Lower Division Capstone - Essay Example

Lower Division Capstone Table of Contents Lower Division Capstone Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Starbucks 3 Microsoft 4 Tesco 4 References 6 Introduction The present age of turbulence and high degree of competition in the market that has necessitated the need for business organizations to create strategies that helps them consolidate their position in the market. The present study would analyze the business strategies for three organizations namely Starbucks, Microsoft and Tesco towards generating a set of feasible strategies for their business.

Starbucks Starbucks is a major coffee retailer that began its operations in USA but presently has operations across the globe. The choice of Starbucks assumes significance considering the fact that it is one of the most renowned and most popular brands in the industry segment (Starbucks, 2011). The three strategies for the company could be: Expansion into India Penetration in existing markets New product launch A suitable marketing strategy for the organization would be to expand internationally into India; this would be profitable for the organization considering the fact that the nation is one of the fastest growing economies of the world and can offer a significant business opportunity to Starbucks.

This strategy is the best considering the fact that the market has low competition with local brands in the market and Starburst can fill the gap and generate a long term opportunity and would also improve the public relations strategy of the company. The risks in this strategy would largely be based on the fact that the nation has high levels of corruption in government as well as unfriendly labor laws can be a risk factor (Guruswamy & Sharma, 2006, p.1-4). The risks in the other two strategies are more severe with high level of competition, price war emerging as risks with uncertain and short term returns.

Microsoft The three business strategies for the software major would include the following strategies. New Product Launch Market Penetration Diversification The best strategy for the company would be a diversification strategy in which the company would diversify its product offering and would venture into related products including the search engine optimization industry along with venturing into social networking sites. The risk factors in this strategy would be the intense competition and the risk of losing focus from the present business.

The risk is far lesser than pursuing a new product launch as new product launch involves high expenditure at a time when economies are in sluggish phase and the level of saturation and competition makes it very risky to penetrate the market. However successful implementation of this strategy would not only derive long term advantage but would also imply a stronger positioning and improved public relations strategy of the company that can lead to generation of long term sustainable competitive advantage.

Tesco Tesco is among the most renowned retailers present in business. The three possible and prospective strategies for the company are stated below: International Expansion Backward Integration Marketing Communication Program to penetrate market Backward integration into certain product categories like food materials and other agro based products seems to be the best strategies for the company. This would help the company save on cost as the supply chain would shorten without the presence of intermediaries.

This would lead to cost advantage for the company and would also help generate greater values for the product offering. In addition to this the company would also be able to pass on the cost advantage to the consumers that would help beat the price war in the market. The risks in this strategy would include risking the relationship with the suppliers as directly procuring products from producers may not seem viable to them. The strategy would offer a long term advantage as it would lead to long term cost savings as well as generate entry barriers for new entrants by creating economies of scale and scope as well as improve the public relations of the organization.

The risks for the other strategies largely require very high expenditure with anomalies in the expected returns. References Guruswamy, M & Sharma, K. (2006). FDI in Retail - II Inviting more Trouble? Retrieved September 13, 2011 from http://www.indiafdiwatch.org/fileadmin/India_site/CPAS_report_2.pdf. Starbucks. (2011). About us. Retrieved September 13, 2011 from http://www.starbucks.com/about-us.