Starbucks Goes for Vertical Integration to Fuel Growth in China
A big week of announcements for Starbucks as it continues to emerge from the global economic downturn. It has announced plans to accelerate its store opening programme, with 400 new stores outside the USA alone. And it has also decided, for the first time, to start growing its own coffee beans, as a way of supporting its ambitious growth plans in China.
The cost savings associated with outsourcing overseas (most often to China), while once significant in the short term, is not as great as it once was. Chinese companies ' manufacturing successes have created a middle class that now requires higher pay and benefits. Add to that the cost of establishing and managing the contracts with external suppliers, plus the increasing transportation costs and lead times, and the overall cost advantage of outsourced manufacturing has shrunk, or in some cases disappeared. Core competency issues are strategic decisions. When small volumes of products and components are required, and preparing to manufacture the product in-house would be extremely expensive, it probably does make sense to leave it to the experts. However, if significant volumes would be involved, then it would be worthwhile to at least look at what it would take to do that work in-house. Lack of technical skills ties in with core competency issues. Whether or not an organization should possess certain skills is a strategic decision. If company leadership decides that those skills are necessary, then they can be developed internally. Indeed, developing manufacturing competency could be just the challenge the bright young engineer with a fresh Master 's of Business Administration (MBA) degree needs. And if management is afraid of taking on that risk, then the easy route would be to find someone externally who has the necessary knowledge. As for lack of capacity, it 's easy to say that a production facility can 't take on any more work, but often a shop is not actually at maximum capacity. Are there
The cost savings associated with outsourcing overseas (most often to China), while once significant in the short term, is not as great as it once was. Chinese companies ' manufacturing successes have created a middle class that now requires higher pay and benefits. Add to that the cost of establishing and managing the contracts with external suppliers, plus the increasing transportation costs and lead times, and the overall cost advantage of outsourced manufacturing has shrunk, or in some cases disappeared. Core competency issues are strategic decisions. When small volumes of products and components are required, and preparing to manufacture the product in-house would be extremely expensive, it probably does make sense to leave it to the experts. However, if significant volumes would be involved, then it would be worthwhile to at least look at what it would take to do that work in-house. Lack of technical skills ties in with core competency issues. Whether or not an organization should possess certain skills is a strategic decision. If company leadership decides that those skills are necessary, then they can be developed internally. Indeed, developing manufacturing competency could be just the challenge the bright young engineer with a fresh Master 's of Business Administration (MBA) degree needs. And if management is afraid of taking on that risk, then the easy route would be to find someone externally who has the necessary knowledge. As for lack of capacity, it 's easy to say that a production facility can 't take on any more work, but often a shop is not actually at maximum capacity. Are there