Functions of management are usually defined as planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling the various resources of the organization. A service-based organization such as the Starbucks Corporation must give particularly careful attention to the organizing function of management regarding its use of human resources, given that the public face it presents to the world is an integral part of the product's reputation (Allison 2010). Starbucks must also devote care and attention in creating its high-quality product, given that consumers will not return to the store if they are dissatisfied with the drinks and foods they buy at their local Starbucks.
Human resources
High-quality employee training became a critical part of Starbucks' branding, when it evolved into a publically-traded company. Unlike other fast food establishments, from its inception Starbucks' training program "included classes on coffee history, drink preparation, coffee knowledge (four hours), customer service (four hours), and retail skills, plus a four-hour workshop called 'Brewing the Perfect Cup'" as well basic register skills (Thompson & Strickland 2009, p.3). Training was directed and controlled in a highly calculated, top-down managerial fashion to ensure that all employees had the essential skills to consistently make great coffee.
Tight managerial oversight of training was necessary because, unlike other fast food establishments, Starbucks Baristas actually prepared the company's flagships drinks and did not merely reheat frozen and reconstituted foods. Espresso shots had to be pulled from the coffee maker after 18- to 23-seconds, milk for lattes and cappuccinos had to be steamed to at least 150F but never more than 170F; customers who ordered bulk coffee had to be given exactly one pound of beans "not .995 pounds or 1.1 pounds;" coffee could not sit more than 20 minutes; and dissatisfied customers...
Employees were not permitted to wear perfumes or colognes that might interfere with the store's coffee odors. Starbucks' staff, on average, tended to be more highly educated than the average food franchise employees. They were selected for their passion for coffee and not simply because they were willing to work a certain number of hours each week at minimum wage.
Starbucks' expansion was carefully coordinated and planned to ensure heavy company oversight over barista training. "For each targeted region, Starbucks selected a large city to serve as a 'hub'; teams of professionals were located in hub cities to support the goal of opening 20 or more stores in the hub in the first two years. Once stores blanketed the hub, then additional stores were opened in smaller, surrounding 'spoke' areas in the region" (Thompson & Strickland 2009, p.3). When Starbucks felt that its baristas nationwide were not performing up to standard, it closed all of its stores on the same day, regardless of location, to retrain its baristas. "Inside, more than 20 Starbucks employees, including people from its Seattle headquarters office, talked about coffee and customer service. 'The perfect espresso is like honey pouring from a spring,' a video message told employees," voiced by the company CEO Howard Schultz (Allison 2008). Schultz coordinated and organized the nationwide training effort himself, part of the hands-on managerial style that is characteristic of Starbucks. Customers should expect personalized, high quality service, and the training of the baristas was given equal attention as store layout, product marketing, and promotions.
Schultz orchestrated Starbucks' expansion when it was a small Seattle-based coffee store with a reputation for producing good coffee, but little else. When be…
