STARBUCKS

Starbucks

Starbucks

Introduction

Starbucks was opened in 1971 in Seattle. Starbucks started the business by selling roasted coffee beans, and various accessories for brewing and roasting the coffee. In 1971, the company was owned by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel, and Gordon Bowker. However, in 1982, an entrepreneur Howard Shultz joined the firm. Inspired by the Italian coffee culture, Shultz decided to replicate the culture in the United States.

Organizational Behavior of Starbucks

The modern organizations have started to realize that an important requirement of growth is outstanding customer service. An organization cannot achieve efficiency and effectiveness without providing its customers with customer service. The factor that makes Starbucks different from its competitors is its customer experience. Starbucks is famous for providing its customers with an experience that cannot be duplicated by its competitors. Undoubtedly, Starbucks offers excellent products but the customer experience has played a vital role in the growth of the company.

Starbucks has implemented a functional organizational structure. The operations of Starbucks are divided into different functional departments including human resources, marketing, CSR, and public affairs. The organizational environment of Starbucks has been structured loosely. The company has opted for this environment to encourage new ideas from employees.

The strategies of Starbucks have always helped the company achieve its objectives. The most important objective of Starbucks is to make the company most recognized and respected global brand. Starbucks aims to achieve this objective through continuous expansion of its operations. The company also aims to leverage the Starbucks brand by offering new products, and developing new distribution channels.

The strategy of expansion followed by Starbucks is to open new stores in marketing where opportunities exist. Starbucks has pursued this strategy successfully. One of the biggest challenges confronted by the company is cannibalization. Cannibalization is defined as the marketing of a new product that competes with the existing products of the same company. Cannibalization takes place with an increase in retail concentration. Starbucks has been expanding its operations to reach customers. The company has initiated stores to the places where customers work, travel dine, and shop. For this purpose, the company is establishing strategic alliances with different third parties.

When assessing the success of a chain, the most important tool that is used is the rate of comparative-store sales. If the rate is high, it depicts that the company is growing organically. The high rate that suggests that the company is opening new retail stores across the world. However, the low rate indicates that the new stores are cannibalizing the existing sales of the organization. When analyzing the growth of Starbucks, it has been found that Starbucks is losing its original identity through continuous expansion (Corkery, 2005).

Leadership Strategies

Leadership is a quality that lifts up the personality of the people. It creates a vision for people to which others can aspire and work through it. The leadership develops a new vision in the people that help them in achieving their set goals. Through these set goals, it becomes easier for people to become successful in their ...