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Successful Application of

Organizational Behavior: Starbucks


Achieving Success the Starbucks Way

SeaZone, Yahoo! Contributor Network


Jan 12, 2009 "Contribute content like this. Start Here."

Organizational theory and behavior are a vital part of any organization and can be a
critical area that determines an organizations success in any industry. If and how these
concepts are uniquely applied, organizations maintaining effective communication,
Starbucks uses a model of communication used generally by smaller group networks,
all channel communication. All channel communication allows employees to
communicate actively with each other, making all members free to contribute
(Robbins, 2005). Surely, this channel of communication has contributed to the success
of the organization.

The organizational communication extends beyond just the employee and to the
customer as well. Starbucks does a great job in using technology, marketing tactics,
and their employees to communicate success, goals, and vision to the customer.
Examples of this can be seen on the Starbucks website. The website shares the
companies guiding principles, vision as a company, social responsibility, and mission
statements.

What this has done is allowed the organization to maintain a transparent image. This
has helped to still rumors about the organization as these rumors come about.
Starbucks has no problem rolling out a time table for important decisions to
employees and the public as important decisions that come about. The organization
will post on the corporate website and issue press releases that explain decisions and
behavior that could cause uncertainty. Starbucks does a great job of illustrating pros
and cons of future and current decisions. A good example of this can be seen in a
recent posting of the structural changes the organization made in order to maintain
stability and continue excellent customer service (Shultz, 2008). This posting, aimed
to head off uncertainty and quall the rumor-mill, explains to all partners of the
organization (employees) that necessary changes will be made in the organizational
structure including consolidation, reorganization, and a stated number of necessary
layoffs (Shultz, 2008). These styles of communication will continue to allow the
organization to have success in their industry.
Organizational Culture

The Starbucks Corporation presents a strong appeal for potential employees with a
strong organizational culture. This culture maintains values that reach every corner of
its organization; and reaches outside its walls to the communities as well. Reviewing
some of Starbucks' cultural characteristics reveals how successful and appealing this
cultural model can be.

Starbucks appeal
Many of the business concepts and the attributes of the Starbucks' organizational
culture are very appealing. First, Starbucks has become a well known global entity.
This has been achieved by a well recognized product that relies on its quality and
unique marketing strategies. Customers can always be expected to be confronted with
enthusiastic employees, happy to serve, and focused on the needs presented by their
customers. Employees are well trained and have a vast amount of knowledge about all
the products offered by their company. The effort that is placed on the quality of their
product can be seen by the average consumer. They strive to provide an excellent
product and, as proven by their tremendous success, few patrons leave the store with
any dissatisfaction. It is apparent that the values and mission statements projected by
the company are having great success in creating a strong cultural behavior.

Values

Many of the values held by the Starbucks Corporation business model are shared by
consumers and adapted by closely watching organizations. One value that stands out
for the company is in community support. According to Starbucks Corporation
(2008), they support many community organizations such as Conservation
International, The Earthwatch Institute, Save the Children, Mercy Corps, the African
Wildlife Foundation, and Planet Green. Values such as this have set standards and
send messages that profitable companies have a responsibility to the communities that
support their organization and to the needs impacting the environment and the world
surrounding them. As well, the Starbucks organization list in its guiding principles the
importance of embracing diversity, providing a positive work environment through
respect and dignity, and a commitment to satisfying all customers all the time
(Starbucks Corporation).

Embodiment of cultural characteristics

Starbucks continues to satisfy employment needs and provide excellent customer


service. In part, this success can be attributed to the cultural characteristic of
innovation and risk taking. At Starbucks, employees are empowered and encouraged
to think outside the box. Hawks, Kembell, Kembell, Olsen, and Perry (2002), tell us
that Starbucks encourages and rewards employees for innovative ideas and
encourages employees to sway from drink standards to meet the specific request of
the consumer.

This leads to the characteristic of attention to detail. Because the company promotes
the enthusiastic development and satisfaction of its customers, employees are
expected to remain focused on the needs of the customer. In this business, this may
mean the development and use of special listening skills and multitasking abilities.
Employees, focused on the ever-changing ingredient orders that very from customer
to customer, show how valuable this characteristic is to the corporation.
The Starbucks Corporation also exhibits the cultural characteristics of people
orientation and team orientation. The company shows employees how important they
are to their organization through the decisions they make that impact different
members. Some of this can be displayed through the offering of health benefits to
part-time employees (Hawks et al., 2002).

Cultural strength

Starbucks maintains a very strong spiritual culture. Marques (2008), states that
"Starbucks' performance toward suppliers, communities, employees and customers
gives rise to the awareness that Starbucks is one of those corporations that does not
explicitly use the term spirituality at work for their actions, nonetheless live it to the
fullest." Starbucks shows this spiritual culture in their promotion of fair trade,
environmental contributions, workplace diversity, and its self acclaimed statement of
employee enlightened self-interest. The bonds that Starbucks' forms with its partners,
employees, and community are evident when one simply opens the front door of the
establishment.

