Starbucks does not need an introduction; it is a global company with a worldwide presence. It has also been known for its environmental policies for quite long: “Starbucks is committed to a role of environmental leadership in all facets of our business” (Hoffman & Bateson, 2014, p. 175). The manufacturing capacity of the organization can also be viewed as one of its values. For instance, the fact that the company is willing to expand by opening new 140 manufacturing jobs (“Starbucks Coffee Company” 2012) deserves to be mentioned as a prime example of Starbucks’s recent manufacturing initiative.
The changes mentioned above in the organization’s design serve as a prime example of the company manifesting its values, particularly, the one regarding the responsibility of catering to the needs of the firm’s stakeholders: “The value of your company is driven by your company’s values” (“Starbucks Coffee Company” 2012, p. 749). Starbucks also declares itself as both people-oriented and team-oriented entrepreneurship. In other words, the company aims at both satisfying the needs of individuals and attaining the organizational goals (Chang, 2014).
The corporate culture of Starbucks is, therefore, based on the concept of meeting the needs of all stakeholders involved and preventing the key production processes from having any harmful impact on either of the parties involved. The role of the management in the company’s design can be defined as the one that represents the success of the firm in terms of both its financial and economic performance.
The management decisions of the organization as far as the innovative offerings are concern can be deemed as rather wise. To be more exact, the fact that every step taken by the enterprise is quality-oriented deserves to be mentioned is a graphic example of Starbucks retaining its values and following its mission even in the highly competitive environment of the global economy. The laissez-faire approach that the company leaders adopt, however, may trigger a lack of cohesion between the actions of the company members as well as create premises for financial fraud in the firm (Buch, Martinsen, & Kuvaas, 2014).
The members of Starbucks are supposed to have a variety of competencies that are to inform the decisions made by the company’s staff. These competencies include communication skills, especially the ones that involve conflict solving and negotiating abilities, proper technical expertise, strategic thinking, and every other competency that is typically included in the list of the required qualities for any global entrepreneurship (Kyndt & Baert, 2015). The specifics of the company, however, point to the fact that the ethics-related competencies are the key ones in the firm’s design.
The significance of the specified skill for Starbucks’ organizational culture is evident; because of the need to operate in the environment of the global economy, the firm often faces the necessity to address a variety of ethical dilemmas, such as the issues of equal pay, workplace discrimination, etc. Unfortunately, the company has not resolved all of its ethical issues yet; for instance, the problem concerning equal payments remains a source of discord between the organization’s managers and employees (Wonglimpiyarat, 2013). Herein the need to put a stronger emphasis on the competency mentioned above lies.
Indeed, the skill in question is going to have a tremendously positive effect on the organizational culture, reducing the number of conflicts occurring in the company’s environment and boosting the staffs’ performance rates by motivating the employees. The reasons behind the latter phenomenon are evident; as soon as the staff members realize that their endeavors are recognized and appreciated, i.e., paid correspondingly, they will strive for better performance and the increase in the efficacy thereof. Hence, the idea of introducing financial incentives on the set of the firm’s HRM strategies has to be considered closely.
It is quite remarkable that Starbucks is capable of achieving impressive sustainability rates, even without its CEO at the helm. The organization already has a very strong stance on its environmental policy and, therefore, has an excellent foundation for a resource management strategy. Thus, even without the CEO above at the helm, the firm will still have its priorities set and, thus, its managers will be able to make the decisions that will help the enterprise evolve.
The phenomenon in question should be attributed primarily to the principle of sustainability that the firm members have been complying with for several decades running. Moreover, the policy of innovative solutions, which the company employs as the basis for addressing most of its problems, can be viewed as a tool for maintaining a sustainable environment in the company.
It should be borne in mind, though, that the lack of equality at Starbucks, which manifests itself in an inconsistent system of financial rewards provided to the staff, may harm the entrepreneurship significantly by destroying its sustainability. A drop in satisfaction rates among the team, in which the lack of equity will ensue, will have a drastic effect on the overall performance rates and, therefore, may jeopardize the quality of the product. Seeing that the company’s reputation hinges on the quality of its products, it will be only reasonable to reallocate the costs so that Starbucks could give enough credit to its members.
Additionally, the policies preventing corporate fraud and, therefore, restricting the access to the firm’s financial assets for its managers, should be viewed as a temporary option for addressing the equity issue. However, determining a long-term policy for the enterprise to follow, one may suggest a change in the corporate values of Starbucks although the latter has been displaying rather strong ethical standards and a very progressive vision, the very fact that the company allows for any form of inequity to occur shows that there are major flaws in the organizational design. Hence, the reconsideration of the current set of values and a stronger emphasis on the principle of equal rights for all stakeholders involved will be required.
With its long history and stellar branding, Starbucks has established a powerful presence in the global market. The organization has been known for its environmentally friendly policies long enough for its brand to have become very powerful and take over the target market. The management system employed at Starbucks is nearly flawless as it supports the foundation that the firm is based on and will sustain the entrepreneurship even if its current CEO leaves his position.
Despite the self-sustained characteristics of the enterprise, it can be defined as lacking stability due to a possible equity issue. By maintaining the leadership strategy that presupposes a rather loose control over the key operations carried out by the organization, its leaders open a possibility for the managers to abuse their power as far as financial rewards are concerned. A set of more stringent policies and the reinforcement of corporate ethics may help address the issue.
Reference List
Buch, R., Martinsen, O., & Kuvaas, B. (2014). The destructiveness of laissez-faire leadership behavior: The mediating role of economic leader–member exchange relationships. Yönetim ve Ekonomi, 21(2), 249–268.
Chang, C. Y. (2014). Visualizing brand personality and personal branding: Case analysis on Starbucks and Nike’s brand value co-creation on Instagram (Docoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest. (1565883)
Hoffman, K., & Bateson, J. (2014). Services marketing: Concepts, strategies, & cases. Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning.
Kyndt, E., & Baert, H. (2015). Entrepreneurial competencies: Assessment and predictive value for entrepreneurship. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 90(1), 13–25.
Starbucks Coffee Company; Starbucks spotlights connection between record performance, shareholder value and company values at annual meeting of shareholders. (2012, April 7). Investment Weekly News, 749.
Wonglimpiyarat, J. (2013). The role of equity financing to support entrepreneurship in Asia—The experience of Singapore and Thailand. Technovation, 33(4–5), 163–171.