*** 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 answer the questions below ** 

1. “We have never been in the coffee business. We are in the people’s business serving coffee”. (a) What does this quote mean? (b) Give 3 examples of its application to different companies in different industries. (c) Explain if you agree, or disagree, and give reasons for it. (d) How does this quote relate to the company’s vision (“To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time”)?
2. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis of the Retail Coffee and Snacks Industry comprehends (a) the threat of new entrants, (b) the threat of substitutes, (c) the bargaining power of buyers, (d) the bargaining power of suppliers, and, (e) the intensity of competitive rivalry. (2.1) How do you believe Starbucks is impacted by those five forces? (2.2) How the impact of each of those five forces on a small coffee shop in Santa Monica (California) differs from the impact on Starbucks? (2.3) 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? (2.4) What type of strategies Starbucks could adopt to eliminate, or minimize, competition from all small coffee shops (explain reasons for your recommendations)?
3. 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. (3.1) Why is that? What is really happening? (3.2) What, in your opinion, needs to be fixed? And, how would you fix it? (3.3) Would you say that many people go to Starbucks today for other more important reasons than just coffee? Explain. (3.4) What major current technological trend can help Starbucks? How would you recommend Starbucks to take advantage of that?
4. It can be argued that for every cup of coffee sold at a coffee shop, people consume 10,000 cups of coffee elsewhere. (4.1) Can you make any business sense of that? (4.2) How is your assessment of that important for the future of Starbucks? (4.3) If your hiring at Starbucks depended on your ability to capture 5% of those 10,000 cups of coffee, what ideas would you recommend to Starbucks?
5. How could you explain the revenue growth versus the net income from 2008 to 2013 on Appendix 5? (5.1) Does that represent an attractive performance for investors? (5.2) Of all the financial ratios presented, which are the ratios performing the worst in that period? (5.3) Which 3 are the best performing ratios?
6. After looking at the information on Appendix 7 about the history of contracts/agreements, new products/services, and acquisitions/mergers/takeovers, (6.1) if you had all the power at Starbucks, what would the (a) next contract/agreement, (b) new product(s), (c) new service(s), and, (d) new acquisitions/mergers/takeovers, would you recommend to Starbucks, if the cost to do so would not be a barrier?
7. (a) Why McDonald’s is not a real threat? (b) How could McDonald’s be a real threat?
8. After watching some of the videos, you will learn how Starbucks failed in Australia. (a) Do you believe the recent actions/focus of the company in Australia will be seem as a real success for the company there? (b) Explain your reasons. (c) If you believe the company will continue to fail after the changes, recommend strategies to make it succeed.
9. (a) List ALL the categories of products and services you can identify that are sold under the Starbucks brand. (b) List all the types of places you can buy one or more of Starbucks products/services. (c) Can you think of any recommendations that represent untapped potential of significant revenues? Explain, and give detailed examples.
10. (Bonus Question) 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? Answer it.