Explain how the company's global strategy operates Research Paper

Explain how the company's global strategy operates - Research Paper Example People visit Starbucks owing to its reputation and the status symbol it has built for itself. The business model of Starbucks is a well-repudiated and successful one worldwide. The report throws light on the success of the international strategies that are undertaken by the company and also examines the position of the company in the global market. The coffee giant has also encountered with a lot of challenges in the international as well as the national market. The last section of the report regards certain recommendations to overcome the challenges that are faced by the company in the international market (Speiser, 2003). Starbucks Corporation Starbucks Corporation is a global coffee giant and coffee house chain which is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the largest coffee company in world that owns around 20,891 coffee stores in sixty-three countries worldwide. In United States (US), it has 13,279 stores and target to channelize their services to every corner of the worl d with coffee and merchandise. The Starbucks coffee shops offers cold and hot beverages, bean coffee, full leaf teas, pastries and snacks. Apart from these, Starbucks also provides with entertainment products such as books, film and music CDs. The ice cream brand of Starbucks is also offered at the grocery stores (Peng, 2009). Every day billions of people worldwide sip into the coffee mugs at Starbucks at any time of the day just to enjoy the taste of the coffee with their friends, families and loved ones. There has been an increase in demand in coffee industry and with it the competition has increased. The main competition in the coffee industry started in 2007 after the sales of coffee rose up to 50% (Burritt, 2007). Thus, Starbucks have faced certain challenges from their competitors. Global Strategy of Starbucks Corporation The global strategies that are developed by the company can be explained through the expansion plans and more which are explained in this section. Competitiv e Strategy Starbucks concentrates on serving a niche segment of consumers which the rivals are incapable of doing. Starbucks attracts coffee lovers and even non-lovers of coffee by providing brewed coffee and delicious snacks and ice creams which are unbeatable in their standards. The gossip over the coffee and snacks are much enjoyed when it is in Starbucks as the environment is very comfortable. Thus, the company concentrates more on comfort of the customers so that they feel at home and visit the shops often (Virginia’s community colleges, 2013). Four Fold Strategy The Starbucks chain has inserted the booming coffee culture in the American urban society easily with the four fold strategy which is as follows: a. Market segmentation: The Company has planned for market segmentation plan after making a rigorous market research. The market research included the tastes and preferences of the people. The company has always maintained its high position in the coffee market. It com petes with its rivals on the grounds of comfort and not in terms of convenience. The closest competitors are Dunkin Donuts and McDonald (Ghemawat, 2007). b. A superb leadership: The founder of the company, Howard Schultz has worked hard for innovating products which will attract