Page 211 - The Starbucks Experience

Reader’s Guide

company achieve success in creating this commitment
among its staff? What strategies has your company used
to achieve this result? Which ones have worked, and
which ones have failed? Which of the Starbucks strate-
gies could your company implement most effectively to
create a similar sense of commitment?

5. What do you think about Starbucks commitment to cre-
ating a positive, playful culture? How would you
describe the culture of your company?

6. In Principle 1, Starbucks executive Howard Schultz is
quoted as follows: “We are not in the coffee business
serving people, but in the people business serving coffee.
The equity of the Starbucks brand is the humanity and
intimacy of what goes on in the communities. . . . The
196 Starbucks environment has become as important as the
coffee itself.” Consider the benefit that your business
truly is selling. Consider, too, the true nature of your
brand equity. The book offers many examples of how the
Starbucks leadership uses this sense of mission and brand
equity to guide important decisions. How can you apply
your new understanding of your mission and brand
equity to one upcoming decision facing your company?

7. Starbucks partners are given a pound of coffee per week
to take home, affording them a chance to use the prod-
uct as customers use it. Do your company’s employees
use your products as customers use them? If not, think
of ways you can make this happen.
8. Consider that the Starbucks business model calls for
spending more on employee training than on advertis-
ing. As a result, it enjoys an excellent rate of employee
retention and thereby continues the connection between