Starbucks Case Study : Starbucks Case Analysis

“In 1981, Howard Schultz, vice president and general manager of US operations for a Swedish maker of stylish kitchen equipment and coffeemakers, decided to pay Starbucks a visit” (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland III, & McGraw-Hill, 2013). Schultz’s trip was out of curiosity to see why Starbucks was selling so many of his company’s products. However, during his stay in Seattle, Schultz fell in love with Starbucks and shortly after returning to New York, sought a way to become more involved in the company. It took almost a year for Schultz to convince the Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker that he would be a good addition to their company, but in the fall of 1982,

Howard Schultz joined the marketing team for Starbucks in 1982. After a visit to Italy he became fascinated by what the Italian coffee bars meant to the social culture of the city of Milan. He assumed that Starbucks could do something similar here in America. He later bought the company from the founders and began to open chain coffee shops across the Northwest United States. Since his takeover the company has expanded and been very profitable but recently, there has been a decline in customer satisfaction.

The Starbucks story began in 1971 in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, selling high-quality dark-roasted coffee in small batches. The bean roaster and retail store was originally started by three partners, Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel, and Gordon Bowker. The three later sold the company to Howard Schultz in 1987. Howard Schultz had a strategy and a vision for the company that established its as one of the major corporate success stories of the late 20th century. The vision of founder Howard Schultz was inspired by Italian coffee bars/beverage retailer. Having experienced the espresso and coffeehouse

To realize this ideal, Schultz needed to attract the right employees and engage his staff to behave so that “customers (had) a very positive experience in its stores.” (Thompson & Shah, 2010) He did this by a variety of methods, sourced from the six guiding principles the employee team came up with. He was able to achieve the 4th principle –“develop enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time” – by having happy employees (1st principle), commitment to sourcing the best beans and standards to make the ‘perfect cup’ (3rd principle), and creating an emotional connection to his customers. “Schultz firmly believed that Starbucks had to be a great place to work in order to provide the atmosphere and service that he envisioned.” (Brown, 2011) He realized that in order for his employees to be happy, he needed them to trust and feel they could communicate without retribution, and to feel valued. One of the ways he demonstrated their value to the company was to provide health care to even his part time baristas. Employees, now called ‘partners,’ were supported by extensive training in coffee knowledge, brewing, and how to “go out of their way … to make sure customers were fully satisfied.” (Thompson & Shah, 2010) Furthermore, they were rewarded by a recognition program which acknowledged excellence in brewing, customer service, leadership,

Howard Schultz didn’t just build a company, he built an empire. Starbucks’ Coffee is a benchmark in the coffee trade, for coffee drinkers and, even non-coffee drinkers. He nursed a small company in the big city of Seattle, to a global

Starbucks’ confirmed it’s trouble in 2007 when the company had experienced 2 quarters of flat growth in same-store sales, and then its first ever decline in the fourth quarter. Gas prices increased therefore their consumers’ like many other retailers felt the pain. Howard Schultz was Starbuck’s visionary leader and CEO from 1987 to 2000. Replaced by Jim Donald, Schultz is being brought back to aid in the restoration of Starbuck’s cachet as a premier brand.

He has patience and stability so it brings him what he wants. Although the first founders present a conservative attitude, this not caused Howard Schultz to give up. It is a crucial key to become an entrepreneur. So he joined Starbucks as the Director of Marketing a year later. When he was at a business trip to Italy he realized that there was a coffee bar in every street. People were using these bars as meeting places or public squares. He want to adapt this culture on Starbucks and it was his initiative idea as an entrepreneur but could not pursue the owners. He take risk although he does not have money and did not give up. Then Shultz decided to leave the Starbucks and open his own coffee bar with the help of the ex-bosses and a doctor client. In 1986 he open the first store, "Il Giornale’’. Two years later he bought Starbucks Coffee Company for US$3.8 million and changed the name of Il Giornale with the Starbucks. Thus the real story of Starbucks began so we will analyze how Starbucks Coffee Company become a word leader as its moves in global business market accordingly Howard Shultz’s success as an

From the start, Starbucks has filled a void that never existed. They created a business out of something customers didn’t even realize they wanted. It slowly became a luxury and a must have. The difference between the early stages of Starbucks and the Starbucks we know today is the business strategy these two different phases had. It’s easy to relate Howard Shultz with the credit for introducing the

In 1982 Howard Schultz joined the company as the Director of Marketing and Retail Operations. He tried to convince the coffee shop partners to expand the business by

To reach its current status as the largest coffee-house company in the world, Starbucks went through many changes, starting in 1982, when Howard Schultz joined the Starbucks team, setting the whole process in motion. Yet the coffee-house that we have come to know today is actually the result of an experiment carried out after Schultz took a trip to Milan, Italy, where he witnessed the potential of the local cafés culture and thought to introduce it in Seattle.

Starbuck’s strategy focused on three components; high-quality coffee, intimate service, and ambient atmosphere. Starbucks worked closely with growers in Africa, South and Central America, and Asia-Pacific regions to insure the quality of its product. Starbucks called all employees' "partners" and worked hard to train them with the skills necessary to best serve the customer. The atmosphere at Starbucks was crafted after the European-style espresso bar. The company goal was to create ambience through the Starbucks "experience" and by making the area comfortable, yet upscale.

They generally chose exceedingly obvious areas and opened stores as groups. As interest developed, these store bunches made them ready to deal with the expanded movement and to keep their focused position. In the same way, they took think about the administrations gave in the stores. Howard Schultz expected to open the sentiment and secret of coffee in coffee bars, and he knew how vital the part of baristas in attaining

Starbucks was started by three former students of the university of San Francisco named Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker. Their plan was to sell high quality coffee beans and roasting equipment but did not expect the success that their company would achieve in the future.

In 1981, Howard Schultz, the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Starbucks, walked into a Starbucks store for the first time. Highly impressed of the great coffee and the company’s concept, he joined Starbucks a year later. In 1983 he traveled to Italy, where he became fascinated with the coffee culture in

The ambiances at each bar were different and the energy was electrifying. It was in this setting that he realized that creating an atmosphere and bonding with customers around a cup of coffee was monumental in improving his business. Coffee would be only the automobile for a place where people want to stay for a while, a place-like-home, and office. These variables will become the differentiating factor for Starbucks.