Dissertation: Project Management, Leadership & Starbucks Case Study

This dissertation assesses the success of project management within Starbucks, focusing on the impact of leadership and organizational structure. Employing a qualitative research approach, the study examines how Starbucks, a project-oriented business, utilizes its matrix organizational structure and leadership tactics to manage projects effectively. The research, based on data collected from 20 managers via questionnaires and analyzed using thematic analysis, reveals the strategies and challenges in Starbucks' project management. The findings highlight the importance of organizational structure, leadership styles, and communication in project success. The study also identifies areas for improvement, such as refining communication strategies, and suggests that slight changes in current strategies could enhance project success rates. The dissertation concludes with recommendations for future research and offers insights into how Starbucks can optimize its project management practices to achieve better outcomes.

DISSERTATION:
Assessing the success project
management by undertaking
leadership and
organizational structure -A
study on Starbucks

Acknowledgement
I owe my sincere thanks to my mentor motivated and guided me to conduct this work
with full zest. His commitment towards work encouraged me to work hard and complete this
work in right manner. I extend my thanks to family and friends to provide immense support
throughout the research. I would also like to thank my colleagues and team members who
helped me in gathering data and make correct analysis of the study.

Abstract
Project management is an important aspect which is guided by organizational structure
and leadership style. In order to manage the project in correct manner it is important that the
organization opt for effective organizational structure and leadership style. It helps in increasing
efficiency and effectiveness of the entity. The present study is conducted with the aim “To
evaluate and investigate the success of managing the project in project oriented business by
undertaking leadership and structure of organization-A study on Starbucks”. Probability
sampling technique was used where sample of 20 managers was selected whose data was
collected through questionnaire. Qualitative methods are used to carry out the research where
thematic technique was used. It was found that effective technique of organizational structure
and leadership style is used by Starbucks. A slight change in the strategies can help in growing
its success rate of the projects. Ineffective communication is the another reason for failure in the
projects.

Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1....................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1.1 Overview..........................................................................................................................1
1.2 Aim Of Study...................................................................................................................1
1.3 Objectives of the Study....................................................................................................2
1.4 Statement of Research Problem........................................................................................2
1.5 Significance of the Study .................................................................................................3
1.6 Scope of Study .................................................................................................................3
1.7 Limitations of the Study...................................................................................................4
1.8 Dissertation Structure.......................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 2....................................................................................................................................5
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................5
2.1 Meaning of Project Management.....................................................................................5
2.2 Importance of Project Management at workplace............................................................5
2.3 Various types Organizational Structures..........................................................................7
2.4 Different leadership tactics in the organization and its impact of project management. .8
2.5 Various difficulties faced in project management............................................................9
2.6 Different types of project management techniques........................................................10
2.7 Ways to handle problems faced in project management................................................12
CHAPTER 3..................................................................................................................................15
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................15
3.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................15
3.2 Research Philosophy......................................................................................................15
3.3 Research Approach.........................................................................................................15
3.4 Data Collection Methods................................................................................................16
3.5 Research instrument used...............................................................................................17
3.5 Sampling.........................................................................................................................17
3.6 Data Analysis..................................................................................................................18
3.7 Validity And Reliability.................................................................................................18

3.8 Ethical Consideration.....................................................................................................19
3.9 Research Limitations......................................................................................................20
CHAPTER 4..................................................................................................................................22
DATA ANALYSIS........................................................................................................................22
4.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................22
4.2 Thematic Analysis..........................................................................................................22
CHAPTER 5..................................................................................................................................31
DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS.............................................................................................31
CHAPTER 6..................................................................................................................................36
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH......................................36
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................38
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................43

Illustration Index
Illustration 1: Inductive Approach.................................................................................................17
Illustration 2: Impact of organizational structure on project management....................................23
Illustration 3: Analysis is important before any project.................................................................24
Illustration 4: Need to change current organizational structure.....................................................25
Illustration 5: Effectiveness of organizational structure of Starbucks...........................................26
Illustration 6: Alternative to adopt in current organizational structure..........................................27
Illustration 7: Impact of current leadership style...........................................................................28
Illustration 8: Leadership tactic used by the managers..................................................................29
Illustration 9: Continuation of current leadership tactic................................................................29
Illustration 10: Authority of subordinates to discuss with managers.............................................30
Illustration 11: Success percentage based on current leadership style and organizational structure
........................................................................................................................................................31

