Starbucks was bought out by current CEO Howard Schultz in 1987. Since then, Andrew Harrer (2012) reports the company has grown to operate over “17,244 stores worldwide” (para. 1). Fortune (n.d.) reports in its yearly 100 Best Companies to Work for that Starbucks employs “some 95,000 employees”. From only a handful of stores in 1987 to a billion dollar franchise today, the success of Starbucks is due in great deal to their corporate culture, specifically how employees, or as Starbucks calls them, partners are treated. Joseph Michelli (2007) echoes this sentiment, “A great cup of coffee is only part of the Starbucks success equation” (p. 767).
The Starbucks corporate culture is not easily summed up because it is multidimensional. However, Starbucks leadership reiterates several key words regularly; “everything matters”, “playful”, “human connection”, “respect”, “dignity”, and “care”. In fact, many of these words can be found in their mission statement. Starbucks partner mission statement reads:
We’re called partners, because it’s not just a job, it’s our passion. Together, we embrace diversity to create a place where each of us can be ourselves. We always treat each other with respect and dignity. And we hold each other to that standard. (Starbucks.com, n.d., para. 2).
Starbucks strives to be the place between work and home for its customers, and strives to create a place to work where productivity shines above any differences between colleagues. The hiring process begins with the interview. Online forums often reveal the same types of questions asked at interviews. These questions generally refer to how an individual handles conflict with colleagues, requests for information on how they might have disappointed a customer, why...
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...leadership and a fair performance appraisal system.
Works Cited
Aguins, H. (2009). Performance Management (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
CNN Money (2012). 100 Best Companies to Work For. Fortune Magazine. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2012/snapshots/73.html
Harrer, A (2012, January 26). Starbucks Corporation. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/starbucks_corporation/index.html
Michelli, J.A. (2007). The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Kindle Edition.
Schultz, H. (2011). Onward. New York, NY: Rodale. Kindle Edition.
Weber, G. (2005, February 1). Preserving the Starbucks Counter Culture. Workforce.com. Retrieved from http://www.workforce.com/article/20050201/NEWS02/302019989
chose to analyze the mission statement and “About Us” page of Starbucks. The mission statement is:
As shown in the case, “[Starbucks] became a symbol of decadence, an association reinforced by McDonald’s misleading ads targeting Starbucks lattes that read, ‘Four bucks is dumb’” (Koehn, McNamara, Khan, Legris, 19). With the competitor like McDonald attacked on the price of the its drinks, Starbucks was affected because McDonald sold its drinks in a cheaper price compared to Starbucks’. Because the ad that McDonald released conveyed customers’ negative perception about Starbucks’ drinks, Starbucks overcame this challenge by retraining its baristas and store managers. According to the authors, “baristas and store managers are the true ambassadors of our brand, the real merchants of romance and theater, and as such the primary catalysts for delighting customers” (Koehn, McNamara, Khan, Legris, 20). By focusing on training the staff, Starbucks could differentiate itself from McDonald’s products when it comes to positive customer experience and the quality of the drink instead of the
Schultz, H. (2011). Onward: How Starbucks fought for its life without losing its soul. New York: Rodale.
There are many topics that arise throughout the case with Starbucks Corporation. Starbucks Coffee is located worldwide and there are many different ways to look at this situation. The company offers a unique range of coffee, lattes, espressos, and café style drinks. The company intended to reach a specific target audience, but has ended up in many different markets and has been growing rapidly. Starbucks has greatly used the “youth appeal” strategy to gain entrance into new markets. However, such enthusiasm cannot be counted on indefinitely; other strategies are always in the works. Over time Starbucks has been able to acquire a solid brand reputation and has a world renowned company logo.
...m of discrimination and promote equal opportunity in all sectors of Starbucks business transactions. We will set down with leadership and emphasize the importance of honesty, integrity and the reason it flow's so diligently through this corporation. Our company doesn't subscribe to dishonest practices, such as corruption or fraudulent business dealings. We must hold our selves to the same standards that we hold our employees. Understand that diversity in all aspects of our company's daily ventures creates a worldly image and increases ability to fulfill our goal of opening 40'000 Starbucks with half being outside the US.
