Recently, I have read Kate’s blog “Starbucks Education”, which refers to the importance of job satisfaction by offering employee training and encouraging employees to participate and get involved. Besides from that, the success of Starbucks’ operation also renders by its unique organizational culture.

  • Prioritization of subordinates’ need

Starbucks utilizes a servant leadership approach, which emphasizes the support for subordinates to offer everyone a chance to grow in the company. Former Starbucks President Howard Behar believed that the employees who have been treated with more warmth would be more motivated and more likely to deliver a friendly service to consumers.

  • Openness to feedback

Many employees have the fearless to speak up to their superiors. However, Starbucks encourages employees to communicate their questions and ideas with superiors. The managers are open to receive criticism and new suggestions from their subordinates. This kind of effective communication and empowerment of employees foster the innovation within the organization.

  • Acceptance of Diversity

Starbucks is known for its anti-discrimination policy, which creates a harmony and equal working environment for people with different genders, races, sexual orientations, cultural backgrounds and life experiences. Moreover, the embrace of diversity creates opportunities for the further development of Starbucks with continuous vitality.

The organizational culture the Starbucks has developed matches with the pattern of Organization B in Chapter 10, which satisfies the characteristics of encouraging employees to “run with ideas” as well as the interaction with people at all levels and functions. From Starbucks’ success, many managers or the people who want to initiate their business could learn about the essence of building a strong and effective organizational culture.

*Word Count: 267

References:

Kate Johnston, “arbucks Education”, blogs.ubc.ca/kjohnston, February 5, 2017.

Edward Ferguson, “Starbucks Coffee Company’s Organizational Culture”, http://panmore.com/starbucks-coffee-company-organizational-culture, Jan 31, 2017.