Leading Business Organizations - Starbucks CEO

Running head: LEADING BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS
LEADING BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Reflective statement.........................................................................................................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................6
Discussion........................................................................................................................................6
Overview of the servant leadership style.....................................................................................6
Critical evaluation of the leadership style of Kevin Johnson......................................................8
Reasons that has helped Johnson have strong personal brand...................................................12
Recommendation.......................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................16

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Reflective statement
Leadership in an organisation is highly important and helps in ensuring the success of an
organisation. It is important that leaders ask themselves fundamental questions like whether they
have been successful in motivating the workforce and whether they have been able to identify
core issues within the organisation. Leadership has various vital aspects two of the most
important ones are transparency and decisiveness.
Every leader possesses different leadership style. Leadership styles are considered to be
the approach or manner of providing proper direction, implementation of plans and successfully
motivating people. In recent times, with the current business situation and environment, it can be
said that the servant leadership and transformational leadership is idea in order to ensure the
success of a business.
Aspiring leaders need to be familiar with all sorts of leadership style that are present.
There are various different situations that might crop up in the business and every situation has
ways to deal with it. It is important for leaders to be familiar with leadership styles so that they
can understand which decision will be fruitful in which situations that will help them in making
positive decisions for the business.
Leaders always need to set positive mission and vision for organisations. A mission of
the organisation is basically the objectives of the company and the vision is basically what the
desire of the company is. It has been seen that the main contribution of the individuals to execute
the mission and vision of the company is to work hard in order to fulfill the organizational goals.
The role of leaders to contribute to executing the mission and the goals is to communicate the
main purpose of the company to their stakeholders, inform the necessary strategy that is required

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for the development, and develop the measurable objectives and goals in order to gauge the
positive and the success of the strategy of the organisation. It is important the aspiring leaders
research properly and analyses the internal and external environment of an organisation and then
come up with proper goals and set the activities or the tasks that need to be done in order to
accomplish the goals that have been set by the leaders.
It is highly important that leaders have proper strategy in order to ensure they contribute
positively to the organisation they work for. Strategic leadership or leadership strategy is often
defined as the ability of the capability to influence other people to voluntary make certain
decisions that help in enhancing the prospects for the future success of an organisation and also
consecutively maintaining the financial stability of the company.
One of the important leadership strategy is considered to be change leadership where it
the capability of the leader to enthuse or influence other people through drive, vision, persona
advocacy and provide access to necessary resources to provide a concrete platform for change. It
has been seen that the structure of the organisation or the company is said to be the
organizational potential that help in determining the productivity of the company.
It is important for leaders to understand the business context that helps in understanding
the factors that have a strong impact on the business of an organisation from different
perspectives that include the decision making process and the goals of the business.
It is important for aspiring leaders to understand a range of leadership strategies as there
are different types of situations that can come up and it is important to know various strategies so
that they can choose the most effective one and ensure the growth of an organisation.

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One of the most important aspects of leadership is to motivate people and thus they need
to know motivational theories. Motivational theories are basically aspects that are provided that
help in satisfying and motivating people. Employee motivation is highly important as they are
the ones who determine the success of a business as their hard work and productivity is the key
that helps in gaining competitive advantage in the market and thus motivating employees’ means
higher and high quality productivity. It is important for leaders to apply appreciative inquiry
technique in order to analyze the positive core of the company and work towards achieving more
productivity. It is important that aspiring leaders are able to critically evaluate range of
motivational theories with organizational context as every employee is different and it is
important as a leader to individually look after the subordinates and ensure each and every one is
motivated so that they can produce positive and high quality products and services that will help
in satisfying the customers which will eventually lead to gaining a competitive advantage in the
market and help in gaining customer loyalty that will be fruitful for the business of the
organisation, help in the professional development of the organisation and help the organisation
in generating profits.

