Philadelphia Museum of Art

Revised April 7, 2003 Starbucks Corporation: Competing in a Global Market Starbucks Corporation is a Seattle, Washington-based coffee company. It buys, roasts, and sells whole bean specialty coffees and coffee drinks through an international chain of retail outlets. From its beginnings as a seller of packaged, premium specialty coffees, Starbucks has evolved into a firm known for its coffeehouses, where people can purchase beverages and food items as well as packaged whole bean and ground…

Leipzig plant opened in 2005. It represents Claussen’s vision of teamwork enhanced through design by Knau’s creative engineering concepts. With pillars of sunlight streaming through soaring glass walls, architect Hadid’s design looks more like an art museum than a car factory. Open workspaces cascade over two floors. Unfinished car bodies move along a track with enhanced lighting that runs above offices and an open cafeteria. If the pace of the half-finished cars slows, engineers know it immediately…

Unfortunately, some companies have mismanaged their greatest asset—their brands. This is what befell the popular Snapple brand almost as soon as Quaker Oats bought the beverage marketer for $1.7 billion in 1994. Snapple had become a hit through powerful grassroots marketing and distribution through small outlets and convenience stores. Analysts said that because Quaker did not understand the brand’s appeal, it made the mistake of changing the ads and the distribution. Snapple lost so much…