Brand Course for International Students
Organizing is an important task of managers. Once the organization’s goals and plans are in place, the organizing function sets in motion the process of seeing that those goals and plans are pursued. When managers organize, they’re defining what work needs to get done and creating a structure that enables work activities to be completed efficiently and effectively by organizational members hired to do that work. As Starbucks continues its global expansion and pursues innovative strategic initiatives, managers must deal with the realities of continually organizing and reorganizing its work efforts.
Structuring Starbucks
Like many start-up businesses, Starbucks’ original founders organized their company around a simple structure based on each person’s unique strengths: Zev Siegl became the retail expert; Jerry Baldwin took over the administrative functions; and Gordon Bowker was the dreamer who called himself “the magic, mystery, and romance man” and recognized from the start that a visit to Starbucks could “evoke a brief escape to a distant world.” As Starbucks grew to the point where Jerry recognized that he needed to hire professional and experienced managers, Howard Schultz (now Starbucks’ chairman) joined the company, bringing his skills in sales, marketing, and merchandising. When the original owners eventually sold the company to Schultz, he was able to take the company on the path to becoming what it is today and what it hopes to be in the future.
As Starbucks has expanded, its organizational structure has changed to accommodate that growth. However, the company prides itself on its “lean” corporate structure. Howard Schultz is chairman and chief global strategist and Jim Donald is president and CEO. Schultz has focused on hiring a team of executives from companies like Wal-Mart, Dell and PepsiCo. He says, “I wanted to bring in people who had experience working at $10 billion companies.” These senior corporate officers include the following: president of Starbucks Coffee U.S. and president of Starbucks Coffee International, 4 executive vice presidents and 29 senior vice presidents. These positions range from senior vice president of finance, to senior vice president of coffee and global procurement, to senior vice president of corporate social responsibility. (A complete list of upper-level managers can be found in the company’s annual report on its Web site.)
Although the executive team provides the all-important strategic direction, the “real” work of Starbucks gets done at the company’s support center, zone offices, retail stores, and roasting plants. The support center provides support to and assists all other aspects of corporate operations in the areas of accounting, finance, information technology, and sales and supply chain management.
The zone offices oversee the regional operations of the retail stores and provide support in human resource management, facilities management, account management, financial management, and sales management. The essential link between the zone offices and each retail store is the district manager, each of whom oversees 8 to 10 stores apiece, which is down from the dozen or so stores they used to oversee. Since district managers need to be out working with the stores, most use mobile technology that allows them to spend more time in the stores and still remain connected to their own office. A company executive says, “These are the most important people in the company. And while their primary job is outside the office and in those stores, they still need to be connected.”
In the retail stores, hourly employees (baristas) service customers under the direction of assistant store managers and store managers. These managers are responsible for the day-to-day operations of each Starbucks location. One of the organizational challenges for many store managers has been the company’s decision to add more drive-through windows to retail stores, which appears to be a smart strategic move since the average annual volume at a store with a drive-through window is about 30 percent higher than a store without one. However, a drive-through window often takes up to 4 people to operate: one to take orders, one to operate the cash register, one to work the espresso machine, and a “floater” who can fill in where needed. And these people have to work rapidly and carefully to get the cars in and out in a timely manner, since the drive-through lane can get congested quickly.
Finally, without coffee to sell，there would be no Starbucks. The coffee beans are processed at the company’s domestic roasting plants in Washington, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and internationally in Amsterdam. At each roasting plant, the production team produces the coffee and the distribution team manages the inventory and distribution of products and equipment to company stores. Because product quality is so essential to Starbucks’ success, each person in the roasting plants must be focused on maintaining quality control at every step in the process.
Communication at Starbucks
Keeping organizational communication flowing in all directions is important to Starbucks. And that commitment starts at the top. Howard Schultz tries to visit at least 30 to 40 stores a week Not only does this give him an upfront view of what’s happening out in the field, it gives partners a chance to talk with the top guy in the company. The CEO also likes to “get out in the field” by visiting the stores and roasting facilities. Despite these efforts by the top executives, results from the most current employee survey indicated communication needed improvement. Managers listened and made some changes.
