Howard Schultz : The Legacy Of An Inspirational Leader

Howard Shultz possesses a very unusual amount of courage in his leadership style. When you think of what a leader really is at its most basic definition it is one who is followed by others. When Starbucks stepped into uncharted territory Shultz was able to connect with employees furthest away on the chain of command, the baristas. In order to gain followers in his vision for Starbucks he went to very risky

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:

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

It left a lifelong impression on Schultz (Gallo, Forbes).” From his father’s struggles, Schultz realized he wanted to work hard to pursue a career he loved and was passionate about. Since Schultz did not have endless opportunities due to his families financial struggles, he needed to strive to be the best he could be, hoping that one day he would be able to provide for his family in ways that his parents could not. Schultz’s childhood and young adulthood struggles before his success qualify him as a twice-born leader, which is characterized by Warren Bennis as someone who has re-invented him or herself and become a leader due to their hard work and success while overcoming many obstacles. Bennis highlights in his book that often times it is much harder for people to become leaders when they need to overcome struggles such as financial setbacks or rough upbringings. While Schultz attended Northern Michigan University pursuing a degree in Communications, he probably never envisioned that one day he would be leading such a successful and prominent business. As he strived to work his way out of Brooklyn, he probably never imagined the endless opportunities that would be presented to him once he joined the Starbucks Corporation in 1982 when it was a very small company with just four stores (Mullin, 1).

It is amazing to see the way Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks schedules his day. Starting off at 6 a.m., he believes in doing his emails himself and responds to almost 75% of the emails he receives daily. Schultz is known for carrying a black binder with him everywhere he goes, which he uses to write down what people tell him so he can use actual facts when it comes to giving reviews or solving issues. In one day, on average, Schultz leaves a 100 voicemail messages, writes 25 personal thank you notes and signs 500 birthday cards. He believes it is very important for him to connect to his employees and to make them feel connected and close to him. This attitude reduces communication barriers and thus eliminates a lot of problems. Schultz ideally likes to dedicate 20 to 25% of his time to his employees during which visiting stores is his favorite activity since according to him if you really want to know what's wrong with the business you should ask the frontline. Such visits also help him make and maintain a personal connection with all of the frontline employees and show them that the organization actually cares about what happens even at the smallest level. Schultz tries new coffee flavors and listens to his employees complain spending time with them like any normal employee striving to make Starbucks a better place11. The fact that Starbucks manages to keep such a huge organization connected like a small community helps make employees feel warm and loved as

Seeing a Starbucks sign reminds a person of the tantalizing flavors that are brewed from the store that sells millions of people their first cup of coffee every morning. Upon walking into the store, it is inviting and welcoming. The staff is friendly and helpful and the crowd is eager to enjoy that bittersweet java on the taste buds. When an order is made, the staff prepares each individual cup of coffee fresh, and exactly to the customer’s preference. Starbucks Corporation is the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world. Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz has built a booming empire, with 13,500

The company’s founder and CEO, Howard Schultz, has been successful in creating Starbucks into something that we didn’t really know we needed until we had it. He has meticulously crafted a brand for the company that adds a psychological value to its offerings. Thereby, when you buy a cup of coffee at Starbucks, you buy an experience. The somewhat quiet, not-so-rushed atmosphere along with dimmed ambience and friendly

For a short period, Howard left Starbucks to start up his own II Giornale coffeehouse. In 1987, he eventually returned to Starbucks with help from local investors to purchase Starbucks, he then became chief executive officer. Howard’s leadership skills led Starbucks to be the finest coffee in the world, providing coffee to consumers in 23,000 stores and 68 countries. Part of what makes Howard a good leader is that from the beginning; he set out to build a different kind of company, one that demonstrated respect and dignity. Through Starbucks, Howard created two programs that embraced the culture that he always wanted. The first program offers health coverage for eligible part-time and full-time employees, which is not something many retailers do. The second program known as the Bean Stock empowers partners (employees) to know that they can invest in a profitable business as well as share its success. These two programs are incentives for motivation as well as benefits for employees.

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul. Howard Schultz with Joanne Gordon. New York: Rodale, Inc., 2011. 331 pages.

Howard Schultz stated that he always wanted to do something to make a difference for the society therefore he started to do that. The values that I admire from Schultz was his belief in employee satisfaction driving them to create customer’s satisfied and pleasant about their coffee, having his employees satisfied by having communication and training in the workplace, making high quality beverages quickly and make it how the customer would like it to be e.g. with one sugar, skim milk or caramel sauce

Two shots of espresso, a dash of white chocolate flavored sauce, 16 oz. of steamed milk, a swirl of sweetened whipped cream, and one happy customer. Coffee has become the crutch that millions of Americans have held on to in order to get through their day. However, Starbucks has become the most successful brew in the business. On any given morning, it is guaranteed that a large line of groggy human beings will be impatiently waiting to get a hold of their precious grande white mocha described above. In fact, “more than 70 million people worldwide enter a Starbucks café every week”(Lorenzetti). But is it just the beverages that keep the customers coming back? The Starbucks coffee company has found a way to not only sell drinks, but also a lifestyle. They have created a brand power that even a non-coffee drinker is willing to see value in. A small shop in Pikes Place market has evolved into a global company. On one street corner in Washington, the green and white cup is sold on each side of the street. Although there are a variety of coffee shops to choose from, Starbucks separates itself from its competitors in a variety of ways due to its effective organization. The way they run their stores has guaranteed millions of loyal customers. Overall the organizational coordination and structure of the Starbucks Company has differentiated them from the other competitors, and has satisfied millions of customers throughout the process.

This paper looks at Starbucks history and evaluates its current financial situation. Their sense of community, responsibility and social awareness has made Starbucks the company that it is today. Starbucks has adopted a unique culture that is hard to duplicate by other organizations. As stated on their website, the company’s vision is to establish Starbucks as the most recognized and respected brand in the world. The ideals, along with the leadership of Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, has helped position the company where it is today, which in turn has positively affected the financials of the organization. This paper examines the financials and makes recommendations for new

Starbucks known success is due to its partners know as its employees and its customers. That is why the transformational leadership style is recognized at Starbucks because of their developed business processes and the power tactic used that ensure organizational culture of the company.

The organization that I have chosen to analyze in this paper is Starbucks. Starting as just a single coffeehouse in Seattle in 1971, Starbucks has now grown into a multinational corporation with over 23,000 stores worldwide. (Smith) With a vision that stemmed from Italian coffeehouse tradition, Starbucks set out to become more than just an average coffeehouse, they wanted to provide their customers with excellent coffee but also a personable connection. Their mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit-one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time” (Starbucks). At the top of their priority list is quality however Starbucks is also passionate about ethically sourcing only the finest of coffee beans, roasting them perfectly and the most important part being improving the lives of the people who grow the beans.

This case assignment discusses the history of Starbuck’s accomplishments as they entered the American coffee culture heritage. In 1983, The chairman and CEO Howard Schultz traveled to Italy and had a dream to carry the Italy coffeehouse ritual back to the United States. Schultz was focused on creating an environment meeting company that makes good coffee but also be a social experiment. Starbucks today opened more than 19,000 stores functioning in 62 countries. Starbucks has numerous rewards that globalization has offered and they have significantly benefited from it, while in the coffee industry. Starbucks has a wide-range in marketing strategies to benefit the customers. During the different obstacles that Starbucks has encountered, they must stay reliable in quality and uphold to adjust to different customer values.