Introduction
Environment scanning is a term that is used to refer to monitoring, assessment, and disseminating information from both internal and external environment analysis to the key individuals in an organization. The tool is used by organizations to guarantee its long-term success and also avoid things such as strategic surprise. Strategy formulation is critical in organizations and companies should carry out external environment scan before beginning strategy formulation. Thus external environmental scan identifies the threats and opportunities of a company while the internal environment scan identifies the weaknesses and strengths of the organization. Thus, this essay seeks to evaluate external and internal environment of Starbucks, analyzing the competitive advantage of the company, assessing the strategies adopted by the company to achieve a competitive advantage, and also examining the measurement guidelines that Starbucks uses to verify its strategic effectiveness.
Internal and External Environments of Starbucks using Environmental Scan
The mission of Starbucks is to nurture and inspire the human spirit (Starbucks Corporation, 2011). To be profitable and competitive, the company must do scanning of its external and internal environments and adjust changes so as to make the organization appealing to the customers. Starbucks internal environment is very pleasant and appealing to the customers. Starbucks is one of the organizations where customers can go and various premium blended drinks or a cup of coffee. The company also offers the customers with healthy snacks, and this also makes it attractive to consumers who are health sensitive. The inside environment of Starbucks pleasant and quiet and thus many people prefer to choose it as a place where they can meet and chat with their friends. Starbucks is famous for its wide range of product offering and also its capitalization on numerous opportunities to make it attractive to the customers. The major threat to the company is competition from other enterprises like McDonald's and to deal with it, Starbuck’s should generate more innovative ideas if it wishes to maintain its share in the market.
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The Competitive Advantage of Starbucks
Starbucks has already gained a competitive advantage over its giants in the market. There are various ways in which the company maintains a competitive advantage. First, the company believes in the generation of new ideas (Starbucks Corporation, 2011). For example, initially, the company did not offer things such as free-Wi-Fi to the customers. However, due to technological advancements, the company provides Wi-Fi services in the majority of its outlets so as to make the customers comfortable. Secondly, the company keeps on offering new products that keep on attracting more customers to the business. Lastly, it offers new experiences for its new clients. For example, it hires designers to make various artworks.
Strategies used by Starbucks to create Values and Gain a Competitive Advantage
Starbucks is among the companies known for the creation of value to the customers and in sustaining its competitive advantage (White & Moraschinelli, 2009). One way in which it does that is through responding to the needs of the customers by producing healthy products because many consumers have become health sensitive and turned to healthy products. Starbucks not only offers the customers with the best coffee but also provides numerous healthier options. It offers healthy teas, fresh fruit, healthy lunch options, low-fat beverages and other various healthier products that its chief competitors (White & Moraschinelli, 2009). The other way in which the company gains a competitive advantage is trough using various entry modes to expand their business to other nations. Such mods include licensing use of subsidiaries and joint ventures
Measurement Guidelines Starbucks uses to validate its Strategic Effectiveness
In the 1990s and 2000s when Starbucks established new stores, it did not know that some of its new stores would cannibalize the existing stores. Use of customer satisfaction surveys as a measurement guideline to verify its strategic effectiveness helped the company learn that aspect. Some consumers claimed that Starbucks had too many outlets that were close to each other. Customer satisfaction surveys are thus regarded as useful tools for organizations to learn what customers think and learn about their operation. These surveys act as insight to companies about factors such as convenience and customer service.
Effectiveness of the Measurement Guidelines Used by Starbucks
PMcrunch (2009) argued that a customer satisfaction survey that is well designed helps an organization identify issues facing it so that the issues can be addressed (PMcrunch, 2009). Consistent customer satisfaction gives a warning to the organization regarding areas where it is losing out its customers to the competitors. These customer satisfaction surveys helped Starbucks determine the needs and wants of the customers. At times, some clients may make undoable or unreasonable requests due to financial issues and regardless of that satisfaction surveys act as a building block to an organization to know what keeps the existing customers and what brings new customers to the organization. Through customer satisfaction surveys, Starbucks realized that the business needs to increase its snack line and provide more products than pastries. Starbucks heeded to the request of the customers and expanded its snacks line
Conclusion
In summary, environmental scanning is a vital tool for all organizations. For companies to ensure their existence, they need to focus on long-term success. For Starbucks case, many competitors exist in the industry and offer similar goods and services at reduced prices. Starbucks should thus be aware of its strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats so as to maintain its share in the market. If the organization does not generate new ideas to make the customers happy, it can be detrimental to the organization since it can lose many customers to its competitors. Since the society and the environment are changing, companies have no other options other than implementing the changes and offering the customers with what they want.
References
PMcrunch. (2009). How to Write Effective Customer Satisfaction Surveys . Retrieved from http://pmcrunch.com/project_management_process/how-to-write-effective-customer-satisfaction-surveys/
Starbucks Corporation. (2011). Mission statement/Starbucks coffee company. Retrieved from http://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information/mission-statement
White, B., & Moraschinelli, E. (2009). The Pursuit of Sustainable Competitive Advantage: A Profile of the Starbucks Corporation.
