Corporate Culture at Starbucks

The term "culture" has been used more and more recently but what exactly does it mean? Some have even regarded culture as "the most central problem of all social science" (Malinowski, 1939). According to Merriam Webster (2016), culture is defined as the arts and other manifestations of human achievements. If culture was as simple as Merriam-Webster defines it then the lives of anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists would be much easier. As we know, culture varies greatly across religion, countries, and some cases in just states; the difference between the north and the south. We can conclude that culture is a set of shared thoughts, values, and cognitions (Geertz, 1973). With culture in itself varying tremendously based on values and location, then surely organizational culture is no simple concept either. The term "organizational culture" has just recently become to be used more (Barley, 1988). Though there may be disagreements on defining culture universally, researchers tend to agree that culture is of vital importance in an organizational context, whether that organization is a company or a government (Kilmann, Saxton, & Serpa, 1986).

Organizational or corporate culture is the widely shared values within an organization that foster unity and cooperation to achieve common goals. The key to a productive culture is mutual trust. Organizations receive trust by giving it. Top companies stress high moral and ethical values such as honesty, reliability, fairness, environmental protection and social involvement.

“Culture consists of the symbols, rituals, language, and social dramas that highlight organizational life, including myths, stories, and jargon. It includes the shared meanings associated with the symbols, rituals, and language. Culture combines the philosophy of the firm with beliefs, expectations, and values shared by members. It contains the stories and myths about the company's founder and its current leading figures. Organizational culture consists of a set of shared meanings and values held by a set of members in an organization that distinguish the organization from other organizations. An organization's culture determines how it perceives and reacts to the larger environment (Becker, 1982; Schein, 1996). Culture determines the nature

42). Training doesn’t stop there, however. Baristas can expose themselves to additional training if they desire to become Coffee Masters, Shift Supervisors, or Store Managers. In fact, Michelli (2007) reports, “Starbucks consistently spends more on training than it does on advertising” (p. 282). The Starbucks corporation feels that the Starbucks Experience starts with their employees. If their employees are happy, their employees create better experiences for their customers. This creative approach to the management of people shows. Michelli (2007) highlights that the turnover rate at Starbucks is much lower than at other similar establishments, “120 percent less than the industry average” (p. 282). He further goes on to mention that “employees have an 82% job-satisfaction rate” (p. 282). This deep desire to treat employees fairly stems from Schultz’s ideals. He himself mentions, “As a business leader, my quest has never been just about winning or making money; it has also been about building a great, enduring company, which has always meant trying to strike a balance between profit and social conscience” (Schultz, p. 107). Many believe his deep sense of empathy stems from his early childhood where his father was ill and could not hold a job. This is reflected today in his treatment of his employees. All

Organizational culture is not a new concept in the world of organizational behavior. Yet despite its age, it still has many varied definitions as well as philosophies on its importance and impact to the success of a company. One definition is that organizational culture is a cognitive framework consisting of attitudes, values, behavioral norms, and expectations shared by members of an organization (Greenberg, 2013, p. 368). Greenberg (2013) further explains organizational culture through an analogy of a tree. Organizational culture are similar to the roots of a tree.

The personal beliefs of the McCoy and Cathy families influenced the organizational culture of their firms by viewing it as a big family. The value and behavior of a company contributes to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization (Organizational Culture, 2015). Organizational Culture consists of the company expectations, experiences, philosophy,

Corporate culture can be shown in the workplace. How people dress, how the offices look, how the employees are treated and the way the workplace puts its culture into its merchandise & services and how it shows itself to its customers. There can also be cultural diversity in the workplace with individuals themselves. That can cause problems in the corporation with everybody's diverse ways.

It is commonly known that different organisations have their individual cultures. Culture describes who they are and what they stand for. It relates to the organisation 's traditions, customs, beliefs, meanings, morals, ethics, norms, language, shared values and practices. The business culture determines how people communicate within the company. There are numerous factors affecting

Organizational or corporate culture is the widely shared values within an organization that foster unity and cooperation to achieve common goals. The key to a productive culture is mutual trust. Organizations receive trust by giving it. Top companies stress high moral and ethical values such as honesty, reliability, fairness, environmental protection and social involvement.

Corporate culture can be defined as “A blend of the values, beliefs, taboos, symbols, rituals and

“We are not in the coffee business, serving people. We are in the people business, serving coffee”, Howard Schultz’s philosophy has shaped and continues shape Starbucks, the world’s number one specialty coffee retailer with over 21,000 outlets in more than 65 countries nowadays (Starbucks, 2011). Starbucks was founded in 1971 and Howard Schultz joined Starbucks in 1982. In 1987, Howard acquired Starbucks and changed the name to Starbucks Corporation.

Hofstede (2003) defined culture as "the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another". Corporate culture refers to the intangible aspects of companies, including the interactions at an interpersonal level, and values, morals and ethics which permeate the way that decisions are made and polices are implemented (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2011). Just as when one undertakes international travel, and sees different cultures where there are different attitudes and traditions, one can also observe different

An organization’s culture shapes the attitudes and behaviors of its employees by defining boundaries, providing a sense of identity and stability. It also establishes a standard in regards to what employees should say and do. Culture can be transmitted via stories, rituals, material symbols and language. Culture within an organization is no exception.

Management researchers seem to agree that the things that companies do called "corporate culture" is an intangible concept and hence difficult to define. Among the attempts to define "corporate culture", the following definition is useful as a starting point:- "culture represents an interdependent set of values and ways of behaving that are common in a community and that tend to perpetuate themselves, sometimes over long periods of time" (Kotter and Heskett,1992,141) Peters and Watermann argue that changing a culture cannot be accomplished.

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE, or CORPORATE CULTURE, comprises the attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values of an organization. It has been defined as "the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization.