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Starbucks

Leticia Martinez

MGT 330: Management for Organizations

Instructor: Myla Wilson

February 20, 2012

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Starbucks’

On a daily routine to work, I always stop to grab a cup of coffee, but not just any

coffee, it has to be a Starbucks. Starbucks to me is the best coffee I have had in a long

time. According to an article from Fortune Magazine, “Starbucks has been named in the

100 best companies to work for.” (CNN Money, 2012). Starbucks has many job

opportunities for people, which require the right job specifications. Within this paper I

will discuss and answer the four questions asked from the case student in Chapter three

about Starbuck’s structure.

Question one asked to complete a job description and a job specification for a

Starbucks employee. The job description that I choose to complete is that of a Baristas.

As a Baristas, a person will be the face of the company being that they are the first person

seen when customers walk in. Delivering great customer service is a key point to this

position. A baristas will also provide quality beverages with speedy service. Some of the

responsibilities and job functions of a baristas include but are not limited to, maintaining

a motivated and composed attitude during peak times where there are high volumes of

customers. This also includes following Starbucks policies and procedures, maintaining a

clean environment by also following the health and safety guidelines.

The job specification for a Baristas would be the job qualification, which would

include the special skills, amount of experience required, and the level of education

required. A Baristas must have the ability to understand and respond to a diverse group of

customers. A Baristas will also to have the ability to learn fast and work as a team. With

this job, the applicant must be able to stand for a long period of time, lift a certain amount

of pounds, and able to constantly move around.

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The type of departmentalization that Starbucks should be using is

departmentalization by geographic region. The reason being is that there are Starbucks

locations all over the United States. According to our text, “Geographical

departmentalization makes it possible to tailor managerial efforts that address

territorial differences.”(Reilly, M., Minnick, C., & Baack, D., 2011). This will assist in

the menu items that are being sold in different locations. For example the Starbucks in

Arizona during summer season may sale more of the ice coffee and different food items

than in New York where it is not as hot.

When the increase of competition began to decline the sales of Starbucks, The

leadership shouldn’t try to centralize power. With the leadership being centralized the

organization may start making bad decisions because it only allows for two or three

leaders to be overwhelmed and start making wrong decisions, where as if they were to

have more ideas from their employees they may be able to come up with a structure that

can help them through the decline of sales.

The form of organizational configuration that best fits Starbucks would have to be

the divisional organization. This is because Starbucks has different products and many

business units all around the world. According to an article, Mintzberg’s Organizational

Configurations, “The benefit of the divisional organization is that it allows the line

managers to maintain more control and accountability.”(Mindtools, 2012).

In conclusion, Starbucks organizations have been a great place for people to work,

customers to hang out at, and overall a great place to have coffee. From what I see, the

structure that Starbucks has been using, so far has been doing a good job. According to

Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, “Starbucks continues to expand our global

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footprint and accelerate the innovation and momentum in our CPG business” (Financial

Release, 2011)

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References

CNN Money, (Feb. 7, 2011). CNN Money, 100 Best Companies to work for.

Retrieved on February 19, 2012 from

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2011/snapshots/98.html

MindTools, (2012). Mintzberg’s Organizational Configurations, Understanding

the structure of your organization, retrieved on February 19, 2012 from

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_54.htm

Reilly, M., Minnick, C., & Baack, D. (2011). The five functions of effective

management. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.

Starbucks Coffee Company, (2012). Starbucks Investor Relations, 2011 Financial

Release, retrieved on February 19, 2012 from

http://investor.starbucks.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=99518&p=irol-

newsArticle&ID=1653306&highlight=