*** Use the contents of the 2 files available in the Business Plan Module in Canvas (Starbucks_Part 1 and Starbucks_Part 2), PLUS the contents of the videos in the YouTube Playlist for Starbucks, and all the practical knowledge you have been exposed to in our course, to complete this project ***

Pre-Project Requirement

PPR(a) List ALL the categories of products and services you can identify that are sold under the Starbucks brand.

PPR(b) List all the types of places you can buy one or more of Starbucks products/services.

PPR(c) List any places, partnerships, alliances, products or services Starbucks could make use of/develop/offer, which would have a positive impact on its financial/brand/image results?

Part I

Statement: We have never been in the coffee business. We are in the peoples business serving coffee.

Based on the statement above and its consequences, answer the following questions:

Question 1(a) What does this quote mean?

Question 1(b) Give 3 examples of its application to different companies in different industries.

Question 1(c) Explain if you agree, or disagree, and give reasons for it.

Question 1(d) How does this quote relate to the companys vision (To inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time)?

Part II

Question 2(a) According to Michael Porter, how the 'Five Forces Analysis ^1' of the Retail Coffee and Snacks Industry impact Starbucks?

(1) the threat of new entrants, the threat of substitutes, the bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of suppliers, and, the intensity of competitive rivalry

Question 2(b) How the impact of each of those five forces on a small coffee shop in Santa Monica (California) differs from the impact on Starbucks?

Question 2(c) If you were a strategist working for the small coffee shop in Santa Monica, what would your specific recommendations for action would be, in order to reverse the impact of those forces, and make the small shop enjoy an impact similar to those felt by Starbucks?

Question 2(d) What type of strategies Starbucks could adopt to eliminate, or minimize, competition from all small coffee shops (explain reasons for your recommendations)?

Part III

Statement: "Starbucks was originally conceived to be a relaxing place for people to go to between home and work. However, that is not entirely true for people in most major cities across the planet."

Question 3(a) Give reasons, and explain, if you agree/disagree with the above statement still holding for Starbucks today?

Question 3(b) Explain in details if anything at Starbucks needs to be fixed? And, if so, how would you do it?

Question 3(c) Would you say that many people go to Starbucks today for other reasons than just coffee? If so, explain in details. If not, explain in details.

Question 3(d) What major current technological trend ² can help Starbucks?

(2) the wifi was a technological trend Starbucks tood advantage of, when it first launched.

Question 3(e) How would you recommend Starbucks to take advantage of such trend?

Part IV

Statement: "It can be argued that for every cup of coffee sold at a coffee shop, people consume 10,000 cups of coffee elsewhere."

Question 4(a) Can you make any business sense of the statement above?

Question 4(b) How is your assessment in '4a' important for the future of Starbucks?

Question 4(c) What would you recommend Starbucks do, to try and capture the opportunity presented in the above statement?

Part V

Question 5(a) What would be your best guess for the revenue growth versus the net income from 2008 to 2013 on Appendix 5?

Question 5(b) Assuming your interpretation in '5a' above is right, would that represent an attractive performance for investors?

Question 5(c) Of all the financial ratios presented, which are the ratios performing the worst in that period?

Question 5(d) Of all the financial ratios presented, which 3 are the best performing ratios?

Part VI

After looking at the information on Appendix 7 about the history of contracts/agreements, new products/services, and acquisitions/mergers/takeovers, answer the following questions:

Question 6(a) Assuming you had all the power at Starbucks, what would you have the company do in terms of contracts, agreements, development of new products, offering of new services, new acquisitions, new mergers, and new takeovers? (there are no limits for answering this question, and you are only to recommend what you believe is best for the company)

Part VII

Question 7(a) Explain in details whether you believe McDonald's to be a real threat, or not.

Question 7(b) Regardless of your answer in '7a' above, what could you recommend McDonald's do, to take revenues from Starbucks' customers?

Part VIII

After watching some of the videos, you will learn how Starbucks failed in Australia.

Question 8(a) Explain your reasons for believing the recent actions/focus of the company in Australia will, or won't, be a success?

Question 8(b) What detailed recommendations to Starbucks would you advise to be a real success in Australia?

Bonus Question

(BN) What is the most important/intelligent/strategic question you can come up with in regards to Starbucks that relates to the contents of the two files?