IBS210: Management Report - Analysis of Starbucks, Trade, Politics

This report analyzes three key activities relevant to international business. First, it examines Starbucks' growth strategy, focusing on store expansion, enhanced customer experience, and digital engagement. Second, it explores Haley Edwards' TEDxMidAtlantic interview on global trade, emphasizing the evolution of trade deals, the importance of supply chain efficiency, and the impact of non-tariff barriers. Finally, it assesses the UBS Investor Forum discussion on the influence of politics on business markets, highlighting different perspectives from industry experts on political risks, market volatility, and the ability of organizations to manage political impacts effectively. The report integrates insights from these activities to understand the dynamics of international business and the factors that drive success in a globalized environment.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The paper is focused in the description of the three different activities. The paper
analyses the growth strategy of one of the most significant organizations of the coffee shop
industry named as the Starbucks. Along with that, the paper also assess the findings of one of
the meeting organized form the part of the USB Investor Forum in the topic of whether the
politics manage the business markets or not and the impact of it. Apart from this, the paper
also evaluates one of the interview of Haley Edwards at the platform of TEDxMidAtlantic.
The interview is on the topic of the evolution of the Trade and the impact of the environment
on the global trade deals.
Activity 1:
The chosen activity for the segment is the growth strategy of one of the major
organization of the coffee industry in the form of Starbucks. In modern business world, the
mentioned organization is able to establish a significant business and that is pretty evident
with the increasing revenue of the organization. The growth of the mentioned organization is
pretty prominent with the generation of US$ 24.71 billion in the year 2018 and along with
that, the increased net income of the organization of US$ 4.51 billion in the same year clearly
states the sharp rise of the company in the mentioned industry. Hence it is pretty evident, the
success of the growth strategy of the mentioned organization is one of the main factor
responsible for the achievement of such financial improvement from the part of the
organization. The growth strategy of the mentioned organization is observed to be dependent
on various factors and one of the most significant strategy from the part of the mentioned
organization was the expansion of their stores. From their strategies, it is pretty evident that
the senior management of the organization is able to understand the importance of reaching
out to the customers of the organization with their products and services.

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The understanding of the importance is pretty evident with the establishment of
increased number of stores. The strategy of opening increased number of store outlets is able
to place the organization in a better place in increasing their store penetration. Apart from
this, one of the important strategy in improving the growth of the mentioned organization is
observed to be the elevation of the coffee experience amongst the customers of the
organization. The senior management of the organization was able to understand the impact
of a better environment on the customer’s purchase intention. This triggered the senior
management of the organization in the expansion of the store portfolio which enabled the
organization in providing a customized and elevated experiences to their customers. The new
store portfolio of the organization will also position the organization in a better place for
managing the intense level of competition of the industry as the new store portfolio of the
organization will be able to meet the demands of the peak hours of the organization in an
efficient manner. Apart from this, the company’s senior management is able to put strong
emphasis on the improvement of the digital engagement and that is pretty evident with the
increment in the urgency from the part of the mentioned organization in introducing the
digital payment section. From the financial statistics of the mentioned organization, it is
visible that the organization is able to acquire one-fourth of the total transactions from the
digital payment sections.
Hence, from the above mentioned analysis, it is pretty evident that three of the factors
that are crucial for the success, are the improvement of the digital payments, enhance of the
quality of the customer experiences and the increment in the number of outlets for expanding
the business of the mentioned organization.

