International Business Report: Starbucks, Amazon, Child Labor Analysis

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Starbucks' international business strategies, focusing on its global expansion, growth drivers, and digital engagement tactics. It examines the company's successes and failures, particularly its challenges in the Australian market. The report also explores Amazon's need to embrace logistic management software and technology to enhance service delivery, including the automation of customs clearance and the use of robotics. Furthermore, the report addresses the ethical issue of child labor, discussing its causes, forms, and the responsibilities of businesses to prevent it. The report highlights the importance of ethical sourcing and corporate social responsibility in combating child labor practices, emphasizing the need for thorough research and campaigns against child labor to protect children globally.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS 1
International business
Student Name
Institution

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Starbucks is one of the greatest companies around the world who have dedicated their
time to providing consumers with quality coffee. Every business dream is to grow and expand
and have branches all over the world and that is not an exception for Starbucks which is on a
mission to open branches in nearly all the countries of the world. The main growth drivers of the
company include a growing number of stores. This helps as a marketing tool because for a
business to be successful, the products should be readily available so as to create convenience to
consumers of the product. The company has embarked on having drive-through stores where
people do not have to get out of their vehicles in order to have their favorite coffee. The
company also have express stores where were customers are served their orders without much
waiting which helps in saving time.
The company has also decided to elevate the coffee experience. According to the 4p’s in
the marketing mix, the products offered should be unique and satisfy the needs and preferences
of the customers for the venture to be profitable. The customer experience is enabled by having
customized experience for different customers and this has enabled the company to enjoy
customer loyalty and also attract more customers from competing for coffee shops. The company
also provides quality coffee which has led the company to grow rapidly in various nations
around the world. The company has also started to provide foods at the cafes and this has
enabled the company to improve on its sources of revenue. This has enabled the company to
have sufficient funds to finance the rapid growth without affecting the working capital of the
business.
Digital engagement has enabled the company to have a close relationship with customers
and this has created the needed connection with consumers which is needed to create good
customer relations. Digital engagement has also led to having digital applications to enable

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digital payments such as mobile go and pay. This enables customers to order products at the
comfort of their offices and homes. Digital marketing has also enabled the brand to be known all
over the world. Digital marketing has led to improved sales which have led to improved revenue
for the company. The company has also changed the loyalty program which entailed the number
of frequencies. The loyalty program now focuses on the amount spend rather than the frequency
of the customers. This has enabled the company to reduce the long queues which discouraged
many customers who could spend more.
Despite the success of Starbucks, the company has failed to be successful in Australia
because of various factors. The factors include the fact that the company growth was too fast and
the company did not have time to integrate in the Australia market. This forced the company to
close down various shops and the consumers had no connection with the market. The stiff
competition also forced the company not to enjoy business success as it has done in other
nations. Australia is known all over the world as the company with the bestselling coffee
companies. The company sold sugary drinks which the Australians did not like and this meant
that the company offered products and services which did not satisfy the needs and preferences
of the Australian market. The Starbucks Company failed to adopt Australian coffee culture and
this resulted in the downfall of the company. The other factor which resulted in the failure of the
business was because the company charged more for the coffee than the competitors. The
company did not provide coffee which could permit charging of premium prices and this meant
that the company overpriced its products and this scared away customers leading to the failure of
the business.
The change in business dynamics has forced various companies to embrace technology so
as to enhance service delivery and minimize the lead time. Technology plays a critical role in

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service delivery as its speed the process and this leads to customer satisfaction. Amazon needs to
embrace logistic management software to facilitate the movement of products from when orders
are placed to when they are delivered to customers. This will facilitate products to move swiftly
as clients can track the movement of the products and this will enable the connection between the
client and the products. This will minimize cases of delayed products and even reduce defaulting
by customers. The software will also lead to a strong relationship between the customers and this
will improve the service delivery and lead to improved revenues for the company.
Technology can also be used to automate the process of clearing customs in the
movement of the products from one nation to another as there is an imposition of import duty
among various nations. This will enable the clearing of customs to take a few hours instead of
days and this will enable clients to have the ordered products within the shortest time possible.
The automation of clearing customs will enable Amazon Company to create a competitive
advantage which will enable the company to compete favorably with competitors in the industry.
Automation of the movement of products helps in saving time in the movement of product and
this creates convenience for the customers and this will lead to customer loyalty and customer
acquisition.
Robotics and automation should help in procuring goods for shipment. Robots do not get
tired and they perform the programmed roles perfectly. This will help in ensuring that products
to be shipped are well packaged for the shipment process. The robotics can also help in the
movement of bulk products in the shortest time and this will ensure that goods reach their
destination quickly. To facilitate the automation of service delivery, the Amazon company will
have to procure innovative hardware and software solutions. Technology has changed the way

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most companies operate as technology is the backbone of many innovations which have been
embraced by many companies in various industries.
The Amazon Company is looking for talented individuals with skills such as team
working skills which will enable the selected people to work with other talented individuals in
the company to produce edge cutting solutions which will help the company to improve the
service delivery using the available resources of the company. The selected individuals should
also possess programming skills which will help in developing the software which will help in
the automation process. Logical thinking and problem-solving skills will also play a critical role
as this will help in creating solutions to the problems of the firm. The selected individuals also
need to have attention to details skills so as to produce perfect solutions to the company so as to
improve service delivery to customers.
Child labor involves the use of labor from people who are below the age of 18 years or
any other number as specified by various countries because different countries have different
legal requirements. The child labor according to various articles which I have read deprives
children of their childhood, their potential, dignity, and mental growth. This is because such
children should be in school being molded by their role models to be respectable personnel in the
future. The children have no time to nurture their different skills which can be used to improve
the livelihood of the affected children. The major contributors to child labor are poverty and this
forces the children to be engaged in performing heavy jobs so as to provide basic needs for their
families or for themselves (Afridi, Mukhopadhyay, & Sahoo, 2012). The other factor is the lack
of schools for children to attend. This is a problem in marginalized communities and this forces
children to be recruited to perform different roles in various organizations.

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The child labor occurs in various forms which include child trafficking, production of
pornographic materials and slavery practices. The greed for money and profits are the reason
why most individuals are associated with child labor. The greed leads to unethical business
practices which lead to the violation of social values of various communities. There are
surprising facts about child labor such as 200 million children are doing hazardous work which
leads to deteriorating health of various children which leads to various forms of cancer and
eventually death. The 73 million children involved in child labor are below the age of 10 years.
Sub Saharan is notorious for such practices and much effort is need to reverse such inhuman
practices, child labor.
My opinion is that companies are not doing enough to avoid child labor practices because
most of the products produced by the companies contain ingredient produced using child labor.
The business should conduct thorough research before buying the raw materials to ascertain if
they have been made using ethical business practices which discourage child labor. Such
measures will help in protecting many children all over the world. This is because engaging
children in child labor will lead to a shortage of market for produced products. The businesses
have not also been heavily involved in campaigns against child labor. The company should
engage in corporate social responsibilities aimed at promoting the welfare and the rights of
children in their societies of operation.

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References
Afridi, F., Mukhopadhyay, A., & Sahoo, S. (2012). Female labour force participation and child
education in India: the effect of the national rural employment guarantee scheme.