An initial endeavor was the creation of Starbucks Broadcast News, an internal video newsletter that conveys information to partners about company news and announcements. Another change was the implementation of an internal communication audit that asks randomly selected partners for feedback on how to make company communication more effective. In addition, partners can voice concerns about actions or decisions where they “believe the company is not operating in a manner consistent with Starbuck’s Guiding Principles” to the Mission Review team, a group formed in 1991 and consisting of company managers and partners. In 2005, more than 4,200 contacts were made with this team in North America. The concept has worked so well that many of Starbucks’ international units have provided similar communication forums to their partners.
People Management at Starbucks
“Our ability to accomplish what we set out to do is based primarily on the people we hire. We recognize that the right people, offering their ideas and expertise, will enable us to continue our success” (www. starbucks.com).
Since the beginning, Starbucks has strived to be an employer that nurtured employees and gave them opportunities to grow and be challenged. The company says it is “pro-partner” and has always been committed to providing a flexible and progressive work environment and treating one another with respect and dignity.
As Starbucks continues its expansion both in the United States and internationally, it needs to make sure it has the right number of the right people in the right place at the right time. What kinds of people are ’’right’’ for Starbucks? They state they want “people who are adaptable, self-motivated, passionate, creative team players.” Starbucks uses a variety of methods to attract potential partners. The company has an interactive and easy-to-use online career center. Job seekers—who must be at least 16 years old—can search and apply online for jobs in the home office (Seattle) support center and in the zone offices, roasting plants, store management, and store hourly (barista) positions in any geographic location. Starbucks also has recruiting events in various locations in the United States throughout the year, which allow job seekers to talk to recruiters and partners face-to-face about working at Starbucks. In addition, job seekers for part-time and full-time hourly positions can also submit an application at any Starbucks store location. The company also has a limited number of internship opportunities for students during the summer.
Starbucks’ workplace policies provide for equal employment opportunities and strictly prohibit discrimination. Diversity and inclusion are very important to Starbucks as the following statistics from its U.S. workforce illustrate: 65 percent of its total workforce and 34 percent of company executives are women; and 30 percent of its total workforce and 14 percent of company executives are people of color. That commitment to diversity starts at the top. During 2005, CEO Jim Donald and 12 senior executives participated in a 360-degree diversity assessment to identify their strengths and needed areas of improvement. Also during 2005, an executive diversity learning series was developed for individuals at the vice-president level and above to build their diversity competencies. In 2006, a full-day diversity immersion exercise was launched. Although diversity training is important to Starbucks, it isn’t the only training provided.
The company continually invests in training programs and career development initiatives: baristas, who get a “green apron book” that exhorts them to be genuine and considerate, receive 23 hours of initial training; an additional 29 hours of training as shift supervisor; 112 hours as assistant store manager; and 320 hours as store manager. District manager trainees receive 200 hours of training. And every partner takes a class on coffee education, which focuses on Starbucks’ passion for coffee and understanding the core product. In addition, the Starbucks corporate support center offers a variety of classes ranging from basic computer skills to conflict resolution to management training. Starbucks’ partners aren’t “stuck” in their jobs. The company’s rapid growth creates tremendous opportunities for promotion and advancement for all store partners. If they desire, they can utilize career counseling, executive coaching, job rotation, mentoring, and leadership development to help them create a career path that meets their needs. In 2006, Starbucks was named one of Training magazine’s Top 100. One example of the company’s training efforts: when oxygen levels in coffee bags were too high in one of the company’s roasting plants (which affected product freshness), partners were retrained on procedures and given additional coaching. After the training, the number of bags of coffee placed on “quality hold” declined by 99 percent.
