University Report: SWOT Analysis of Starbucks Talent Management

This report presents a SWOT analysis of Starbucks' talent management function. It begins with an executive summary and an overview of talent management and the SWOT analysis methodology. The report provides a detailed examination of Starbucks, including its history, operations, and leadership under Howard Schultz. The core of the report is a SWOT analysis of Starbucks' talent management initiatives, evaluating its strengths (attracting employees, HR team, and profitability), weaknesses (employee monotony, lack of innovation, and interview process), opportunities (recruitment policies, training programs), and threats (employee attrition, lack of career advancement, and brand reputation). The report concludes by highlighting the importance of converting weaknesses into strengths and retaining strengths to maintain its position in the global market. Recommendations include making talent management more appealing and addressing identified shortcomings. The analysis references several academic sources and provides a comprehensive understanding of Starbucks' talent management in a competitive business environment.

Running head: SWOT ANALYSIS OF STARBUCKS
SWOT ANALYSIS OF STARBUCKS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1SWOT ANALYSIS OF STARBUCKS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this report is to provide a SWOT analysis of the famous coffee making
company Starbucks’s talent management function. A detailed discussion about the concept of
talent management and the usage of SWOT has been included in this report. In addition to
this, the overview of the company, Starbucks, and a list of questions related to the SWOT
analysis of the talent management function of Starbucks has been attempted in this report.
The report concludes with the fact that Starbucks is a very promising global company in the
world albeit of certain mishaps. It is recommended that Starbucks must convert its
weaknesses into strengths and retain its strengths to continue to be a top player in the global
business scenario. Starbucks must make its talent management team more appealing and
winsome.

2SWOT ANALYSIS OF STARBUCKS
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
An Overview of Starbucks:-...................................................................................................4
SWOT Analysis of the Talent Management Initiative of Starbucks:-.......................................4
The strength of the talent management initiative of Starbucks-............................................4
The weakness of the talent management initiative of Starbucks-..........................................5
The opportunities of the talent management initiative at Starbucks-.....................................6
The threats of the talent management initiative at Starbucks-...............................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................9

3SWOT ANALYSIS OF STARBUCKS
Introduction
Talent management is regarded to be an important concept of business scheme in
today’s high tech corporate world. Talent management can be defined as the dedication of an
organization to attract, hire, develop and sustain exceptionally talented employees for the
overall growth and prosperity of the organization. Talent management is essential for an
organization to keep and maintain a consummate workforce. Generally, talent management
policies or strategies are incorporated in an organization to beat the rivals in the stiff
competition in the global business scenario (Stahl et al., 2006). This is because employees are
the ultimate driving force in enhancing the efficiency and performance of the organization.
The performance of the employees of the Starbucks has improved immensely due to the re-
modification of the talent management strategy of Starbucks. I have personally experienced
the appreciative conduct and the rapid productivity of the employees working in the nearby
Starbucks store (Reinecke, Manning & Von Hagen, 2012).
SWOT analysis is the shortened form for strength, weakness, opportunities and
threats. It is a detailed organized report that assesses the performance of an organization
based on these four crucial components. SWOT analysis can be applied for any individual,
group, location, sector or an organization. In accordance to the marketers, strengths and
weaknesses are regarded to be the in-company or internal components. On the other hand,
opportunities and threats are considered to be the independent or external components. In a
SWOT analysis, strength and opportunities are considered to be affirmative by nature.
Contrastingly, weaknesses and threats are considered to be pessimistic by nature (Hollensen,
2015). The main motive of attempting a SWOT analysis report by an organization or any
other entity is to convert the weaknesses or the failures into robustness or strength and the
threats or challenges into opportunities or possibilities. Resultantly, this will enable the

4SWOT ANALYSIS OF STARBUCKS
managers or any other SWOT attempter to complement the internal or in-house strengths
with the external or independent possibilities to amplify the combative advantage of the
organization or any other concerned entity. This report outlines the fact to discuss the SWOT
analysis of the talent management strategy of the renowned coffee producing company-
Starbucks.
An Overview of Starbucks:-
Starbucks is a famous coffee producing company in the world. The eminent
businessperson Howard Schulz has laid the bedrock of Starbucks. Starbucks has its
headquarters in the city of Seattle in the state of Washington in America. At present,
Starbucks have branch operations, approximately, in 24000 venues, across the world.
According to the coffee enthusiasts, Starbucks is credited with publicizing the previously
unknown dark spit-roasted flavor of coffee. In addition to the sale of the remarkable flavored
coffee, Starbucks also specializes in mouth-watering confectionaries, ice cream and
hamburgers. Occasionally, refined quality liquor is also served at some Starbucks centers.
Under the commendable supervision of Howard Schulz, Starbucks have been delivering
outstanding performance in the yearly sales and the profitability ratio. Howard Schulz is
frequently considered to be a brilliant corporate leader, so, the success of Starbucks is
unsurprising (Schultz, 2015).
SWOT Analysis of the Talent Management Initiative of Starbucks:-
An SWOT analysis of the Talent Management Initiative of the Starbucks has been
attempted. Undoubtedly, Starbucks possesses an exceptional talent management team.
The strength of the talent management initiative of Starbucks-
 Why Starbucks attracts accomplished employees?

