Starbucks is an international company which was started in 1971 at Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Today, Starbucks operates in around 60 countries around the world, and they have more than 18,000 stores. Starbucks keep expanding the number of retail stores, and as a result it is the largest and most well-known coffee shop in the world. In 1987, Howard Schulz bought Starbucks, and the company really took off in a dramatic way, and has continued to be successful from that time until today. Howard Schulz was determined to make Starbucks into a “place for conversation and community,” and this idea influenced the Starbucks mission, which is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” Starbucks has been working to increase customer satisfaction by improving beverage taste, the speed of service provided, the friendliness of Starbucks employees, and by bringing forth new retail and beverage items constantly. To Starbucks, providing service is more important than the quality of coffee. Starbucks strives to provide quality customer service and create an inviting atmosphere and an exceptional cup of coffee.
1. Identify the controllable and uncontrollable elements that Starbucks has encountered in entering global markets. According to the text, the controllable elements are those which are within the organization and are eligible to controlling the operation of an organization, which includes the management, or more detailed business plans or strategies they are carrying. The controllable elements that Starbucks has encountered in entering global markets would be higher price in Italy, and their promotion. Starbucks spends just 1% of revenue on Advertisement of new launches. There are many uncontrollable elements such as competition, culture economic forces and political/legal forces. Organizations cannot control the uncontrollable elements, but they must learn to adapt to them or, in other