Lincoln University of Pennsylvania Management Finance Strategy Discussion
INSTRUCTIONS:
The objective of the integrated semester is to help you extend your knowledge of how the
finance, operations, management, and marketing disciplines work and how they integrate
their functioning in the real world of business. This assignment is an assessment of how well
you understand this integration. It is worth 10% of your course grade.
YOUR ASSIGNMENT IS TO ANSWER ALL OF THE QUESTIONS, IN A SEPARATE
DOCUMENT FOR EACH OF THE 300 COURSES.
• The assignment should be prepared as a Word document, 3-4 pages in length for each
discipline’s questions.
• The document should be double-spaced, using Arial font #12.
• Add any Appendices at the end of the Word document.
• Upload the appropriate Word file through the link on Canvas to each of your Integrated
Semester courses separately by the due date (i.e. the Marketing assignment should be
uploaded to the Marketing class only).
• Your reference sources, in addition to the base case and question sets, should be online
sites and articles, Bloomberg terminals, your Integrated Semester textbooks, PowerPoint
slides, and other sources your professor assigns. Please read the instructions carefully before beginning to answer the questions. Contact
your instructor if you don’t understand the assignment’s directions or requirements. The
assignment must be submitted as instructed. You will lose points if you fail to follow the
instructions or if the submission is formatted incorrectly. 2
FINANCE ASSIGNMENT
Please answer the questions below. Use either the Bloomberg terminals located at the
Feliciano School of Business or other reputable sources such as finance.yahoo.com,
morningstar.com or Wall Street Journal etc. for the financial data you use in your answers.
You need to provide references regarding the financial data you use to support your
answers at the end of the finance portion of the term paper.
Questions:
1. Expanding the number of stores in a foreign market, such as the expansion plan
launched by Starbucks in China (announced in 2018), is a major capital budgeting
project. A project of this scale requires coordinated planning across all functions of a
business that you are studying in your Integrated Core classes. Choose and discuss
three items on the income statement that you think will be impacted by this new
undertaking. Explain why you chose those particular items, and how those items are
impacted by the marketing, management and operations decisions of the company.
2. Choose and calculate three ratios for Starbucks for the last two years. Make sure to
select ratios that you think would be impacted by expanding in a new market, and
explain your reasoning. Identify a competitor of SBUX and contrast the ratios. Explain
why you selected this competitor. Describe how the decisions made by management,
marketing and operations functions of the company can impact, and hopefully
improve, these financial ratios.
3. Explain how the financial decisions regarding opening a new store are related to
management, marketing or operations decisions that the company must make (or has
made)? 3
OPERATIONS ASSIGNMENT
Starbucks has developed a new coffee which uses some standard and some new
ingredients. It believes this coffee could become wildly popular with its younger customers
but wants to test market it in a few stores in key locations around the country to assess
customer reaction.
You are the manager of a Starbucks store that has been selected for this test marketing.
a. You have full responsibility for the success of the test market at your store. Write a
memo outlining the preparations that you will have to make at your store before the start of
the test marketing. Your memo should focus on at least four of the following issues: staffing,
training, equipment, supplies, store layout, quality, customer service, etc. (750 words)
b. Describe any interactions you would have with managers at Starbucks Finance,
Marketing, and HR as you get ready for the start of the test-marketing in your store. For what
issues would you need their help and support? (250 words).MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT
1. Starbucks has been identified as one of the best places to work according to
employee rankings and job posting websites. It has also earned a number of top
customer service accolades and many of these recognitions result from Starbucks’
human resource management practices. Describe how Starbucks' human resource
management practices enabled them to build their culture and become a successful
company.
2. Starbucks’ strategy often enabled the company to successfully compete in a heavily
saturated market of coffee shops and eateries. Describe Starbucks' strategy. What are
some key elements of their strategy that enabled them to maintain a competitive
advantage and keep customers?
3. As Starbucks’ business expands, it continually faces issues on how to keep customer
satisfaction high and maintain and attract business. How has innovation and change
specifically contributed to the success of the company? As the company grows larger,
what types of changes are being made to the structure, technology, and people in the
organization? 5
MARKETING ASSIGNMENT
INSTRUCTIONS:
The objective of the integrated semester is to help you extend your knowledge of how the
finance, operations, management, and marketing disciplines work and how they integrate
their functioning in the real world of business. This assignment is an assessment of how well
you understand this integration. This assignment will be dealing with STARBUCKS and has 2
parts.
Listed below you will find some WEAKNESSES and THREATS for Starbucks, read them
carefully then proceed to answer the questions that follow:
Starbuck Weakness:
1) Customers not willing to wait in long lines at stores during morning rush hour and
lunch hour.
2) Coffee dominant business with a poor reputation for creativity around new product and
companion product development.
3) Too dependent on word of mouth to create brand awareness.
Starbucks Threats:
1) Better value offered by local coffee house shops and national companies like Dunkin
Donuts and McDonalds McCafe.
2) Downturn in the economy can decrease customer traffic and spending.
• • • • •
PART I : MARKETING ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
1). Assume you are the Vice President of Marketing for Starbucks. Select 1 Weakness and 1
Threat from the list provided above, and explain how you would recommend taking that
selected weakness and turning it into a strength and the selected threat and turning it into an
opportunity.
Part 2:
Provide 2 explanations as follows:
2a) Explain how the weakness turned into a new strength would impact the
disciplines of Marketing, Finance, Management and Operations.
6
2b) Explain how the threat turned into a new opportunity would impact the
disciplines of Marketing, Finance, Management and Operations
Europe(Continental)