1. Has Father Daniel Mary established a future direction for the Carmelite Monks of
Wyoming? What is his vision for the monastery? What is his vision for Mystic Monk
Coffee? What is the mission of the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming?
2. Does it appear that Father Daniel Mary has set definite objectives and performance
targets for achieving his vision?
3. What is Father Prior’s strategy for achieving his vision? What competitive advantage
might Mystic Monk Coffee’s strategy produce?
4. Is Mystic Monk Coffee’s strategy a money-maker? What is MMC’s business model?
What is your assessment of Mystic Monk Coffee’s customer value proposition? its profit
formula? its resources that enable it to create and deliver value to customers?
5. Does the strategy qualify as a winning strategy? Why or why not?
6. What recommendations would you make to Father Daniel Mary in terms of crafting and
executing strategy for the monastery’s coffee operations? Are changes needed in its
long-term direction? its objectives? its strategy? its approach to strategy execution?
Explain.
ANSWERS:
1. Has Father Daniel Mary established a future direction for the Carmelite Monks of
Wyoming? What is his vision for the monastery? What is his vision for Mystic Monk
Coffee? What is the mission of the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming?
Father Daniel Mary is a deeply committed man of faith with a distinctive vision for the
Carmelite Monks of Wyoming. His vision is to create a ‘new Mount Caramel’ in the Rocky
Mountains. To bring this vision to life, his future direction for the Carmelite Monks of
Wyoming is to purchase and develop the 496 acre Irma Lake Ranch into a monastery to
include: (Turnipseed, 2014)
• Accommodations for 30 monks growing the current brotherhood of 13
• A Gothic church
• A convent for Carmelite Nuns
• A hermitage
• A lay visitors retreat center
Although Father Daniel Mary has clearly spelled out his vision and indicated Mystic Monk
Coffee will play a role in his pursuit, his strategic vision for Mystic Monk Coffee and the
actions he will need to take to increase its sales to help achieve his vision for the
monastery have not been formulated. Unlike Starbucks’ Howard Schultz and his vision to
bring the Italian Espresso bar experience to America, Father Daniel Mary has not
communicated a clear, forward-looking, and focused long-term direction to gain
commitment in moving Mystic Monk Coffee ahead. (Gamble, Peteraf, Strickland III, &
Thompson, 2014)
In terms of vision, that of the Carmelite Monks was predetermined for the Father from the
