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Carbou Coffee

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Submitted By secruce
Words 751
Pages 4
Problem
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I. Background
Caribou Coffee has come a long way from a coffee shop in Minnesota to a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ. Based on the number of coffeehouses operated in 2007, Caribou Coffee was the second largest company-owned gourmet coffeehouse in the United States. However, the competitive market, along with a potential class-action lawsuit involving store managers has caused some serious issues, including increasingly high net losses and decreasing stock price. By providing “an experience that will make the day better” Caribou Coffee has created competitive advantage in their store operations, but the question remains whether they can maintain this and use it to sustain their growth strategy.
Caribou Coffee’s dedication to creating a unique experience for customers by combining high quality products, a distinctive coffeehouse environment, and excellent customer service, differentiates their place in the coffeehouse industry. Creating strong human capital is the foundation for this differentiation strategy. The issue that will be analyzed in this case is whether or not Caribou Coffee’s efforts in developing human capital will enable them to achieve sustainable competitive advantage given the competition and threats they are facing.

II. Defined
In order for Caribou Coffee to maintain competitive advantage it must continue to create differentiation in its coffeehouses through their human capital. They have developed strong capabilities in recruiting, developing, and retaining their employees but this can be easily copied by competitors and by itself its not enough to sustain their advantages. To continue to grow they must maintain their strong focus on human capital, but must also develop their other

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