Starbucks: Systems Analysis and Solutions - Essay Sample

Systems Analysis and Solutions

The business world is witnessing a revolution in management aimed at people, planet and profits sustainability. Kiran (2017) argues that understanding the operations of a company is key to its success, and all companies must ensure they know how their business is progressing. This understanding helps in evaluating the progress of the company. But how can a business effectively understand its state? This question calls for a thorough analysis of the systems of the company. In this context, system analysis and solution refer to the examining the operations of Starbucks coffee company, the role of the management in achieving the Green Environment Initiative proposed in the company's history file and the recommendation for effective achievement of the goals as may be deducted from its SWOT and competitor's analysis.

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Starbucks is the world's leading coffee brand with its headquarters in the most vibrant and environmentally conscious country, the United States of America. As a company with a great history, and with a large customer base, the company must work towards the sustainability of its business. Therefore, the company strives to attain both profits and make an excellent public appeal. A business's positive public image is only achievable through practicing corporate social responsibility ("Management strategies for sustainable businesses", n.d.). Starbucks engages in several initiatives through the green environment initiative. The history of the company shows that the company purposes to secure public appeal through the Greene Initiatives. This paper analyses Starbucks and its effort towards the green environment initiative based on its history, SWOT analysis and the analysis of its main competitor. The paper will also illustrate the feasibility of the action, the most appropriate management style and the best practices that will facilitate the attainment of the initiative.

Support Activities of the Green Initiative

Feasibility of a project greatly depends on its drivers ("Management strategies for sustainable businesses", n.d.). Starbucks Coffee company progress aligns to environmental and community care. This mission serves a perfect driver for the business to undertake the green initiative project. Among others, these two drivers confirm the feasibility of the Green Initiative, a cause that this section intends to illustrate.

Most Significant Activity

Starbucks Coffee Company's Green Initiative is achievable through successful implementation of water purification activity. However, to optimize the productivity of green environment activities, the company should pursue other support activities ("Management strategies for sustainable businesses", n.d.). The support activities include restraining from splashing the environment with coffee wastes, preservative use of available water, recycling coffee packaging cans and participating in constructing solar power systems.

Functions of the Activity and Its Sub-Activities

SWOT Analysis indicates diversification as one of the strengths of Starbucks while Dunkin' Brands Inc. faces challenges of lack of innovations. Implementation of water purification stands a chance weaken its competitor who is also aiming to secure more public appeal. According to Plattner, Meinel, and Leifer (2014), green initiative stands to be the best approach towards social and environmental responsibility of any company, Starbucks in this case, and its ethical soundness, making water purification a significant step. Availability of numerous alternative solutions including reusing the coffee grounds and storing the surplus supplements the initiative. Storage of the excess water helps preserve reduce on the recurring expenditure on water and reduces the number of such wastes deposited in composite pits. Considering Starbucks Coffee Company's litigation history, the success of the water purification process will help in marketing the company. As seen from SWOT analysis, this move is likely to increase the customers base after the company establishes itself as a major player in environmental consciousness.

Availability of purified water in the company's premises helps to conserve the resource. This conservation arises because the company would not make another procurement of the water but will utilize the available water. The company would also save on both time and money. The time that Starbucks Company management would spend on procuring for fresh water would reduce substantially because the company only fetches the water from its water reservoirs. Availability of purified water in the company's premises allows it to save the money that would otherwise go to procurement.

Critical Change for the Success of Water Purification Process

A business activity with fewer interruptions has more chances of succeeding than when the implementation of the taction faces disruptions ("Management strategies for sustainable businesses", n.d.). In support of the same, SWOT analysis indicates that the company's involvement in numerous Green Initiative activities leads to confusion of the water purification process. Therefore, for the success of the water purification process, Starbucks water purification team should forego engaging in other Green Initiative approaches and put their focus on process.

