SWOT Analysis: Starbucks Coffee Company
Ravineel Chand
MGT 450: Strategic Planning for Organizations (BII1607A)
Professor John Bruning February 27th, 2016

Introduction
SWOT Analysis is a useful technique utilized by organizations to understand the strength and weaknesses of the organization. Furthermore, it is also utilized to understand the opportunities which may be open to the organization and the potential threats that it may face. “Once a company has a firm understanding of where it stands financially, the next part of the internal assessment is conducting a SWOT analysis, which stands for a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.” (Abraham. S.C, 2012) Using a SWOT analysis allows organizations to carefully pinpoint where they stand against competition, where their weaknesses and strengths lie, and how to gain more opportunities within their respective markets. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a SWOT analysis of the Starbucks (SBUX) corporation This paper will also describe the history of the organization, its products and major competitors.
History
Starbucks Corporation, founded in 1971, is a retailer of specialty coffee. Starbucks retails a variety of drip brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, other hot and cold beverages, complementary food items, coffee-related accessories and equipment, teas, ice cream, and items such as mugs, coffee beans, and music and other non-food products through retail stores in approximately 39 countries worldwide. The company operates primarily in the US. It is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and employs about 150,000 people. Top management believes in involvement in the activities of the corporation and employees enjoy unsurpassed benefits in the industry. CEO Howard Schultz strongly believes that Employee satisfaction is directly related to customer satisfaction.