Starbucks is an international coffee house and it was created in 1971 when they opened the first store in Seattle, Newcastle. Currently, they own 21,000 stores in 65 different countries of the world, and their passion for the great coffee, excellent service and community interaction exceeds cultures and languages (Starbucks, 2014). This company is the number 1 brand coffeehouse chain in the world due to the best roaster, marketer and seller of speciality coffee. Its main slogan: “Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time” (Jurevicius, 2013).
Starbucks takes their partners very seriously as well as their well-being. This is apparent in the rewards Starbucks offers to their partners. Starbucks has what they refer to as, “Your Special Blend” which is offered to part-time and full-time partners. Starbucks offers comprehensive health coverage, a highly competitive 401(k) program with company matching, a stock equity reward program, education benefits including tuition assistance, free coffee, and paid vacation (Your Special Blend: Rewarding Our
The organization we chose to audit is Starbucks. As one of the largest coffee chains in the United States, we saw an opportunity to analyze their company and learn from the challenges they face. With a plethora of different communication styles at work within the company it seemed to be a prefect platform for us to base our final project. The first Starbucks opened in 1971 in the historic Pikes Place Market in Seattle, Washington. There is now over 13,000 stores located in the U.S. alone. We’ll be focusing on the individual stores to see what communication styles take place within Starbucks on a day-to-day basis. To better understand what makes Starbucks successful, we’re taking a deeper look at how the organization communicates so we can further
With clear core values towards providing quality coffee, the best service, and atmosphere, Starbucks has enjoyed great success since it was founded 30 years ago. The company has being doing very well for last 11 years with 5% or more store sales increase, even with the rest economy still reeling from the post-9/11 recession. However recent research, conducted to Starbucks, have showed some concerns regarding company’s problem meeting customers’ expectations.
One of the main problems that Starbucks is facing at the present time is the ability to maintain national competitive advantage (Monash South Africa, 2014). Due to their local demand conditions, Starbucks tries to satisfy all customers by trying “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time” (Starbucks Corporation, 2014). Local demand conditons consist of a company trying satisfy needs of their closest customers and expanding their competitive advantage by upgrading their strategic management policies (Monash South Africa, 2014).
The structure of Starbucks business communication is exceptional. Rather you are in their store buying a Caramel Frappuccino®, visiting their website or watching one of their advertisements on television; as the consumer, the message is loud and clear. Pick up any newspaper and you are likely to find an article about the coffee giant. Starbucks pledges a commitment to their over 172,000 partners (employees) and the community. “We realize our people are the cornerstone of our success, and we know that their ideas, commitment and connection to our customers are truly the essential elements in the Starbucks Experience” (Starbucks, 2008).
"Rewarding everyday moments". The Starbucks Mantra clearly implies that they are not selling just coffee. They claim to be selling the coffee experience. Their coffee bars that sell specialty coffee also gives customers an ambience where they can be themselves. Starbucks advertises themselves as the third place between home and office, where you can escape, reflect, read, chat or listen. They have become the largest player in the coffee industry and is still looking for avenues to expand themselves.
Everything centers on the organizational culture within Starbucks. While being a customer service-based company and understanding that the customer satisfaction and loyalty are what will make the company profitable, Starbucks takes a different approach to customer service than other companies. By hiring employees that fit in the organizational culture (ICFAI, 2005) and treating their employees well (Lefevere, n.d.), Starbucks brings in and retains customers through their happy employees. The qualities that Starbucks hires for are "adaptability, dependability and the ability to work in a team" (ICFAI, 2005). The culture is supportive and laid back (Montana, 2005). Howard Shultz, Starbucks president and CEO, has the theory "that if you treat your employees well, they will treat your customers well" (Starbucks, 1997).
In addition to being best-known supplier of the finest coffee and promising only the highest quality products, Starbucks emphasizes firm values, provides guidelines to enhance employee self-esteem. This is to ensure continued customer satisfaction. Moreover, diversity has become a priority to providing an inviting environment to all consumers. Starbucks continues to abide by a strict, slow growth policy in which they set out to dominate a market before moving on to expand, thus history has shown this strategy to be successful for Starbucks, making them one the fastest growing companies nationwide.
The strategic vision that Howard Schultz had for Starbucks was "Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow". This s...