Brand Course for International Students
Once people are hired or brought into organizations, managers must oversee and coordinate their work so that organizational goals can be pursued and achieved. This is the leading function of management. And it's an important one! However, it also can be quite challenging! Managing people successfully means understanding their attitudes, behaviors, personalities, individual and team work efforts, motivation, conflicts, and so forth. That's not an easy thing to do. In fact, understanding how people behave and why they do the things they do is downright difficult at times. Starbucks has worked hard to create a workplace environment in which employees (partners) are encouraged to and want to put forth their best efforts. Howard Schultz says, “We all want the same thing as people—to be respected and valued as employees and appreciated as customers.’’
Starbucks--Focus on Individuals and Teamwork
Even with some 115,000 full and part-time partners around the world, one thing that’s been important to Howard Schultz from day one is the relationship he has with employees. He says, “We know that our people are the heart and soul of our success.” And one way that Starbucks demonstrates the concern it has for the relationship with its partners is through an attitude survey that’s administered approximately every 18 months. This survey “gives partners a voice in shaping their partner experience.” It also measures “overall satisfaction and more important, partner engagement—the degree to which partners are connected to the company.” It's been an effective way for Starbucks to show that it cares about what its employees think.
The most recent partner view survey was conducted in fiscal 2005 with partners in the United States and Canada and in the international regional support centers in Europe/Middle East/Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America, at Starbucks Coffee Trading Company in Switzerland, at Starbucks Coffee Agronomy Company in Costa Rica, and at the coffee roasting facility in Amsterdam. Well over half (64 percent) of partners responded to the survey—much higher than the number of respondents to the previous survey in 2003 in which the partner response rate was only 46 percent. Responses to questions about partner satisfaction and partner engagement were extremely positive: 87 percent of partners said they were satisfied or very satisfied, and 73 percent said they were engaged with the company. (The numbers in 2003 were 82 percent satisfied and 73 percent engaged.) In addition, partners specifically said they “Know what is expected of them at work; believe someone at work cares about them; and work for managers who promote work/life balance.” But partners identified some areas where they felt improvements were needed. These included “Celebrate successes more; provide more effective coaching and feedback; and improve communication with partners.” And Starbucks’ managers took specific actions to address these concerns.
Every organization needs employees who will be able to do their jobs efficiently and effectively. Starbucks states that it wants employees who are “adaptable, self-motivated, passionate, creative team players.” As you can see, this “ideal” Starbucks’ partner should have individual strengths and should be able to work as part of a team. In the retail store setting, especially, individuals must work together as a team to provide the experience that customers expect when they walk into a Starbucks. If that doesn’t happen, the company’s ability to pursue its mission and goals are 1ikely to be affected.
Starbucks--Motivating Employees
A story from Howard Schultz’s childhood provides some clues into what has shaped his philosophy about how to treat people. Schultz‘s father worked hard at various blue-collar jobs. However, when he didn’t work, he didn’t get paid. When his father broke his ankle when Howard was 7 years old, the family “had no income, no health insurance, no worker’s compensation, nothing to fall back on.” The image of his father “slumped on the couch with his leg in a cast unable to work or earn money left a lasting impression.” Many years later, when his father died of lung cancer,” he had no savings, no pension, and more important, he had never attained fulfillment and dignity from work he found meaningful.” The sad realities of the types of work environments his father endured had a powerful effect on Howard, and he vowed that if he were “ever in a position where I could make a difference, I wouldn’t leave people behind.” And those personal experiences have shaped the way that Starbucks cares for its partners—the relationships and commitments the company has with each and every employee.
One of the best reflections of how Starbucks treats its eligible part-and full-time partners is its Total Pay package, which includes competitive base pay, bonuses, a comprehensive health plan, paid time-off plans, stock options, a savings program, and partner perks (which includes a pound of coffee each week). Although specific benefits differ between regions and countries, all Starbucks international partners share the “Total Pay” philosophy. For instance, in Malaysia and Thailand, partners are provided extensive training opportunities to further their careers in addition to health insurance, paid vacation, sick leave, and other benefits. In Turkey, the “Total Pay” package for Starbucks’ partners includes transportation subsidies and access to a company doctor who provides free treatment.
Partner (employee) recognition is important to Starbucks. The company currently has 18 formal recognition programs in place that partners can use as tools to encourage, reward, and inspire one another. These programs range from formal company awards to informal special acknowledgments given by coworkers. One of the newest “tools”—developed in response to suggestions on the partner survey—is an on-the-spot recognition card that celebrates partner and team successes.