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Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to shed a light on the leadership style of the current CEO of
the company Starbucks, Kevin Johnson. This paper will provide information about the leadership
style that Kevin Johnson is seen to follow which is the servant leadership and provide a critical
evaluation of leadership style that has been helping Starbucks to have a significant growth in the
market. This paper will also reflect on the ethical challenges and discuss some of the views
shared by the former as well as current employees of Starbucks that will help in identifying the
issues in the company. The reasons will be presented in the paper that has helped Kevin Johnson
become an effective leader as well as one of the most successful global leaders. Suitable and
effective recommendations will be provided that Kevin Johnson can consider that will help I
eradicating the ethical and other challenges faced by the company and contribute to the growth
and development of the company for its better future.
Discussion
Overview of the servant leadership style
Servant leadership is considered to be a philosophy of leadership where the primary or
the key goal or mission of the leader is to serve the employees, customers, the relevant
stakeholders and the organisation (Williams et al 2017). According to scholars a servant leader
always put the people first and is seen to show concern and care to the customers and the
employees (Covey 2018). The servant leadership style highly believes in serving people and
ensures that they grow and develop successfully and also ensure that their demands and needs
are met so that they are highly satisfied.

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Starbucks has been growing and has been gaining significant amount of profits and
revenues in the market since Kevin Johnson has taken the position of the CEO. It has been seen
that the servant leadership which he highly follows has helped in the growth of the company.
The servant leadership style is seen to be very useful and has helped many companies succeed.
One of the examples of an organisation that has become successful because of the use of servant
leadership is Marriott International. The founder of Marriott International, Bill Marriott always
focused on the culture of service (Pratt et al 2019). He believed that service not only needs to be
provided to the customers but also the other people related to the organisation. It has been seen
that he highly emphasizes on the concept, spirit to serve which is the reason that helps the
multinational organisation work towards it and reach great heights
It has been seen that the business environment in the recent times have become uncertain,
ambiguous, very complex and volatile and the servant leadership style is likely to be ineffective
and may bring some challenges. One of the situations that often crop up in organisations is risk
and according to scholars, risks are inevitable (Cronk et al 2019). It is important for the leader to
take a stance that is firmer that will help in overcoming the issue however; the servant leadership
does not allow one to have a high level of authority. Thus, this can bring challenges as it can lead
to delayed decision making that can affect the operations of the business or an organisation
which can bring negative results.
According to scholars, the main and primary focus of a leader should always be on the
growth of an organisation and ensures it flourishes in the market (De Smet, Lurie and St George
2018). However, the servant leadership style is seen to focus more on the members in
comparison to the needs and requirements of the organisation. It is important for the leaders to
consider the needs and demands of the employees and other stakeholders of the organisation but

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should not overlook the mission and the goals of an organisation. In recent times, it has been
seen that the business environment has become dynamic and there are new requirements and
needs that will help a business grow thus, the servant leadership can often bring challenges as the
primary focus is not on the needs of the business and overlooking this may have a negative
impact on the business.
Critical evaluation of the leadership style of Kevin Johnson
Kevin Johnson has been successfully running one of the most popular coffee chains,
Starbucks and one of the major reasons apart from his experience, qualifications, vision and
mindset is his leadership style, servant leadership that has helped him in contributing the success
of the company. According to scholars, servant leadership leads to employee loyalty and higher
productivity in an organisation as the employees are made to feel their importance in the
business and leaders emphasize on serving the people first (Setyaningrum, Setiawan and
Surachman 2017). Kevin Johnson thinks a lot about his employees and recognizes the fact that
majority of the employees working at Starbucks are teenagers who work to support their
education thus Starbucks provides their employees with full tuition coverage via the Starbucks
College Achievement Plan.
In one of the interviews with CNBC, alongside the then CEO Howard Schultz, Kevin
Johnson stated their five year strategic plan where the main emphasis was put on elevating the
brand and also enhancing the customer experience (YouTube 2016). Starbucks is seen to have
introduced new flavours and have also been incorporating healthy measures by reducing extra
sugar and introducing healthy snacks in order to avoid advent of lifestyle diseases among
customers. From this interview, it can be seen that Johnson follows servant leadership as one of