5SWOT ANALYSIS OF STARBUCKS
Starbucks is a renowned company and holds majority of the market shares in the
coffee making business. Starbucks offers an attractive work-life policy for their employees,
along with many additional incentives, such as generous compensatory welfare schemes and
leaves. As a result, the aspiring university graduates desire to become a part of the Starbucks
workforce (Mason, Cole & Goza, 2017).
 Why the HR team in Starbucks is a winner?
The HR management team of Starbucks is an employee-friendly team. Mr. Howard
Schulz has exceptionally organized every management team of Starbucks. The HR
management team is known for hiring the quintessential person for a job. The HR team also
takes the responsibility of adequate training and professional development of the employees.
 What is the cause behind the exceptional profitability ratio of Starbucks?
The performance of Starbucks in the global rankings can be attributed to its
applaudable profits earning capacity. The performance of the employees determines
the revenue margin of a company. Therefore, satisfied employees are the revenue-
bringing source in Starbucks.
The weakness of the talent management initiative of Starbucks-
 Why the employees at Starbucks suffer from occasional monotony?
Starbucks has a policy for its employees to attend to the customers in an affirmative
way. Saying NO is to be avoided during customer encounters. This makes the job of
the employees monotonous, as they are required to always please the customers with a
complimentary smile in accordance with the famous American customer satisfaction
policy. They are discouraged to be forthright with the customers.
 Why Starbucks lacks in employee innovation?

6SWOT ANALYSIS OF STARBUCKS
Employees are not robots. They are human beings. At times, it is perfectly possible
that the innovation rate of the employees at Starbucks can fluctuate. There is a certain
maximum level for the employees of Starbucks, to deliver innovative plans and
concepts, in order to boost the coffee making business.
 Why the interview procedure at Starbucks is considered to be faulty?
The interview procedure at Starbucks is a not so perfect process. It is believed that the
interview is very short and simple and does not offer much time for the interviewer to
properly assess the capabilities of the employees to work at Starbucks.
The opportunities of the talent management initiative at Starbucks-
 Why the recruitment policy of Starbucks looks promising in the future?
The recruitment policy of the Starbucks seems to be promising because Starbucks is
taking the step for further inclusion of people of all races and colors in its workforce.
Recently, Howard Schulz has been very much particular in the maintenance of
diversity in unity in all the centers of Starbucks.
 Why Starbucks has been earning good points in its recruitment policy?
Howard Schulz has embraced the concept of employing people of all sexual
orientations in Starbucks. This has made Starbucks very appealing to the global
sexual minority population. This policy of Starbucks has even enabled it to secure the
hiring of talented people from the minority population (Garthwaite et al., 2017).
 Why the future training sector of the employees at Starbucks looks appealing?
The future training sector of the employees at Starbucks looks appealing because
Starbucks has implemented further career training systems for the employees. The
employees are to be circulated and transferred among all the branches at Starbucks so
that they can learn from the diversity in cultures in the world.

7SWOT ANALYSIS OF STARBUCKS
The threats of the talent management initiative at Starbucks-
 Why Starbucks is losing its employees to the rivals?
Starbucks is losing its employees to the rivals because Starbucks needs to upgrade its
employee policy rules and regulations at par with the rules and regulations of
McDonalds and Dunkin’ Donuts (Woolf, 2014).
 Why do employees think that Starbucks does not offer career advancement?
The employees think that Starbucks does not offer career advancement to its
employees because Starbucks do not engage in diversifying their range of products.
Starbucks must enlarge its selling category to the other products because the market
demand for coffee decreases at a point of time.
 Why employees now picture Starbucks as a failure?
At recent times, the reputation of Starbucks has been tarnished with many lawsuits
and affairs concerning trademark infringements. Therefore, talented employees are
thinking twice to sign up for the employment program in Starbucks. Therefore, it is a
definite threat for Starbucks.
Conclusion
Conclusively, it can be said from the above report that the success of Starbucks is
unparallel. It is still counted to be one of the best coffee making companies in the world. The
talent management team of Starbucks is a very dedicated and passionate. The motto of the
talent management initiative of the Starbucks is to hire, train and retain exceptional
employees. This is because the performance of the exceptional employees is the key to
success for sustaining the productivity rate of Starbucks. The SWOT analysis of the talent
management initiative of Starbucks with the organizational strategy has revealed that
Starbucks needs to upgrade its employee interview processing and the range of products.

8SWOT ANALYSIS OF STARBUCKS
Starbucks must continue to offer a satisfactory work life policy and career advancement
opportunities to its employees, so that it can refine its talent management initiative
(Geereddy, 2013). The case of Starbucks in Australia is a very recent example of disgrace
and infamy. This has made Starbucks to lose some of its employees to the rivals.

9SWOT ANALYSIS OF STARBUCKS
References
Garthwaite, C., Garthwaite, C., Busse, M., Busse, M., Brown, J., Brown, J., ... & Merkley, G.
(2017). Starbucks: A Story of Growth. Kellogg School of Management Cases, 1-20.
Geereddy, N. (2013). Strategic analysis of Starbucks corporation. Harward [Електронний
ресурс].–Режим доступу: http://scholar. harvard.
edu/files/nithingeereddy/files/starbucks_ case_analysis. pdf.
Hollensen, S. (2015). Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.
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).
Reinecke, J., Manning, S., & Von Hagen, O. (2012). The emergence of a standards market:
Multiplicity of sustainability standards in the global coffee industry. Organization
Studies, 33(5-6), 791-814.
Schultz, H. (2012). Pour your heart into it: How Starbucks built a company one cup at a
time. Hachette UK.
Stahl, G., Björkman, I., Farndale, E., Morris, S. S., Paauwe, J., Stiles, P., ... & Wright, P.
(2012). Six principles of effective global talent management. Sloan Management
Review, 53(2), 25-42.
Woolf, N. (2014). Starbucks faces growing rivals as coffee wars reach boiling point. The
Guardian. Available at: https://www. theguardian.

10SWOT ANALYSIS OF STARBUCKS
com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/12/starbucks-faces-growing-rivals-as-coffee-wars-reach-
boiling-point (Accessed: 21 October 2016).