Starbucks Finance Report
STARBUCKS
Starbucks Coffee Company is the leading retailer, roaster, and brand of specialty coffee in the world, with more than 7,500 retail locations in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific Rim. It has long prided itself on offering an enriched customer experience as much as on great-tasting, high quality coffees. I chose to do my report on Starbucks because besides being a Starbucks addict, like many others I know, I am also interested in how the company might be able to maximize the value of its shares but first let me briefly explain how the business world works.
Today 's business world shows a huge diversification in the shareholders of one company. In most countries, each investor only holds a very small fraction of issued shares by one corporation. This includes also the senior management.
Determining the objectives of the firm is not necessarily a straightforward task because the typical firm will have many types of participants. Among these participants are shareholders, creditors, managers, employees, customers, suppliers, governments and a variety of special interest groups. The objectives of these different types of participants are likely to be in conflict. But the main focus and objective of every firm and its members should be maximizing value, being the shareholders’ value. The main conflict comes when other members of the firm or other stakeholders try to maximize their own expected wealth. That objective could not be aligned with the main objective of the firm.
Shareholders and the board of directors (designated by shareholders) appoint the management team that will be in charge of managing the firm in the most efficient way and meeting with shareholder expectations and interests. From the perspective of shareholders, the managerial function is simply to maximize shareholder wealth, thus they are expected to act on behalf of the interests of shareholders. The value addition the company has created to
Starbucks Coffee Company is the leading retailer, roaster, and brand of specialty coffee in the world, with more than 7,500 retail locations in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific Rim. It has long prided itself on offering an enriched customer experience as much as on great-tasting, high quality coffees. I chose to do my report on Starbucks because besides being a Starbucks addict, like many others I know, I am also interested in how the company might be able to maximize the value of its shares but first let me briefly explain how the business world works.
Today 's business world shows a huge diversification in the shareholders of one company. In most countries, each investor only holds a very small fraction of issued shares by one corporation. This includes also the senior management.
Determining the objectives of the firm is not necessarily a straightforward task because the typical firm will have many types of participants. Among these participants are shareholders, creditors, managers, employees, customers, suppliers, governments and a variety of special interest groups. The objectives of these different types of participants are likely to be in conflict. But the main focus and objective of every firm and its members should be maximizing value, being the shareholders’ value. The main conflict comes when other members of the firm or other stakeholders try to maximize their own expected wealth. That objective could not be aligned with the main objective of the firm.
Shareholders and the board of directors (designated by shareholders) appoint the management team that will be in charge of managing the firm in the most efficient way and meeting with shareholder expectations and interests. From the perspective of shareholders, the managerial function is simply to maximize shareholder wealth, thus they are expected to act on behalf of the interests of shareholders. The value addition the company has created to