Starbucks Corporation’s Mission and Strategies

Executive Summary

The paper evaluated the Starbucks Company in terms of its mission statement and its original objectives that were set forewarned by the company. Through the evaluation as per the article titled ‘Saving Starbucks Soul’ and ‘Importance of Great Customer Experiences’ form the Newsweek as well as the operations of the company, the Starbucks has been evaluated to be successful in terms of achieving most of its objectives and principles. However along the way the company has managed to lose its feel of the ‘local neighborhood café with a convenience which provides authentic and premium quality coffees’. This was the main essence of the original venture and this has gone missing urging the management to re seek its roots in the huge global enterprise.

Introduction

The mission statement of the Starbucks Company reflects that the company strives to become the world’s premium provider and supplier of coffee and coffee products. The whole idea is to take the traditional Italian café culture to the global market. The paper provides an analysis of the Starbucks operations as per its mission statement and depicts that aside form maintaining excellence in quality and keeping its initial image the company has been able to live up to its principles.

Mission Statement

The mission statement for the Starbucks Company depicts the Starbucks seeks to “Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow.” (‘Starbucks Mission Statement’, Official Starbucks Company Website)

Additional to this the star bucks company has come up with six principles which aim at providing for the mission of the company. They state that “the following six guiding principles will help us measure the appropriateness of our decisions: Provide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity. Embrace diversity as an essential component in the way we do business. Apply the highest standards of excellence to the purchasing, roasting and fresh delivery of our coffee. Develop enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time. Contribute positively to our communities and our environment. Recognize that profitability is essential to our future success.” (‘Starbucks Mission Statement’, Official Starbucks Company Website)

The company also has a separate environmental mission statement which focuses on attaining an providing for the leadership of the environment in the various aspects of the Starbucks business and operations around the world.

Analysis of Starbucks and the Mission Statement

The Starbucks business was launched as an Italian style coffee shop which aims to promote community gathering and simple pleasures in life pertaining to literature, friends and good coffee. However somewhere along the line the operations of the Starbucks enterprise have started to reflect the McDonalds aura which speaks of multiple franchises offering standard products which are developed more so to attract than to provide good coffee to the customers.

It was apparent from the article titled ‘Saving Starbucks Soul’ that the company has seen a drastic change in its method of operation, its marketing strategies and it’s specific in store promotions and set up. The experience which was originally to be provided was of comfort and authentic good Italian coffee which had been personally prepared by the trained staff. However with the expanding network of Starbucks franchises and the increasingly different forms of coffees sold at the place, the company is now employing specialized modern equipment for the actual coffee blending, mixing and manufacture.

The main objective and mission on which the company was initiated and established upon was that the Starbucks Company would be providing premium blends of coffee and coffee products to customers at superior quality which would be of the highest quality and taste in the world. However the company also stated that it was to grow while keeping in with its identified principles. These principles pertained to a great work environment for the staff. The company has actually been able to manage this and the work environment in Starbucks is very specialized, competitive and healthy for the staff.

The second principle of the company dealt with the application of high standards of excellence to the processing and preparing of the coffee for the customers. This has been somewhat limited by the companies use of the specialized machines which alters the authentic exceptionally good coffee during its processing. Moreover the coffee products which are the end result sold at the counters of its franchises are often not having as high quality as they should be considering the good quality of inputs being employed in its processing.

The third principle of the company related to developing a satisfied customer base. The company has been able to adhere to this principle as it has been able to establish a very large customer base for itself in the market all around the world. The brand name of Starbucks and the good service and products provided in the stores increase the satisfaction level of the customers. However with time, changes have been taking place in the franchises where the recent culture of the community is more adhered to than the original Italian café culture. This is development for the company but negates the third principle of the company’s mission statement.

A customer of the Starbucks Company said that “The coffee is unique and tasty, but it is not the only reason I like to visit each day. The place has energy and is well run. After awhile, being the marketer that I am, I began to take note of the details that make Starbucks special. There are the obvious ones, like big, comfortable chairs; soft, well-focused track lighting; well-planned merchandising; anti other atmospheric accoutrements. But the real differentiators, in my mind, are those details related to the way the place is managed.” (Motley, 2007)

The Starbucks Company identified its other principle to be that the company would be promoting ethical and work place diversity in its operations. The company has been able to employ this principle for the processing of the business activities. The company has a very culturally as well as a geographically diverse employee base which focuses on employing the people form the local community and training them to work in the Starbucks franchise stores.

The fifth principle that has been incorporated by the company in its mission statement is the positive contribution of the Starbucks business to its communities and the environment. The company has significant strategies that have been developed in order to promote a sustainable environment for the future while employing waste minimizing and resource optimizing operations methods. Aside from this the company has also been positively contributing to its local and international communities by providing a healthy environment for the community to interact as well as employing people in the various parts of the world.

The last principle pertains to identifying the profitability in the business venture which can contribute to greater and more sustainable profitability in the future. The company in this regard has been able to take advantage of its target market and has been able to extensively exploit all opportunities of profit maximization made available to this company. As a result the coffee form the Starbucks costs much more than two complete meals at typical fast food restaurants. The most famous strategy is the premium pricing that the company employees for its international coffee beans and blends.

The Evaluation

The evaluation of the Starbucks Company was specifically conducted as per the two articles form the Newsweek concerning the Starbucks companies operations shifting form its original concept and those pertaining to customer services and customer satisfaction. The operations of the company and the scenario depicted in real time and the articles was evaluated against the original mission of the company and its states six principles which serve as guidelines for the company and its operations. According to the evaluation the company has been able to establish itself in the market as a premium coffee maker and provider in the world.

The quality of its products however has not been maintained in terms of its principles due to the global nature of the business, the expanding franchise network of the company and the adoption of automated machine for coffee blending and brewing. The company has also not been successful in maintaining its entrepreneurial nature, no matter what the management does to protect the company against corporation. The Starbucks business has become a global brand and its operations a global enterprise.

On the other hand when evaluated against the mission statement the company has been able to establish large customer base of satisfied customers. The business also seeks opportunities for profit maximization while the company is also providing a positive feedback to the environment and the communities. The company is simultaneously also boasts one of the worlds highly diverse workforces.

Conclusions

Through the paper we have been able to establish that the Starbucks Company has had a multiple dimensioned success and failure in terms of its mission statement. The company has been able to become a highly profitable venture, establish itself as a prime coffee provider in the global market, build on its contribution to the communities and the environment and has also been able to deploy and maintain a culturally diverse and viable workforce in its operation. Moreover the company has also established a very large base of satisfied and loyal customers. However due to its success and globalization strategies, the company has not been able to keep its ‘cafe’ characteristic which was the essence of the original venture.

References

(2007), Saving Starbucks’ Soul: Chairman Howard Schultz is on a mission to take his company back to its roots. Oh, yeah—he also wants to triple sales in five years, Business Week. Web.

Mission Statement, Starbucks Company Official Website. 2007. Web.

Motley, L.B., (2007), Learning about Customer Satisfaction from Starbucks, Bank Marketing;, Vol. 39 Issue 10, p43-43, 1p. Web.

Rae, J., (2006), The Importance of Great Customer Experiences……and the Best Ways to Deliver Them, Business Week. Web.

Schlosser, J., (2007), Engaging with the Customer, Fortune, Vol. 155 Issue 9, p28-28, 1p. Web.