Quality Improvement Plan: An Analysis of Starbucks Coffee Company

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Starbucks' quality improvement plan, addressing key concerns related to product and service quality. It begins with an executive summary highlighting the company's challenges and objectives, followed by a detailed exploration of Starbucks' context, definition of quality, existing processes, and identified problems, such as limited diversity in coffee tasters and issues with new product quality. The report then offers specific recommendations for process improvement, including enhancing coffee quality, focusing on classic drinks, implementing product trial periods, increasing the number of testers, and reducing product commercialization. It describes an improved process focusing on machine implementation and the inclusion of more testers. Furthermore, the report outlines a process change strategy, emphasizing the implementation of better quality products, and concludes with an overview of expected quality outcomes, aiming to increase customer satisfaction and brand value.

Running head: QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PLAN
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Notes

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Executive Summary
One of the major concerns for Starbucks in the present times is the lack of quality that the
company is facing in terms of product and services. Starbucks being one of the vital food and
beverage companies of the modern times is expected to serve the best in beverage world with
their improved service and better quality which is the aim of the report. The report focusses
on the quality improvement measures that the company can adhere along with the previous
and the upcoming quality improvement recommendations for the same. The major
recommendations of the company for the increase in quality to affect the overall productivity
of the company as well as customer satisfaction is one of the main aims of the report which is
focussed to increase the brand value of the company.

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Table of Contents
1. Context and Background of Starbucks...................................................................................3
2. Definition of Quality in Starbucks.........................................................................................3
3. Existing Process Description of Starbucks............................................................................4
4. Problems in the Existing process in Starbucks......................................................................4
5. Recommendation of the process improvement and the reason for it in Starbucks................5
6. Description of the improved process in Starbucks.................................................................6
7. Process Change Strategy of Starbucks...................................................................................7
8. Expected Quality Outcomes at Starbucks..............................................................................9
9. Conclusion............................................................................................................................10
10. Reference............................................................................................................................11

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1. Context and Background of Starbucks
One of the most famous coffee house chain and multinational coffee manufacturing
company is the American-based Starbucks. Founded in 1971 in Washington, this main
representative company of Second Wave Coffee is operating at more than 28000 locations on
the global basis (Starbucks Coffee Company 2018). The company is known to provide the
customers with exquisite coffee and other sides with the drink on a global basis making the
company one of the pivotal companies on the worldwide circle. The company has set its own
set of quality which is always up for up gradation by the research and development team of
the company. The quality of the company is their major aspects as they have always placed
their quality over their quantity in every aspect of their marketing (Tricco et al. 2012). The
quality of coffee served at every outlet of Starbucks along with their snacks items have tried
to maintain equal and prime quality which is one of the basic reasons that the company has
attained the heights of quality and customer satisfaction (Goetsch & Davis 2014). The aim of
the report is to find the quality issues and the ways in which the issues can be solved in
Starbucks Coffee. The causes and a better quality management technique has been introduced
in the report along with the probable outcomes of the technique in brief.
2. Definition of Quality in Starbucks
Quality is defined as the rate of a product or service and is defined as how good or
bad the product or service is. The quality control is defined as a set of procedures and ways in
which the quality of a product or service is being controlled and kept at an equal level (Tu,
Wang & Chang 2012). Quality Management is defined as the way in which the consistency
of the quality of a product or service is being maintained by an organization.
Starbucks is one of the major coffee producing and coffee retailing organization
operating on a global basis which needs to maintain and manage the quality of both their

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product and services for the purpose of customer retention and satisfaction (Evans 2013). The
definition of Quality at Starbucks is based upon the quality of product and raw material that is
being used to produce the coffee and also the service that is being offered by the company to
the customers. Quality is therefore one of the basic and key indicators that has marked the
success of the brand in the competitive market of the 21st century global platform (Bacon
2013).
3. Existing Process Description of Starbucks
The present quality team of Starbucks is said to be one of the most profound in nature
and the company claims to invest in the process a number of times to make sure that the
quality which is given at the end to the customers are of best quality (Mugge & Schoormans
2012). The coffee at Starbucks are said to be different from the regular Arabica Coffee as
they are produced and processed at a higher altitude making them richer in taste and flavour.
However, the coffee tasting team of Starbucks is quite limited and is consisted of only seven
people who taste and review the beans of the whole company. The seven people who are
between the age group of 20s to 50s and from different ethnicities are expected to give their
ratings based on their own taste and preference (Singh & Sharma 2013). This process
however is very rigid in nature as most of the customers have different taste of their own
which is different from the tasters appointed by the company. Overall, it can be seen that the
company, though claims to have the best in terms of product and raw materials have a very
conservative tasting team to pass the product hampering the quality in the longer period of
time.
4. Problems in the Existing process in Starbucks
One of the major problems that is existing in Starbucks is the lack of diverse tasters in
terms of coffee. The company has only 7 testers who are from different age groups and

