Operations Management and Organizational Culture in Starbucks

This report provides a detailed analysis of Starbucks' organizational culture, management strategies, and their impact on the company's success in the global coffee industry. It explores key elements of Starbucks' culture, such as servant leadership, relationship-driven approaches, and diversity inclusion, and assesses how management sustains this culture through decentralized structures and employee recruitment. The report evaluates the effectiveness of Starbucks' innovative offerings, like WiFi and unique coffee styles, in achieving a competitive advantage. It identifies key management competencies, particularly handling diversity, and evaluates Starbucks' long-term sustainability, questioning the company's reliance on Howard Schultz's leadership. The analysis concludes that while Starbucks has established a strong market position through innovation and leadership, ensuring long-term sustainability requires developing self-sufficient employees capable of thriving without Schultz's direct oversight. Desklib provides access to similar reports and study tools for students.

Running head: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT IN STARBUCKS
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT IN STARBUCKS
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Table of Contents
About Starbucks.............................................................................................................2
Key elements in the organizational culture of Starbucks...............................................2
Role played by the management in sustaining the organizational culture of Starbucks 4
Effectiveness of management decisions taken by Starbucks to provide innovative
offerings.....................................................................................................................................4
Key management competency of a manager in Starbucks.............................................4
Evaluation of the ability of Starbucks to achieve long-term sustainability...................5
Conclusion......................................................................................................................5
References......................................................................................................................7

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About Starbucks
Starbucks is a coffee company based in the United States which operates a huge
coffeehouse chain all over the world. The organization was established in the year 1971 in
Seattle, Washington. The company has its current operations in more than 28,000 locations
all over the world. Starbucks is also considered to be a major representative of the concept of
“second wave coffee” which has been able to distinguish itself easily with the help quality,
taste and the experience that is provided to the customers. The various locations of Starbucks
are well-known all over the world for serving hot and cold beverages to the loyal customers
of the organization (Starbucks Coffee Company., 2018).
The report will be mainly based on the detailed analysis of culture that is followed in
the organization and the ways by which it affects the operations all over the world. The role
that is played by the management in the successful establishment of Starbucks in the world is
also a part of the entire analysis.
Key elements in the organizational culture of Starbucks
The organizational culture that has been established in Starbucks is considered to be
one of the most significant features of the company in the modern competitive environment.
The organizational culture is thereby able to influence the performance of the business and
the employees as well. The culture of the company is thereby able to permeate all the
important aspects of the business. The areas where the culture can be observed easily are the
cafes of the organization all over the world (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). The friendly
and warm ambience that is provided to the customers is an important part of the ways by
which Starbucks is able to distinguish itself from the other organizations in the industry. The
key elements of the culture that has been established in Starbucks which have provided the
company with the distinct image are as follows,

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Servant leadership – The servant leadership approach is an important part of
the culture that has been established in Starbucks. The leaders of the
organization mainly provide importance to the support that is provided to the
employees so that growth can be ensured. This approach further relates to the
employees-first strategy that has been followed in Starbucks. The company
provides importance to the care that is taken of the employees (Anra & Yamin,
2017).
Relationship-driven approach – The culture in Starbucks is mainly based on
the friendly and warm relationships that are established among the
management and the employees. The bonds that are effectively formed among
the employees in the stores of the organization play an important part in the
culture.
Communication and collaboration – The culture that is followed in
Starbucks is also related to the successful collaboration and effective levels of
communication as well. The efficiency in different business processes are
thereby related to the customer experience, quality of the services and cost
effectiveness of the business (Bortolotti, Boscari & Danese, 2015).
Openness – Another important feature of the organizational culture of
Starbucks is based on the openness of its operations in the industry. The
employees are thereby able to express their opinions easily to the managers
and the supervisors. This helps in empowering the employees and further
facilitates innovation as well.
Diversity and inclusion – The anti-discrimination policy that is used by
Starbucks plays an important in shaping its organizational culture. The policy