One human resource issue that has haunted Starbucks is its position on labor unions. The company states on its Web site, “We firmly believe that the direct employment relationship which we currently have with our partners is the best way to help ensure a great work environment. We believe we do not need a third party to act on behalf of our partners. We prefer to deal directly with them in a fair and respectful manner, just as we have throughout our history.” Starbucks prides itself on how it treats its employees. However, the company “settled a complaint issued by the National Labor Relations Board that contained more than two dozen unfair labor practice allegations brought against the company by the union, Industrial Workers of the World. The settlement stemmed from disputes at three stores in New York City and will likely have little impact on the vast majority of Starbucks workers.”
Change and Innovation at Starbucks
Starbucks has always thought “outside the box.” It took the concept of the corner coffee shop and totally revamped the coffee experience. The company has always had the ability to roll out new products relatively quickly. If a new product seems like it would appeal to customers—the popular pumpkin spice latte is one example—they often skip product testing and don’t use focus groups to assess the product. Innovation is so important, in fact, that the category management group is responsible for changing the items on the shelves every six weeks. And Starbucks relies heavily on its partners to be the driving force behind innovations. As we said earlier, Starbucks is firmly committed to its belief that “we recognize that the right people, offering their ideas and expertise, will enable us to continue our success.”
Discussion Questions
1. What types of departmentalization are being used? Explain your choices. (Hint: In addition to information in the case, you might want to look at the list of corporate executives on the company’s Web site.)
2. Do you think it’s a good idea to have a president for the U.S. division and for the international division? What are the advantages of such an arrangement? Disadvantages?
3. What examples of the six organizational structural elements do you see discussed in the case? Describe.
4. Considering the expense associated with having more managers, what are some reasons why you think Starbucks decided to decrease the number of stores each district manager was responsible for, thus increasing the number of managers’ needed? Other than the expense, can you think of any disadvantages to this decision?
5. Give some examples of the types of communication taking place at Starbucks.
6. Suppose that you’re a Starbucks store manager in Birmingham, Alabama. How do you find out what’s going on in the company? How might you communicate concerns or issues that you have?
7. Starbucks has said its long-term goal is to have 15,000 U.S. stores globally. In addition, the company has set a financial goal of attaining total net revenue growth of 20 percent and earnings per share growth between 20 to 25 percent. How will the organizing function contribute to the accomplishment of these goals?
8. Starbucks has said that it wants people who are “adaptable, self-motivated, passionate, and creative team players.” How does the company ensure that its hiring and selection process identifies those kinds of people?
9. Select one of the job openings posted on the company’s Web site. Do you think the job description and job specification for this job are adequate? Why or why not? What changes might you suggest?
10. Evaluate Starbucks’ training efforts. What types of training are available?
11. Pretend that you’re a local Starbucks store manager. You have three new hourly partners (baristas) joining your team. Describe the orientation you would provide these new hires.
12. Would you classify Starbucks’ environment as more calm waters or white-water rapids? Explain. How does the company manage change in this type of environment?
13. Using Three sets of variables that have been found to stimulate innovation: the organization’s structure, human resource practices, and culture, describe Starbucks’ innovation environment.
14. Which of the company’s Guiding Principles affect the organizing function of management? Explain how the one(s) you chose would affect how Starbucks’ managers deal with (a) structural issues; (b) communication issues; (c) HRM issues; and (d) change and innovation issues. (Hint: The Guiding Principles can be found on the company’s Web site or in the continuing case found at the end of Part 2.)
