Starbucks and Howard Schultz

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” John C. Maxwell

A well-rounded, personable figure, who strives for and achieves excellence in their multi-faceted life - these characteristics form a strong - and potentially “great” - leader. Honestly, I can easily see these attributes in my everyday life. From music to academics, the arts to athletics, I can say I have achieved an above average status in all. In doing so, my social skills and overall rapport with my peers has expanded beyond the usual lengths; I feel that I have found friends or at least acquaintances across all sorts of social groups. These connections and relationships significantly contribute to being a successful leader, and are the primary reason I find myself suited for this

The first opportunity is that over 50% of eighteen year olds and older drink 3 or more cups of coffee per day in the United States. This group of coffee drinkers consists predominately of college students and career professionals who adding the morning cup of joe to their study time or work schedule. Currently in the coffee industry, competition is minimal for Starbucks, which has allowed Starbucks to capitalize on one of the biggest industries in the world behind crude oil. This

Douglas MacArthur once said, a true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. My Vice President (VP) Ed Odum at Bank of America comes to mind regarding Bank of America’s great leaders for the bank. Some people are born great leaders in conjunction with not needing a degree under their belt, but will receive a degree knowing the requirements to move up in the glass ceiling in business.

Starbucks has an advantage over its competitors because of their strong, distinctive competencies. According to the article on NASDAQ "Starbucks targets a more affluent demographic of coffee drinkers that typically exhibit strong brand loyalty (Trifis Team, 2014)." This distinctive competency derives from the company 's philosophy to have a "commitment to the highest quality coffee in the world, to the way we engage with our customers and communities to do business responsibly (Starbucks, 2016)." The organization is committed to an excellent training program that reinforces staff competencies and engagement to the company culture. Starbucks CEO Howards Schultz, states in his book, Onward, "[Employees] are the true

Warren Bennis’ novel, On Becoming a Leader, is the book I was able to read. Bennis worked years on this novel constructing it off of one of his former creations. Finally, in Cambridge, Ma Bennis published his story by Perseus publishing. Throughout this book he centers around the search to understand exactly how leaders are made. Bennis uses a unique approach to portraying his opinion. This is not an ordinary “how to” book on becoming a leader. Nor is it an autobiography of one’s personal experience. Bennis was a teacher and student all his life, he has never run a country or even a company. Bennis is not directly reciting his own experiences as a leader. This paper outlines Bennis’ basic thoughts, theories, and his contributions to the field of leadership.

Howard Schultz is the man who grew up in a New York City Housing projects to eventually own Starbucks and gain a personal worth of $2.3 billion. The operating profit of Starbucks was US$3,081.1 million in FY2014, compared to an operating loss of US$325.4 million in FY2013. (Publication, 2015)

First of all, Howard Schultz had a clear vision about his company. It is important for a great leader to have a clear vision about what to achieve. The emphasis on importance of employees is the outstanding point in his vision. This is why Starbucks has been investing in their

Most Americans know Starbucks, the ever-present retail chain that steadily turned coffee drinking into a prominent activity. Nevertheless few know Howard Schultz, the humble CEO and genius behind Starbucks’. Schultz is credited with envisioning Italy’s “coffeehouse culture” in the United States and packaging it for mass consumption. This eccentric marketer converted a four-chain store operation in the foremost retailer of gourmet coffee in North America.

In 2007, Apple and Starbucks became partners in the venture of iTunes store. Over time, another entity entered the equation, AT&T. What does this mean to the customer, the dependability of each to provide superior services to their respective products and services? As it is seen within the IT infrastructure, each entity needs to present certain services to keep up the maintenance of the services on each level, to a point to where one, in an ideal world, for logistical reasons, communicate with each other in case of failure.

It is pretty safe to say that Schultz exhibits numerous leadership traits and skills that Gary Yukl believes are associated with effective leaders. Schultz has been adaptable throughout the years that he has been with Starbucks, you can see this in the way he has changed Starbucks’ food items to create better quality items, his ability to keep up with technology with the Starbucks application for smart phone users, and his expansion with taking Starbucks locations globally. Schultz also has self-confidence which helped him come from the housing projects in Brooklyn, graduate from college and gain the courage to start his own espresso bar in the U.S. which has been a great success. He has been very persistent during the recession, still able to generate revenue during a time when people had very little money to spend. He also had to adapt to the hard times of the recession by closing some Starbucks locations and cut costs. With his self-confidence also came a great deal of intelligence, he not only has a college degree as previously mentioned, but he also has an understanding of people and how to manage a successful business. He possesses the social skills which have assisted him in being able to open locations in other countries and be as successful there as the locations in the U.S. have been (Plunkett, Allen, & Attner, 2013, p. 441). All of these traits and leadership skills are essential for excellent and effective leaders.

J. Thomas Wren (1995) put together a book to help leaders define leadership for themselves. The Leader’s

“Americans run on Dunkin”, this is a phrase that almost everyone knows or has heard in their lifetime. Over 500 billion cups of coffee are consumed annually worldwide [1]. There are on average 70 countries that grow the coffee plant for coffee production, and coffee trade is exceeding 10 billion dollars worldwide [1]. While water is the most consumed drink globally, coffee is the actually the next most consumed beverage [1]. I really did not have much background information prior on coffee, just that I need three cups a day to even function. This is because coffee is the richest source of caffeine for Americans, accounting for 71% of caffeine intake [2]. Eight ounces

The company has also developed a structure and control system. With the realization that human capital holds a vital role in the development and sustainability of any institution, that of Starbucks included, it has taken to task to protect the same. To develop this, the company has an elaborate system that ensures the production levels of the company are met with pride. This like other leaders in the same has entailed ensuring they have an empowering corporate culture, topped by ensuring their employees enjoy competitive benefits.

For decade’s individuals, companies, and organizations have spent an unprecedented amount of money on researching, molding, modeling and working to define what a leader is and what characteristics make successful leaders. Despite all the research, there is not a quick answer or even full agreement as to what makes an individual an effective leader. The definition of a leader is “someone who can influence others and who has managerial authority.” (Robbins, Decenzo, Coulter, 2015. P.370)