage.

Sustaining and protecting their competitive advantage: By forming a successful

partnership with the Japanese Sazaby company helped Starbucks protect its competitive
advantage and make it more sustainable, since it had a high quality workforce.

As for the uniqueness in developing their partnerships, Starbucks was different by setting
six criteria which they used to choose their partnerships in each new market.

They looked for companies with similar ideas about values and corporate life, wanted
companies that had experience in the multi-restaurant business and searched for partners
that have enough financial resources, experience and knowledge to help saturate a given
market and commit to a long-term lucrative project.