Midterm part 1

Instructions for the Midterm

• Write your answers in a word document.

• Font: Times New Roman, Size: 12, Double Space.

• Your answer for each question could be anywhere between

1 page to 3 pages maximum. Try to be straightforward in

your answers.

• Write down the citation for the information you’ll use in

your answers.

• Submit your answers via email: [email protected]

• Due date: Friday – May, 25th at 2 pm (tomorrow)

1. Starbucks is opening its first store in Italy this year. The

company’s founder, Howard Schultz, has promised that the

company will respect the Italian pride in making coffee and enter

the Italian market “with great humility and respect.” Yet, Italians

are not happy. One Italian customers said: “We Italians love our

café, those five/ten minutes where we get to enjoy our espresso at a

coffee shop we go to every day, where the bartender knows our

name, and know exactly how we like it. Coffee for Italians is more

than just 'fuel,' it's a ritual, it's part of the culture, and one of those

little life pleasures that makes our day brighter. It's hard for me to

understand how someone would choose Starbucks in New York

when there are so many better options, even more so, in Italy.”

• Choose a topic we discussed in this class that could help

explain this behavior from the Italian consumers (i.e.,

rejecting Starbucks opening in Italy) and explain how exactly

it is related to it. [There are more than one topic that

discussed this behavior, choose one]

• If Starbucks tried to adapt its product offerings to the Italian

culture (i.e., change its products and made it more similar to

coffee sold in Italy), they might lose their added value and

become like everyone else. Then, Italian could ask

themselves a simple question: Why should I buy coffee from

Starbucks if they are similar to everyone else? On the other

hand, if Starbucks were stubborn and choose not to change

anything, then their decision could be perceive as

disrespectful to the Italian culture. If you were on charge,

how would you resolve this problem? (5 credits)

2. Apple, P&G and Wal-Mart are examples of successful

companies in the U.S. that struggled, or even failed, in the Indian

market. If you were asked to conduct a research to understand the

problem (i.e., American companies failing in India), what steps

would you take to conduct this research? [Use examples to make

each step applicable to the American companies’ struggle in the

Indian market.] (5 credits)

3. What is “Brexit”?

• List three reasons why “Brexit” happened?

• List three reasons why “Brexit” might be a good thing.

• List three reasons why “Brexit” might be a bad thing.

• After listing all these reasons, do you think Brexit is a good or

a bad thing for the United Kingdom’s economy? (5 credits)