To assist partners who are facing particularly difficult circumstances (such as natural disaster, fire, illness), the company has a CUP (Caring Unites Partners) fund that provides financial support. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, more than 300 partners from the Gulf Coast region received more than $225,000 in assistance from the CUP fund. This is the type of caring and compassion that Howard Schultz vowed to provide after seeing his father not able to work and have an income because of a broken ankle. The company’s CEO, Jim Donald, supports and reinforces this philosophy. He says, “Spending money to put people first is smart money.”
In 2006, Starbucks was named one of Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For—the eighth time since l998 that Starbucks has received this recognition.
Starbucks--Fostering Leadership
Not surprisingly, Howard Schultz has some definite views about leading and leadership. He says, “Being a great leader means finding the balance between celebrating success and not embracing the status quo. Being a great leader also means identifying a path we need to go down and creating enough confidence in our people so they follow it and don’t veer off course because it's an easier route to go.” He also has this to say about leadership, “The art of leadership is making sure we don’t allow the scale and size of the company to change the methodology of how we conduct ourselves. We have to be careful not to let our values be compromised by an ambition to grow.”
Since 1982, Howard Schultz has led Starbucks in a way that has allowed the company to successfully grow and meet and exceed its goals and to do so ethically and responsibly. From the creation of the company’s Guiding Principles to the various innovative strategic initiatives, Schultz has never veered from his belief about what Starbucks, the company, could be and should be.
Unlike many companies, Starbucks and Howard Schultz have taken their leadership succession responsibilities seriously. In 2000 when Schultz was still CEO, he decided to move into the chairman’s position. His replacement, Orin Smith (president and chief operating officer of Starbucks Coffee U.S.), had been “groomed” to take over the CEO position. Smith made it at a top priority to plan his own succession. First, he established an exit date—in 2005 at age 62. Then he monitored the leadership skills development of his top executives. Two years into the job, Smith recognized that the internal candidates most likely to replace him would still be too “unseasoned” to assume the CEO position by his stated exit date. At that point, the decision was made to look externally for a promising successor. That’s when Jim Donald was hired from Pathmark, a regional grocery chain, where he was chairman, president, and CEO. For 3 years, Donald was immersed in Starbucks’ business as president of the largest division, the North American unit, before assuming the CEO position in 2005, as planned.
Starbucks also recognizes the importance of having individuals with excellent leadership skills throughout the company. In addition to the leadership development training for upper-level managers, Starbucks offers a program called Learning to Lead for hourly employees (baristas) to develop leadership skills. This training program also covers store operations and effective management practices. In addition, Starbucks offers to managers at all organizational levels additional training courses on coaching and providing feedback to help managers improve their people skills.
Discussion Questions
1. Do the overwhelmingly positive results from the partner survey surprise you? Why or why not? Do you think giving employees an opportunity to express their opinions in something like an attitude survey is beneficial? Why or why not?
2. How might the results of the partner survey affect the way a local store manager does his or her job? How about a district manager? How about the senior vice president of store development? Do you think there are differences in the impact of employee surveys on how managers at different organizational levels lead? Why or why not?
3. Look at the description of the types of people Starbucks seeks. What individual behavior issues might arise in managing these types of people? (Think in terms of attitudes, personality, etc.) What work team issues might arise? (Think in terms of what makes teams successful. Hint: Can a person be self-motivated and passionate and be a good team player?)
4. Discuss the “ideal” Starbucks employee in terms of the various personality trait theories.
5. Describe in your own words the workplace environment that Starbucks has tried to create. What impact might such an environment have on motivating employees?
6. Using the Job Characteristics Model in Exhibit 4-9, redesign a part-time hourly worker’s job to be more motivating. Do the same with a store manager’s job.
7. Does Starbucks “care” too much for its partners? Can a company ever treat its employees too well? Why or why not?
8. Howard Schultz says, “We all want the same thing as people—to be respected and valued as employees and appreciated as customers.” Does the company respect and value its partners (employees)? Explain. What do you think this implies for its employee relationships?
9. CEO Jim Donald says, “Spending money to put people first is smart money.” Do you agree or disagree? Why?
10. Describe Howard Schultz’s leadership style. Would his approach be appropriate in other types of organizations? Why or why not?
11. Do you agree that leadership succession planning is important? Why or why not?
12. What is Starbucks doing “right” with respect to the leading function? Are they doing anything “wrong?” Explain.
13. Which of the company’s Guiding Principles influence the leading function of management? Explain how the ones(s) you chose would affect how Starbucks’ managers deal with (a) individual behavior issues; (b) work team behavior issues; (c) motivational techniques; and (d) leadership styles or approaches.
