Running Head PART ONE PROJECTPart One Project.docx

Running Head: PART ONE PROJECT
Part One Project
A FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) sheet
1. What is ethics?
Ethics are moral ideas that guide a person behavior.
2. Why do ethics vary from person to person?
The absentia of the standardize regulations on ethicsinfluence
the variance observed in most cases
3. What are key features of utilitarianism?
Utilitarianism is dominated by one primary characteristic that
the wrongness or the rightness of the action is determined by its
consequences (Armstrong, 2003). The action greatest of

happiness of great numbers of the people will mean that the
action is right. The theory forms its base of discussion of the
pleasure perception which also concludes to be its feature
4. What are key features of ethical egoism?
The primary property of ethical egoism that the fact that some
actions are triggered by self-interest (Broad, 2014). The theory
focus on the benefit of an action to the doer which also happens
defines the rightness and wrongness of the event.
5. What are the differences between utilitarianism and ethical
egoism?
The different between utilitarianism and ethical egoism is the
fact that utilitarianism focuses on the result of an event to
determine whether it is wrong or right but ethical egoism
emphasis on the benefit of an action to the doer.
The utilitarianism is well-known theory because of the
dimension it uses to explain the wrongness and rightness of the
action ethical egoism defines ethics based on the
interests achieved during the event. The direction taken by
ethical egoism makes it to have few theories to support the
literature. Like the consequentialist theory, utilitarianism
continues to even entice more scholars to carry out research that
aims to add more information to the already existing bank of
information.

References
Armstrong, W. S. (2003). Consequentialism
Broad, C.D. (2014). Five types of ethical theory
Dunkin’ Donuts vs. Starbucks
Group #
Member 1
Member 2
Member 3
Member 4
Member 5
IS 3100

Semester
Dr. Randolph
2
Table of Contents
Executive
Summary………………………………………………………………
……………… 3
Companies……………………………………………………………
……………………………… 4
Comparison…………………………………………………………
………………………………. 4-7
Advantages/Disadvantages…………………………………………
………………………. 7-8
Cost/Benefit/ Risk
Analysis………………………………………………………………
….. 9-11
Competitive
Strategy………………………………………………………………
…………… 10-12
Social
Networking……………………………………………………………

………………….. 12-13
Conclusion……………………………………………………………
……………………………… 13
Appendix………………………………………………………………
……………………………… 14
References……………………………………………………………
……………………………… 15-16
3
Executive Summary
Throughout this report, you will find the comparison of the
websites of two of the
leading coffee chains in the industry – Dunkin Donuts and
Starbucks. Our goal is to educate
readers on the way these companies conduct their websites to
their advantage, and highlight
some of the setbacks and disadvantages that come with the way
the website is designed. Not
only do we focus specifically on their individual websites, but
also touch on the other social
media platforms used and analyze whether or not they seem to
be successful. You will find that
some things have been working better than others for these
companies, and it shows through
the differentiation strategies analyzed in this report.

Dunkin Donuts is a long time chain breakfast restaurant,
specializing in donuts, along
with breakfast sandwiches and a wide variety of coffee drinks.
Starbucks is a newer concept,
also with a wide variety of coffee products, tea, sandwiches,
pastries; the list goes on. Our
group has uncovered the ways that each chain has obtained a
competitive advantage through
their websites and mobile applications. We have also calculated
a cost benefit analysis to see
whether or not the companies are profiting enough from the
money spent on the website and
social media. These two companies can learn from each other to
succeed.
4
Companies
The first Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant opened in 1950 in Quincy,
Massachusetts and in 1955 the
first franchise agreement was signed. From the very beginning,
the goal was to “make and
serve the freshest, most delicious coffee and donuts quickly and
courteously in modern, well-
merchandised stores.” Dunkin’ Donuts is a publicly traded, for-
profit company and is a
subsidiary of Dunkin’ Brands, Inc. With more than 11,500
Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants, they
value customer loyalty and putting their customer’s wants and
needs first (“Dunkin’ Donuts”).
They also value their local communities and never losing sight
of those less fortunate. As stated