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demography which is obviously not sufficient for a massive multinational like the same
(Nicolay et al. 2012). One of the major problems is the lack of diversity and the limitation of
the tasters affecting the quality of the product in the longer run. Continuous tasting the
products can hamper the sense of the employees hampering the overall quality of the
company and in turn the business and reputation of the same.
The second problem is the lack of quality in the new formulated drinks of the
company. The company is basically known for their rich taste of coffee which is missing in
their recent servings and the addition of tastes to their classical flavours (Schultz 2012). The
Holiday Offerings of Starbucks is one of the examples of this case where the customers faced
lack of quality for getting different flavours in their drinks.
The immense marketing and commercialisation of Starbucks created a major loophole
in their quality as they focussed more on their marketing tricks and strategies and less on the
brand and product value. The merchandise and other goodies provided by the company failed
to attract the customers and hampered their quality of the food and beverages offered
(Starbucks Coffee Company 2018). This in turn made the company lack the reputation that it
had in the previous times.
5. Recommendation of the process improvement and the reason for it in
Starbucks
The recommendations for the company in terms of quality improvement and process
modification can be seen in the following terms –
 One of the major recommendations that the company can make and follow is the
process of quality improvement which is one of the major issues in the modern
Starbucks. The brand is known to provide quality drinks to the customers at
affordable rates which is one of the major reasons that the brand has become famous

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in every sense (Chua & Banerjee 2013). Therefore, one of the major
recommendations for the company is to improve the quality of coffee and other
snacks provided by the brand to the customers at costs affordable for them.
 Secondly, Starbucks should concentrate more on their classical and old-formulated
drinks instead of just launching random flavours that would not be very suitable for
the customers (Tricco et al. 2012). This incident of trying new flavours and failing at
them is one of the major instances that has led to the recent failures of the brand in the
course of time.
 Thirdly, the brand should introduce a trial time for each of the product instead of
directly putting the new drink or snack item on the menu card. The trial time will help
the company to know about the customer reviews that the product has and also about
the flavours and the other items that the company chooses to introduce (Aiello &
Dickinson 2014). One of the major examples for this failed product due to lack of trial
is the Unicorn Frappuccino that the company launched and failed to attract the clients
(Starbucks Coffee Company 2018).
 Fourthly, the appointment of more number of testers in the process to taste the quality
of coffee and other snacks is another major recommendation that can be followed by
the authorities of the company in making the products cater to the taste for most of the
customers.
 Fifthly, the commercialisation of the products should be reduced and more focus on
the quality and the variations of the products should be made to attract the loyal as
well as new customers (Liebowitz 2013).
 Sixthly, the overall quality of the service should be increased which can be seen in the
process and the packaging of the products and their formulation for the masses.

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6. Description of the improved process in Starbucks
Over the last few years, Starbucks has improved much of the process and their
products to cope up with the demand and the speed of the service. The improved process of
Starbucks included implementation of the Espresso machines, the sacrificing of the aroma of
the coffee for the packaged coffee beans and the increase in the flavours added to the coffee
to make the end product more fascinating and enduring for the customers who are the
primary targets (Evans 2013).
However, some of the major failures have occurred due to the above changes and so
have made the authorities now take stable decisions for the company in future. The
implementation of the improved quality process is taken to make sure that there is lack of
delay in the product and the quality served is also not affected (Gargiulo 2014). However, the
commercialisation of the process has the missing elements of preparation and the classical
element of Starbucks missing in the matter.
The quality improvement of Starbucks made sure to implement some of the other
measures that the company foresees to implement namely the introduction of more testers in
the business to taste their drinks and also to make sure that drinks cater to most of the
customers who are their potential clients. Another quality improvement measure that can be
implemented by the company is the introduction of more quality drinks in the list of drinks
already provided by the company (Evans 2013). The quality improvement process is made to
make sure that each of the preparations made by the company has the subtlety and the quality
that is needed for the clients as well as the company.
7. Process Change Strategy of Starbucks
The change of process at Starbucks included the implementation of the better quality
products and the process that involved less time and more of the conducting process. The

