Question

Topic: Student Questions

A Introductory Question From A Marketing Student

Posted by Anonymous on 3/1/2007 at 11:56 AM ET 125 Points
Hey everyone,
Currently I'm a 1st year Business student in Ontario and I'm having a bit of a problem with my Marketing Projects!!

I've browsed your boards for a little while now, and decided to register in order to hopefully help solve the dilemma I have currently!

I am working on a Situation analysis on the Company Starbucks, and was given a worksheet with most of the information in regards to the company to generate a response to the questions needed.

Now my problem resides in the External Analysis (IE. Demographics, Social/cultural, Economic etc.) are these key points (especially technological) - formed on basis of opinion or facts? As I am having trouble deciding what Technological points would actually be in use for a company such as Starbucks - my research has warranted perhaps the investigation of different types of brands of coffee?? Other than that I am kind of stumped.

Thanks a lot in advance for any input.
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted by steven.alker on 3/12/2007 at 11:20 PM Accepted
    For Starbucks, the external factors are factual, albeit that unless they are published in the company report, they are inferred by analysts.

    The subjective factors are derived from focus groups and interviews – how pleasant does the diesel oil that they sell masquerading as coffee taste in comparison to others, how pleasant are their sofas, how polite are their staff.

    The objective factors are the technical ones. The location of stores, proximity to population centres within a city, the footfall in the shop, the turnaround time, the cost of the supplies and the drinks, the logistics of supply and the expenditure on above the line and below the line marketing, to name but a few.

    It is also possible to examine the technology deployed in making their dishwater. Are the machines economic to run and to maintain? Do they serve faster than the competition? Does this matter?

    The last technical point is the deployment of capital and the return on investment from a cash-flow point of view and from a strategic viewpoint. For instance, in the UK a number of coffee houses are yet to turn in an operating profit. This does not mean that they are failing, simply that they have projected a loss as they build market share and amortise start-up costs.

    These are the aspects you should probably be considering. It’s one of those projects where I wouldn’t foist on-site research on my worst enemy – Lord Almighty, imaging having to drink 10 cups of that stuff a day to get a feel for the place!

    Best wishes

    Steve Alker
    Unimax Solutions

BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Student Questions)