Source: Stephen P. Robbins and Mary Coulter. Management (9th edition). Prentice Hall. 2007
星巴克——领导
员工进入组织后，管理者通过监督和协调他们的工作来达成组织目标，这是管理的领导职能，而且是非常重要的职能。然而，这非常具有挑战性！成功地管理员工意味着了解他们的态度、行为、性格、个人和团队工作努力程度、动机、冲突等。这不是一件容易的事。事实上，了解员工如何行动以及为什么采取某些行为有时很困难。星巴克一直努力创造一种使员工作出最大努力的工作环境。霍华德·舒尔茨说：“我们希望一视同仁：给予员工尊重和重视，给予顾客赞赏”。
星巴克——关注个人和团队
星巴克在全球大约有11.5万名全职和兼职的员工，但是从第一天开始，霍华德·舒尔茨认为重要的是与员工间的关系。他说：“我们清楚员工是我们成功的核心和关键。”星巴克关注与员工之间的关系，是通过一种大约每18个月进行的态度调查来体现的。该调查“让员工感觉在追溯他们的工作经历”。它还测量了“整体满意度，更重要的员工参与度——员工参与公司工作的程度”。这种有效的调查方式表明星巴克关注员工所想。
最近的一次员工态度调查是在2005年，调查对象包括这些地区的员工：美国，加拿大，设在欧洲/中东/非洲、亚太和拉丁美洲的国际区域支持中心，瑞士(Switzerland)的星巴克咖啡贸易公司，哥斯达黎加(Costa Rica)的星巴克咖啡农艺公司，阿姆斯特丹(Amsterdam)的咖啡烘焙厂。超过一半（64%）合伙人对调查作出答复——远远高于2003年的调查中员工的响应率46%。对于员工的满意度和参与度问题的回答很乐观：87%的员工表示他们满意或非常满意，73%的员工表示他们参与公司的事情。（2003年调查的结果是，82%表示满意，73%参与公司的事情）此外，员工明确表示他们“知道在工作中期望什么；相信在工作中有人关心他们；为促进工作/生活平衡的管理者工作”。但是，员工意识到有些方面还有待改进，包括更多地庆祝成功，提供更有效的指导和反馈，改善员工之间的沟通。星巴克的管理者采取了具体措施来解决以上问题。
每个组织都需要能高效地完成工作的员工。星巴克希望员工是“具有适应性，能自我激励，热情、富有创造力的团队成员”。可以看出，这种“理想的”星巴克员工要有个人优势，在工作中能作为团队中的成员。在零售商店场所，尤其当顾客走进星巴克，所有员工必须作为一个团队一起工作，向客户提供所期望的体验。如做不到，公司继续完成其使命和目标的能力可能受到影响。
星巴克——激励员工
童年生活是霍华德·舒尔茨的待人哲学的萌芽。舒尔茨的父亲在各种蓝领岗位上拼命工作。然而当他不工作时，就没有报酬。在舒尔茨7岁时，他父亲的脚踝摔伤了，家里“没有收入，没有医疗保险，没有工人的赔偿，无所依靠”，“在腿上敷上石膏倒在沙发上，不能工作挣钱”的父亲形象在 舒尔茨的脑海里留下了深刻的印象。许多年以后，他的父亲死于肺癌，没有积蓄，没有养老金，更重要的是，从来没有从有价值的工作中获得充实和尊严。父亲一直忍受着这种工作环境的残酷现实对舒尔茨有着很深的影响，他发誓，“如果我站在一个可以改变现实的位置，我不会撇下员工不管”。这些个人经历塑造了星巴克关心员工的方式——公司长期以来对每个员工的承诺与关怀。
星巴克对待称职的兼职、全职员工的一个最好回报是他们的总薪酬包，包括有竞争力的基本工资和奖金、全面的健康计划、带薪休假计划、股票期权、储蓄计划和员工福利（包括每周一磅咖啡）。虽然在不同的地区和国家具体的待遇不同，但是所有星巴克的国际员工都享有“总薪酬”的理念。例如，在马来西亚(Malaysia)和泰国(Thailand)，除了健康保险、带薪休假、病假和其他福利外，还为员工提供很多的培训机会以强化职业技能。在土耳其，星巴克员工的“总薪酬包”包括交通补贴、免费医疗。
星巴克非常注重对员工的认可。公司目前有18个正式的认可方案，员工可以用这些方案来互相鼓励、奖励和激励。这些方案范围很广，从正式的公司奖励到非正式的来自其他同事的特别致谢。一种最新的“工具”——根据员工调查提出的建议来开发的——一个当场授予的荣誉卡，用来奖励员工和团队的成功。