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Overview
Project management is important to carry out business practices in smooth and effective
manner. Project oriented organizations adopts a particular structure and leadership measures. The
main agenda of every project is to complete it with time and without any hassle within the
organization (Kerzner, 2013). Companies basically divide their work into two compositions they
are, projects and operational department. Project department is related to conduct project related
responsibilities and operational department concerns about handling operational work of the
employees. Managers handles specialised projects where it is important to have effective
management system so that every task can be conducted efficiently without any difficulty. It
delegates its responsibilities among the subordinates and they are required to handle specialised
projects as per the allotment made. It helps in better resource allocation to the subordinates and
they are aware of their duties as well. A defined organizational structure is an important aspect to
conduct the activities effectively. It is important for the companies to use specific techniques to
manage the procedures of project management (Meng, 2012).
Starbucks is a leading organization which is an American coffee company established in
Washington in 1971. It is a chain of coffee houses which operates at 23,768 locations worldwide.
The stores opened by Starbucks are independent and products provided in their stores depend on
the demands of the consumer in that location.
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1.2 Aim of Study
This report is conducted to carry out investigation for the success of project management
in a project oriented business according to leadership and structure of organization. It has been
determined that business oriented projects are usually made up of matrix organizational
structures. The current work is based on well recognized enterprise, Starbucks. The main aim of
this investigation is to critically investigate the success of project management in business
oriented projects of organization in terms of their undertaken structure and leadership of
organization (Mir and Pinnington, 2014). Its aim is to conduct a study on Starbucks. A specific
aim is not enough to carry out the full survey and some collective objectives are required for a
well-defined study. “To evaluate and investigate the success of managing the project in project
oriented business by undertaking leadership and structure of organization-A study on Starbucks”
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The main objectives of the research are:
 To represent the major problems that are faced by the business oriented project such as
Starbucks in the management of their project with acknowledgement of their undertaken
structure and leadership tactics of organization.
 To brings the ways in which the problems of the project are been handled by the
Starbucks by applying appropriate concepts of project management, techniques and
methods.
 To evaluate and examine the various ways in which the problems are been handled by
applying proper concepts, tools and techniques of concepts of project management.
1.4 Statement of Research Problem
The structure of Starbucks is matrix organization. This type of structure represents
composition which generally consists of two elements such as project department and
operational department. The functional or operational department deals with the operational
work of employees by handling together all aspects of personnel resources. However, the project
department on the other hand consist of delegated project manager with particular
responsibilities of project and are needed to manage the specialised projects of the organization.
Such structure of organization can be beneficial for allocation of resources with the balanced
authorization of distributors whose task is to allot resources.
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The major issues are that are been address by Starbucks in the management of projects
with a special context of their undertaken leadership and structure of organization. The
organization structure has a great impact on the leadership, communication and administration of
Starbucks. To expand the business at a global level Starbucks has reduced their concentration
from the customers by making huge impact on the business with the decrease in sales. The main
problems that are been addresses by the Starbucks is related to adoption of organizational
structure and leadership strategies. To manage the projects effectively tools and methods are
applied to solve various problems.
The main motive behind conducting this research is the factual problems that are
addresses by Starbucks in managing their project in context with techniques and structures.
Starbucks which is a very popular coffee house across all the world. The administration,
leadership, change management and communication all these factors are important for the
success of business. The structure of Starbucks represents a different composition that is
dependent on traditional arrangement of organisational structure.
1.5 Significance of the Study
Starbucks is a well-known and a popular coffee corner across all countries. This
investigation is conducted to signify a case study about Starbucks. The organizational structure
that is adopted by Starbucks is a matrix structure. This type of structure is made up of 2
departments namely department of projects and operational or functional department. The
functional department deals with handling of all aspects of personnel resources for the
employees working over there (Hwang and Ng, 2013).