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thereby helps in including more employees from different backgrounds and
areas as well (Hartnell et al., 2016).
Role played by the management in sustaining the organizational culture of Starbucks
The decentralised structure of Starbucks plays an important in the formation of the
decision making process of the organization. The management of the organization thereby
tries to collaborate with the employees for the purpose of ensuring the success of the
organization in the industry. The matrix organizational structure is employed in Starbucks
which has helped in the creation of an effective channel of communication. The customers
are also served in a better way with the help of the organizational structure. The structure of
the organization is mainly focussed on specific regions where the managers are supposed to
take care of the operations. The employees are recruited based on the ways by which their
values match those of the organization (Huhtala et al., 2015).
Effectiveness of management decisions taken by Starbucks to provide innovative
offerings
The innovative offerings that have been designed by Starbucks have been able to
contribute to the success of the organization. The innovations are based on the products that
they offer to the customers and the services as well. The stores serve as a place where the
customers are able to meet and experience the ambience. The online space that is provided by
Starbucks with the help of its app has also proved to be an effective decision made by the
management. The coffee innovations that have been made by the organization have also
provided Starbucks with an edge over the competition in the industry (Körner et al., 2015).
Key management competency of a manager in Starbucks
The management competency of a manager appointed at Starbucks with respect to the
culture of the organization is the ways by which he or she is able to handle the diversity

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levels. The major objective of the culture of Starbucks is thereby to respect the values and the
diversity levels within the organization and the employees. The managers are thereby
expected to treat all the employees who work under them in a similar manner. The managers
also need to be aware of the diversity based efforts of the employees (O’Reilly III et al.,
2014).
Evaluation of the ability of Starbucks to achieve long-term sustainability
The leadership style that has been implemented by Howard Schultz is mainly
transformational and charismatic in nature. Schultz has aimed at making Starbucks a global
brand from the time of his appointment in the year 1987. The organization had thereby shown
huge levels of growth under the successful leadership of Howard Schultz. The traits of
transformational leadership are based on the ways by which the followers are able to take
their independent decisions instead relying on the managers or the supervisors. The followers
are thereby able to complete the tasks or the projects even if the leaders are not present to
supervise them (O'Neill, Beauvais & Scholl, 2016). The followers of the transformational
leaders are totally self-sufficient in nature. They are able to perform even on the absence of
the leaders. However, in case of the leadership style that has been followed by Howard
Schultz, the employees of Starbucks have not been able to become self-sufficient as the
company had experienced a downfall soon after he left in the year 2000, which further led to
his re-appointment. The most significant duty that is to be undertaken by Schultz is thereby to
make the employees self-sufficient so that they are able to sustain even in his absence
(Valmohammadi & Roshanzamir, 2015).
Conclusion
The report can be concluded by stating that Starbucks has been able to create a
sustainable position in the market with the help of its innovative strategies. The leader of the

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organization, Howard Schultz has also played an important part in the huge success of
Starbucks in the industry. However, it has been found that Schultz was not able to show the
leadership traits successfully as the organization was not able to sustain without him. The
long-term sustainability of Starbucks without the leadership of Howard Schultz is therefore
quite difficult in nature. The leader thereby needs to make the employees self-sufficient in
nature for the future growth of Starbucks.

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References
Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson, S. (2015). Changing organizational culture: Cultural change
work in progress. Routledge.
Anra, Y., & Yamin, M. (2017). Relationships between lecturer performance, organizational
culture, leadership, and achievement motivation. Форсайт, 11(2 (eng)).
Bortolotti, T., Boscari, S., & Danese, P. (2015). Successful lean implementation:
Organizational culture and soft lean practices. International Journal of
Production Economics, 160, 182-201.
Hartnell, C. A., Kinicki, A. J., Lambert, L. S., Fugate, M., & Doyle Corner, P. (2016). Do
similarities or differences between CEO leadership and organizational
culture have a more positive effect on firm performance? A test of
competing predictions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(6), 846.
Huhtala, M., Tolvanen, A., Mauno, S., & Feldt, T. (2015). The associations between ethical
organizational culture, burnout, and engagement: A multilevel
study. Journal of Business and Psychology, 30(2), 399-414.
Körner, M., Wirtz, M. A., Bengel, J., & Göritz, A. S. (2015). Relationship of organizational
culture, teamwork and job satisfaction in interprofessional teams. BMC
health services research, 15(1), 243.
O’Reilly III, C. A., Caldwell, D. F., Chatman, J. A., & Doerr, B. (2014). The promise and
problems of organizational culture: CEO personality, culture, and firm
performance. Group & Organization Management, 39(6), 595-625.

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O'Neill, J. W., Beauvais, L. L., & Scholl, R. W. (2016). The use of organizational culture and
structure to guide strategic behavior: An information processing
perspective. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 2(2), 816.
Starbucks Coffee Company. (2018). Company Information. [online] Available at:
https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information [Accessed
17 Jul. 2018].
Valmohammadi, C., & Roshanzamir, S. (2015). The guidelines of improvement: Relations
among organizational culture, TQM and performance. International
Journal of Production Economics, 164, 167-178.