Comprehensive Report: Starbucks Management and Operations Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Starbucks' management and operations. It begins with an introduction to the importance of management and operations in achieving organizational efficiency and profitability. The report then delves into the roles and functions of leaders and managers within Starbucks, highlighting the application of various leadership theories, such as situational, systems, and contingency leadership. The report also examines the strengths and weaknesses of each leadership style. Furthermore, it explores key approaches to operations management, including Total Quality Management (TQM), Just In Time (JIT), and Six Sigma, and discusses their importance in achieving business objectives. The report emphasizes how effective operations management contributes to increased productivity, improved product quality, and enhanced customer satisfaction. The report also discusses factors that impact operation and decision-making within the business environment. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the significance of effective management and operations for Starbucks' success.

Management & Operations

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
L0 2..................................................................................................................................................1
P2 Role of leader and function of a manager...............................................................................1
P3 and D1 Applying different theories and models of approach.................................................2
M2 Strengths and weaknesses.....................................................................................................3
L0 3..................................................................................................................................................3
P4 Key approaches to operations management...........................................................................3
P5 Importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives..............4
M3. Leaders and managers improved the effectiveness of operational management in order to
achieve business objectives..........................................................................................................5
D2 Critical evaluation on Application of operations management and factors that influence the
business environment in wider context........................................................................................5
LO4..................................................................................................................................................6
P6. Factors that impact on operation and decision-making within the business environment....7
M4: Explain how these factors affect the business environment.................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Management and operations forms the important part of organisation as it helps in
creating high level of efficiency within the organisation. It is mainly concerned with conversion
of materials as well as labour into outputs such as goods and services with high quality (Slack
and Brandon-Jones, 2018). It also involves the planning, supervising, organising the process of
production or manufacturing or provisions of various services within the company. It also
involves utilization of different resources like materials, staff, tools and technology in order to
operate business smoothly and effectively (Roth and et.al., 2016). In this report, Starbucks is
taken, which is an American coffee company and a coffee house chain. This report discusses the
role of leader and function of a manager in Starbucks and applying different models and
approaches of leadership within the company. Present report also includes different approaches
of operations management and importance of operations management in achieving business
objectives of Starbucks.
MAIN BODY
L0 2
P2 Role of leader and function of a manager
In Starbucks leader of the organisation play an important role and there are different
functions to be performed by a manager of the company. Effective leadership is important for the
success of the organisation. Companies select a leader so that he/she can lead and guide a certain
group of people in a workplace. For example if Starbucks is facing a situation that employees
have low skills and low motivation level which has decreased the performance of the employees
so, it is role of a leader to direct the employees and motivate them in order to improve their
performance. Also, it is the role of leader to provide training to employees in order to improve
their performance (Aga, Noorderhaven, and Vallejo, 2016). Within this situation Manager can
give order for improving the performance of the employees and can review their daily or weekly
reports. Also, there is another situation where employees sales are very low, it is the role of
leader to create such an environment which will increase the sale of the employees. It is the
function of manager to assign sales targets to employees and provide guidelines how these
targets are to be achieved (Functions of Managers, 2019). Manager of Starbucks formulates a
plan in order to get the company out of such situation. Also, they may arise a situation where
company may face shortage of staff, it is the function of a manager to fulfil the staffing needs
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foe the organisation. It is the function of a manager to appoint the most competent as well as
qualified people for the job. Conflict management is another function of a Manager of Starbucks.
If there arises a conflict between the employees and management, it is the function of a manager
to acts as intermediary between the two parties and settle the conflict between the two. Also, it is
the function of a Manager to provide effective solution to business problems which may arise for
the company. So, leaders and Managers of Starbucks have to perform different roles and
functions in order to manage the success of the business.
P3 and D1 Applying different theories and models of approach
Different theories and models of leadership can be applied in Starbucks which can
increase the efficiency of operations within the organisation. As per the views of Meier, (2016)
out of leadership theories and models, Situational Leadership is a style of a leadership which can
be applied by the leaders and managers of Starbucks. It can be applied when leaders and
managers have to adjust their style in order to fit the development level of the employee in order
to influence them. In this, style of leadership may change continuously in order to meet the needs
of the employee based on a particular situation. For example, a leader may adopt democratic
style in order to motivate employees if they face problem during performing tasks by providing
support and helping employee in achieving a particular task. On the other hand, it has been
argued by Macdonald, Burke and Stewart, (2018) that systems leadership style is suitable for the
organisation. As this will enable the leaders and managers of Starbucks to create a condition
where employees of all level can perform productively in order to achieve a particular task. It is
based on the principles of human behaviour in order to create the good models of leadership
within the company. Systems leadership is based on the four domains which are interconnected
and aligned in such a way that it creates conditions for good systems' leadership within the
organisation. Systems leadership helps in setting directions which is prime function of leadership
and also increases the abilities of leader to see the organisation as a large system. It will also
encourage the leaders and managers to shift the collective focus of solving the problems of the
company. It was opined by Dentchev, van Balen and Haezendonck, (2015) a leadership style
which is suitable for Starbucks is Contingency leadership, as this leadership style states that
effectiveness of any leader can be judged by how his/her style is matching to the situation.
