Question: 1. Starbucks is opening its first store in Italy this year. The company's founder, Howard Schultz, has promised that the company will respect the Italian pride in making coffee and enter the Italian market "with great humility and respect." Yet, Italians are not happy. One Italian customers said: "We Italians love our café, those five/ten minutes where we get to enjoy our espresso at a coffee shop we go to every day, where the bartender knows our name, and know exactly how we like it. Coffee for Italians is more than just 'fuel,' it's a ritual, it's part of the culture, and one of those little life pleasures that makes our day brighter. It's hard for me to understand how someone would choose Starbucks in New York when there are so many better options, even more so, in Italy."
• Choose a topic we discussed in this class that could help explain this behavior from the Italian consumers (i.e., rejecting Starbucks opening in Italy) and explain how exactly it is related to it. [There are more than one topic that discussed this behavior, choose one]
• If Starbucks tried to adapt its product offerings to the Italian culture (i.e., change its products and made it more similar to coffee sold in Italy), they might lose their added value and become like everyone else. Then, Italian could ask themselves a simple question: Why should I buy coffee from Starbucks if they are similar to everyone else? On the other hand, if Starbucks were stubborn and choose not to change anything, then their decision could be perceive as disrespectful to the Italian culture. If you were on charge, how would you resolve this problem?
2. Apple, P&G and Wal-Mart are examples of successful companies in the U.S. that struggled, or even failed, in the Indian market. If you were asked to conduct a research to understand the problem (i.e., American companies failing in India), what steps would you take to conduct this research? [Use examples to make each step applicable to the American companies' struggle in the Indian market.]
3. What is "Brexit"?
• List three reasons why "Brexit" happened?
• List three reasons why "Brexit" might be a good thing.
• List three reasons why "Brexit" might be a bad thing.
• After listing all these reasons, do you think Brexit is a good or a bad thing for the United Kingdom's economy?