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the major aspects of their strategic plan for the next years for Starbucks is emphasizing on
serving customers with a positive experience.
Kevin Johnson, in another interview with CNBC stated that their main focus is just not all
gaining profits along with that is to ensure they can take care of their employees whom Starbucks
generally refers to as their partners by providing them college achievement and healthcare and
also talks about their goal to provide unique experience to their customers by connecting and
providing their customers with personalized offers, rewards and many more in order to gain
customer loyalty (YouTube 2019). This shows the emphasis Johnson puts on the stakeholders of
Starbucks and ensure everyone benefits from the sales and positive revenue of Starbucks.
According to reports, Kevin Johnson apart from customer experience and their employees also
emphasize on the use of technology and is seen to have incorporated technology that are
necessary for the company in terms of their operations and growth (Ward 2017).
The leadership style of Kevin Johnson will be analyzed by using the Appreciative Inquiry
model. The Appreciative Inquiry model is an approach to change management that emphasizes
on what works well and why does it do so.

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Table: Appreciative Inquiry Model of Starbucks
This model presents the positives of the company Starbucks that has been achieved
because of the goals and the vision of the leader of the company, Kevin Johnson. It has been seen
that the company has gained prominence because of the positive factors like high quality
products and focus on the key stakeholders and it is the dream of the company to elevate the
brand and provide positive experience to the customers and it has been designed in way that it
helps in fulfilling their goal that is to generate profits by operating in an ethical manner and
ensuring it benefits everyone associated with the company. From this model it can be seen that
Kevin Johnson focuses on serving and ensures he successfully serves everyone related to the
company.
POSITIVE
CORE
Discovery
High quality
products, focus
on key
stakeholders like
employees and
customers and
ethical.
Dream
Elevation of the
brand and provide
poitive customer
experience with
innovation
Design
Be ethical,
innovative and
enhance
customer
experience
Destiny
The employees
will be working
hard to help
achieve these
goals by being
ethical and
cooperative.

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The financial performance of Starbucks has been good in the market however, it has been
seen that the company has faced ethical challenges that had led to negative publicity of the
company. Reports suggest that, two black men in Philadelphia were arrested while they were
waiting for their friend after the employees at the company called the cops as they were
suspicious because they did not place any order that shows blatant racism (Fortune 2018)
Johnson maintained transparency and had immediately apologized, closed about 8000 stores and
stated that he will provide racial-bias programs in order to ensure the company operates ethically
and issues like this do not crop up in the future. Taştan and Davoudi (2019) states maintaining
transparency helps in gaining a positive reputation in the market that helps in gaining a
competitive advantage. From this incident, it can be seen that Johnson believes in operating
ethically and ensures that necessary steps are taken immediately to solve issues and help the
company regain the reputation they have built over the years.
There are many positive factors about the leadership of Kevin Johnson however, there are
some negatives as well and one of them is the impulse decision of closing 8000 stores that could
affect the sales of the company as well as could have negative impacts on the employees of the
company that can be negatively viewed by their key stakeholders of the company, the employees
and the customers as the customers would not have any access to their services and shutting the
stores can make the employees perceive this decision negatively thinking they might be
unemployed or wouldn’t receive their salary during the training period. Despite of the minor
challenges, it has been seen that Kevin Johnson is a great leader and because of him Starbucks is
growing sustainably in the market.

