Case Study Analysis
Coors Brewing Company, Inc.
MBA 4231, Achieving Strategic Advantage II
Daniels College of Business
University of Denver
May 27, 2004
Executive Summary
Throughout most of its history, the Coors Brewing Company (Coors) has been a regionalized brewer within
the United States, specializing in high-quality beer through by virtue of its source water selection, stringent
production standards, and cold filtered brewing approach. As the company expanded its distribution to new markets
within the U.S. in attempt to gain market share, it made a strategic decision to maintain a majority of its brewing
operations at its primary production facility in Golden, Colorado. This decision was based upon the desire to
preserve its core production strengths through close family control. However, as the company desires to expand its
market presence beyond the U.S. boarders with a goal of becoming the 5th largest brewer by 2008, its historic
approach to management and operations provides a detriment to achieving this objective. As seen by the on-going
consolidation of top brewers within the beer industry, the competition is fierce as more brewers are competing
within a global market with extended product lines and decreased profit margins.
While organic augmentation is the traditional mode of company expansion within Coors, the harsh reality is
that the company must seek external-based initiatives (e.g., joint ventures, acquisitions) to gain market share within
the low market growth industry. However, several opportunities exist as three core markets are witnessing increased
volume consumption: Russia, China, and Latin America/South America. Several of the top breweries have already
implemented joint venture and ...