HOWARD SCHULTZ

Howard Schultz

Howard Schultz

Business Strategies

Starbuck's has become a staple of American heritage and for the most part, if you are in your 20's, you have developed up with it and this has become what you anticipate coffee to be. Who can blame you, it is universal, so “wake up and stink the coffee”! I plan to notify you about the schemes that this monster utilizes, that have taken it from humble beginnings to a worldwide phenomenon. I, furthermore propose to interpret how Starbucks is taking ceramic by gale, mainly because marketer / entrepreneur Howard Schultz's dream and objective declaration is distributed by everyone in the company! An excerpt from the London economic Times released in February 2006 states the following in regards to Starbucks entering the Chinese market; “Mr. Schultz said the company was looking at new ways to tailor the menu to local tastes, as US fast food chains have done.” This statement leads me to believe that Starbucks pursues a multi-domestic strategy. A multi-domestic strategy implies that the company is located in separate countries, operates on its own, allows for change, and responds to national operational, product, and market requirements. Starbucks does exactly this! Furthermore, Starbucks makes the customization of products and marketing strategies its priority upon entering new territories.

In addition, another article from Wall Street Journal, New York also published in February 2006 talks about how Mr. Schultz feels about the importance of a shared commitment; “Our global success would not be possible without our international partners, who share in our values and commitment to bringing the Starbucks Experience to customers worldwide. How we choose partners is critical to our success!” Some of these considerations and shared attributes are a critical involvement and commitment of top management in daily operations, sufficient financial and human resources, a good strategic fit, and a genuine sense of shared values and corporate culture.

Leadership Qualities

One of the amazing things about Starbucks is the fact that the vision of the CEO is absolutely shared by each and every employee in the company. This is what I attribute its success to. As I learned in the military, strict adherence and execution of the leader's vision is the best way to accomplish any mission. I write not only about the research that I did for this, but also from reinforcement of what I had seen firsthand each time I bought a cup of coffee at different establishments.

Although not too difficult of a task, I did in fact make a point to go to several coffee shops over the past couple of weeks to see if I noticed a big difference in the way they operated. When it was all said and done, the “hands down” winner was Starbuck's! Each time I ordered something from Starbuck's, whether it was a Frapuccino, regular coffee, or a baked good, the experience was always pleasant and worth the money spent. Let me interpret in more detail. When I ventured on over to other coffee shops, I always seemed to notice ...