Porter’s Five Forces and the Coffee Industry

This multiphase classroom exercise is designed for undergraduate students in capstone strategic management courses to become comfortable and adept at using Porter’s Five Forces framework for industry analysis. Assuming students have a base level of familiarity with the framework, this exercise enables them to apply it to an industry and a company they feel familiar with, Starbucks. Through the exercise, they discover that they can gain a much deeper understanding of the firm and generate new insights by taking a wider look at the industry and rigorously applying an analytical framework. The exercise has five distinct in-class steps that include collaborative case analysis and discussion, work in teams to research a firm and devise a strategy, and group presentations. It also includes a preclass assignment that ensures sufficient student preparation