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implementation of the Espresso machines and the use of roasted coffee from the valleys of
the North America is made to make sure that each of the preparation from the brand is
deliberate in serving the best from the brand (Table 2014). Furthermore, the recruitment of
more testers in the brand is ultimately needed by the authorities to have a detailed analysis of
the process and the end products which is ultimately desirable by the brand.
The movement of the process strategy from the old process to the new process can
involve a lot of steps for the sorting out of the whole matter to the implementation of the
same. The process should start from the scratch and follow the steps as mentioned below –
 Firstly, the problems of the company should be made out from the list of activities
that the company is already undergoing. The problems are the base on which the
solutions should be made and so the problems of the company should be taken out
and addressed in the proper way.
 Secondly, the appropriate solutions for each of the problems should be made
according to the given problems and the company policies. The problems should be
tackled with precision and aptness and so each of the problems should be gained a
different solutions for each of the matter (Michelli 2014).
 Thirdly, the basic changes that should be done in the company should be taken into
consideration and should be made to make sure that the problems of the company
should be tackled in the manner as directed by the needs.
 Fourthly, a quality maintenance team should be appointed by the company to make
sure that each of the changes as done by the needs and the brand’s betterment is
properly implemented and the changes are made into action. In addition, the team can
make sure that each of the aspects of the company that needs further attention and
modification are put forwards before the authorities for the easy process (Mugge &
Schoormans 2012).

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 Fifthly, the customer review and feedback platform should be arranged to make sure
that the changes that are being implemented by the brand are adhering to the
customers or not and what other changes the customer needs to make them loyal to
the brand and the service (Mason, Cole & Goza 2017).
 Lastly, the suggestions and the recommendations provided in the feedback form
should be worked upon and researched well to make sure that the customer
satisfaction and quality products that are the major aspects of the brand is not ignored
and quality improvement measures are being appreciated. Quality being one of the
major measures of products at Starbucks is made sure to have their best quality on
board.
8. Expected Quality Outcomes at Starbucks
Due to the implementation of the above quality measures and the strategies to
improve the prevalent quality, the quality of the products and the services can be improved
tremendously at Starbucks and some outcomes can be derived which apt both for the quality
of the products and the services mentioned –
One of the major quality outcomes is the increased amount of sales due to the good
products and services given by the company after implementing the quality checks and
measures in the company (Koehn et al. 2014).
Secondly, the expected quality outcomes of the services provided by the company and
the authorities make sure that the reputation of the company increases to a whole new level
due to the increase in quality of the products. The reputation of the company is one of the
basic measure to implement the good results of the brand and so quality of the company is
directly related to the products offered.

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Thirdly, the quality increase of the products make sure that the clients who are the
major customers of the brand are happy about their experience with the brand which means
that they would suggest the brand to their known ones increasing the popularity of the brand
to a major extent (Mason, Cole & Goza 2017). The quality increase of the brand is one of the
major reasons for the increased profit which is again one of the major motives of any
business organization.
9. Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that quality is one of the major factors that influence the
brand and the value of the products that the brand has in terms of the customer satisfaction
and the potential brand value of the client. Supplying the products that are of good quality
and also making sure that each of the demands and the needs of the customer is being
satisfied is one of the major reasons for the quality improvement of the brand. Starbucks is
one of the major beverage brand that aims to supply the best quality products to its customers
which can satisfy the customers at all levels. In addition, the quality of the brand should be
increased to a whole new level to make sure that the supplies of the brand in terms of both
raw materials and the finished goods have their trademark quality content which is not to be
altered at any cost. In the above report, all the necessary steps required for the improvement
of quality and the process required for the same is being mentioned along with a probable
process and strategy for the same with the quality outcomes. The above pointers would help
the brand to gain potential client base with increased quality content which in turn will help
the brand to increase their sales and profit in the future. Starbucks is surely advancing to
improve their brand value with improved quality.

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10. Reference
Aiello, G. & Dickinson, G., 2014. Beyond authenticity: A visual-material analysis of locality
in the global redesign of Starbucks stores. Visual Communication, 13(3), pp.303-321.
Bacon, C.M., 2013. Quality revolutions, solidarity networks, and sustainability innovations:
following Fair Trade coffee from Nicaragua to California.
Chua, A.Y. & Banerjee, S., 2013. Customer knowledge management via social media: the
case of Starbucks. Journal of Knowledge Management, 17(2), pp.237-249.
Evans, J.R., 2013. Quality & performance excellence. Cengage Learning.
Gargiulo, T.L., 2014. The strategic use of stories in organizational communication and
learning. Routledge.
Goetsch, D.L. & Davis, S.B., 2014. Quality management for organizational excellence.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Koehn, N.F., McNamara, K., Khan, N.N. & Legris, E., 2014. Starbucks coffee company:
Transformation and renewal. President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Liebowitz, J. ed., 2013. Big data and business analytics. CRC press.
Mason, A., Cole, T. & Goza, N., 2017. STARBUCKS: A CASE STUDY OF EFFECTIVE
MANAGEMENT IN THE COFFEE INDUSTRY. Journal of International Management
Studies, 17(1).
Michelli, J.A., 2014. Leading the Starbucks way: 5 principles for connecting with your
customers, your products and your people. McGraw-Hill Education.