I am critiquing Julie Phan's "Starbucks Expanding into China" blog. It was a very interesting topic and I agreed with her thoughts. She talks about how the Chinese culture is very much set on tea, and with Starbucks coming in trying to change the taste of Chinese people- it will be a huge task for them. Without knowing too much about this topic, it was interesting to learn this and see her perspective on this current issue. I like how she found a topic that she was interested in and really spilled her thoughts out and how it relates to consumers. Also, Julie picks a side that is not what Starbucks is currently doing, and I think this is always good to be challenging what's happening and see it from a different point of view. For example, she says: "I honestly thought that Starbucks should try to appeal more towards the China culture because it would be more of a gradual change that would get the Chinese people's attention. Starbucks decided to take the other route and want to change the taste of Chinese consumers all together. This is a big risk, seeing as how China's 1.3 billion people do not care for coffee, according to the article I read. " And I completely agree with her viewpoint.
Coincidently enough, I am just beginning a group project on Starbucks in one of my management classes. We are taking a look into companies that may be having some sort of problems and giving recommendatios on what they should do to turn it around. I just interviewed someone at the Starbucks on campus (Texas Union) yesterday, and it seems like Starbucks' strong points are the culture and atmosphere that they create within the store. So piggybacking off what Julie said about how "People don't only go there for the great tasting coffee, but they also come there for the experience." is completely true. Customers feel good and like they're drinking high quality, brand named coffee when they sit there and sip on their grande iced caramel macchiato with nonfat milk and a shot of something in it (which did you know Starbucks' macchiato is different from another coffee shop's macchiato? they just call it this, but in other coffee shops you'll find it under "latte").
So if that's their strength- what are their weaknesses? From my interview and research online, I've found that they have been opening up too many stores- you can almost find one on every major street corner now, similar to a gas station. The "specialty" of Starbucks that they once tried so hard to create is being shot down with the abundance of stores around the city. In Julie's blog she talks about how they are moving some of their business to China- and in my opinion, this is really going to be a hard task for Starbucks. Especially if their strength is in the experience they create at the store, I really don't think it will transfer as well into the Chinese culture. Also, stores like Mcdonalds and gas stations have cheap alternatives for a customer's coffee fix. You can run through the drive through line really quickly and be gone onto your next location at one of these locations. Starbucks has many competitors meaning many different acts that needs to be taken strategically on their part, and if they are hoping to be successful in the coming years- I think it's important for them to focus on what they're doing well on right now or change their strategy abroad. I realize that it is important to be global in this day and age, but it's also important to not spread yourself thin and start to fall in different areas opposed to focusing on what you can do well- and constantly challenging this area.
Coincidently enough, I am just beginning a group project on Starbucks in one of my management classes. We are taking a look into companies that may be having some sort of problems and giving recommendatios on what they should do to turn it around. I just interviewed someone at the Starbucks on campus (Texas Union) yesterday, and it seems like Starbucks' strong points are the culture and atmosphere that they create within the store. So piggybacking off what Julie said about how "People don't only go there for the great tasting coffee, but they also come there for the experience." is completely true. Customers feel good and like they're drinking high quality, brand named coffee when they sit there and sip on their grande iced caramel macchiato with nonfat milk and a shot of something in it (which did you know Starbucks' macchiato is different from another coffee shop's macchiato? they just call it this, but in other coffee shops you'll find it under "latte").
So if that's their strength- what are their weaknesses? From my interview and research online, I've found that they have been opening up too many stores- you can almost find one on every major street corner now, similar to a gas station. The "specialty" of Starbucks that they once tried so hard to create is being shot down with the abundance of stores around the city. In Julie's blog she talks about how they are moving some of their business to China- and in my opinion, this is really going to be a hard task for Starbucks. Especially if their strength is in the experience they create at the store, I really don't think it will transfer as well into the Chinese culture. Also, stores like Mcdonalds and gas stations have cheap alternatives for a customer's coffee fix. You can run through the drive through line really quickly and be gone onto your next location at one of these locations. Starbucks has many competitors meaning many different acts that needs to be taken strategically on their part, and if they are hoping to be successful in the coming years- I think it's important for them to focus on what they're doing well on right now or change their strategy abroad. I realize that it is important to be global in this day and age, but it's also important to not spread yourself thin and start to fall in different areas opposed to focusing on what you can do well- and constantly challenging this area.
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