on the Dunkin’ Brands website home page, The Dunkin’ Donuts
and Baskin-Robbins Community
Foundation serve local communities through hunger relief,
children’s health, and safety.
Dunkin’ Donuts website was established in 1997.
In 1971 in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, the very first Starbucks
opened. From there, they have
expanded substantially to serving millions of customers in more
than 22,000 retail stores in 67
countries (“Starbucks Story”). Starbucks’ mission is “to inspire
and nurture the human spirit –
one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” They are
a publicly traded, for-profit
company who strives to serve the highest quality coffee with
unique quality service. Along with
coffee, they also serve tea, merchandise, and fresh food. The
company cares a lot about it’s
employees and creating the best work experience for each
individual. Starbuck’s refers to their
employees as ‘partners’ and provides comprehensive health
coverage for eligible full and part-
time partners and equity in the company (“Starbucks Story”)
They also provide additional
services such as the “Starbucks College Achievement Plan.”
Starbucks website was created in
1998.
Comparisons
Refer to Figures I and II in the Appendix. Here you can see the
Dunkin’ Donuts home page as
well as the Starbucks home page. It is interesting to see how
much the two companies differ on
the Web. For Dunkin’ Donuts, their website is bright pink and
orange with a more casual feel to

it. The website instantly captures your attention with the images
of the different beverages and
foods they offer. Their website is easy to navigate and provides
all the essentials for their
“average American” target customer. They provide a tab on
their home page where you are
able to buy, register, or reload your DD Card so you do not have
to go to a physical store. Also,
you have to option to ‘shop online’ for your favorite Dunkin’
coffee, tea, and mugs. Dunkin’
Donuts offers a very simplistic approach to they way their
website is designed and organized.
However, I believe that they should display videos and
advertisements on their website to
connect with their customers in some way.
Starbucks, on the other hand, takes a different approach.
Starbucks’ website is darker and more
subdued with an upscale feel to it. Instead of instantly greeting
you with an image of what they
5
offer, they provide a meaningful statement and an option to
‘read on’ to see how you can
impact the community in a variety of topics. The cozy vibe the
website provides is just an
extension of the coffeehouse experience you have in store.
Everything you need to know about
the company you can find on its functionally designed website.
They include advertisements
promoting new apps and business plans. For example, when I
clicked on their coffeehouse tab,

their new “Coffee Passport” appeared with a short video
showing how the app works and the
features it includes. They also have an emotional video
addressing hunger in America and the
announcement of their program to donate ready-to-eat meal to
food banks. Their website
creates a cultural experience that adds value to their company.
The Starbucks website contains
a lot of information that can be overwhelming to look through,
but all of the information is
relevant and appropriate for their target customers.
In September 2015, Starbucks released their mobile order and
pay on their mobile app, which
gave them a huge competitive advantage. The use of this point-
of-sale system, allowed
customers to place and pay for their order in advance without
having to worry about standing
in any line. However, in March 2016, Dunkin’ Donuts released
its mobile payment service
through its new Dunkin’ VIP app (Hatic). Both of the
company’s mobile apps offer loyalty
programs, as well as promotions, and rewards.
Starbucks use the Oracle’s customer relationship management
services as its loyalty system
which is apart of the Oracle ERP platform (Venkatraman). It
also uses GEMMS, which is Oracle’s
automated information system for manufacturing to monitor
real-time demand to allow
appropriate production plans and schedules to me made. “To
coordinate supply levels with
multiple distribution channels, the company must have access to
constantly updated
information detailing demand, inventory, storage capacity,
transportation scheduling and more

to keep things running smoothly,” states University Alliance of
the University of San Francisco
(University Alliance).
Dunkin’ Donuts uses the Oracle Advanced Analytics platform.
“This solution enables Dunkin’ to
look at product affinity and a host of associated sales metrics
with a view to improving
promotional effectiveness and cross-sell/up-sell to increase
customer loyalty,” states Charlie
Berger of the Oracle Data Mining blog (Berger). The
information systems used by both
companies leads me to believe that as a company, they both can
handle sudden increasing
demand on the storefront as well as online.
I would expect that Starbucks’ website would have a moderate
to strong impact on the
organization’s traditional business. On the website you are able
to manage your Starbucks’ card
as well as shop which plays a role in their everyday business. If
customers are drawn to the
website for these reasons, they will also see how involved
Starbucks’ is in the community
through their testimonials and videos through the site, as well
as how much they care about
their employees and customers. Customers are able to visit their
website and go to “My
Starbucks Idea” and leave comments on product ideas,
experience ideas, and involvement
ideas This may influence the potential buyer to be even more
loyal to the brand

6
However, with Dunkin’ Donuts I do not think their website will
have as strong as an impact on
their traditional business. You are able to manage your DD card
and shop online, but the
website does not offer you an experience like the Starbucks’
website does. You might go on the
Dunkin’ Donuts website for those reasons, but you will not stay
on the website and browse
because Dunkin’ Donuts does not offer videos or testimonials
on their website to connect with
their customers on an emotional level.
I believe that as a company, Starbucks is driving technology.
They are always on the look out for
new technological advances and how to incorporate technology
into making it their customer’s
experience convenient and fast. However, I do not believe the
same for Dunkin’ Donuts. They
seem to always be a step-behind when it comes to using
technology. It seems as though they
are adapting to the usage of technology because their
competitors are. They do not appear to
be on the look-out for the newest technology and advances like
Starbucks is.
Porters Five Forces Model
Force Starbucks Dunkin’ Donuts
Bargaining power
of customers