Leader should be capable to identify the type of leadership he/she should adopt in situation that
he/she is in. For example, if Starbucks is facing a problem related to the employees so leaders or
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manager can use democratic leadership in order to involve employees in decision making. Also,
leaders or managers can apply team leadership in order to improve the performance of a team.
M2 Strengths and weaknesses
One of the major strengths of situational leaderships is that it is easy for a leader to
implement within the organisation in different settings. It also brings flexibility to leaders and
manager's approach of leadership which helps in managing employees within the organisation.
On the other hand, the only weaknesses of situational leadership is that the approach which is
used by leaders may or may not favour the subordinates in order to provide effective results.
It is the strength of systems leadership that this leadership style focuses on achieving the
organisational goals and objectives while focusing on the multiple dimensions of the
management of Starbucks. The weaknesses of systems leadership is that it may be always
applicable practically and may result in delays in decision makings. On the other hand, strengths
of contingency leadership style is that it is dynamic in nature and it changes according to
situation which could help leaders and manager to provide effective solution. Weakness of this
leadership style is that it may prove complex for leaders and managers of Starbucks.
L0 3
P4 Key approaches to operations management
There are various approaches of operations management which can be applied within the
organisation for which leaders and managers play an effective role, different approaches of
operations management in Starbucks can be explained as below:
Total Quality Management (TQM): It can be defined as an approach which results in
the success of the organisation through continuous improvements. Main focus of TQM is to
improve the quality of organisation's output which may includes good and services. Leaders of
Starbucks plays an important role in improving the quality of the employee performance as they
provide the training to employees where employees lack in (O’Neill, Sohal and Teng, 2016).
Also, leaders support and motivate the employees in order to improve their performance. This
helps in improving the quality of operations in an organisation (Total Quality Management,
2018). Manager also plays an important role in maintaining the quality of products in Starbucks
as they establish the standards and set guidelines according to which tasks are to be completed in
an organisation. This will surely increase the quality of employees performance and their output.
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Just In Time (JIT): This approach of operations management can be aimed in an
organisation in order to reduce the times within the production systems as well as the response
time of employees of Starbucks. In order to reduce the response time in Starbucks, Manager can
make appropriate inventories available within the organisation and makes sure that there is no
excess or shortage of resources available in the company (Danese, Molinaro and Romano, 2018).
Managers also sets guidelines for the employees which needs to be followed by them to perform
a task. This will also decrease the response time of employees towards the customers which are
available in the shops of Starbucks. Leaders of the organisation has to play an important role as,
they instruct the employees and also motivates them to make effective use of resources within
the organisation.
Six-Sigma: This approach of operations management can help Starbucks to improve its
processes by applying appropriate set of tools and techniques in order to eliminate the defects
and reducing process variability. Manager of the organisation can decrease the defects from
products by raising the standards of performance of operations in an organisation. Manager can
increase the performance standards within the operations by setting six sigma level from 1-6.
P5 Importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives
Operations Management is an important part of the organisation and plays a vital role in
its success. It deals with the area of management which is mainly concerned with creation of
products and services of Starbucks. It is business objective of Starbucks to improve the
productivity of the organisation. Productivity of the organisation can be increased by making the
optimum use of organisation's resources which depends upon the leader and manager's efficiency
in making use of company's resources. Operations management bring high numerical values to
the company due to increase productivity as it helps in reducing the costs of inputs, space costs
etc. Operations management also increases the quality of coffee products which are offered by
Starbucks to its customers. This helps a company in meeting the objective of customer retention
and customer's satisfaction, as customers get attracted and retained when any company is
offering the quality products to them. Operations management also helps the company in
achieving more profits from the business (Khanna, 2015). Also, it involves effective planning,
organising, managing, controlling as well as supervising manufacturing and production process
with in the company. So, this will surely help the organisation in increasing the profits.
Operations management also helps in achieving objectives of smooth functioning of the
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company. It plays a crucial role in handling operational issue related to operations and
maintenance of the system which are used by the company for the production of goods.
Operations management also helps Starbucks in achieving the objective of waste reduction.
Waste reduction is the major issue of every manufacturing organisation, sometimes wastes are
too high for the company which decrease its profitability. For Starbucks, to achieve this objective
it can include various operational approaches like six sigma, just in time, total quality
management, lean manufacturing, etc. These operational approaches or principles helps
Starbucks to eliminate wastes and improve the quality of its products and services. Elimination
of wastes within the organisation will prove cost effective for the company which will decrease
the overall cost of production of the company. So, operations management plays an important
role in an organisation which can help in achieving the business objective of Starbucks. If
operations of the company are not managed properly, it will result in the loss for the company's
profits, image reputation etc. So, it is important to have effective operations management within
the organisation.
