Starbucks : A Single Coffeehouse Essay

For my ethnography project, I decided to observe the Starbucks on Rockside Road in Independence, Ohio. My plan was to observe the subculture of Starbucks’ customers. A subculture is defined as a “structured social inequality or, more specifically, systematic inequalities between groups of people that arise as intended or unintended consequences of social processes and relationships.” My question was twofold. Does Starbucks appeal to certain social statuses? And if so, does Starbucks serve as another example of social inequality?

Starbucks was originally a small waterfront coffee shop located in Seattle that opened in 1971 (starbucks.com- Our Heritage). It is extremely convenient and now has over 24,000 stores in the 70 countries it is located in, which is one of the reasons that it is so well known today (starbucks.com- Starbucks Coffee International). There is a large variety of coffees you could get, however, they do not focus solely on coffee. They also sell teas, smoothies, pastries, and more. Their mission is to “inspire and nurture the human spirit- one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time,” (starbucks.com- Our Heritage). It is a place that people can work on computers, study, or hang out at, so it is constantly in business.

The main concept of the American Dream has been altered and changed due to self pleasing over-riding self reliance. Many people do not know what hard work is anymore. They do simple things and expect more of an outcome.

Imaging if there was no more coffee in this world, how would you feel? Nowadays, coffee becomes an important part of people’s life. People who often work overtime, they drink coffee because caffeine can make you awake; people who have to wake up early in the morning, they drink coffee because instead of making breakfast, coffee is more convenient; people drink coffee during the free time, because it also tastes good.

Figure 2 shown above shows a “hang-loose” Starbucks restaurant. In the picture above are two ladies relaxing at the restaurant. It doesn’t seem very busy. In the upper half of the picture near the center is the Starbucks logo. The purpose of this

Howard Shultz and the senior management at Starbucks have to decide how to react to the opportunities that are being made available because of their rapid growth. The decision for a strategic growth plan has to be made in the near future. This will prove to be key for Starbucks reaching their long-term goal of becoming the most recognized and respected brand of coffee in the world.

Around 8 pm on March 11, 2016, my sister and I decided to grab a coffee from Starbucks. I believe that Starbucks is a perfect example of a location where diverse people consisting of different generations hang out, meet, transact, communicate and study. Starbucks is open for masses to stay in as long as they want while drinking a good cup of coffee. I was fortunate enough that during the time of my observation a lot was going on. With the learning I have grasped from our lessons, I was able to see various concepts that are under the topic Communication: An Introduction.

In recent years, Starbucks has battled with its competitors for a share of a global market

Please answer all the following questions as they relate to the case. Please utilize as much outside resources as you deem necessary to reinforce your answers—especially the last question. Remember that this case is over 10 years old and Starbucks has changed since then.

As I approach the doors of Starbucks there is two little kids outside running around. My Godmother opened the smell of strong freshly brewed coffee hit my nose. The Starbucks is  a small café with a drive through, with tables and chairs in a L shape setting. My Godmother tells me to have a seat at one of the tables away from her and her co-workers. They are already sitting and started their meeting. There are two young women behind the counter conversing about music. One had run to the a room that is also behind the counter she had to grab something to so that she could refill whatever she was refilling. The little girl and boy that were outside when my godmother and I walked into Starbucks came in and sat at the next to me and was yelling at each other. The woman that was sitting next to my godmother got up and came up to the kids and whispered something to them. They got up and walked over to the counter, the woman asked one of the women that was behind the counter for a cup of ice water. The woman then gives the kids the water. They sit back at the table to drink the water but instead they started blowing bubbles into the cup. The little boy says , "Stop blowing bubbles." The little girl said "Now let's mix it up." As I look to my right a man comes from a back area on the other side other entrance door walks behind the counter as if he was going to clock in. He started singing and one of the young women started doing the running man while singing, “ at night I think

Has Starbucks has done well in Turkey? What are some of the common growth drivers in terms of consumer characteristics, market characteristics, and entry strategies across USA and Turkey that might account for Starbucks’ success?

Besides that, Starbuck realize that the element of human is a very important chain in success in the industry. But they are not start with the top of the human resource but from the bottom one. That is why they have a lot of places to educate for the new employees. According to many survey and research, Starbucks is one of business place have the best customer service. Every time I come to Starbucks, the employees there behave very friendly and helpful. They tried to serve customers with the best behaviors which they studied from Starbucks. Even if any customers complained anything about the drinks or food, they also be friendly and smile, after that, that employees tried to fix the problems. That makes people are willing to spend money in this brand name than the others like Dunkin’s Donut or Mc Donald even though they are also have some similar products. The products that Starbucks sell in their store is not only the coffee but also the value of brand name and the feeling of respect when people come there. Starbucks can become a place for students who want to go for group work, it is also become a place for people who can come for do business and discussion or the basic idea is a place to enjoy a cup of coffee. In any purpose, Starbucks can perfectly become a good place for that. The atmosphere which Howard tried to create for Starbucks is suitable for many kinds of people.

This is a proposal based on the case study “Starbucks – going global fast” (Cateora and Graham, 2007), further research has been undertaken and analysis and recommendation will be based on these sources of information.

A venti issue: blending together a solution to satisfy the needs of customers, new and old.”

What resources and capabilities formed the basis of the uniqueness of Starbucks in the first place? Why was it so successful?