Strong Moderate
Threat of
substitutions
Moderate Strong
Bargaining power
of suppliers
Weak Weak
Threat of new
entrants
Weak Weak
Rivalry Strong Strong
Bargaining power of customers
For Starbucks, I believe there is a relatively high threat of
bargaining power from the customer.
This is because there is not a significant cost for the buyer to
switch to a different coffee shop.
If buyers do not want to pay for the high prices that Starbucks
charges, they are able to find
alternatives that are relatively less expensive. Buyers also have
the choice to make their own
coffee at home if they do not want to spend money on the high
price for a cup of coffee
everyday. However, for Dunkin’ Donuts, I believe the
bargaining power of customers is
moderate. Dunkin’ Donuts offers lower prices than Starbucks

while still serving high quality
coffee. The experience that Starbucks gives the customer
compared to Dunkin’ Donuts might
be different, but if the buyer’s main concern is price, they will
most likely switch from Starbucks
to Dunkin’ Donuts. Dunkin’ Donuts still runs the risk of a buyer
switching coffee shops or
making their coffee at home, but the risk is less than Starbucks
due to their already low prices.
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Threat of Substitutions
There are multiple substitutions for coffee which makes the
threat a relatively strong force.
Buyers can substitute coffee with tea or energy drinks, or brew
their own. However, Starbucks
threat is not as strong because they serve several different
options of tea to broaden their drink
menu beyond just coffee. However, the threat is slightly
stronger for Dunkin’ Donuts. Although
they do serve green tea, their selection is slim when it comes to
teas compared to Starbucks.
Both companies have the risk of buyers choosing energy drinks
over coffee which will
subsequently lose them both potential business.
Bargaining power of suppliers
The bargaining power of supplies is a weak force for Starbucks
and Dunkin Donuts due to the
large supply of coffee beans that are available and the overall

high quantity and variety of
suppliers. The bargaining power of suppliers does not need to
be the top concern for either of
these companies.
Threat of new entrants
The threat of new entrants is a weak force for both Starbucks
and Dunkin’ Donuts. For
Starbucks, the threat is weak because Starbucks has very strong
brand that is established and
already has its niche in the market. It would be difficult for a
new company to come into the
market and compete with Starbucks’ and try to re-create the
Starbucks’ experience. For Dunkin’
Donuts the threat is weak because they also have a very strong
brand awareness while offering
some of the lowest prices for coffee compared to another other
coffee shop. It would be very
difficult for another company to come into the industry and
create as strong of a brand while
offering the same low prices Dunkin’ Donuts does.
Rivalry
Rivalry is a strong force for both Starbucks and Dunkin’
Donuts. There are so many alternative
coffee shops that offer different atmospheres, prices, specialty
drinks, and promotions, that it is
crucial to always have a competitive advantage in the industry.
The low switching costs also
play a role in making rivalry a strong threat. It is of no cost to
the buyer to switch from one
coffee shop to another.
Advantages/Disadvantages

Dunkin Donuts Advantages:
• Very vibrant homepage.
• Provides a direct feed to the Dunkin donuts blog on the
homepage below featured
menu items.
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• Provides a direct feed to featured Twitter post.
• Pinterest includes different recipes that use Dunkin donuts
products for fan to try at
home.
• provides a tab filled with all Dunkin donuts products (coffees,
creamers etc.)
• Their Pinterest page provides sub pins such as “Our WorlDD
of Donuts” and “Cooking
with Dunkin” to provide fans with creative ideas based off of
Dunkin Donuts products.
• Facebook page provides locations near the customer.
Dunkin Donuts Disadvantages:
• Some of the pages on the website are cluttered. There are to
many sub tabs.

