The Future of Starbucks

SWOT Analysis: Starbucks The overarching goal of a SWOT analysis is to identify those issues that will provide practitioners with the information they need to develop an informed strategic approach or analyze an entity of interest (Cravens 37). In sum, a SWOT analysis identifies the respective strengths and weaknesses which are internal to the entity as well as opportunities and threats which are external to the entity (Cravens 37).

This paper provides a SWOT analysis of Starbucks, followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning this company in the conclusion.

Strengths With more than 22,000 retail outlets in 67 countries, some of the major strengths of Starbucks's (hereinafter alternatively "the company") include its market saturation (the Starbucks brand includes Starbucks Coffee, Seattle's Best Coffee, Teavana, Tazo, Evolution Fresh, La Boulange, Ethos Water and Torrefazione Italia Coffee), commitment to quality and enlightened human resource policies which have provided the company with a sustained competitive advantage in a highly competitive marketplace (Company profile 2).

In fact, the company only purchases its coffee beans from trusted business partners that have a proven track record of quality production (Company profile 3). Comment by Hassan: Not in your reference list? Is this from the Starbucks website? Please see works cited page. Weaknesses Perhaps the company's greatest weakness is the relatively high prices it charges for its beverage products. For instance, Allerton emphasizes that if you order a latte five days a week on your way to work every week [from Starbucks](deducting vacation time). The total: $921.20" (136).

While a $6 cup of coffee may appeal to some consumers, it is reasonable to suggest that Starbucks has priced itself out of the price range of many consumers in the markets in which it competes. The company also suffers from a high level of unplanned employee turnover which adds to its operating costs (Allerton 136).

Opportunities As noted above, at present, the company operates retail outlets in 67 countries but these are primarily located in the United States, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, and the only African country in which the company competes is Egypt (Company profile 5). Coffee is enormously popular, though, in a growing number of African countries today, making these countries a viable opportunity for the expansion of the Starbucks' brand in the future (Cafe society 51).

In addition, the company could expand its product and service offerings to include office party or private event catering. Threats Although more research is this area is needed, there is a growing body of evidence that coffee consumption, especially significant daily amounts, is associated with a number of health care issues, including increased risk of heart attacks (Price 5).

While additional studies are needed, these types of high-profile media reports of this type of research could reasonably be expected to harm Starbucks' sales in the future, especially if scientists identified a proven link between coffee consumption and disease processes. In addition, the company may be reaching saturation levels in its current markets, reinforcing the viability of the above-described opportunity. Comment by Hassan: You may have used the wrong form of this word. Thank you for catching this typo.

Conclusion Although it is difficult to argue with success, the research showed that Starbucks is not out of the woods yet. The research showed that while the company has expanded its operations to include more than 22,000 stores in.