Individual Behavior Case Study

P 5-4 What individual behavior issues might arise in managing these types of people? What work team issues might arise?

According to the case, the ideal Starbucks employee is adaptable, self-motivated, passionate, and a creative team player. Those are all things that Starbucks values in their employees, but issues could still arise even if they find the right employee. As it was stated in the case, Starbucks went through a tough time financially. Not only does this impact the company profits, but it can have a direct effect on employee motivation as well. The employee that was passionate during good times, may have little motivation during bad times. As a manager, this could present a challenge because that attitude could carry over and start

An employee could basically say it is their way or no way. This could create tension within the team, and Starbucks could lose the unique culture they value greatly. One way for the manager to promote a better culture despite these individuals unwillingness would be to force collaboration. We discussed collaboration in chapter one, and it has proven to be very effective in employee work situations. Collaboration is key for both companies and individual stores to be successful. A manager must help employees understand that collaboration is vital, and communicate that clearly to the employees. Another way a manager could provide a solution to employees unwilling to adapt to one another is having proper organizational structure. Furthermore, like we discussed in chapter 10, a key to success is understanding where employees will succeed, and communicating and achieving goals

If problems do occur, the structure may need a slight change in order to prevent those problems from occurring again in the future. Design thinking and strong decision- making skills can help mitigate any behavioral problems that employees might display. For example, after a problem has been thoroughly analyzed, Starbucks may make the decision to redesign their structure to a more decentralized concept. This would give store managers more control over store policies, as well as having more say about what is, and what is not acceptable behavior for a Starbucks employee. Having a more decentralized structure would give managers the authority to strictly enforce their policies and potentially use tactics of negative reinforcement to correct any behavioral