Starbucks and McDonalds are two examples of companies that were inadequately prepared to venture into global business. Starbucks was inadequately prepared because in almost all the markets the company was unable to offer quality products and deliver customer services. For instance, the company opened several stores in Australia and employed young and less experienced staff who could not deliver quality service. As a result, the company suffered lots of losses forcing the company to close many of its stores. According to Business Think (2010), Starbucks failed in many of regions because of lack of focus on customer preferences. Besides, the company failed to prosper due to its failure to advertise its products and services a good example being in the Asian Market.
On the other hand, McDonalds also suffered a blow when it ventured into the global business due to its failure to focus on the products quality and customers value. The company was unable to offer products that would match its customer’s tastes. A good example is the U.S. market where its sales dropped drastically as provided by Halzack (2015). Its menu did not offer fresh and healthy foods that remained the customers’ choice. Besides, the company had poor competitive strategies thus giving its competitors an advantage. The result was a reduction in its sales revenue and closure of its several stores.
Recommendations
Both Starbucks and McDonalds faced almost similar challenges when they entered the global business. The companies should have focused on conducting a concrete market research to identify various needs of different target markets. This would have helped both companies on overcoming issues related to customer preferences. Besides, it was important for the companies to have advertised and promoted their products very well in the global markets to enhance their market share. Moreover, it was important for the companies to consider delivering quality products and services that would help them attract and retain their customers. Internal and external environment analysis was also a key for the two companies to foster success in the global market.
References
Business Think. (2010, September 11). Marketing Lessons: Whatever Happened to Starbucks. Business think. Retrieved from https://www.businessthink.unsw.edu.au/Pages/Marketing- Lessons-Whatever-Happened-to-Starbucks.aspx
Halzack, S. (2015, January 23). McDonald’s tried to be all things to all people. It didn’t work. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2015/01/23/mcdonalds-tried-to-do- it-all-but-just-posted-terrible-sales-results/
