Part of The Student Room Group

  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

Globalization - Coffee & Value Chain. What is the likely value chain of a coffee shop? For example, how did the varieties of coffee beans get there? What is the likely effect of market globalization on coffee shops? Do technical advances play any role in

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

Imagine you are studying for your international business class at a local coffee shop. The manager spies your textbook and remarks, "I don't get all that foreign business stuff. I don't pay much attention to it. I'm a local guy running a small business. Thank goodness I don't have to worry about any of that." The manager's comments make you realize there is much more to business than just local concerns. What is the likely value chain of a coffee shop? For example, how did the varieties of coffee beans get there? What is the likely effect of market globalization on coffee shops? Do technical advances play any role in the shop's value chain? Does globalization imply any negative consequences for the worldwide coffee industry? Justify your answer. The coffee shop manager is na�ve to think he is simply a local guy running a small business and that international business is somehow irrelevant, ...read more.

Middle

Below is an illustration of the coffee value chain. http://www.teacoffeecocoa.org/tcc/Commodities/Coffee/Value-Chain "Coffee producers are facing sustainability challenges on social, economic and environmental fronts." They face difficulties such as inadequate access to infrastructure, financial and market resources. The social well-being of farmers, plantation laborers and their respective communities are being directly impacted by declining coffee prices. Coffee-producing countries earn very little from the sale and export of their produce, and large shares of the profits within the coffee supply chain go to a middleman or the large roasters. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee#Cultivation International coffee trading companies invest in operations in coffee-producing countries to help meet the needs of major roasters, who in turn make profits from roasting the coffee. A strong brand strategy, product development, and low-priced green coffee have contributed to considerable profit margins. While there are only a handful of companies which control this trade, the success of the Fairtrade movement has been paramount in roasters beginning ...read more.

Conclusion

Educating himself on the coffee value chain and ensuring his suppliers comply with international labor regulations and workers' rights would be a start toward becoming a more responsible, accountable business manager. "Globalization impacts every aspect of the coffee industry. International laws regulate the industry and try to prevent price spikes and dips. Major corporations try to shape the market and influence which beans are grown and how they are processed. Farmers around the world are joining cooperatives, often funded and supported by international NGOs, to obtain better prices for their crops, as well as gain needed social services for their communities. Not all of the impacts are positive though, environmental degradation and greedy commodity traders can certainly hurt the industry and its supply chain." Tropical Commodity Coalition http://www.teacoffeecocoa.org/tcc/News/Coffee Cup of Joe: Globalization and Coffee http://www.globalization101.org/news1/Globalization_Coffee ?? ?? ?? ?? BA343-International Business_D.Stein 1 of 3 ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our International Baccalaureate Business Studies section.

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

or


Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related International Baccalaureate Business Studies essays

  1. Starbucks analysis. Starbucks Coffee in Malaysia. Starbucks face some challenges of modifying their ...

    When Starbucks began its business, it only sells whole-bean coffee and others coffee products such as espresso and cappuccino in its outlets.

  2. Advance Professional Development

    The process of CPD CPD is not a fixed process. Fundamentally, it's a question of setting yourself objectives for development and then charting your progress towards achieving them. It's about where you want to be, and how you plan to get there.

  1. Position Paper: The Contribution of Globalization to Sustainable Prosperity

    easily acquire these by taking them from third world countries, or developing nations. In the Amazon forest, there are hundreds of trees being cut down by the second. The Amazon rainforest is our biggest oxygen producing forest, without it, the buildup of greenhouse gases will increase rapidly.

  2. The value of the gains that Ciba saw in the takeover of Allied Colloids ...

    Ultimately Ciba?s goal is to create value for its shareholders and the acquisition of Allied Colloids is just one step in the process. Other steps include evaluation of strategic projects, financial reporting, portfolio adjustment, and incentive and share investment plans.

  1. Implementing a Green Supply Chain

    For example, Coca Cola has spent a lot of money on plastic recycling (Sitkin, 2011). Second, the enterprises are more likely to make decisions that maximize their own profits. Third, some ways to practice the green supply chain are still only theory.

  2. Revision Notes on the Role of Marketing

    A challenge to social marketing is the unwillingness of people who change their social behavior due to habits. Clients of social marketing agencies are usually non-profit organization and this is how if differs from profit making organizations. ASSET-LED MARKETING: It is a strategy based on the core competencies (key strengths; which include human, physical or non-physical assets)

  1. Questions on Globalisation and International Trade

    The falling cost of technology has made it affordable for many developing nations, which has been instrumental in helping these nations improve their share of world output and world exports. The inclusion of these nations, such as China, India, Thailand, and South Korea, has been instrumental in the globalization of markets and production.

  2. How does an international chain hotel and individual hotel operate differently ?

    The Factors that will affect the hotel industry For human to be able to survive in today?s world, is all about money, we need money for everything even though the very basic things like food and water. Thus, there are employees and employers and one of the reasons that they

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work