Role of the Change Towards Workflow and Success of the Initiative

Starbucks water purification team encounters difficulties in achieving its objective because of spreading their attention on different Green Initiative approaches (Chouinard & Stanley, 2013). Putting their focus on water purification approach serves to reduce the confusion that might occur due to lack of concentration. Focusing on water purification also helps preserve enough time for the process. Having an improved approach allows the team to enhance the water purification process which subsequently contributes to the larger Green Initiative. Improving the performance of the initiative will attract support from its customers and other authorities. In fact, on showing interests in water purification, the company received over twelve million dollars donations to support water treatment and sanitation education in water-deprived countries across the globe (Chouinard & Stanley, 2013). Therefore, narrowing the point of focus increases the chances of the success of the process.

Role of the Theory in Implementation of the Water Purification Process

Implementation of initiatives in any organization requires a calculated move that takes care of all the accompanying parts (Kiran, 2017). SWOT analysis describes Orin Smith, the previous Starbucks CEO as an excellent manager who put a keen eye on the company's green initiative before his demise in March 2018. Since business is interconnectivity of different activities applying this theory helps the management in understanding the system involved in the company. A keen integration of the system ensures that the process takes care of all the possible contributors. In the implementation of the water purification process, Starbucks has to appropriately apply the system theory which is the best for the analysis of all the pillars of any business venture.

How the Theory will Minimize Interruptions to Business Productivity

One of the most exceptional features of the System Theory is its ability to show the role of all the systems involved in the production process (Kiran, 2017). Initially, Starbucks lacked a target, leading to mixing up of and subsequently confusion. System theory will help in the proper implementation of the parts that affect the daily operation of the business. For instance, Starbucks must take note of the personnel in the water purification process, and the support resources that ensure the achievement of the goal. Starbucks efforts to remain on its mission, values, and commitment to employees is easily attainable as a result of the theory's bringing to light of the role of the employees, something that most bosses fail to acknowledge. Smith used a transformational leadership to maintain the path for the firm's course, following the values and mission declarations of Starbucks. The theory will allow Starbucks management to study and approach the organization as they are now well placed to interpret the patterns and events.

How System Theory Contributes to Profits

Broadly, System theory allows understanding of every component of business operation and outlines the functions of each of the elements (Kiran, 2017). Starbucks suffers blows in the water purification process because of the lack of understanding of the role of each part. Having substantial knowledge of the process induces increased returns due to the fewer potential mistakes in this effect. Starbucks has history has some lawsuit demanding contaminated beverages and foods. Such litigations give room for in-house profitable water refinement. Subsequently, the number of clients will raise by the business being an environmentally friendly establishment.

With a record number of over twenty-two thousand stores across the world, the company must understand how each store backs to the overall company's performance towards the initiative. The system theory will help reveal if the coffee grounds waste produced daily are adequate to sustain the proposal of Green Initiative of purifying water using coffee wastes. This cause is one of the strengths of the company in the SWOT Analysis. System theory will enable Starbucks to effectively use the inputs by proper planning, organizing and controlling resources to meet its goal. The outputs in the process will include the decent quality of the purified water. Through this theory, there is a provision of proper feedback especially from the personnel carrying out the procedures, the clients and the public including community members, government and technologies are promoted (Kiran, 2017).

The Benefit of System Theory to the Organization

The theory boosts optimization of the functions in the organization. With a good understanding of the dynamics in the company's system, system reasoning will enable the company's management to take complete advantage of every element within the system. For instance, understanding the role of a motivated workforce, and the need to cooperate with culture, the company's management would even allow employees to tend their sick children. Such moves popularize the company and attract innovative minds that blossoms the company ("Management strategies for sustainable businesses", n.d.).

Everything in nature is dynamically interconnected. Just as people need one another, business activities also do. Creativeness and increased production grow through System thinking that provides it with tools of integration. The more employees understand the dynamics of management, the more they become creative. The theory significantly promotes management science and the understanding of the operations of an organization (Kiran, 2017).

It will fulfill the company's objective of providing total customer experience and partnering with suppliers. Also, the theory minimizes on the deficiency of making the company venture into many green initiative's approaches dividing its attention. This course facilitates the achievement of the greener initiative.

Evidence-Based Solution and Best Business Practices

The three pillars making sustainability include concern towards people, the planet and profits ("Management strategies for sustainable businesses", n.d.). A business must take practices that involve the interest of the three to achieve triple sustainability. An analysis of Patagonia Inc. Company reveals a real model for sustainable business practices. Below are methods that help in the company's viability. A business...