Starbucks Corporation is an American company, based in Seattle, Washington, that has become a global coffee company. Starbucks is the largest coffee house company in the world. As of March, 2013, Starbucks had 20,891 stores in 62 countries, including 13,279 in the United States, 1,324 in Canada, 989 in Japan, 851 in China, 806 in the United Kingdom, 556 in South Korea, 377 in Mexico, 291 in Taiwan, 206 in the Philippines, 171 in Thailand and 10 in India.("Loxcel Starbucks Map". Starbucks. March 22, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2013.) Starbucks’ stores mainly serve hot and cold beverages that include whole-bean coffee, micro-ground instant coffee, full-leaf teas, pastries, and snacks. Many of their stores sell packaged food items that include hot and cold sandwiches. Starbucks sells merchandise items (such as mugs and tumblers) that bear its famous logo. Starbucks Evenings locations, in addition to the products noted above, offer a variety of beers, wines, and appetizers after 4 p.m. (http://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/starbucks-stores/starbucks-evenings, retrieved 4/20/2013) Starbucks also has an entertainment division with its “Hear Music” brand. The company markets books, music, and film. Many of the company's products are seasonal or specific to the locality of the store. Starbucks also sells its own brand of ice cream and coffee at grocery stores. To fulfill one of your requirements for a business class, you and two of your college friends developed a plan to start a coffee house company (named “Friend-Z’s). After graduating from college, you and your friends have successfully built Friend-Z’s into a coffee house company that competes on regional basis in the United States. You and your co-owners realize that to continue Friend-Z’s growth, your company will need to consider becoming a global competitor. You decide to call a meeting with your co-owners to discuss this issue. You develop the following questions.

1. What would the advantages and disadvantages be for Friend-Z’s if it decided to be a global competitor?

2. If Friend-Z’s management did decide to become a global competitor, the company must decide which foreign country (or region) to enter first. What environmental factors would you have to take into consideration?

3. If Friend-Z’s management did decide to become a global competitor, what type of strategy (exporting, licensing, joint venture, direct investment) would you consider to be the best type of strategy to employ? Explain why you chose your strategy by describing its advantages over other types of strategies.

4. Investigate how you would become a global competitor that would enable you to compete against other global competitors like Starbucks. The investigation should begin by identifying a country or region in which to compete. After you choose a country, perform an environmental scan by determining what the important considerations would be regarding your potential customers, any potential competitors, and any economic, technological, socio-cultural, demographic, and/or political/legal considerations your company would have to consider.