modes.
9-4. What are keiretsu? How does this form of industrial structure affect companies that
compete with Japan or that are trying to enter the Japanese market?
In its most general sense, the word keiretsu refers to connections between different
companies. Japanese Keiretsu consists of a group of large companies with ties to a
CASES
Case 9-1: Starbucks Takes Coffee Culture Around the World
Overview: From modest beginnings 40 years ago in Seattle’s Pike Street Market, Starbucks
Corporation has become a global marketing phenomenon. Today, Starbucks is the world’s
leading specialty coffee retailer, with 2012 sales of $13.3 billion. Starbucks founder and
chairman Howard Schultz and his management team have used a variety of market entry
approaches—including direct ownership as well as licensing and franchising—to create an
empire of more than 18,000 coffee cafés in 62 countries. In addition, Schultz has licensed the
Starbucks brand name to marketers of non-coffee products such as ice cream. However, coffee
remains Starbucks core business; to reach the ambitious goal of 40,000 shops worldwide,
Starbucks is expanding aggressively in key countries. Starbucks has also been successful in other
European countries, including the United Kingdom and Ireland. Greater China—including the
mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan—represents another strategic growth market for Starbucks.
9-5. In the United States, nearly two-thirds of Starbucks outlets are company owned; the
remaining one-third are operated by licensees. Outside the United States, the proportions are
reversed: about two-thirds are run by licensees or partnerships in which Starbucks has equity
stakes. What is the explanation for the two different market expansion strategies?
Starbucks’ relentless pursuit of new market opportunities illustrates the fact that most
firms face a broad range of strategy alternatives for Starbucks and other companies