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Activity 2:
The second one in the list of the selected activities is the interview of Haley Edwards
at TEDxMidAtlantic. The interview has great significance in stating the history of the global
trade and the evolution of the trade over the years. In her interview, Haley Edwards claimed
that the basis of the trade evolution over the years, is the attempt of finding the much required
peace. From her interview, it is easily understandable that the main objective of a war
affected world of business was the achievement of the world peace and the trade deals
between the various parties was the main means of achieving the much required success in
the establishment of the world peace. The objective of the achieving the much required world
peace created a significant business tem in the form of the economic interdependence. The
concept of the mentioned term in accordance to Haley Edwards was the formation of the
dependence amongst the nations for the much required improvement in the efficiency of the
supply chain of the organizations. From the interview, it is understandable that the
dependence of the nations amongst each other for the improvement of the supply chain
networks has the potential to develop the much required world peace. Haley Edwards termed
this to be the main idea behind the formation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades
(GATT).
The contribution of the GATT in the modern world of trade is observed to be
significant and that is pretty evident with the impact of it in the creation of the outsourcing,
globalization and the multinational corporations. The impact of this on the global trade was
visible as the global GDP increased in a rapid rate of 7% and the growth continued. The main
motive in the modern business world shifted from the economic interdependence to the
global efficiency and one of the main factor that triggered this was the reduction in the
Tariffs. On the other hand, Edwards claimed the evolution of the Non- tariff barriers to be a
key players in the modern era of trade. Edwards also commented on the definition of the

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Non-tariff barriers where she claimed that the products that are entering a market is subjected
to an unbalanced situation where it may need to fight against the subsidized products of the
organizations of the host country.
From the interview, it is pretty clear that Edwards elaborated the importance of the
supply chain efficiency along with the importance of selecting such regions for their business
operations that have a good relations with the other nations for the achievement of the
maximum market limelight. Apart from this, the comments of Edwards is of great
significance in understanding the importance of the concept of outsourcing and the impact of
it on the modern business. The interview of Edwards is also crucial in understanding the risk
of the uneven playing field that the products of the outsider countries are expected to face in a
particular country in comparison with the products of the local organizations. Hence it is
understandable that it is better to be aware of the supply chain efficiency and variables, the
market environment of a particular region in introducing the products.
Activity 3:
In the third activity, the interview of the Investor Forum is selected. The main topic of
discussion for the section was whether politics manage the markets or not. Karen Ward, the
chief market strategist for EMEA, J. P. Morgan Asset Management claimed that as long as
the organizations have the idea of the economic consequences of the impact of the politics on
their business operations, it will allow the organizations to have a better understanding of the
procedures to manage the impact. In addition to this, Maxim Alimi, Head of the Investment
Strategy, AXA Investment Managers, is able to identify the positive aspect of the influence of
the politics on the modern business markets. From his comments, it is pretty understandable
that he considers the political risks to be good enough for bringing positive things for the
organizations of the modern business world. Dan Ivascyn, the Group Chief Investment

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Officer, PIMCO commented that the impact of the politics will certainly introduce increased
amount of uncertainty in the business operations, however, that have the potential to place the
organizations in a better position for the achievement of the desired growth and success in
coming years. Rick Rieder, CIO of Global Fixed Income, BlackRock is able to comment on
the growth of the tail risk in the modern world of business and along with that, he was also
seen to comment on the consideration of the tail to be larger during the preparation of the
portfolio. The entire panel was able to agree on the fact that the politics and the political
influence has the potential to add the volatility in the business market.
From the discussion, it is understandable that the impact of the politics will be on the
business operations on any of the organizations operating in the world and they have the
capability to provide major barriers in the business operations. However, many of the
panellists commented on the success of the political influence in triggering improved
business activities which can be considered as one of the positive aspect of the activity. The
success of the organizations is seen to be dependent on the capability of the organizations in
managing the impact of the political influence in an efficient manner.

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Bibliography:
Forbes.com. 2019. Let's Look At Starbucks' Growth Strategy. [online] Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2016/09/19/lets-look-at-starbucks-growth-
strategy/#295617023d71
Youtube.com. 2019. What global trade deals are really about (hint: it's not trade) | Haley
Edwards | TEDxMidAtlantic. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
v3uqD1hWGE
Youtube.com. 2019. Do politics manage markets? - UBS Investor Forum, April 2018.
[online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v9Sy8Bdy4Q