Starbucks maintains a strong appeal for a great place to work by asserting its strengths
in its acquired cultural characteristics, values, and spiritual culture. Many other
organizations are adapting these structural concepts after seeing the success of this
organization. Starbucks can maintain this strong organizational culture with
continuing dedication to its employees and customers. Starbucks has achieved success
in corporate culture and has set the bar high. For many organizations this should be a
walk-up call to catch up.

Decision Making

Perception is a process that all people take part in as we move through the course of
events in our daily lives. When we meet people, make business decisions, evaluate
performances, or pass judgments, our perception surrounding such events help
persuade our next course of direction (Goldstein, 2006). In a sense, perception,
accurate or flawed, is our reality. Causes that shape or distort our perceptions have a
tremendous effect on the impact of an organization's behavior. Individuals, by nature,
develop perceptive shortcuts when passing judgment and inflect both positive and
negative effects. Starbucks has realized this importance in the decision making
process of its organization and has been successful in modeling guidelines to direct
employee behavior and shape corporate perception to aid in its success.
Because Starbucks understands that decisions can be based on perceptions of
individuals, influenced by upbringing, beliefs, or current state of mind; models are
developed to guide individuals through the process. The creation of these models
creates a standard that is followed to deliver a satisfactory result. These models
Identify a need, create a process to determine what qualifications will satisfy the need,
Identify matches to the need, then a decision is made on what match best suites the
need. These models are not a perfect solution to the decision making process. Errors
and bias still creep in to this process through the use of intuition, gut feelings,
experience, and impulse (Robbins, 2005).

In addition, these models try to shape moral and ethical decisions, these models of
ethical and moral perceptions focus on rights of the individual and social justice.
Standing on the platform of transparency, Starbucks post these models of decision
making behavior based on what they call the "Ethical Decision Making Framework"
on their website (Starbucks Corporation, 2008). Starbucks list 6 points to this
framework to guide and model decision making behavior:

1) Identify the ethical problem.

2) List possible solutions (what could you do?) and any obstacles to resolving the
problem.

3) Seek input from others, if appropriate.

4) Determine the best approach (what should you do?).

Is it consistent with our Guiding Principles, the Standards of Business Conduct and
any applicable law or regulation?

Would your approach embarrass you or Starbucks?

How would your approach look published in the newspaper?

Would you be comfortable with the example it sets for future decisions?

5) If the path isn't clear, ask for guidance.

6) Follow through on your decision.

In addition to providing these framework guidelines Starbucks makes these statements


very clear to each employee:
You are empowered — You can deliver great customer experiences, knowing that
Starbucks supports you in doing the right thing and conducting business with
integrity.

You have responsibility — You play a critical role in ensuring that Starbucks is a
great work environment and in protecting our culture, our reputation and our brand.

You have help — If you are unsure what to do in a situation; you have resources
available to you, including the Standards of Business Conduct and the Business
Conduct Helpline.

You have a voice — When you believe something isn't right, you can speak up and
share your concerns knowing that Starbucks wants to hear them and does not tolerate
retaliation against partners. (Starbucks Corporation, 2008)
The corporation uses developed guiding principles and mission statements to guide in
the decision making process and these also appear publicly on their website. These
models play a vital role in the decision making process. Starbucks has been very
successful in its ability to circumvent perceptive errors through the use of relational
models. However, even with the use of relational models, errors and bias can still play
a role in the decision making process, but the organization has adapted a level of
accountability through this process to minimize the impact of errors and bias.

Communication, culture, and decision making, represent only a small part of the
concepts that makeup organizational theory and behavior. A corporation that applies
the concepts of organizational theory and behavior can determine the success of any
organization. As we can see, Starbucks has concentrated on the successful application
of these three areas of organizational behavior. With this successful application,
Starbucks proudly promotes and shares the models that make them successful to
anyone who cares to investigate. As a result, Starbucks continues to be a successful
corporation.

References:

Business Reference. (2007). Matrix Management and Structure. Retrieved October


24, 2008, from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Man-Mix/Matrix-
Management-and-Structure.html

George, J., & Jones, G. (2005). Understanding and Managing Organizational


Behavior (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Goldstien, E. B. (2006). Sensation and Perception (7th ed.). New York: Wadsworth.

Hawks, M., Kembell, B., Kembell, S., Olsen, L., & Perry, L. (2002). Catching the
Starbucks Fever. Retrieved October 17, 2008, from
http://www.academicmind.com/unpublishedpapers/business/marketing/2002-04-
000aag-catching-the-starbucks-fever.html

Marques, J. F. (2008). Spiritual performance from an organizational perspective: the


Starbucks way. In Corporate Governance (Vol. 8, pp. 248-257). : Emerald Group
Publishing Limited. ProQuest Database.

Robbins, S. P. (2005). Organizational Behavior (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Education.

Shultz, H. (2008). Starbucks Makes Organizational Changes to Enhance Customer


Experience. Retrieved October 22, 2008, from
http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/pressdesc.asp?id=831

Starbucks Corporation. (2008). Corporate Social Responsibility. Retrieved October


15, 2008, from http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/csr.asp

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