• Most of the customer interaction is negative. Meaning they are
apologizing for
discrepancies made.
• Facebook posts are sporadic
• Provides multiple “official” Facebook and Twitter pages so
it’s hard to differentiate what
is official and what is not.
• There are not many promotions that include the fan base.
Starbucks Advantages:
• All of the media platforms provide great quality photos of the
products and of their
customers with the products
• Their Pinterest page provides post on different Starbucks
coffee, tea and food recipes.
• Facebook and Twitter interactions with fans are more positive
than negative.
• Has multiple social media outlets for specific products. For
example, the Frappuccino
has its own twitter page.
• Consistent twitter posts
Starbucks Disadvantages:
• Facebook posts are sporadic.
• There is an Anti-Starbucks Twitter page. Mostly commenting
on the dissatisfaction of

service and taste
• The website has a lot of sub tabs that are unrelated to the
actual product.
• Social media has more pictures than words, making
promotions more abstract than
direct.
• Popular products have their own social media pages which can
take away from viewing
Starbucks as a whole.
9
COST/BENEFIT/RISK ANALYSIS
In this portion of our analysis we will examine the cost, benefit
and risk associated with
online platforms as implemented by Starbucks and Dunkin’
Donuts. Websites and social media
platforms are relevant in both Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts
businesses. The cost of
implementing, creating and updating the website is
overshadowed by the benefits the business
sees as a result of being active digitally. According to Gartner
research, “More than 40 percent
of organizations expect the Internet of Things (IoT) to
transform their business or offer
significant new revenue or cost-savings opportunities in the

short term (over the next three
years), rising to 60 percent in the long term (more than five
years)” (“Gartner Survey”). A few
benefits a company receives from digital presence are:
• Less expensive advertising
• Increase ease of purchasing
o Both Starbucks & Dunkin’ Donuts allow you to purchase
cards and reload money
on them online
• Increase customers
• Access to information
• Build relationships with customers
Most businesses would agree experiencing the benefits above
would create a positive
impact on their business as a whole. In order to make these a
reality you need to have a
professional web developer on your team to create platforms,
make changes, update
information and troubleshoot any difficulties. The average
annual salary for a web developer in
the U.S. is $66,238 (“Web Developer Salaries”). Given the
impact effective digital presence has
on both Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts they are employing
professionals to do this. This
investment in digital presence provides credibility to the
organization and helps increase the
bandwidth of both companies reach.

In 2015, Starbucks generated $19.2 billion in total revenue
(“Annual Reports”).
However, Dunkin’ Donuts only generated $810.93 million in
total revenue (“Annual Financials”).
Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts both use their website and social
platforms to advertise, drive
sales, inform customers and gather information on their
customers. We cannot track how much
business was generated directly through their respective web
platforms. Given the dollar
impact on the economy from both businesses having sufficient
digital presence is key.
Strengthening customer relationships through digital presence
creates new customers, repeat
customers and brand loyalty to Starbuck and Dunkin’ Donuts.
Creating ROI on any business investment is key in order to
make a wise business
decision. Let’s assume both Starbuck and Dunkin’ Donuts
employ a team of five web developers
to manage their digital presence. This totals to roughly
$300,000 annually in salary cost. For
Starbucks the $300,000 investment in web developers goes into
their annual revenue of $19.2
billion 64,000 times. This is substantial ROI and creates value
and a sense of urgency in being
10
proficient from a digital platform perspective. For Dunkin’
Donuts the $300,000 investment in

web developers goes into their annual revenue of $810.93
million 2,703 times. This is also
substantial ROI. The risk of not running proficient web
platforms is so impactful on Starbuck and
Dunkin’ Donuts, especially given the total revenue numbers at
stake.
Next steps are putting the necessary controls into place to
insure future growth, increased
customer relations and new customer penetration in the market.
Online experience is very
important when it comes to getting a new customer, making
them a repeat customer and
ultimately insuring future growth. Starbucks and Dunkin’
Donuts have quality websites with
numerous resources available to the user. Both have areas of
improvement available given my
experience on each of their websites. Exploring these will be
crucial to gathering feedback and
continually striving for increased success.
Starbucks mission statement is centered on global philanthropy
and providing a high quality
experience. This is evident in their website. Their website is
easy to navigate and has a visually
pleasing layout. One areas of improvement would be for a
customer service representative to
message you to see how they can help with your website visit.
Given the wealth of knowledge
and different platforms on Starbucks website this would help
strengthen the users experience
and make it specific to them. Ultimately increasing Starbucks
bandwidth of a high quality
experience to the web platform and creating customer loyalty

through online platforms.
Developing this feature would take an additional web developer,
roughly $66,000 annually. The
ROI is the loyalty to the mission statement for customers
through the web platform and
strengthening relationships with customers. The risks of not
moving forward with this
improvement are not holding true your mission statement
holistically, and losing out on the
opportunity to create new customers. If Starbucks generated a
1% increase in sales as a result
of this that would mean $192,000,000, far outweighing the
additional $66,000 in costs to
implement.
Dunkin’ Donuts mission statement is centered on innovation,
execution and doing the right
thing. Dunkin’ Donuts website is not as visually pleasing as
Starbucks. It has a wealth of
information and features, but can be overwhelming from a users
perspective to experience
fully. From a users point of view I would recommend a layout
overhaul to make it easier to
navigate and create an improved visual appeal. I would also add
a customer service
representative feature to increase the user experience. This
would increase the users
experience, make for easier navigation and help drive customers
towards Dunkin’ Donuts. In
order to put in place let’s say we would need to hire two
additional web developers totaling
$132,000 annually. As a result, Dunkin’ Donuts saw a 1%
increase in revenue totaling
$8,109,300. This is substantial hard dollar ROI and also
improves the customer experience to

