# 11
With a struggling economy, people are paying more attention to where they spend their money. Coffee is still on their mind however, but with many Americans now more closely watching their spending habits, this can take a hit on Starbucks. McDonald's has taken a huge initiative to fill in that gap in coffee and price. They offer some of the same types of coffee at Starbucks, but at a lower price. There is also the considerations of gas stations to take up some of that competition. Many users are simply exchanging their lattes and espressos for just plain coffee with maybe some flavored creamer and sugar such as 7 Eleven. Many other restaurants seeing how successful Starbucks has been, have also been amping up their coffee initiatives. Take McDonald's for example. While they have always have coffee on their menu, they have added popular Starbuck's imitations to their menu such as the frappes and the lattes. For example, McDonalds came out with the "McCafe". This includes adding their lattes, mochas, and cappuccinos to their national menu. Also, they added fruit smoothies and frappuccinos to that expanding market.
In the case study, we can see legal and political forces at play that are affecting how Starbucks goes about doing business. Starbucks recently began lobbying legislators in DC on important issues such as lowering trade barriers, health care costs, and tax breaks. These issues are important to Starbucks because they significantly affect, as well as constrain the actions and decisions of the managers.