Confirmed! CEO Howard to Reshape Starbucks' Corporate Culture!

On July 11th, local time, Starbucks' interim CEO Howard Schultz published an open letter on the Starbucks official website, stating that Starbucks' current situation does not provide a good environment and experience for either partners or customers. Therefore, he expressed that Starbucks needs to reshape its corporate culture!

Since some Starbucks stores in the United States began promoting unionization in August 2021, Starbucks has been trying various methods to stop this movement, but the results have been less than ideal. Although Starbucks recalled Howard in April this year to handle various matters affecting brand operations, it still failed to prevent other stores from joining the movement one after another. Additionally, due to overly aggressive anti-union actions, Starbucks was sued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for illegally closing stores that had joined unions and firing employees within them.

In his open letter, Howard stated that we are living in a constantly changing world where economic, social, and operational pressures are colliding with each other. He also noted that Starbucks is currently experiencing unprecedented cultural division and economic trauma. The Starbucks business built today cannot fully meet the changing actions, needs, and expectations of our partners or customers, nor is it suitable for the future.

Therefore, what needs to be done now is to recreate an environment of connection, welcome, and safety with customers, where partners should also support each other with dignity, respect, and kindness, reshaping the corporate culture. Howard expressed the need to be more loyal to Starbucks' shared mission "to inspire and nurture the human spirit—one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time," for which he has formulated a 5-point reshaping plan:

"Reimagining how to bring the Starbucks mission to life" "Fundamentally improving the welfare of store partners" "Reimagining the store experience to achieve more connection with customers and positive impact on protecting the planet's environment" "Reconnecting with customers by providing memorable personalized experiences" "Reaffirming our partnership"

The "old gentleman" also emphasized that the company has recently learned many partners' thoughts, experiences, and stories through meetings, surveys, open forums, and discussions with management, so "reaffirming our partnership" already has detailed plans:

• Provide safe, warm, and friendly service at stores. We hope partners can set aside increasing isolation and division, unite together, protect, respect, and include each other, and work together to create a safe and warm working environment.
• Provide progress and opportunities for partners. Everyone can learn important skills at Starbucks, receive fair compensation, and obtain more development and advancement opportunities.
• Bring more welfare policies to partners. The current pandemic has brought varying degrees of impact on partners' physical and mental health as well as personal finances. Therefore, the company will provide more policies and benefits, offering more medical, psychological, and salary guarantees.
• Share power, share responsibility, share success. Starbucks' success is inseparable from the efforts of all partners, so this corporate reshaping must enable partners to better demonstrate their personal strength, share and build common future responsibilities, and let every partner benefit when the company succeeds.

Although detailed content for the other 4 points of the reshaping plan is not yet available, the letter has clearly stated that plans will be formulated and implemented in the coming weeks. Howard's reshaping plan this time will also realize one of his classic quotes: "Partners will always be Starbucks' most important asset."

After Howard announced his retirement in 2018, Starbucks neglected the experience and feelings of store partners while focusing on rapid development, leading to many problems that were not resolved in time. The pandemic over the past two years has further exacerbated these issues, resulting in many events detrimental to brand development.

We hope that under Howard's leadership, the reshaping plan will enable Starbucks to regain the balance between creativity and norms, entrepreneurial spirit and precise processes, discipline and innovation advocated by its corporate culture.

Image source: Starbucks official website

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