Trouble Brews at Starbucks

Starbucks celebrates 40 years with 17,000 stores in more than 50 countries (Goals & Progress, 2010). Starbucks thrive on their values as a company to improve the lives of people who grow their coffee, neighborhoods where the company does business, and they care for the environment (Goals & Progress, 2010). Starbucks strives to incorporate good business practices and ethics across the globe not only for the enhancement of the company but also for the enhancement of the stakeholders and the communities the company impacts. Starbuck’s mission statement is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit. As said by Howard Schultz, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, in the 2010

　　Starbuck offers high quality product to acquire and attract new customer around the world. The coffee beans they planted are able to provide customers with delicious coffee. Starbucks

Starbuck’s began their journey in the coffee market with the grand opening of a small cafe, back in 19711. The name for this company is quite unique and there is a clear back story behind this. The original owners were inspired by the story of Moby Dick and its thought to “evoke the romance of the high seas and the seafaring tradition of the early coffee traders.” Since the first Starbucks store, the company was famous for its community development and its active participation within society. Starbucks began to witness great change within their company once their management changed, in 1987 Harvard Shultz was appointed the Chief executive officer. Inspired by the traditional Italian design, Schultz adapted this design and integrated it within the lighting, layout and music choice played in the cafe’s. As a

It’s all about the coffee for Starbucks. Starbuck’s core competence is in its ability to effectively leverage its coffee product to entice customers to be repeat customers. There are several ways that they have achieved this successfully.

Like it was with McDonald’s when it first appeared in Sarajevo, there was initial appeal and hype about Starbucks’ appearance in Australia. However, after trying their products, many customers quickly realized that they this ‘unique experience’ that Starbucks promised them, is not much different than the one offered by other cafés, like Gloria Jean’s or Coffee Club. To make things worse, the quality of Starbucks coffee has declined over the years. Therefore, they were harshly criticized by the Australian community, and their coffee was described as ‘watered down product’, ‘gimmicky’ and consisting of ‘buckets of milk’.

Starbucks has made a success offering the consumers something different than nice store bought brands of coffee. Howard Schultz acquired Starbucks in 1987 he wanted to copy the idea of espresso bars that he saw on his visit to Milan. His idea was to provide the consumer a place where they could relax and socialize with coworkers or friends that he called the third place. (Ferrell & Hartline, 2013).

The extraordinary success Starbucks experienced during the early 1990s resulted from Howard Schultz’s passion and vision to create a coffee culture in the United States similar to the coffee culture he experienced while traveling to Italy. Schultz’s vision of the Starbucks brand evolved around providing a quality product while delivering exceptional customer service in an inviting atmosphere. Starbucks’ success can be attributable to the following factors:

This assignment is based on the Starbucks case study; Trouble Brews at Starbucks written by Lauranne Buchanan and Carolyn Simmons (2009). The aim of this paper will be to discuss the the changing consumer experience, competitive landscape and external circumstances affecting marketing opportunities for Starbucks, while determining how Howard Schultz can provide Starbuck’s customers a greater long-term value.

Two CEOs followed Schultz’s tenure and Jim Donald, the second one, put increasing the number of stores and store efficiencies as his strategy above customer service driving the business. “Complaints surfaced that Starbucks felt more like a fast-food restaurant than a coffeehouse.” (New York Times ~ Business Day, 2012) This pursuit, along with the Great Recession, created havoc in Starbucks finances, driving stock price “from a high of $40 (5/1/2006) to $8 (11/17/2008).” (Living Economics) At that point, the Board ousted Jim Donald and asked Schultz to come back as CEO and “lead a major restructuring and revitalization initiative.” (Thompson & Shah, 2010)

Similarly, companies such as Starbucks was affected by changes in leadership and competing with other companies that also saturated the market. Starbuck was a very successful company because they was able to provide a relaxed atmosphere that allowed people to converse with family and friends, have meeting, read, and use internet access all while drinking a cup of coffee. Starbucks customer flow was beginning to decline because the customer were growing tired of spending $4 for a cup of coffee when they can get similar coffee at the competitor i.e. McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, or Seattle’s Best. In 2008, Starbucks listened to the customer and began revitalizing and going back to the basics. They removed distracting items from countertops such as books, CDs, breakfast sandwiches and began to focus on the product itself which was coffee. In making these changes, Starbucks was able to slowly start growing again and was able to continue to make strive to internationalize.

Most know Starbucks, the ubiquitous retail chain that, in the 1990’s, turned coffee drinking into a national pastime. However few know Howard Schultz, the humble chairman, CEO and mastermind behind Starbucks’. Schultz is credited with bringing Italy’s “coffeehouse culture” to the United States and packaging it for mass consumption. This maverick marketer transformed a little-known four-chain store in the leading retailer of specialty coffee in North America.

“Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” (Starbucks, 2013). That is the mission statement of Starbucks. Whenever you think about who has the most premier cup of coffee or the most mouthwatering Frappuccino, you can’t help but visualize the green twin-tailed mermaid coffee icon. With more than 21,000 locations in 66 countries and revenue upwards of US $16.44 billion (Fortune 500, 2015), something or more importantly someone is the major key to this success. And that someone would be Howard Schultz the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Starbucks. Schultz sees the road to his company’s success just as steps to brew the perfect cup of coffee. This essay is about how Howard Schultz is a proven effective business leader. Shown directly with his motivation techniques, strategic decision making and planning and organizational restructuring.

Starbucks faces a difficult and controversial management challenge. The company’s most recent market research has revealed unexpected findings implicating that Starbuck is not always meeting customer’s expectations in the area of customer satisfaction. The purpose of this memo is to analyze and provide recommendation on whether or not the company should go forth with a $40 million investment in additional labor in the stores. This $40 million investment is necessary in order to bring service time down to a three-minute interval and ultimately increase customer satisfaction. A marketing strategy and corresponding recommendation will be provided for your approval.

In 1982, Starbucks coffee changed forever. While traveling in Milan, Italy, head of marketing Howard Schultz was intrigued by the coffee shop atmosphere – patrons sitting, relaxing and chatting over café latte. Wanting to

crucial strategy for Starbuck’s growth has been its international strategies of expanding into key developed and