Culture And Structure Of Starbucks Essays Example

Starbucks was founded in 1971 for the love of coffee. Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin, and Zev Siegl shared the idea of having a common place for coffee lovers in Seattle and they opened a small coffee shop and named “Starbucks Coffee, Tea & Spice”. The Coffee business expanded significantly in the first ten years and opened up four retail stores in different areas of Seattle. All four locations were selling whole bean coffee. With constant progress, the company reached hundred stores by 1992 and went public. The company crossed many levels of success and became a well-known organization internationally and serving 35 million customers in a week (Stanley, 2002). The purpose of this paper is to discuss, analyze, and evaluate the culture and structure of the organization. In addition, the corporate social responsibility and sustainability issues in the company’s structure are discussed in this report.
The structure of any organization can be defined in many ways. A structure of an organization can be better defined as a system of hierarchy that the management of the organization has developed to see all the operations involved in the organization. The organizational chart represents the organizational structure that a firm develops. The organizational structure indicates many factors such as size, environment, and technology that a company adopts. At the same time, the organizational structure of any firm is the basic contribution towards the company’s success, as limits and boundaries are set to be followed by the members of the company to perform efficiently. It defines the responsibilities of individuals who have control over others working in different business areas (Coplan, et al., 2010).
Starbucks uses a combination of divisional and functional structures in a matrix configuration. In the case of complication in matrix structures, Starbucks is classified as a mechanistic organization, which involves high horizontal and vertical complexity, high centralization, narrow areas of control, and high level of standardization. In order to overcome the problems and lessen the communication gap, the Chief Executive Officer of Starbucks, Howard Shultz has worked a lot to create a smooth and efficient structure in that information can pass and stream easily from customers and low level employees to the top positions and corporate level. The strategy might create difficulties to reach in the complex structure. Starbucks worked hard to avoid the breakdowns of communication that occurs in vertical differentiation and for this purpose it uses the matrix structure. Furthermore, Starbucks divides its team of labors into cross-functional work teams, which makes it possible for an employee to report to multiple supervisors.
The team of Starbuck that includes chief community officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Digital Officer, Chief Information Officer, Global Chief Strategy officer, Executive Vice President, Global Channel Development, Public Affairs, Global Supply Chain, Global Chief Marketing Officer and Human Resource Executives are connected in a horizontal structure with the CEO of Starbucks.
Starbucks uses centralized techniques for decision-making, and it has developed a model that consists of six points for ethical decision-making. These steps include to identify the ethical problem then to six possible solutions to the indicated problems, search for input from others then decide the best approach, ask for guidance in case of unclear path, and lastly, follow the concluded decisions.
Starbuck has a culture of giving value and treat a customer like a family. The company follows goals and vision to communicate with the public by using technology, marketing tactics, and efficient employees. The mission statement of the company works as an escort; it gives them motivation, sincerity and level of standards. Starbucks believes in involving with local efforts to bring the people in the bond and create a remarkable and positive change.
When structure and culture of an organization synchronized with each other, the company leads towards higher productivity and success. Workers at Starbucks have a very level of satisfaction and they work with loyalty and honesty for the company because of the strong bond between all levels of employees in the corporation.
Starbucks also believes in giving back to the communities and environment by contributing its part in the role of corporate social responsibility programs. Starbucks has a unique way of contributing its efforts (Castka, et al., 2004). In this regard, the company has made few commitments to the business in a manner of social responsibility such as commitment to origins, commitment to environment, commitment to communities, and commitment to partners (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2011).
Taking every aspect along, Starbucks is using the structure of the organization efficiently. Also, the company has adopted methods of communication, processes of decision-making, and keeping the organizational goals to maintain the position of the most successful corporations across the world. The company uses structure of the matrix that enables the communication outward to its customers, and upward, downward and across between the employees of the company. The process of communication that Starbucks follows ensures an open environment of communicating, promoting the idea of innovation and teamwork. This extensive process of decision-making strengthens the ethical behavior and its importance in the organization.

List of References

Carroll, A. & Buchholtz, A., 2011. Business and Society: Ethics, Sustainability, and Stakeholder Management. New York: Cengage Learning.
Castka, P., Bamber, C. & Sharp, J. M., 2004. Implementing Effective Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance: A Framework. London: BSI British Standards Institutions.
Coplan, A. M., Hikino, T. & Lincoln, J. R., 2010. The Oxford Handbook of Business GroupsOxford Handbooks in Business and ManagementOxford handbooks. New York: Oxford Handbook Online.
Stanley, A., 2002. Starbucks Coffee Company, Dartmouth: Tuck School of Business.