“Starbucks was named after Starbuck, first mate of the whaleship Pequod in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick…Starbuck was pluralized for ease of use” (Burks, 2009, p. 1). Now President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, Howard Schultz formed Starbucks Corporation in 1987 after purchasing the name Starbucks, six stores and a roasting plant from previous owners, Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker (Burks, 2009). Starbucks operates under a successful value chain management strategy. Their value chain encompasses a systematic approach to the way business is done. Robbins and Coulter (2012) point out, “A good value chain involves a sequence of participants working together as a team, each adding some component of value” (p. 520). Starbucks continually reviews every aspect of their business; from the organizational culture to values and ethics to strategy, planning and operations, management control and finally human resources and performance management, searching for those items that don’t contribute to the “Starbucks experience” which is what makes the Starbucks Corporation a successful business model. Organizational Culture The Starbucks Corporation is built around an experience, the Starbucks experience. While the Starbucks experience is most notably associated with the way customers are treated, one could argue however, that the Starbucks experience transcends just the way customers are treated. The Starbucks experience is an all encompassing culture that revolves not just around customers but also to employees, or “partners” and suppliers. Burks (2009) notes that the company cares about the footprint it leaves, no matter where it does business; “the company is dedicated to making positive contributions to the communities where it doe... ... middle of paper ... ...ies/100-best-companies-to-work-for/435-2011 Koehn, N.F., Besharov, M.A., & Miller, K. (2008). Starbucks Coffee Company in the 21st Century. [Case study]. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing. Overholt, A. (2007, December 29). Do You Heat What Starbucks Hears. Fast Company.com Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/84/starbucks_schultz.html Robbins, S.P. & Coulter, M. (2012). Management (11th ed.). Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Starbucks Corporation. (n.d.). Our Company. Retrieved from http://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information Starbucks Corporation. (2006, February 8). Starbucks Annual Meeting of Shareholders Starts over a Cup of Coffee; Company's Impact Now Extends Well Beyond Stores' Four Walls. [Financial release]. Retrieved from http://investor.starbucks.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=99518&p=irol-newsArticle_pf&ID=814454&highlight=
Datamonitor. (January 2005). Starbucks Corporation. Retrieved September 22, 2006 from, http://www.investor.reuters.com from University of Phoenix Library.
(1) For the 1st move, “Be the undisputed coffee authority”, the stakeholder is the partners. The reason that the partners are important to Starbucks is because they are the ones that work closely with the consumers. According to the authors, “Starbucks needed its partners to share their passion, pride and knowledge of Starbucks offerings and mission with customers every day, over every order (Koehn, McNamara, Khan, Legris, 14). Starbucks used superior customer service to help smoothen the transformation process. With partners contributing to the positive customer experience, Starbucks can maintain loyalty customers. For this reason, having great product is not enough, passionate and friendly staff can help generated more positive experience to the customers.
In 2002, unexpected findings of a market research showed problems regarding customer satisfaction and brand meaning for Starbucks customers. The situation was unacceptable for a company whose overall objective is to build the most recognized and respected brand in the world. Starbucks was supposed to represent a new and different place where any man would relax and enjoy quality time, alone or with others. But the market research showed that in the mind of the consumers, Starbucks brand is viewed as corporative, trying to expand endlessly and looking to make lots of money. This huge gap between customers' perception and Starbucks' values and goals called for immediate action.
Founded in 1971 at Seattle’s Pike Place Market, Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spices, as it was originally called, has been “brewing-up” its famous blends in over 43 countries, including the United States. Now called Starbucks Coffee Company, business isn’t just about the coffee and tea anymore. Starbucks has its own line of bottled water, handcrafted beverages, fresh food, entertainment, merchandise and a Starbucks Card. The company has received numerous awards for their outstanding business practices. Fortune Magazine has ranked them as one of “The Best 100 Companies to Work For” in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2008 (Starbucks, 2008). The Starbucks Experience provides consumers and the general public a direct line a of business communication. From friendly baristas to press releases from CEO Howard Schultz, Starbucks keeps its “partners” informed.
Starbucks not only shapes a defined importance on its product, the coffee, but also the relationships on its partners, its customers and its shareholders to create diversity, “to create a place where each of us can be ourselves” (Starbucks Coffee), to treat all related partners with dignity and respect at the greatest corporate level. In this sense, Starbucks involves its customers, its neighbors and is shareholders to participate in the community to “be a force for positive action—bringing together [its] partners, customers, and the community to contribute every day (Starbucks Coffee).
Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spice opened its first store in April 1971 in the Pike Place Market in Seattle, by owners who had a passion for dark-roasted coffee that was popular in Europe, but hard to find in the U.S. (Harrison et al., 2005; Venkatraman & Nelson, 2008). The company’s mission was to provide Seattle with the best access to dark-roasted coffee, and sought to educated customers about the product. As a matter of customer education and acceptance of the product, Starbucks grew and expanded into the successful domestic market it is today. Much of this success can be attributed to a focus on the total customer experience and s...
The purpose of this case study is to understand the globalization of Starbucks. Is Starbucks just a cup of coffee or is it more? Starbucks has taken a basic item and transformed it into a way of life. Individuals are no longer drawn out to savor coffee in the morning just to get the caffeine they require for the day; they can drink coffee any day of the year for entertainment purposes. Coffee is currently an agreeable affair that anybody can have whenever they please. What caused this intense change? Single word: Starbucks. When one purchases some Starbucks coffee, they aren 't purchasing only coffee; they are acquiring an experience. From the strong coffee smell, the laid-back climate, and the rich taste in any
Starbucks began its retention plan by analyzing their employees’ needs. The analysis drew variables of importance, such as positive culture, employee development, and benefits. As a result of the analysis, Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, came up with a plan to start a long-term retention program in his company. Mr. Schultz made sure that “he made it a point to put himself at the top of a respect pyramid in which he would be sure to be kind to everyone in the company with whom he interacted, with them passing on the respectful treatment, right down to the pyramid’s base”(“How Starbucks retains its employees”). The company also set up an online portal for employee development. Starbucks also launched a program to help its employees to achieve a college education. This educational program sends employees to Arizona State’s online program, providing juniors with free tuition and sophomores with financial aid. As a result of this initiative, Forbes (2015) has named Starbucks as one of “America’s Best
Starbucks case study: background 1971-87; private company 1987-92. (1997). McGraw-Hill Companies. Retrieved March 20, 2007, from the McGraw-Hill Companies website: http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/thompson/11e/case/starbucks-1.html
In conclusion, Starbucks Corporation offers many great examples of what a company can do to be successful, not only with employees but for the business too. In this paper five major topics were discussed, which include: the motivational principles displayed by Starbucks, the importance of business ethics, how diversity is implemented throughout the company, and the new innovations that being put into place. All of these topics are important when trying to run a successful company.
Weissman, M. (2011). God in a Cup: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Coffee. Retrieved from: http://books.google.co.za/books?id=hjMbk8TW9KMC&pg=PA2001&dq=Starbucks+store+opened+in+close+proximity+to+another+takes+away+from+the+former’s+sales&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4z50U6XuIMSsPIyrgbgG&ved=0CFgQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=Starbucks%20store%20opened%20in%20close%20proximity%20to%20another%20takes%20away%20from%20the%20former’s%20sales&f=false
Starbucks is a worldwide company, known for is delicious brews of coffee and seasonal varieties of tasty drinks for any occasion. Starbucks opened with two main goals, sharing great coffee with friends and to help make the world a little better. It originated in the historic Pike Place Market of Seattle, Washington in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker. The creation of Starbucks’ name came from the seafaring tradition of early coffee traders and the romance evoked from Moby Dick. At the time, this individual shop specialized in the towering quality of coffee over competitors and other brewing services enabling its growth to becoming the largest coffee chain in Washington with numerous locations. In the early 1980s, the current CEO Schultz saw an opportunity for growth in the niche market. After a trip to Italy he brought back the idea of a café style environment of leisure and social meetings to the United States we now see in Starbucks locations today. Schultz ultimately left Starbucks to open his own coffee shop, Il Giornale which turned out to be a tremendous success. Fast forward a year later, Schultz got wind that Starbucks was going to sell all their components of Starbucks including their stores and factories, he immediately acquired the funds to buy Starbucks and linked both operations. Within five years he was able to open more than 125 stores starting in New England, Boston, Chicago, and gradually entered California. He wanted Starbucks to be a franchise system based on the mission of telling the truth and emphasize the quality,
For this organizational analysis, I decided to analyze Starbucks. I chose Starbucks because they are the leading innovators in socially impactful business activities and personally, I love Starbucks coffee! Obviously, the point of this paper is not to talk about how good their products are, but to analyze how their organization is structured and identify potential for improvement. I have never worked at a Starbucks, but I have two friends that work at the location inside of Hy-Vee in Cedar Falls. After countless hours of research, talking to my friends about day-to-day activities, and actually going to Starbucks on numerous occasions over the past few years, I knew this was the organization that I would love to analyze.
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.
I will briefly summarize and examine issues facing Starbucks. Starting from there I will pick the most important issue and study it from different positions. In the end of my I will try to suggest what steps should be made to keep the company in continuing its quest to become one of the most recognized and respected brands in the world.