Supply Chain Management for Starbucks: An Analysis of Components and Links

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Supply Chain Management
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Introduction
Starbucks is an organization that has been able to gain more popularity in various places
that are located around the world. Moreover, the organization is known to be governed by senior
officials who are well trained in their respective areas of work and have been able to come up
with a wide range of strategies to ensure that the organization moves to the required level in the
coming years. It is an American coffee company that has been able to serve different types of
consumer segments that are found both at the internal level together with the external level that
consists of different consumer segments who are known to be having quite a number of
characteristics. To make sure that the products that are attached to the company is capable of
reaching the consumers with minimal efforts so far, Starbucks has been able to fully invest in its
supply chain sectors thus obtaining one of the best conditions that has always allowed the
management to distribute products of different sizes to various customers irrespective of their
distance of separation from the manufacturing position (Birk et al. 2016). Additionally, the
supply chain sector is always one of the most sensitive sectors within an organization since it has
the capability of fully determining the time total time that it takes for a variety of products and
services to be able to reach out to the customers. Coming up with a reliable and convenient
supply chain sector within an organization is something that cannot just be done through a one
step process but instead, it involves a wide analysis of various issues and parameters by also
making sure that different parties are fully involved in the entire process. A reasonable and
reliable supply chain is known to be consisting of different types of major components together
with quite a number of relevant links that are able to provide an appropriate and reliable
guideline in relation to some of the operations and procedures that needs to be done.
Organizations that tend to have a more developed condition of supply chain have been able to
reach out to quite a number of customers within a short time possible and at the same time

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making sure that they are supplied with quality products that are capable of serving their needs
over a certain period without any complaints being raised. Moreover, quite a number of
companies have been able to compete among them (Iglesias 2016). Fortunately, the ones that
have always put much focus on the supply chain to come up with some of the advanced
techniques that can strongly help them to distribute all their products and services, have been
able to emerge as some of the best in terms of this mode of competition since by developing a
reliable mode of supply chain, it will also be much easier to clearly understand some of the
expectations in relation to be type of goods and services that are given to them. Moreover, it is
the duty of the top management personnel to determine what type of supply chain they want to
apply within the organization. This normally depends on the way various customer segments are
distributed across different sectors.
An audit of major components of all the relevant links in the supply chain
This is as sector that is known to be consisting of quite a number of parameters that are fully
attached to Starbucks Company. Some of the major components that are associated with the
relevant links in the supply chain include the following;
 Information- According to what is entailed within the supply chain of the entire
organization, the management team has been able to present one of the most reliable
information associated with the coffee products through the use of quite a number of the
use of quite a number of modern technological aspects (Sheikhtaheri, Sadoughi and
Ghazizadeh 2016). Appropriate and reliable information given to the customers in
relation to the product has been able to scale up the supply chain of the entire
organization since large number of customers are getting attracted to the product as a

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result of the information which in turn leads to a high demand thus increasing the level of
supply chain to various areas.
 Physical storage- The Company has been able to provide the first priority when it comes
to the physical storage of its coffee products. The products are always stored in
containers having the logo of the organization aimed towards giving it a sense of
belonging and also increasing its popularity most so in new market areas. Moreover, the
containers used by the organizations to pack the products are strongly manufactured to
make sure that no or minimal break downs are encountered during the supply of the
coffee products across various customers. As a result of an appropriate physical storage
of the product, the organization has been able to appropriately address its supply chain
appropriately thus making it to come up with one of the best competitive advantages
within a good number of market platforms. At the same time, Starbucks has also been
focused with quite a number of physical storages that are available within the distribution
sections and levels, as a result of this, the organization has been able to provide the
distributors with appropriate storage facilities that are being used that can be used to store
the coffee products for long periods thus providing a sustainable supply chains to all the
customers regardless of the areas where they are situated (Ismail and Ali 2016).
 Management- As far as the supply chain sector for Starbucks is concerned; the
management has been able to come up with quite a number of techniques and strategies
that majorly aims towards increasing the performance of the company through an
increased rate of goods supply within various targeted regions (Krasniqi 2014).
Moreover, its management has been able to operate through quite a number of supply
chain rules that are being followed without making any assumptions and as a result of