Discussion topic exploration and analysis

Organizational Culture

In order to analyze the organizational culture of Starbucks, we must first understand what is meant by organizational culture. Schein (1985)

describes organizational culture as "a pattern of shared basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that have worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems."

Starbucks has a high level of hierarchy and authority is greatly valued and all the channels of authority are followed. All major decisions come from the company headquarters and only decisions that apply to a particular store can be made by the store manager.

Starbucks has a high degree of urgency. At the high degree of urgency, a company pushes projects and decisions out through a very quick process and the company and its management indeed agrees that they need to respond fast to changes in the market and competition environment.

In people vs. task orientation, Starbucks places equal value on people and tasks. Starbucks realizes that the employees are extremely important in the performance and productivity of the organization. The quality and efficiency of activities is also important. Therefore a balance is reached to make the company perform to the highest possible level and to be most productive (Michelli, 2007).

In terms of functional orientation, Starbucks places emphasis on two of these activities. First and foremost, emphasis is placed on operations to ensure the company is running efficiently always. By optimizing operations, the company is able to make sure all processes run at optimum levels and therefore reduce the cost of production of the different products being sold at their stores. In this way, they are able to keep costs low and thus ensure that prices of produce are low and pocket-friendly. The second activity that is given most priority is marketing. The company accepts that marketing is required to boost sales as well as increase brand recognition and maintain brand awareness Pham-Gia, 2009()

In terms of attention to details, Starbucks pays huge attention to detail to make sure no relevant details are left behind when making an important decision. In terms of innovation, the company has a high degree of innovation. This can be seen in the My Starbucks Ideas website which is used to collect feedback and innovative ideas from their customers which helps them achieve new innovations.

Starbucks has a high degree of stability and the company values its stability. The company always makes sure to keep healthy cash reserves for harder economic times. Starbucks as a company is highly aggressive in addressing issues concerning the company.

Conclusion