Source: Stephen P. Robbins and Mary Coulter. Management (9th edition). Prentice Hall. 2007
星巴克——组织
组织活动是管理者一项重要的任务。一旦组织的目标和计划确定下来，组织功能就体现在实现这些目标和计划的过程中。当管理者从事组织职能时，他们得先确定哪些工作需要完成，并且创建一个组织结构使得从事这项工作的组织成员能够有效率、有效果地完成任务。星巴克一直以来致力于全球的扩展，并且追求解决问题的创新战略方案，因此管理者必须直面持续组织并重新组织其工作的现实问题。
星巴克的组织结构
和许多刚创办的企业一样，星巴克创始人用一个简单的组织结构将具有不同独特优势的员工聚集到一起，例如杰夫·西格(Zev Siegl)成为了零售专家，杰里·宝威(Jerry Baldwin)则从事行政管理工作，而笑称自己为“神奇、神秘并浪漫”的戈登·鲍克(Gordon Bowker)则是一个梦想家，并从一开始就认识到来到星巴克的顾客需能够拥有“唤起人们到遥远的世界的片刻解脱”的体验。当星巴克的成长使得杰里认识到需要雇佣专业并有经验的管理者时，现为公司董事长的霍华德·舒尔茨加入了星巴克，他为星巴克带来了销售、营销和制造领域的技能。因此当创始人最终将星巴克出售给他时，他才能够将星巴克变得像今天那样成功，并在将来成为他所期望的那样。
随着星巴克的不断扩张，它的组织结构也不断变化以适应其扩张。然而星巴克一直以它精益的组织结构为骄傲。如今霍华德·舒尔茨是该公司的董事长和全球的首席战略家，而吉姆·唐纳德是公司的总裁和首席执行官。舒尔茨一直致力于从像沃尔玛、戴尔和百事这样的公司中雇佣它的高层管理团队。他说：“我想引进这样的人才，他们拥有在市值超过100亿美元公司工作的经验”。该公司高层职位包括美国星巴克总裁和国际星巴克总裁、4位执行副总裁和29位高级副总裁。这些职位范围涵盖了从高级财务副总裁到高级咖啡店副总裁，从全球采购专员到企业社会责任高级副总裁（在星巴克网站的公司年报中你可以找到完整的高层管理人员列表）。
尽管高层管理团队指明了公司发展的重要战略方向，但是所有星巴克的实际工作需要在星巴克服务中心、区域办公室、零售商店和烘焙工厂里完成。星巴克服务中心为公司各项业务提供会计、财务、信息技术、销售和供应链管理等支持和帮助。
区域办公室负责指导区域零售商店的业务并在人力资源管理、设备管理、会计、财务管理和销售管理方面为其提供服务支持。而区域办公室和各个零售商店的关键连接点是区域经理，他们每人负责指导8~10个星巴克商店，一般负责指导的商店不会超过12个。由于区域经理需要经常外出到零售店工作，因此大部分人都会使用移动技术以延长他们在商店的工作时间，同时时刻与区域办公室保持联系。某公司主管说：区域经理是公司最重要的人，尽管他们的主要工作需要在办公室之外的零售商店里完成，他们仍然需要时刻与区域总部保持联系。
在零售商店里，招待员在助理商店经理和商店经理的指导下为顾客提供服务。这两位经理负责星巴克零售店的日常事务。然而现在很多商店经理都面临着新的挑战，因为星巴克公司决定开设方便驾驶员购买的窗口式分店。这似乎是一个机智的战略，因为这一形式的分店年平均客流量要比普通的分店高30%。然而，窗口式分店需要4个员工协同操作：一个人负责点餐、一个人收取现金、一个人煮咖啡、剩下的一个人在任何需要的时候提供帮助。这4个人必须迅速、仔细地工作，他们需要及时地引导车辆进出，否则汽车通道会很快堵塞。
