Starbucks

Organizational Behavior and Communication Starbucks Corporation is a company that has an average of more that $35 million customer visits each week. This company which was founded in 1971 in Seattle, also has stores in more than 37 countries which has more loyal patrons that return more than 18 times a month to purchase this companies coffee. Their stores can now be found throughout the world to include Europe, United States, Latin America and even the Middle East. According to Michelli (2007), Starbucks is more than just a story. Starbucks culture is providing a brand and product excellence. The company has won glowing accolades due to their business and how they run their business throughout the world. In 2007, Starbucks was recognized by Fortune as one of America’s best companies to work for (Fortune, 2008). The company’s senior executive was able to focus on the company’s core values, culture and the principles of the company’s mission statement. The company’s mission is to establish itself as a premier purveyor. Along with this they are looking at providing the finest coffee in the world along with maintaining their principles as they grow. The six principles that Starbucks focuses on are: providing a great work environment along with treating each other with respect and dignity; embracing diversity, which will be an essential component in the way the company does business; making sure that the company uses the highest status when it comes to purchasing, roasting and eve delivery fresh coffee; Being able to develop customers whom are enthusiastically satisfied all of the time; being able to contribute positively whether it be the environment or else the communities in which they are involved in; and being able to recognize in order to have a future of success that there is profitability. Howard Schultz’s vision was not to focus on company, but to focus on making sure that there was satisfaction for the employees and the customers. The company’s focus had changed to focus on a great work environment and how to treat each other with dignity and respect. The company focuses on leadership and within their mission statement the focus is to make sure that the leaders of Starbucks are living the company’s espoused values. Howard Schultz’s focus was on offering exception customer service and this is where communication was Starbuck’s main competitive strategy. There is extensive training within Starbucks and this is to make sure that the proper training is given not only to the employees but also the partners. The partners at Starbucks are trained on product knowledge, along with personal empowerment and the guiding principles of success. “Starbucks consistently spends more on training than it does on advertising and it pays huge dividends for Starbucks in retaining employees, maintaining connections with current customers, and bringing new customers into its stores (Michelli, 2007). The president of Starbucks U.S. businesses, Jim Alling focuses on the accomplishments when it comes to leadership at Starbucks. Since Starbucks lives by their mission statement and their principles that are set by the company. The Starbucks experience has two very distinct levels in the company according to Michelli (2007) : its unique corporate culture and its passing down of these values to its partners. In passing down these values, the partners create a unique corporate empowerment, entrepreneurship, quality and service define the values of the firm. “In the spirit of Starbucks, these principles encourage us to listen and respond with a greater awareness of opportunity” (Michelli, 2007). The company’s leadership are the ones that are responsible for keeping the organization informed. This takes communication from the leaders to the partners and from the partners to the customers. Having so many that are committed to this principle within Starbucks helps when it comes to communication to Starbucks headquarters and their partners. “Schultz’s vision was not to build a coffee shop, but instead to build a company that treats people with dignity and respect” (Gallo, 2008). Gallo also states that the company can learn from Howard Schultz because a company has to have respect for their employees. By having respect for their employees this also helps with better customer service, which leads to a stronger company. The company focuses on conflict resolution to help increase their profitability and help the business grow even more throughout the world. Starbucks focuses on their leaders and how issues need to be resolved in order to avoid any conflicts when it comes to the company’s guiding principles. The company needs to focus on communication and culture. This is something that Starbucks has done and it has also helped this company become very successful over the years. Communication is important in all companies and Starbucks has proven that communication can make a company successful. References Fortune. (2008). 100 Best companies to work for. Retrieved October 29, 2011, from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2007/snapshots/16.html. Gallo, C. (2008, January10). Bringing Passion to Starbucks, Travelocity. Business Week Online, Retrieved October 29, 2011, from MasterFILE Premier database. Michelli, J.A. (2007). The Starbucks Experience. New York: McGraw-Hill