On the other side project department will provide project related responsibilities and are
needed to address specific projects of the organization. The project oriented organization works
in a synchronized manner. This will increase the complexity of the business with the flexible
background that will change according to the change clients’ preferences. To collect that for
analysing data both primary and secondary methods can be used. To obtain results, a qualitative
method of analysis is recommended according to selection of the topic.
Starbucks uses specific procedures and techniques to administer the project management.
This study will bring out the strategies and plans that are made by Starbucks to be popular
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among the country. It will also specify the issues that are addresses by Starbucks in the
management of their projects (Martinelli and Milosevic, 2016).
1.6 Scope of Study
This study will be beneficial for examining the problems that occurred in Starbucks so
that efficient methods, tools and techniques can be used to overcome that issue efficiently. This
study will help to develop and use more appropriate organizational structures for Starbucks to
cope up the problems that are occurring in the management of projects. If in future any such
issue arises then the organization will be able to deal it in a more appropriate ways.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
This study is not able to represent the Starbucks tools and techniques that are used in
business properly. More detailed knowledge about the techniques and tools need to be given so
that proper knowledge can be gained from it (Turner, 2016).
1.8 Dissertation Structure Introduction- This research is carried out on project management and in this section of
the report components of the projects such as requirement of leadership skills are
discussed. Starbucks have been chosen as an organization to conduct the research on.
Hence, different techniques that are used by the company are also discussed. The aim and
objective of the research in also discussed to give a clear idea. Literature review- Literature review on project management is done in order to
understand past scenario as well as the researched that have already been conducted. On
that basis evaluation of literature this research is carried out by the researcher. It will help
to develop the better understanding of the topic and carry out further research based on it. Research methodology- In this part of report, data analysis techniques is analysed.
Further, it provides a clear idea regarding execution of the research project. Data analysis- In this section of the report, Data collected is analysed with the help of
various tools and techniques. It helps in studying the data collected and draw an overall
conclusion of the report. Discussion- After data analysis, it is evaluated to get an overview of the results of the
research. It helps in drawing the conclusion of the research as well.
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 Conclusion and Recommendations- It is the last section of the research based on which
conclusion of the research is drawn. Finally, conclusion is also given on the identified
research problem.
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Meaning of Project Management
According to Grefen, Pernici and Sánchez (2012), project management is a discipline to
initiate, plan, execute, control and close the work of the team in order to achieve organizational
goals. It helps in producing in the work in such a way as planned by the top level management of
the company. However, as per the views of Verzuh (2015), the main of project management is to
divide the work among the subordinates in such a way that it ensures success after a particular
duration. It is important for the plan to be effective enough so that the main objectives of the
entity can be fulfilled. According to Turner (2016), every plan is prepared with a time constraint
and allocation is performed based on it. If the fulfilment is not made within that time constraint
then it can lead to project failure. Another important things to be considered while developing a
plan are, time, scope, quality and budget. However, in the contrast to that, as per the views of
Nicholas and Steyn (2017), the major challenge is resource allocation and proper optimization. It
helps in applying the inputs in such a way that it in the end gets better outputs as planned by the
enterprise.
According to Martinelli and Milosevic (2016), project management ensures that the
deliverable will reach to the concerned person in specified time and the plan for handling the
project will be prepared in such a way that the probability of success is quite high. One of the
most important reason for failure of the project is that it must have not been managed in effective
manner. According to Heldman (2015), it helps in better planning and implementation of the
project. Project manager guides the project from beginning to the end with the ideal goal that it
will be delivered within time and budget.
2.2 Importance of Project Management at workplace
According to Rose (2013), project management ensures that the project gets completed
within time. Various companies tend to hire project manager which ensures all aspects of the
deliverables. It also ensures project management needs. However, in contrast to this, Unger and
et.al (2012) asserted that it is step down process which is required to be followed in the same
manner at the workplace. The steps of project management include:
 Defining goals of the project
 Outlining the steps that are required to be achieved in the goal.
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