Starbucks Organizational Analysis

Cartography of Starbucks Corporation

Starbucks Corporation is an American coffee company and largest coffeehouse chain running more than 24 000 retail stores in 70 countries [1]. It belongs to a so-called “second wave coffee” sector, focusing on promoting itself as serving the best dark-roasted coffee possible and using the automated espresso machines as opposed to exotic lighter roasts and hand-crafted drinks of the companies representing “coffee’s third wave” [2]. Company is well-known for its social responsibility policies and organizational culture which both remain in core of their business and are facilitated as the main differentiating factor and also for its anti-competitive market strategies such as offering to pay leases exceeding market value, and driving out competitors by saturating market while clustering facilities generating loss [3].

Started as a small business of two teachers and a writer, who were selling roasted whole coffee beans, Starbucks has made its way to commercial success by operating under principle of delivering more than just a cup of coffee, offering the complete coffeehouse experience by creating unique cozy atmosphere and promoting community involvement and personalized experience in its every facility [4].

Typology of Starbucks Corporation

Most basically, the Starbucks Corporation is a business (commercial/for-profit) [5] organization established for making economic gains with a purpose of making profit and growing and prime beneficiaries being its owners and shareholders. It is self-financed, independent organization with no governmental participation.

Based on Size criterion, the Starbucks Corporation falls into and exceeds the “large business” type. With its 24, 000 facilities in 70 countries, $4.803billion net revenues and 254.000 of employees worldwide [6], we can say that this corporation falls into separate “large MNCs” category.

The form of property is Public Corporation with common stocks traded on NASDAQ market under the symbol of SBUX [6]. It has the legal status of a corporate body with independent legal personality [7].

According to three-sector theory, the Starbucks corporation operates in all three sectors of economy. In Primary sector, company owns several coffee beans plantations which supply raw material for coffee which are then processed and roasted by the means of corporation. Coffee beans are transformed into the drink, which means the Secondary sector participation for company, and then are served to clients in cozy coffee shops, employees of which are representing the Tertiary sector [6]. While utilizing another type of industry classification, such as NAICS, Starbucks Corporation by being composed of multiple establishments, is eligible to fall into following business sectors: Agriculture, Retail trade and Food Services [8].

Analysis of idealistic instruments

Mission

According to their official site, Starbucks Corporation states its mission as: “To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” [9]

Vision

The company does not have a separate vision statement, however, diving deeper into the site we may find some evidence of what company implies to be its vision. For instance, we can find the following statements among their webpages:

 On the subject of corporate responsibility: “So it is out vision that together we will elevate our partners, customers, suppliers and neighbors to create positive change. To be innovators, leaders and contributors to an inclusive society and a healthy environment so that Starbucks and everyone we touch can endure and thrive.” [5]

 Open letter from Starbucks CEO on people openly carrying weapons in their cafes: “From the beginning our vision…has been to create a “third place” between home and work where people can come together to enjoy the peace and pleasure of coffee and community.” [10]

 And finally, in the 2011’s letter about the strategic direction of company: “…elements that have been true about Starbucks since the very beginning: A unique retail experience that creates a Third Place for our customers between their homes and places of work; A carefully crafted offering of the finest, high-quality coffees from around the world; The emotional connection that our partners make daily with our customers.” [11]

By analyzing these materials, we may distinguish a pattern and try to guess the meaning company would have put into its vision. Author’s assumptions are that the Starbucks Corporation sees its purpose in leading the positive change in the society by becoming the “third place” – the gathering place, where people are brought together and formed into communities by the complete and rewarding coffeehouse experience.

Values

The company states to put its partners, coffee and customers at core. Its values are following:

 Creating a culture of warmth and belonging, where everyone is welcome.

 Acting with courage, challenging the status quo and finding new ways to grow our company and each other.

 Being present, connecting with transparency, dignity and respect.

 Delivering our very best in all we do, holding ourselves accountable for results.

 We are performance driven, through the lens of humanity. [9]

As we may see, Starbucks possesses a comprehensive and complex idealistic system which should be analyzed as whole.

Slogan

Starbucks does not state to have permanent slogan. However, a quick Google image search reveals that they do use one much more frequently in their advertisements than any others: “It’s not just coffee. It’s Starbucks” yet they don’t emphasize on it very much as it usually sits in lower corner of advertisement.

Analysis

First of all, the mission. Starbucks’ mission is not very precise, with the only clearly depicted feature being its focus on the customers. It does not directly state the focus groups telling about “inspiring and nurturing the human spirit one person … at a time” so we can assume that what company is trying to tell us is that regardless of whether you are a partner, consumer or its employee, the philosophy of creating warm and inspiring meaningful relationships remains unchanged. To back this assumption up we might