the web platform helping drive business to Dunkin’ Donuts.
Overall, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts can create significant
impact to their businesses through
proficient web platforms. Increasing the customer experience on
the web, creating a holistic
mission statement experience and experiencing significant hard
dollar ROI are the
11
opportunities at stake. The risk of not investing properly in a
digital presence is far outweighed
by the minimal investment and returns discussed.
COMPETITIVE STRATEGY
To determine the competitive strategies needed to maximize
profitability, the strengths and
weaknesses of the company must be examined. Therefore, they
can choose a competitive
strategy that will most effectively meet those needs, leading the
company to their ultimate
goal. According to Porter, there are various competitive
strategies used to meet the five forces
that affect a company’s profitability. Porter uses the five forces
model to analyze an industrial
environment and to develop an optimum strategy for success
within a given industry. The five
variables responsible for the forces analyzed in this model
include the industry suppliers,
buyers, potential new entrants, substitute products and the
competition among existing firms.

Together, Starbucks and Dunkin Brands make up more than 60%
of the market share for the
retail coffee and snack store industry. This gives them
significant market power but also creates
a need for strategy to compete with one another. It is essential
for these two companies to
create competitive strategies that will be effective in giving
them an advantage over one
another in the market.
Dunkin' Donuts has primarily focused on becoming a cost leader
in the U.S. coffee and snack
shop industry. Dunkin seeks to charge lower prices for the same
or better products in
comparison to their competitors. The products aim to appeal to
the “average American” by
being quick and affordable. They are able to do this using three
main tactics to cut back
expenses. The first is that they produce more, resulting in a
higher asset turnover. By producing
more, they are also able to spread out their fixed costs over a
larger number of units. Secondly,
Dunkin' Donuts offers a variety of standardized products so that
the amount of product and
service customization that they have to do is limited. Finally,
they are able to keep tight control
over their supply chain by buying in bulk, bidding
competitively over contracts, and working
with vendors to keep inventories low. Dunkin makes sure to
have strong relationships with
their suppliers, which is a vital way to keep costs low. Since
they are able to cut costs that some
competitors may not be able to do without, they can sell their
products for less than their
competition. Dunkin Donuts focuses on the middle class with

their competitive pricing
technique. Dunkin management has described its intent to be the
lowest cost provider in the
market while maintaining quality above an acceptable minimum.
Starbucks Corporation is a premier roaster, marketer and
retailer of specialty coffee around
world. Starbucks primarily operates in the retail coffee and
snacks store industry and serves as
Dunkin Donuts biggest competition in this industry. In contrast
to Dunkin' Donuts' low cost
strategy, Starbucks has worked to implement a product
differentiation strategy to attract
customers within the retail coffee segment. The core
competence of Starbucks has been its
ability to effectively leverage their cornerstone product
differentiation strategies. They do this
by offering a premium product mix of high quality beverages
and snacks. It is a brand built on
selling the finest quality of products and providing customers
with what they call a “Starbucks
12
Experience”. They seek to provide this unique experience with
superb customer service, and
clean and modern stores that reflect local culture in which they
operate. Therefore, they are
not only differentiating their products, but also differentiating
customer’s experience. These
tactics attract significant customer loyalty. Because of their
competitive strategy, Starbucks is
able to build a premium value brand which is entirely too costly
for competitors to imitate.

Over all, they have built a more premium brand than Dunkin'
Donuts. Starbucks offers a more
of both an extensive menu and product customization, which is
reinforced by employees
writing the customer's name on the side of every cup. The
Starbucks store is a comfortable
environment for their customers that encourage them to stay and
socialize, work, study,
browse the Internet (free wireless access provided), etc. while
consuming their product. Each of
these factors work together to form a more premium experience
and command a higher price
point.
In addition to a successful differentiation strategy, Starbucks
has also implemented a successful
international growth strategy. They have expanded to over 50
countries and continue to
increase international partnerships. Creating a strong global
presence has given Starbucks an
upper hand in the competition. It is wondered whether Dunkin
Donuts will be able to keep up
with and maximize growth to a size that can compete with
Starbucks. They will have to
implement their competitive strategies in order maximize profits
to their full potential and
maintain their significant presence alongside Starbucks in the
coffee and snack shop industry.
Social Networking
The companies we chose are both heavily involved in social
media. Each of these companies
utilizes social networking in the same way, as far as social
media channels and content, to
advertise their competitive advantage, however there are some

