Essay Sample on Values and Strategies: Starbucks

Introduction

My current employer is Starbucks. Starbucks' mission statement is: To inspire and nurture the human spirit-One person, One Cup and One neighborhood at a time. Starbucks Company was founded in Seattle-America in 1971 and since then, it has grown to be one of the best coffee houses in America and outside America. It has been a journey of sheer growth. The growth of such a magnitude cannot just happen; it is made to happen by men and women who implement the company's vision and strategies through hard work and dedication. This is not to mean that the company has been lucky in the market all along. There were times when it experienced failure but the values and strategies put in place helped the company gain back the market share it has today. Value can be defined as standards of behavior by a company and strategy can be defined as long-term measures put in place by an organization to achieve a particular goal (Weinstein, 2018). Starbucks values are; to create a culture of warmth and belonging, Being present, Acting with courage in the market, Performance driven and delivering the best. These values are in line with the mission statement of the company and that helps guide the company's long term strategy in the market thus keeping it at the top. This paper will identify the major components of the strategic management process at Starbucks, how these components work together to create value for the organization, evaluate the company's mission statement, vision statement and the strategic goals and explain the role of ethics and corporate social responsibility in strategic planning.

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Major Components of the Strategic Management Process

Strategic management process has helped the company grow to greater heights and become famous worldwide. There are major components of a strategic management process that every company should focus on when deciding on the strategies to adopt and are discussed below.

Understanding the environment

Understanding the environment is otherwise known as environmental scanning by the organization. This helps the company understand the environment within which it will or is operating in. These are factors inside the organization or outside the organization that have the potential of affecting the business of the company in different ways that will have an impact on the profit and loss of the company (Chernev, 2018).

Strategy formulation and implementation process

Understanding the environment helps the management team gather vital information that helps in strategy formulation since they are able to know what to expect. They are able to analyze the strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats in the environment that the company will operate within and thus put thoughtful strategies in place. For example workers at Starbucks have specific goals to meet that were identified when formulating the company's strategies (Chernev, 2018).

Strategy Evaluation

Once the strategies have been put in place, the management has to ensure that the specific goals and daily target s for workers identified during strategy formulation is achieved by workers. This can be done through observation and reports. It helps the company to know and check regularly whether it is headed in the right direction and operating within the values and strategies put in place by the management team (Chernev, 2018).

Communication

Communication is an important component of the strategic management process. The junior and senior management staffs are able to communicate with each other regularly in relation to the strategic goals put in place. Communication is important because it helps the company employees understand better what is expected of them and when they go wrong, they are corrected effectively and on time. Effective communication channels have been known to boost employee performance and thus meeting the strategic goals set by the management. To become the market leader, Starbucks has been able to put in place the right strategies and the right team for the job (Chernev, 2018).

How These Components Work Together to Create Value for the Organization

Understanding the environment is important because it helps the company formulate its organizational culture that is in line with the strategic objectives of the company. Formulation of strategies in the long term is based on the values the company wants to be known for and how the company wants its customers to feel about the service. It makes the company unique and differentiates it from the rest in the competitive industry. The values generated will be the basis on which the performance of every employee in the organization is based. For example at Starbucks, every employee is expected to treat their customers with respect and to provide them with a wonderful experience that shows value for money and make the customer feel wanted once more for his or her favorite coffee. These are the parameters within which staffs are evaluated. Value for the organization is carried and expressed through communication. Communication is one of the most important components of strategic management that helps a company like Starbucks put its most cherished values to the customers (Weinstein, 2018).

Starbucks Mission and Vision Statement

The mission and vision statement help create a brand that is a leader in the coffee industry around the world. Starbucks vision statement is an indication of what the company does to its customers and helps the employee work towards that objective. For example, part of t Starbucks mission statement reads that it aims to inspire and nurture the human spirit. This alone shows that the company puts its customers first and holds them in high regard. Starbucks motivation has always been to properly remunerate its employees and give them a good working environment so that they can give their optimum performance. The motivation strategy is based on the opinion that a stressed employee cannot deliver desirable results (Chernev, 2018). On innovation strategy, Starbucks introduced a Starbucks app which is a digital platform on which customers can interact with the employees and make orders. The company aims at even better digital platforms that promote better human relations as a digital strategy. Starbucks people strategy is reflected in its mission statement where it aims to inspire and nurture the human spirit-One person, One Cup and One neighborhood at a time. The people strategy is based on a culture of mutual respect and treating everyone like kings and queens that they are for both employees and customers (Grant, 2016).

The Role of Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility in Strategic Planning

In the strategies that a company puts in place, ethics and social responsibility must provide the guide on how that is to be done. It must be done according to the rules and procedures governing the industry and the expectation of shareholders. Ethical behavior and the best interest of the company helped shape the way strategies are implemented by the company (Grant, 2016). Ethics help guide the behavior of the management in making critical decisions. Starbucks mission and vision align with my mission and vision in that I feel it is important to have better human relationships in business. We should always aspire to be better for people and make them happier than we meet them which is what Starbucks does.My role influences this by how I interact firsthand with our customers. They love being smiled at and being appreciated for coming back which I always aim to do to keep them happy and engaged (Chernev, 2018).

Conclusion

Strategic management is the fuel which keeps the organization focused on its goals and objectives. The mission and vision statement helps guide the direction to which the management direct the strategies formulated. Starbucks has been a success story because of aligning its strategic management goals with its vision and mission which keeps the customers always coming back by nurturing the human spirit in the best way possible around the world.

References

Chernev, A. (2018). Strategic marketing management. Cerebellum Press.

Grant, R. M. (2016). Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley & Sons.

Weinstein, A. (2018). Superior Customer Value: Finding and Keeping Customers in the New Economy. Routledge.