为了帮助面临特殊困难（如自然灾害、火灾、疾病）的员工，公司成立了CUP（关心联合员工）基金，给予这些员工经济上的支持。2005年的卡特里娜和丽塔飓风过后，来自海湾(Gulf)沿岸地区的300多名员工收到CUP基金发放的22.5万多美元的救助金。这种关怀和慈悲是霍华德·舒尔茨看到父亲脚踝受伤没有工作收入后发誓承诺的。公司的CEO——吉姆·唐纳德支持并强化了这一理念，他认为，“把钱首先花在员工身上是聪明的投资”。
2006年，星巴克入选财富杂志100强最佳雇主企业——从1998年以来连续8次获得该殊荣。
星巴克——培养领导能力
毫不奇怪，霍华德·舒尔茨对领导和领导能力有独特的见解。他认为，“成功的领导者意味着在推崇成功与维持现状之间找到平衡点，成功的领导者同样意味着能指明一条路径，我们能走下去并能使员工信心百倍地沿着这条路走，不会偏离路线，因为它是一条捷径。” 他谈及领导能力时认为，“领导的艺术在于确保：不会因公司的规模和大小而改变我们如何行动的方法。我们要谨慎，千万不要让我们的价值观受到雄心膨胀的影响”。
自1982年以来，在霍华德·舒尔茨的领导下，星巴克坚持道德感和责任感，成长迅速，达到并超过既定的目标。从公司的指导原则的建立到各种创新战略举措，舒尔茨从没偏离星巴克愿景和使命的信念。
与很多公司不同，星巴克和霍华德·舒尔茨采取严格的领导继承制度。2000年当舒尔茨还是CEO时，他决定担任董事长的职位。他的接任者欧林·史密斯(Orin Smith)（总裁和美国星巴克咖啡的首席营运官）曾获得“扶植”，接管CEO的位置。史密斯的首要任务是计划自己的上任工作。首先，他提出了自己退出该职位的时间——2005年，在他62岁的时候。然后，监控他的高层主管人员领导技能的发展。通过两年来的工作，史密斯认识到，在他退任之前，最有可能接替他职位的内部候选人仍太“缺乏经验”，不能承担CEO的职责。在这点上，他决定外聘继任者。这时候，吉姆·唐纳德被雇佣到星巴克，当时已经在帕斯马克（区域百货零售连锁店）担任董事长、总裁兼首席执行官3年了。在2005年接任CEO位置之前，唐纳德致力于星巴克最大的部门北美地区的业务。
星巴克还认识到整个公司中拥有优秀领导技能的员工的重要性。除了对高层管理者进行领导能力发展的培训，星巴克还为小时工人（咖啡师）提供一个名为“学会领导”的培训项目来培养领导技能。这个培训项目还包括存储操作和有效的管理实践。此外，星巴克还向管理者提供不同组织层次中关于指导与反馈的额外培训课程，以提高管理者的人际技能。
问题
1. 对员工调查结果中有很多乐观的回答你感到惊讶吗？为什么？你认为给员工机会来表达对类似态度调查方面的看法有用吗？为什么？
2. 员工调查的结果如何影响当地商店经理的工作方式？又如何影响地区经理和负责商店发展的高级副总裁的工作？你认为员工调查对不同层面的管理者如何进行领导有不同影响吗？请解释。
3. 阅读关于星巴克所要求的员工类型的描述。在管理这些类型的员工时，可能会出现什么样的个体行为（从员工的态度、个性等方面思考）？可能会出现什么工作团队问题？（从影响团队成功的因素方面考虑。提示：一个人能进行自我激励，充满热情，有良好的团队合作精神吗？）
4. 根据不同的人格特质理论讨论“理想的”星巴克员工。
5. 用你自己的话描述星巴克努力创造的工作环境。这种工作环境可能对激励员工产生什么影响？
6. 通过图4-9中的工作特征模型，重新设计一个更具激励性的兼职的以小时计酬的工人的工作。类似地，对商店经理的工作进行设计。
7. 星巴克对员工“关怀”太多吗？一个公司能否很好地善待员工？为什么？
8. 霍华德·舒尔茨说：“我们希望一视同仁：给予员工尊重和重视，给予顾客赞赏”。公司是否尊重和重视员工？请解释。你认为这意味着它的雇员关系吗?
9. CEO吉姆·唐纳德说：“把钱首先花在员工身上是聪明的投资”。你赞成还是反对这种说法?为什么?
10. 描述霍华德·舒尔茨(Howard Schultz)的领导风格。他的做法对于其他类型的组织适用吗?为什么?
11. 你是否同意领导继任计划是重要的？为什么？
12. 在领导职能上，星巴克的哪些事情做得“正确”？有做得“错误”的事情吗？请解释。
13. 公司的哪些指导原则影响管理的领导职能？请解释你选择的原则将如何影响星巴克的管理者处理：（a）个体的行为问题；（b）工作团队的行为问题；（c）激励手段；（d）领导风格或方式。