Starbucks
As a corporation, Starbucks offers a potent appeal for any would be employees as well as a rich organizational culture. This organizational culture maintains values which get to each area of the corporation and covers areas far from its peripheries to the societies too. Looking at the organizational culture at Starbucks shows just how successful and desirable this type of cultural framework can really be.
A Suggestion of the Key Elements of Organizational Culture At Starbucks
Appeal
Most of the business concepts in use at the corporation as well as its key attributes are considered quite appealing. To begin with, Starbucks has grown to be a renowned global player. This is a feat which has been attained through a properly planned product which depends upon its quality as well as special marketing tactics. Clients can always be sure of contacting vibrant employees who are pleased to serve anyone and fixed at the desires of the clients.
Workers at the corporation are trained well. They possess sufficient knowledge about all the products sold as well. Great effort is accorded to quality management at the corporation.
This is easily noticed by any person who interacts with the corporation. They struggle to offer a superior product and as is evident by their great achievements, not many of the patrons get out of the store dissatisfied. It is obvious that the values and mission statements which have been posited by the corporation indeed have an impact in developing a very strong cultural conduct.
Values
Most of the values practiced at Starbucks within their business model are mutually shared between clients and assimilated by other firms that closely study them. Starbucks enjoys the support and commitment from the immediate community. This remains an outstanding value. Starbucks is known to support several community projects and groupings.
Conservation International, Save the Children, and Mercy Corps are among the many community organizations that Starbucks supports (Starbucks Corporation, 2008). Such values have developed a certain level of standard and convey messages which suggest profitable organizations have a mandate to the societies which prop their companies and to the requirements affecting the immediate environment as well as the world.
Starbucks understands that in its principles, there is an importance of incorporating diversity. Positive reinforcement at the workplace for everyone is also important and respect is the main goal. Consumer satisfaction also remains the top goal for the corporation.
Strength of the Organizational Culture
The corporation has been able to develop a culture well known to everybody. Its good relations with suppliers, societies, workers, and clients brings about the reality that the corporation is among many which never outwardly make use of the words spirituality at workplace for their conduct and deeds, however live through it totally.
This spiritual culture is evident in the manner fair trade is enhanced by the corporation, societal participation, diversity at the place of work, and its proclaimed statement of worker enlightened self-interest. The relationship which the corporation creates with other partners, workers, and society are obvious when a person simply interacts with Starbucks.
Role of the Management in Creating and Sustaining the Organizational Culture
As already shown above, those few elements of Starbuck’s organizational culture make a pointer as to why the corporation has managed to be successful since its incorporation. However, much has to be said about the role of the management in creating and sustaining this culture. At Starbucks, the management has the mandate of ensuring that the set principles and guidelines of the company are well understood and obeyed at all times.
Protocols and rules have to be observed in ensuring that all activities are carried out in the manner that they should. This keen observance of the things that make a company run well is the culture that has to be maintained by management at all times while also developing other rules that could be favorable to the operations of Starbucks
Effectiveness of Starbucks Management Decisions in Providing Innovative Offerings
It is never easy to find fresh product innovation in any retailed packaged goods anywhere in the world. Nevertheless, Starbucks has been able to effectively deal with the issue of product innovation. Starbucks managed to develop a ready brew coffee as its product innovation (Shultz, 2008).It is definitely extremely innovative to make a sale of superior quality ready brew coffee in single serving volumes. The reason that many other coffee companies have failed to do this is unimaginable.
Coupled with superior marketing, Starbucks has attained deserving success. In addition, Starbucks responded quite well to the high demand from its consumers by developing single serve coffees. This occurred during the times of recession at good prices, a move which enabled clients buy the well-known high quality flavor coffee drinks at prices that they could afford. A thing that maintained the competitive nature of the corporation has a lot to do with its ever incremental flavor innovation.
With its ready brew coffee, the corporation has been able to make use of its innovative offering to alter the behavior of its clients. With this in mind, it is obvious that the corporation, through its new innovative productive offering will definitely develop a client segment which constantly consumes high quality coffee.
Key Management Competency a Manager at Starbucks is Likely to Have
Management competencies are essential for the success of business operations. For a corporation of Starbucks stature, a manager should have ability and skill competency. This competency is very important in assisting an individual manage well and deal with unexpected market scenarios. It is worthy to note that the way a manager leads a group of people will cause success or failure in a company.
Hence, this particular competency appears as the best for a person seeking to manage Starbucks since ability and skill sum up several other management competencies.
The above mentioned management competency is a good fit for the organizational culture at Starbucks which needs clear and focused direction to ensure that everything is done well to maintain present success and avoid failures as had been experienced earlier with the exit of the founder. Culture is a way of doing things known to a particular group of people. Hence, a manager with ability and skills will succeed in upholding the culture at the corporation.
Long Term Sustainability at Starbucks
I positively believe that Starbucks is able to sustain its profitability and performance in the long term without the leadership of its current CEO, Howard Schultz. What is more important is whether the next leader possesses the correct management competencies that fit with the culture in the organization.
It is a leader who determines the course that a company will follow under his tenure (Daft, 2012). What is more, growth and expansion have to be managed well to prevent burn out as was experienced when the company grew to levels it could not manage and hence began to collapse.
References
Daft, R. (2012). Management (10th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Shultz, H. (2008). Starbucks Makes Organizational Changes to Enhance Customer Experience. Retrieved from https://stories.starbucks.com/press
Starbucks Corporation. (2008). Corporate Social Responsibility. Retrieved from https://www.starbucks.com/about-us