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Case Study

Starbucks Coffee (B): A joint venture with Tata Global Beverages? (Overhead case)

By Charles Dhanaraj and Ivy Buche

12 pages

September 2015

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Reference: IMD-7-1677

In January 2012, Starbucks Coffee was negotiating with Tata Global Beverages, a subsidiary of India’s flagship Tata group, to enter the Indian market through a joint venture. The two case sets the stage for a negotiation between the two parties, giving them an overall context, history and the specific issues each party is particular about. The negotiation is framed around four key issues: (1) What will be the equity distribution between partners? Currently each partner is seeking a majority role; (2) How will the product be branded and what will be the average price in India? Each partner has different visions on this. (3) What should be the pace of retail expansion strategy? Students take on the roles of respective management teams to negotiate an agreement on the key points of the proposed joint venture. Teams complete three surveys before, during, and post agreements, which are used in the debriefing.

Learning Objective

1) To build competencies in negotiating a strategic partnership; 2) To understand the strategic logic for partnerships and cost benefit trade-offs in working with partners; 3) To recognize hurdles in deal negotiations, and the varied scenarios one should be prepared for in negotiating deals; 4) To understand the negotiation process and build a process for arriving at win-win agreements in partnership.

Keywords

Joint Venture, Negotiation, Equity, Brand, Pricing, Growth, Licensing

Settings

Asia
Starbucks, Tata Group, Consumer Goods, Food and Beverage
2012

Type

Published Sources

Available Languages

English

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This case study is part of a series

Starbucks Coffee (A): A joint venture with Tata Global Beverages? (Overhead case)
Starbucks Coffee (B): A joint venture with Tata Global Beverages? (Overhead case)

This case study is part of a series

Starbucks Coffee (A): A joint venture with Tata Global Beverages? (Overhead case)
Starbucks Coffee (B): A joint venture with Tata Global Beverages? (Overhead case)

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