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Reasons that has helped Johnson have strong personal brand
Kevin Johnson is seen to have helped Starbucks in its continuous growth and
development because of the fruitful decisions he had made for the company and the strategies
that he has introduced that has helped Starbucks gain leverage in the market and remain the
favorite coffee brand among the customers.
It has been seen that Kevin Johnson is a data driven person where he highly focuses on
numbers and it has also been seen that he is very analytical and makes decision based on the
current situation that has been proven to be beneficial for the company. Johnson’s crisis
management and damage control has been applauded by many and it has been seen that he has
great presence of mind that has led him to make instant and fruitful decisions for the company.
Starbucks recently had faced ethical challenges where the company was labeled as being
racist because of the unethical event that occurred in a Starbucks store in Philadelphia where two
black men were arrested based on the perception of the workers that led to people preaching on
social media to boycott Starbucks. However, it had been seen that Johnson had immediately
apologized, met the black men who were arrested, compensated them with a mutual financial
agreement however did acknowledge the fact that he would not be able to return the harassment
faced by them and shut the stores in order to provide racial-bias programs to their customers.
According to articles, many applauded Johnson for the actions he took and state that his
decisions were a classic example of being morally responsible and not just focusing on the
damage control of the company (Gourguechon, 2018). According to scholars, companies that are
morally responsible and ethical gain loyal customers that helps businesses in the long run (Alwi,
Ali and Nguyen 2017). This decision of his is seen to have benefited Starbucks and helped them
overcome the negative reputation.

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Kevin Johnson has always emphasized on customer experience and their wellbeing.
Johnson had come up with a strategy of providing healthy choices to their customers and also
reduce amount of sugar present in the syrups that are used in coffees. According to scholars,
majority of the people have been focusing on gaining a healthy lifestyle because of the increase
in lifestyle diseases that possess risk on the health of the people, it has been seen that various
people have been choosing healthy juices and multigrain food products in comparison to coffee
and other fast food (Tan, Chai and Min 2017). It can be seen that the foresight of Johnson is very
good as he has implemented strategies of incorporating healthy food menu and reducing sugar so
that they can cater to the changing lifestyle of the customers and ensure that they consider
choosing Starbucks.
From the above two scenarios it can be stated that Kevin Johnson is an ideal leader and
has helped Starbucks not only retain their image and reputation but have also ensured that there
is improvement in terms of products, services, experiences and the company also operates
ethically to satisfy all the employees, customers and other shareholders and stakeholders of the
company.
Recommendation
Starbucks is considered to be one of the most popular companies all across the globe and
it has been seen that the company has quite positive global presence in the market. However, it
has been seen that Starbucks does face challenges in the market like negative reviews from the
employees and many dissatisfied employees and also competition in the market. It will be
helpful if Kevin Johnson considers the following recommendations that can help the company in
operating successfully and gaining a competitive advantage in the market.

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It is highly recommended that Starbucks looks into the issues that are faced by the
employees of the company as unhappy and dissatisfied employees’ means the employees are
likely to leave the organisation or be unproductive which hampers one of the goals of the
company that is to provide a positive customer experience. It is important that Starbucks
incorporates an anonymous feedback method that will help the employees in registering their
complaints and the things that they need to operate efficiently. Anonymous feedback will
encourage the employees to provide honest feedback without being scared and will help Kevin
Johnson and other people in the higher authority to identify the issues and make positive changes
that will help in satisfying the employees and meet the demands of the employees. This will help
the employees in being motivated and will help them be more productive and provide quality
services to the customers and the company.
It is highly recommended that Starbucks incorporates a diversity training program.
Diversity training will help in increasing the cultural awareness, knowledge about different
culture and also help in developing communication skills that will help the employees operate in
an ethical manner and also operate efficiently in the organisations. This will also help them in
making them understand about the importance of team work that will help the employees work
efficiently especially during the peak hours and help in the growth and productivity of Starbucks.
Conclusion
Kevin Johnson is seen to follow the servant leadership style and it has been seen that
through this leadership style, he has successfully managed to contribute to the growth and
development of the company and also ensured the satisfaction of all the necessary stakeholders
of the company. From this assignment it can be seen that Johnson has been an efficient leader
where he has not only come up with proper strategies and policies that satisfy the demands and

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the needs of the stakeholders but he has also been a great leader during time of crisis where he
has taken positive decisions that has benefitted the company. It is the dynamic nature of Johnson,
his skills, experience, presence of mind and his experience that has helped me come this long
way however it is sheer focus and visionary skills that has helped in the successful growth of
Starbucks and every leader should aspire to become a leader like Kevin Johnson who has
successfully managed to lead an already successful company to greater heights.

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References
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