distinct differences.
Dunkin Donuts considers themselves to be more fan based
saying, "We don’t own our social
media channels, our fans do." Therefore, we know that Dunkin
Donuts uses its social
networking primarily for the purpose of client retention and
feedback, as opposed to solely
advertising products. Also, because Dunkin Donuts’ target
market are primarily professionals on
the go, they have decided to venture into more location-based
networking that will bring more
customers to a Dunkin Donuts near them. Dunkin Donuts is
currently active on Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and YouTube. They also
have their own app which, as of
this year, will allow customers to participate in “on-the-go
ordering.” All social networking done
for Dunkin Donuts is operated by a team of nearly a dozen
people working out of “The DD
Mothership” in Canton Massachusetts. By visiting Dunkin
Donuts’ Facebook and Twitter page
we were able to see that they have a large fan base and are very
active on these media
channels. On Facebook there is a new post every few days
regarding promotions, community
sponsored activities, and new store openings. I found that their
Twitter account is much more
active, with new posts within minutes. Out of all the media
channels Twitter is used most when
it comes to interacting with actual fans and customers.
13

Like its counterpart Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks prides
themselves in customer interaction and
feedback via social media. Rather than using their social media
solely to promote products or
give insight to their internal team, Starbucks had decided to
focus on their customer’s
interactions with their product as opposed to the promotion of
the product itself. It is
considered a bond between man and coffee. For example,
according to Starbucks.com,
Starbucks considers social media selfies of their fan base with
their product as a “reflection of
the personal relationship people have with the beverage.” These
two companies also differ in
their target market. Instead predominately focusing on people
on the move, Starbucks is
targeting customers who are not only on the move but may also
enjoy a relaxing atmosphere
where productivity and socializing can occur around their
product. Starbucks is currently active
on 12 social media platforms. Statistics show that Starbucks has
37.32 million Facebook Likes,
6.56 million Twitter followers, 2.98 million Instagram fans and
2.86 million Google+ followers,
just to name a few (Huff). They also operate their own mobile
app that allows customers to
access promotions, find Starbucks locations near them and keep
track of their Starbucks
rewards card. The majority of Starbucks social media outlets,
which can be accessed via their
website, are run by a team of social net workers. Upon visiting
Starbucks’ Facebook page I
noticed that their posts display more in depth images of coffee
and coffee accessories as
opposed to promotions and store openings, like Dunkin Donuts.

Also, their twitter time-line is
filled with responses to fans, proving that customer feedback is
the ultimate goal of Starbucks
social media strategy.
Overall we have concluded that these two companies utilize
social media to keep in constant
and immediate contact with their customer base. Social media
allows for both companies to
participate in constant branding, domestically and
internationally. Lastly, both companies use
social media to create convenience for their customers.
Conclusion
Both Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks implement their websites
and social media. These
companies use their websites and social media platform for a lot
of the same things, but it
seems as if Starbucks is more innovative and technologically
driven than Dunkin’ Donuts. Since
each has the same target market, they have to successfully use
competitive advantage in order
to rise above the other – Dunkin’ Donuts wants to target the
average working American
professional on the go, while Starbucks also allows for a
relaxed environment for people to
come and hang out. Through the research done for this project,
the cost of having these
websites has been proven to be a necessity, but Starbucks has
seemed to go the extra mile.
Starbucks has testimonials and videos on their websites, and the
company interacts with
customers on their social media, making the customer feel
appreciated and special. While
Dunkin’ Donuts also has customer interaction, they do not have

that WOW factor or an
important factor that sets them apart from Starbucks in that
aspect. Each company uses the
internet in an attempt to gain advantage over the other, only
driving more success for both.
14
Appendix
Figure I.
Figure II.
15
References
"Annual Financials for Dunkin' Brands Group Inc." DNKN
Annual
Income Statement. MarketWatch, Inc. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
"Annual Reports." Starbucks Investor Relations. Starbucks
Corporation.

Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
Berger, Charlie. "2014 Was a Very Good Year for Oracle
Advanced
Analytics at Oracle Open World 2014." Oracle Data Mining
(ODM) Blog. 8 Oct. 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
"Dunkin' Donuts." Dunkin' Brands. DD IP HOLDER LLC AND
BR IP
HOLDER LLC, 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
"Gartner Survey Shows More Than 40 Percent of Organizations
Expect
Internet of Things to Have a Significant Impact Over Next
Three
Years." Gartner. Gartner, Inc., 4 Feb. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
Hatic, Dana. "Dunkin' Donuts Takes Aim at Starbucks With
Mobile
Ordering App." Eater. Vox Media, Inc., 07 Mar. 2016. Web. 27
Mar. 2016
Huff, Travis. "How Starbucks Crushes It on Social Media."
SocialMediaToday. SOCIALMEDIATODAY.COM, 23 Aug.
2014. Web.

"The Starbucks Story." Starbucks Coffee Company. Starbucks
Corporation, 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
University Alliance. "Starbucks Supply Chain Balances
Efficiency with
Sustainability." University Of San Francisco. University
Alliance
Online. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
16
Venkatraman, Archana. "Starbucks Uses Cloud to Manage
Innovation
and Disruptive Technologies." ComputerWeekly. TechTarget,
10
Oct. 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
"Web Developer Salaries." Glassdoor. Glassdoor, 24 Feb. 2016.
Web.
27 Mar. 2016.
TERM PROJECT: Website & Information Systems for a
Competitive Advantage (Group)
Description
For this project, your team of five (5) members (some teams

may end of up with less) of your choosing
will identify and compare two competing companies from the
same industry (e.g., Rite Aid and CVS).
Company pairings from which you may NOT choose due to
over-use include: Home Depot and Lowe’s,
Microsoft and Apple, Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, Nike and
Reebok/Adidas, Pizza Hut/Domino’s and
Papa John’s Pizza, Amazon/Target and WalMart, and Coca-Cola
and Pepsi. Compare the two
IS 3100 Spring 2018 Syllabus_Randolph 9
companies’ websites and discuss how each company uses their
website to their advantage, what are the
disadvantages, what areas and processes could be improved, and
does their website add value. If it adds
value, what do you think that value is? Also, do the companies
use information systems for a competitive
advantage (e.g., a particular system that gives them a
competitive advantage by ordering products or
refilling inventory, etc.)? Apply Porter’s Five Forces Model.
The objective of this project is to provide your team with an
opportunity to explore and analyze a real
world information system and website issues, and to integrate
the materials from the course using virtual
teaming. A company’s website is often the first information
system with which people interact for a
company; it sets the tone for perception which drives customer
satisfaction and competitive positioning.
Certainly many of you may be familiar with website design and
perhaps develop them regularly, but this
is an opportunity to zoom out from the technicalities of which
Wordpress template to use and consider
more strategically why such template might be selected to
match the personality of the entity represented
by your website. Anyone deciding to complete the project on
his/her own or who misses the sign-up
deadline will be penalized an entire letter grade on his/her final

project grade.
Deliverables & Submissions
In response to student feedback, the project is due earlier in the
semester. That early deadline assures that
you do not have all your exams and project deadlines in the last
weeks of classes. Refer to the course
schedule for specific due dates. All components should be
submitted through Desire2Learn. The
following table provides a summary of deliverables expected,
and each item is then described in greater
detail.
Summary of Term Project Deliverables
Item Point Value
Proposal 5
Team Operating Agreement 10
Report 125
1. Table of Contents 5
2. Executive Summary 5
3. Companies 10
4. Comparison, Advantages/Disadvantages 15
5. Five Forces and Competitive Strategy 15
6. Business Process 10
7. Privacy and Security 15
8. Social Networking 15
9. Cost/Benefit/Risk Analysis 20
10. Conclusion 10
11. References 5
Presentation 20
Peer Evaluation 5
TOTAL POINTS 165
Proposal (5 points):
State the two companies you are comparing and the names of all
team members. Only one person needs to
submit this proposal on behalf of their team. Please submit the

project proposal as embedded text via the
Desire2Learn Assignment under the Term Project module.
Team Operating Agreement (10 points):
The specifics for the team operating agreement will be provided
in the Term Project folder. It is important
that all members participate in the creation of the agreement to
fully understand their responsibilities.
Assign team roles, meetings, goals, etc. Let me know if you use
asynchronous, synchronous or both styles
of communication. Select one person as the primary point of
contact for communications on behalf of the
team with the instructor. Please submit the project proposal as
an attached Word document via
Desire2Learn as one per team.
Report (125 points):
The main deliverable is a professional quality design document.
The length of the report will depend on
the project that your team decides on. In some cases much more
documentation is required than in others.
I would like to you to write a sufficient amount so that I can
thoroughly understand your project.
However, “less is more” applies here, so keep your writing to
the point. It is very likely that you will split
up the writing work between your teammates. However, you
will still have to integrate the writing, so that
you do not end up with five different reports with one cover.
Make sure that your content is of high
quality. I do not want to work my way through pages of
documentation that have been added as padding.
Put screen captures in an appendix. Include an executive
summary and table of contents in your report,
and check for problems with spelling and grammar. An example
report is provided in the Assignment
Submission Folder (this example may not have received a
perfect score). Include the following:

