Case Name :      Caffebene: Master Brewer of Growth and Global Ambition

Authors :           David Y. Choi, Byungoh Kang, Fred Kieser

Source :             North American Case Research Association (NACRA)

Case ID :            NA0215

Discipline :        Entrepreneurship

Case Length :    23 pages

Solution sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

This case was a finalist for NACRA’s Curtis E. Tate Award for the best case published in the Case Research Journal in 2013. Caffébene founder Sun Kwon Kim has achieved phenomenal success in a highly competitive South Korean coffee industry dominated by American and conglomerate-founded brands. The case illustrates Kim’s strong entrepreneurial orientation and describes the unusual decisions he has made to differentiate Caffébene and achieve rapid growth. Kim’s success in South Korea continues to fuel his global ambition and causes him and his management team to consider entering either China or the U.S. as its next target market. The case introduces a wide range of topics relevant to entrepreneurship as well as franchising, including developing a new retail concept, creating and sustaining competitive advantage, managing rapid growth, and new market entry strategies. Kim is faced with a difficult stay-the-course vs. abandon decision when he experiences a major slipup with Caffébene’s flagship store in the U.S. The discussion should raise fundamental questions about what made Caffébene successful in the first place, if those success factors are transferable to the U.S., and how Kim’s strong entrepreneurial orientation affects his decision making process. Unique aspects of the case include(1) presents a rare story of an entrepreneurial service concept of Asian origin attempting to expand internationally and enter the U.S. (most cases of this sort are about companies going the opposite direction); (2) describes the process of developing and refining a new retail concept in a highly competitive market; (3) explains strategies for stimulating and managing remarkable growth in a short period of time; and (4) exposes students to Caffébene management’s unorthodox thought process in the company’s international expansion strategy.