Effects of Strategic Alliances

Solution Preview

This paper will help the reader to understand the effects of the strategic alliance of Starbucks with iTunes, PepsiCo, and Barnes &Noble. It also helps you to understand the corporate social responsibility issues of the companies and its impact on the stakeholders of the companies. This paper will also help the reader to understand the ways in which these companies can become socially responsible. In the first section we will be giving the brief description of the Starbucks, PepsiCo, Apple and Barnes & Noble.

Starbucks established in 1971 with its headquarters in Seattle. It has 17009 stores out of which 8870 are owned by the company, and 8139 are licensed. It has operations in more than 50 countries. It provides the best quality of coffee to its customers by ensuring the standard quality of coffee grown in the farms so as to provide optimum customer satisfaction. The organization considers its employees as its partners. It offers various types of products to its customer. The product offerings include coffee, handcrafted beverages, books and gift items, mugs and accessories, coffee and tea brewing equipment, baked pastries, salads and sandwiches, etc (Starbucks, 2011).

PepsiCo is the merger of Pepsi Cola and Frito Lay. It was established in the year 1965 by Donald M Kendall and Herman W. Lay. It is the leader in the food and beverage global market. It has net sales of more than $65 billion. The main aim of the company is to achieve business and financial success without harming the society. The company focuses on environmental stewardship by implementing various programs. The company offers 22 diversified brands in 200 countries. It believes in optimum utilization of resources, providing employment to local people in order to have sustainable growth in the future (PepsiCo, 2011).

Apple Inc. was incorporated in 1976 with its headquarters in Cupertino, California. It has 357 retail stores throughout the world. It manufactures and markets personal computers, mobiles and digital music players along with their software. The company is known for its innovative products which gives it the competitive advantage over its rivals. It is the market leader in the technology sector. The company sells and markets its products through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, wholesalers and third party cellular network carriers. iTunes is the musical store of the company (Apple, ...