1. Table of Contents (5 points) – List major section headings
with associated page numbers.
2. Executive Summary (5 points) – This is a brief summary (2
paragraphs or so) of your entire project.
Assume that your target audience is an executive with little time
to read, but a need to understand the
key messages from the report.
3. Companies (10 points) – Choose any two organizations in the
same industry you wish. Describe the
organizations. What type of industry are they in? Do they sell
physical products, information, or
services? Are they a for-profit company, or a non-profit
organization? Are they publicly traded or
privately held? How long have they been in business? How long
have they had a website? (Use a tool
like the “Wayback Machine.”)
4. Comparison, Advantages/Disadvantages (15 points) –
Compare the two companies’ websites and
discuss how each company uses their website to their advantage,
what are the disadvantages, what
areas could be improved, and does their website add value.
Also, do the companies use information
systems for a competitive advantage (e.g., a particular system
that gives them a competitive advantage
by ordering products or refilling inventory, etc.)? A great
reference material is the book, “Good to
Great” by Jim Collins (not required). Answer the following
questions in this section:
• How much integrated will it be with the organization’s
storefront and online presence?
• What impact do you expect the website to have on the
organization’s traditional business?
• If demand suddenly triples because of your website, can the
company and the website handle the
growth?
• Is the company driving technology or is technology driving

the company?
List at least 5 advantages and disadvantages to the current
website of each company. Explain why
your group feels they are advantages and disadvantages. If
applicable, please report on how
technology is an advantage to their company and how not using
technology is a disadvantage. I’m not
as concerned about how good their pizza tastes so make sure
you do not go down that path!
5. Five Forces and Competitive Strategy (15 points) – From
Chapter 3, apply the Porter’s Five Forces
Model to each company and explain why you chose each
strength or weakness. Then consider how
an organization responds to the structure of its industry by
choosing a competitive strategy. Apply
Porter’s Four Competitive Strategies to each company and state
which strategy you feel the
company has chosen and why.
6. Business Process (10 points) – Describe in detail the ordering
process for one of your companies.
Please use chapter 7 as a reference.
7. Privacy and Security (15 points) – Describe the security
measures each company is using to protect
their information, secure purchases, etc. Answer the following
questions for both websites:
• Does their URL begin with HTTPS or change to HTTPS when
you log in or submit a transaction?
• Does their site have a link to their privacy policy?
• Does their site promote any type of security certificate or
symbol (i.e., Verisign)?
• Does their site require you to create an account with logon and
password requirements?
• Does their site offer security questions if you forget your
password?
8. Social Networking (15 points) – More and more companies

are turning to social media networking
tools such as Facebook and Twitter to help them market their
products or services. Please let me know
if the companies you choose are using social media or not. If
not, should they? Does it give them a
competitive advantage or not? Should they hire a social media
expert? How can they use social media
in association with traditional methods of marketing to help
spread the word?
9. Cost/Benefit/Risk Analysis (20 points) – Conduct a
cost/benefit and risk analysis of the
application/website. Identify all possible benefits and costs of
the application/website. Look at both
tangible and intangible costs and benefits. Where possible
assign a dollar value. Calculate how long it
would take for the application/website to pay for itself. Conduct
an impact risk assessment (this
concept/procedure will not be taught in this class, look it up
online and try your best at analyzing risks
for the companies). For example, determine how running the
application/website could negatively
impact the company (e.g., backlash from customers or
employees). In many cases, you won’t know
the exact numbers, but you can make educated guesses. For
instance, you could estimate that it would
take two people three months to make the improvements, and
that these people cost the company
$80,000 per year or use $50/hour as a rate. On the benefits side,
you might, for instance, specify that
you expect an increase of 10% in an area that currently has
$80,000 per month in sales. Also think
about possible update/maintenance costs (e.g., 6 months or 1
year from now). Finally, you have to
explicitly state the risks associated with the improvements or
not making the improvements. What
would happen to the organization if sales increase by 100%, the

server goes down, or if the
system/website is hacked or compromised?
10. Conclusion (10 points) – Summarize your main points and
your recommendations.
11. References (5 points) – If you quote anyone or share any
ideas that you did not originally create, you
must cite them. For example, when estimating costs, from where
are you pulling your numbers? Did
you include the URL of the original website being assessed
when describing the company? Did you
include these all as in-text citations that match with this list of
references?

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