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Swot Analysis Of Starbucks

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Introduction 2008 was the start of the Great Recession. Up until that point, many were enjoying the finer things in life as the economy grew at a fast pace, and many began to live beyond their means. What began with the burst of the housing bubble, this ubiquitous event affected all facets of the economy to include massive job losses which caused sharp cutbacks in consumer spending (Economic Policy Institute, n.d.). Consumers were forced to change their everyday way of life to include cutting out “luxury” items, such as Starbucks coffee. It is well known that coffee is a generally cheap commodity that is often served complementary. However, Starbucks made its millions on creating a brand, which is defined as an “entity that engenders …show more content…

Schultz’s vision and direction was “reigniting the emotional attachment with customers” (Husain, Khan, & Mirza, 2014). In order to do this, Schultz’s plan was to reconnect with the customer and its partners (Starbucks refers to its employees as its “partners”), allowing them to express their views and ideas through technology using social media. This plan fostered an environment of passion and involvement of the community. In order to embark on this initiative and attempt to return to its brand, Starbucks approached the initiative with a transformational and authentic leadership style, teamwork, and renewed organizational structure.
Leadership Style There are many leadership styles that can be employed to be effective in business. Examples of these include but are not limited to autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, path-goal theory, bureaucratic, transformational, transactional, charismatic, authentic, servant, etc., all of which have their own attributes and limitations (Mindtool Editorial Team, n.d.). In some cases a combination of leadership styles are combined for a desired outcome. In the case of Howard Schultz, a combination of transformational and authentic leadership was used (Coulson, 2016).
Transformational leaders inspire their team members because they expect the best from everyone, and they hold themselves accountable for their actions. They set clear goals, and they have good conflict-resolution skills. This leads to high productivity and

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