Longitudinal Strategic Development Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Longitudinal Strategic Development Study - Essay Example The past twenty-five years may be described as growing years. From its creation in 1971 up 2006 before the big fall of its share price, the company was observed adopting growing and expansion strategies as a logical explanation of its continued stock price. See Appendix A. The dramatic ascension of Starbucks from a single coffee store in Seattle’s Pike Place market to a Fortune 500 company in 2009 could now be considered an American business legend that would show a different kind of entrepreneurial skill from the founders and managers. A critical development that contributed to its expansion strategies involved the hiring of Howard Schultz as Director of Retail Operations and Marketing. Mr. Schultz who operated a coffee bar chain eventually bought the company from the original owners led by Baldwin. After rebranding his coffee chain into Starbucks, he eventually became the Chairman and CEO of the company and continues to occupy the position even at present. Mr. Schultz was th en living in New York as he managed the U.S. operations of a Swedish kitchenware company. It was his being fascinated about ordering large quantities of an unusual kind of coffee filter by a small Seattle company, Starbucks coffee, that caused the man to visit the store in 1981. Starbucks owners-mangers named Gerald Baldwin and Gordon Bowker, who had been running the company for a decade had hired Schultz who was earlier fascinated by â€Å"the vision of a national chain of coffee stores†.