MGT603 Systems Thinking - CATWOE Tool Assignment Help

Starbuck’s Failure in Australia

Launch in 2000’s

Starbucks entered the Australian coffee industry in 2000 and had over 80 coffee shops by 2008 but had to close 61 retail shops due to losses incurred. Australia has a long history of coffee and they seem to love their coffee which is why Starbucks thought that this market would be a good place to invest so much. With Australian coffee industry expected to reach a business of $6 billion in 2018 one would assume that a popular brand such as Starbuck’s would have a fair share of this $6 billion. (Turner, 2018) 

Reasons for failure

There are numerous reasons that have contributed to the fact that Starbucks has not been successful in the Australian market despite the fact that apparently the Australian market has the right ingredients for Starbucks. The launch was too rapid and Starbucks did not give the Australian’s a chance to develop the taste for their coffee. (Turner, 2018)

Looking at the problem through systems thinking approach can provide us insight to the problems that have really caused the failure. Systems thinking enhance the ability of manager to better understand problems and to solve problems as well while looking at the operations as a whole system. (Gazzalo, 2019)

Effective decision making in the complex world markets is a prime criteria for hiring a manager. Systems thinking can allow a manager to lead through the system while understanding the real problems behind the failures. To make the right decision the first step a manager has to take is to find the problems and systems thinking provide the CATWOE tool which allows the manager to solely focus on the problem from all aspects. (Palaima, 2010) 

The CATWOE Tool

The CATWOE tool is an abbreviation for customers, actors, transformation, world view, owner and environmental customers. Applying these widespread aspects it would clear the problem for Starbucks in Australia. 

Customer

This is the crux of the failure of Starbucks in Australia. As discussed earlier the main problem for the failure is that the Australian market prefers different flavors of coffee and like their coffee beans to be freshly brewed. (Turner, 2018)