M3. Leaders and managers improved the effectiveness of operational management in order to
achieve business objectives
The Leaders and managers of organization are using various approaches to improve the
efficiency of operations. Total quality management approach helps the company in improving
the product quality at continuous level. This will leads to achieve one of the objective of the
company which is improving customers satisfaction (Assis, Camponogara, Menezes, and
Grossmann, 2019). Just in time has significant importance as it helps to achieve the target task on
timely basis. Inventories remain in control by using this approach. Thus, the overall productivity
of the Starbucks get increased. The manger's and leaders of the firm are using Six Sigma
approach as this is helpful in identifying the defects in the products and further provide scope for
the improvement. This is also helpful in maintaining the coordination among various
departments of the organization and facilitated with synchronizing working.
D2 Critical evaluation on Application of operations management and factors that influence the
business environment in wider context
The application of operation management consists of organizing, planning , coordinating
and controlling the business resources in tactful manner in order to serve better quality products
to the customers. There are various factors which influence the decision-making of the Starbucks
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in wider context of the business environment. As per the view of the Annarelli and Nonino,
(2016), it is stated that the political and legal dimension such as government laws and trade
regulations influence the decision-making of the leaders and manger in Starbucks. Corporate
Social responsibility is also another factor that impact the business reputation.
According to the Ramos, Morais and Barbosa-Povoa, (2018), it is stated that CSR is
indulged with the sustainability development and provide economic benefits to the stakeholders.
The firm take ethical decisions on the basis of the CSR polices in order to prevent the interests of
the shareholders. The internal factors such as Employees and culture of the firm also influence
the Starbucks brand.
As per the view of Osei-Kyei, and Chan, (2017), the culture is associated with values
and beliefs of the firm is helpful in accomplishing the administrative tasks. As employees tends
to show collaborative working in the organization. Thus, this will help to improver the overall
efficiency of the organization.
LO4
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P6. Factors that impact on operation and decision-making within the business environment.
External Factors
 Political-legal dimension - The political-legal dimension of the general environment
refers to government economic law, the relationship between government and the
economy, and the political and legal position of the whole country. The economic law of
a country defines organizational rules. A good relationship between the company and the
government is very important for the economy and especially for the company.
 CSR: Corporate social responsibility is defined as a business approach that contributes to
sustainable development by providing economic, social and environmental benefits to all
stakeholders. Management and management in organizations play an important role in
the context of corporate social responsibility. CSR policies also influence organizational
decision-making systems, because the contents of CSR policies cause organizations to
make ethical decisions and serve the interests of stakeholders. Supplier -They are the supplier of manufacturing or service materials. Conversation with
suppliers is an important management task. A good relationship between the organization
and suppliers is important for the organization to ensure continuous monitoring of quality
materials.
Internal Factors
 Employee - Employees or labor, the most important element of the company's internal
environment, which fulfil administrative tasks. Separate employees and unions where
they are an important component of the internal environment. When managed properly,
they can change organizational policies. However, poor workforce management can
cause a disaster situation for the company.
 Culture - Organizational culture is the collective behaviour of organizational members
and the values, vision, beliefs, habits that they attribute to their actions. Organizational
culture plays an important role in shaping their success, because culture is an important
factor in the performance of their organizations.
M4: Explain how these factors affect the business environment.
The business environment is largely influenced by the company's CSR policies, because
the company's CSR policies enhance its image and promote it as a socially responsible company,
which is the main concern of all stakeholders.
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 Culture - The CSR approach helps keep local cultures in one place so they don't collapse
over time, and help them to describe themselves as socially responsible organizations that
are committed to improving society by: they accept culture. By preserving culture,
companies can also focus on developing products that are in harmony with the culture of
the community, helping to safeguard the business environment and protect community
rights.
 Values - CSR policies also help maintain values that are different in relation to the
communities in which they operate. By maintaining community values, companies can
better assess site values, and therefore, promote their products to satisfy all potential
customers, even though their values and beliefs are different. This helps to create a sense
of responsibility in the business environment and more and more business organizations
are trying to fulfil their responsibilities towards the communities where they work.
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from the above project report that management and
operations helps to improve the overall efficiency of the Starbucks. It is helpful in delivering the
best outputs to the firm. It has been summarized that leader's role is to motivate the employees of
the firm whereas managers is to look after all the administrative work.
The Starbucks managers and leaders are using various theories such as situational,
contingency and system in order to improve the productivity of the organization. Furthermore,
report has been covered the Six Sigma approach that focuses on eliminating the defects in the
products and provide quality service to the customers.
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