显而易见：没有咖啡就没有星巴克。星巴克的咖啡豆由位于国内的华盛顿(Washington)、 宾夕法尼亚州(Pennsylvania)、内华达州(Nevada)和国外的阿姆斯特丹(Amsterdam)烘焙工厂进行加工。每个烘焙工厂中，生产团队负责制造咖啡，而分销团队则负责管理库存以及将产品及设备分销到各个店面。由于产品的质量是星巴克成功的关键，因此每位烘焙工厂的员工必须在生产过程中聚焦于持续质量控制。
星巴克的沟通
保持所有沟通渠道的畅通对星巴克非常重要，这一承诺开始于高层主管。霍华德·舒尔茨每周寻访至少30~40个星巴克店面，这不仅使他时刻知道这个领域发生的事情，同时也使得星巴克的合作者有机会同这样一位公司的高层主管交流。他也喜欢通过寻访店面和了解烘焙设施亲身体验该领域。尽管高层管理者们作出了这些努力，但是最近的员工调查显示沟通方式需要进一步改善，管理者们倾听到了这样的声音并作出了改变。
首先，星巴克创办了星巴克广播新闻和电视时事通讯，向合作伙伴传播公司内部的消息和公告；另一变革是星巴克执行了内部沟通审计政策，即随机选择合作伙伴，让他们对如何提高公司沟通效率进行反馈；除此之外，当合作伙伴们认为公司的行为和决策没有与星巴克的指导方针一致的时候，他们可以随时向使命评估团队发表自己的看法，表达自己的担忧。该使命评估团队成立于1991年，由公司管理者和合作伙伴组成，2005年，北美市场与此团队接触的次数超过了4200次。这一理念的成功执行，使得星巴克国际业务单元也纷纷效仿。
星巴克的人事管理
“我们能够完成所计划的任务全有赖于我们所雇佣的员工，我们认识到，合适的员工向我们提供意见和技能将使我们能够保持成功”。
从公司创立开始，星巴克就致力于培育员工，给他们提供成长和接受挑战的机会。公司称之为“预伙伴”，并且公司始终致力于给员工提供宽松和有利于进步的工作环境，给予员工尊重和尊严。
由于星巴克在美国和全球市场上持续扩张，它必须确保在合适的时间及合适的位置上有合乎数量的合适的人。那么，对于星巴克，哪一类人是合适的呢？星巴克说，他们想要“具有适应性、能自我激励、热情、富有创造力的团队成员”。因此星巴克采取了一系列方式来吸引潜在的合作伙伴。公司已有一个交互的、易于使用的在线职业中心。年龄超过16岁的求职者能够在线搜索和申请公司服务中心（位于西雅图(Seattle)）和公司位于任何地方的区域办公室、烘焙工厂、店面管理及招待员的职位。同时星巴克在美国全年进行招聘，这使得求职者能够面对面地与招聘人员进行沟通。另外，应聘兼职或全职招待员的应聘者可以在星巴克的任何一个店面提交申请，并且公司也为学生提供暑期实习机会。
星巴克为员工提供公平的就业机会，并且反对歧视。多元化和包容性对星巴克很重要，来自美国本地的数据表明：65%的员工和34%的公司管理人员是女性；而30%的员工和14%的管理人员是有色人种。对多元化的承诺始于高层，2005年，公司首席执行官吉姆·唐纳德和12位高层管理者参与了360°多样化评估来鉴定员工的优势及需要改进的地方。在同一年，公司为副经理级别以上的员工设立了管理多样化员工学习系列讲座。2006年，公司开设了全天的多样化练习。尽管多样化的培训对星巴克很重要，但这并非是唯一的一种培训。
