OwenBloggers: Jared - MBA '09

One more for the strategy discussion, professor.

First off, I have to say that seeing Professor Scudder decked out in the the signature Jobs' black mock turtleneck yesterday to make a point about Apple's market strategy was yet another great Owen MBA moment.

Secondly, to add onto the discussion, I found this intriguing trailer for a new movie called MacHeads:

Macheads - the movie (trailer)
Uploaded by brunogarattoni

Talk about the Apple "Halo Effect!"

Perhaps even more interesting is the topics it brings up relative to the possible threats to the core Apple image and community-associated strategies. What do you think; Time to re-asses the cult of mac or is it still a solid strategy?

Technorati Tags: Apple, Cult of Mac, Gary Scudder, Owen Graduate School of Management, MacHeads, Strategy

SBUX vs. McD's - Let the battle of the baristas begin!

Anyone that's seen me around Owen knows that I don't go to Starbucks. Ok, maybe not ALL Starbucks but definitely not the one across the street.

Here's the thing: in addition to seriously disliking their coffee, I find Starbucks to be worth more as a marketing case study than I am willing to pay for a visit there. For instance, I think the mere aura surrounding Starbucks makes people do stupid things...even beyond paying $4.29 for a beverage that normally costs $1.29.

Take McDonald's for example.

Apparently still on a high from their 2006 debut of premium coffee, McDonald's is ready to take Starbucks head-on by installing full coffee and cappuccino bars in their nearly 14,000 stores. In addition to offering their signature premium coffee blend, the new McCafe will include all of the cool drinks that American's have come to expect from Starbucks including lattes, cappuccinos and double whipped, non-fat, double tall, half-calf mocha-chinos. Ok, maybe I made that last one up...I hope.

FastCompany outlines the challenges with this move, nicely.

Anyone that has been on the "other side of the counter" in food establishments knows the complications associated with adding cappuccino makers. In addition to slowing things down, they require an huge amount of maintenance and ultimately distract employees and the company away from the things they actually do well.

In Dean Scudder's Strategic Management course, we talked a lot this week about understanding industries and the competitive role rivals play in strategic positiong. In this case, McDonald's is trying to achieve the same strategic peak as Starbucks in specialty coffee. The question is will they be able to harness their ingrained process, which has proven to work better with a constricted menu, to compete with Starbucks?

Either way it will be interesting to see how things play out. For now, I think I'll take the easy road and just bring in coffee from home.

Technorati Tags: coffee, Gary Scudder, McDonald's, Owen Graduate School of Management, starbucks, Strategic Management, strategy, Vanderbilt University