Starbucks Corp Clouds In Your Coffee Case Study Essay

Starbucks Corp Clouds In Your Coffee Case Study - Essay Example Most prominently the company has sought to rapidly expand while they balance efficiency measures with the Starbuck’s Experience. In addressing Starbuck’s dilemma a number of elements are considered and recommendations advanced. The company’s overarching operating model is examined. In these regards, it’s indicated that Starbucks has a number of unique aspects in comparison to franchises. For instance, Starbucks maintains ownership control of their stores. Other aspects include the way employees are treated and clustering mechanisms. Ultimately, it’s determined that Starbuck’s has become overly corporate-centric in image and must undergo significant structural changes to remedy this problem. In these regards, the report indicates that Starbucks must allow increased franchisee responsibility and greater decompartmentalization in-terms of store models. Background Starbucks Corporation faces a number of contemporary business issues in regards to their overall organization. Specifically, operational management concerns have posed a number of pressing concerns for the coffee conglomerate. A proper understanding of the issues the company is facing requires a brief background understanding of the company’s evolution. ... As such, Starbucks adopted the tall and venti sizes, with a large variety of coffee options. These options coupled with the aura the original ownership had fostered constituted the company’s core ‘Starbucks Experience.’ From 1987 until the present day, this model was widely successful and the company witnessed substantial expansion throughout the country and, indeed, world. With the company’s rapid expansion and commodification a number of significant changes had to be instituted. Most prominently, the company instituted wide efficiency measures as a means of speeding coffee production and increasing bottom-line profits. While these efficiency measures served their purpose, a recent memo by company president Howard Schulz to key executives indicated that many of the efficiency measures have compromised the Starbuck’s Experience. For example, Schulz pointed out that in changing espresso machines the company achieved increased efficiency measures, yet lost the aroma and intimacy that constituted a particular Starbuck’s aura. Another challenge the company recognized was the increased demand for hot food while retaining the stores’ aroma and efficiency levels. In addition to balancing the in-store Starbuck’s Experience with the need for increased efficiency, the corporation’s has international expansion ambitions. Perhaps most prominently, the company has expanded into China through a hybrid partnership model with local stakeholders. This has posed challenges as in cooperating with the local stakeholders the company has had to give up a modicum of control onto internal store elements. Ultimately, Starbucks