星巴克一直为员工的培训和职业发展进行投资，星巴克的每位招待员都有一本《绿围裙手册》，以敦促他们成为机智、体贴的服务员，他们有机会接受23小时训练；而值班长需要另外再接受29小时培训。助理店面经理则需要接受112小时培训，店面经理320小时，区域经理200小时。并且每位合作伙伴需要参加有关咖啡教育的课程，该课程阐述了星巴克对咖啡的热情，以及星巴克对核心产品的理解。另外，星巴克服务中心提供一系列的培训，从基本的电脑技能到应对冲突再到管理技能的培训。星巴克的合作伙伴并不局限于他们的工作，星巴克公司的快速发展为他们提供了很多晋升和提拔的机会。只要他们愿意，公司会为他们提供适合他们需求的职业路径。2006年，星巴克(名列某培训杂志评选的前一百名。以下是星巴克培训的一个例子：如果某个烘焙工厂咖啡袋的氧气含量过高，该合作伙伴将接受额外的培训，培训之后，其不合格率下降了99%。
然而星巴克人力资源问题使它一直备受劳动联盟的关注。公司在网站上这样写道：“我们坚信现在与合作伙伴的直接雇佣关系是创造良好工作环境的最佳途径，我们不需要第三方来代表我们的合作伙伴，我们更愿意直接与他们进行公平的谈判，正如我们公司创立以来一直所致力于的那样！”星巴克一直以它对待员工的方式为骄傲。然而最近公司“解决了由国家劳动关系委员会发布的投诉，该投诉包含24个由世界行业劳动者联盟提出的对星巴克不公平劳动措施的指控，这些指控主要来源于纽约的3个店面，对绝大部分星巴克员工几乎没有影响！”
星巴克的改革和创新
星巴克总是从新颖的角度思考问题。它采用了街角咖啡店的理念，这一举措完全改变了顾客喝咖啡的体验。公司总有能力快速滚动推进新产品的出台。如果一种产品很有可能吸引顾客，如南瓜拿铁，星巴克会直接跳过产品测试阶段，不会使用评估小组评估产品。创新对星巴克非常重要，实际上分类管理小组负责对货架上的产品每六周更换一次。星巴克非常依赖于合作伙伴成为其创新的推动力。正如我们先前说的，星巴克坚信“我们认识到，合适的员工向我们提供意见和技能将使我们能够保持成功”。
问题
1. 星巴克采取的是什么部门划分方式?说明原因。（提示：除了案例中的信息，你还需到星巴克的官方网站查阅公司的高层管理人员列表）
2. 在美国事业部和国际事业部各有一个总裁，你认为这样合适吗？这种人事安排有何优缺点？
3. 在案例中，涉及组织结构设计六要素的例子有哪些？请描述。
4. 考虑到雇用更多管理者的成本，星巴克决定减少各区域经理负责的门店数量，从而对区域经理的需求会增加。星巴克这么决定的原因是什么？除了成本，你能想到这样做带来的其他缺点吗？
5. 举例说明星巴克的沟通类型。
6. 假如你是一个星巴克在阿拉巴马州(Alabama)、伯明翰(Birmingham)的商店经理，你如何发掘公司正发生的事情？如何就你的问题进行沟通？
7. 星巴克的长期目标是：在美国开设15 000家门店，而在全球拥有30 000家门店。此外，公司设定了财务目标，即总净收入20%增长率，每股盈余20%~25%的增长率。管理者将如何进行组织以完成这些目标？
8. 星巴克说过，他们想要“具有适应性、能自我激励、热情及有创造性的团队成员”，公司怎么确保他们的招聘、筛选过程能识别出这种人？
9. 选择一个在星巴克的网站上公布的空缺职位，你认为该空缺岗位的工作描述、工作说明书与岗位匹配吗？为什么？你认为可能会有什么变化。
10. 评价星巴克的培训工作，什么类型的培训是可取的？
11. 假如你是一个当地的星巴克门店经理，有3个临时员工要加入你的团队，描述你将提供给这些新员工的定位。
12. 你把星巴克所处的环境归为风平浪静型还是激流险滩型？请解释。公司如何应对此类型的环境变化？
13. 根据创新3个变量（结构、人力资源与文化变量），描述星巴克面临的创新环境。
14. 星巴克的哪一个指导原则影响管理的组织职能？解释你选择的原则是如何影响星巴克的管理者处理：（a）结构问题；（b）沟通问题；（c）人力资源问题；（d）变革与创新问题。（提示：指导原则可在星巴克官方网站或本双语连续案例中计划部分）