Marketing questions

  1) We are living in a global world. Elaborate on how this course (IB 175) has helped prepare you in the global business arena. Include a lesson learned from our guest speaker (Mr. Paul Xu). 2) Starbucks’ decision to expand abroad came after an extended period of exclusive focus on the American market. But by 2006, Starbucks operated approximately 11,000 stores, with 30% in international markets. Starbucks used different entry strategies when entering in different foreign markets. For example, Starbucks’ first foreign move (i.e., outside the U.S. and Canada) was a joint venture in Japan. While Starbucks chose to enter the United Kingdom through acquisition rather than partnerships, but chose to enter in a number of developing markets including China using licensing agreements. Provide the rationales why Starbucks chose such entry strategies into these three countries as well as potential challenges that Starbucks might face associated with these modes of entry. 3) Domino’s began expanding its pizza business outside the U.S. in 1983. By 2005, the company had 3,000 stores outside the U.S. located in more than 50 different countries. Domino’s success lies in part to its product, pizza seems to be universally accepted, and to its commitment to consistency, the company wants every store to be the same regardless of its location. To ensure that the company’s core principles are emphasized, Domino’s is very particular when selecting franchisees. The company only considers people who are capable of operating a business within corporate guidelines. To facilitate this process, Domino’s also provides strong support to its franchisees. In Mexico for example, the company makes a store visit every 45 days, provides all marketing materials, and provides training. While its pizza appears to be universally accepted, Domino’s has had to make some adjustments/adaptations to its marketing mix. Discuss the different components in the marketing mix (4 P’s) and how the company should respond to local needs using the concept of 4 A’s (the HBR article by Johnson 2011).