Starbucks Coffee Company was founded in 1971 as a delicate coffee and tea vendor. In 1985, chairman and CEO Howard Schultz altered the business into what it is now – an international coffee brand manufactured on the wisdom of coffee, high-quality goods, and a desire for teaching customers about the values of coffees and teas. Today, Starbucks has expanded from its Seattle roots and markets imported coffee, fine teas, Italian style espresso, cold beverages, food products and coffee fixtures.
It has created lifetime relationships with several coffee bean manufacturers and farmers and has linked a solid brand image to all of its 176,000 employees. It manages 17,000 stores in over 49 countries universally and has a durable brand manifestation in the United States, with more than three quarters of its cafes stationed in its home marketplace. Starbucks has become a successful global coffee brand business due to their application of specific operations management principles.
The company handles specific operations management issues such as design of goods and services, management quality, location strategy, layout strategy, process and capacity design, supply chain management, scheduling, maintenance, inventory management, human resources, and job design in an extremely positive and effective manner. The results of these decisions are represented in what Starbucks has now become today. They have taken this set of operational management issues and utilized them to prosper into a globally known coffee business. The products and cafe services from Starbucks are offered all over the world (“Oxbridge writers. ). The company has made several effective operations management decisions in their marketing of fine whole bean coffees along with other varieties of premium teas and espresso beverages (“Oxbridge writers. ”).
They also offer numerous sodas and juices, pastries and coffee-associated equipment, for instance, Starbucks mugs and Starbucks CD’s (“Oxbridge writers. ”). Starbucks vends its exclusive products through its company-managed retail stores, warehouse club chains, office coffee distributors, institutional foodservices such as hotels and airlines, mail-order catalogs, and through its electronic store (“Oxbridge writers. ). The products and services are manifestly offered through the original brand design, which is presented in all their goods and retail stores (“Oxbridge writers. ”). The layout of each Starbucks store gives their customers a great quality product and place (“Oxbridge writers. ”).
The company’s delicious coffee and other enjoyable food items are two of the significant ways this is given (“Oxbridge writers. ”). Additional ways include the display racks, tables, chairs, fixtures, and store background music (“Oxbridge writers. ”). The administration of Starbucks is merely accountable for the quality service (“Oxbridge writers. ). To guarantee customer satisfaction they train employees and oversee the operations and food service (“Oxbridge writers. ”). By having a happy staff they create happy customers, which creates a happy working environment (“Oxbridge writers. ”). Quality service is linked with profitability; therefore the administration is continuously flourishing to accomplish this (“Oxbridge writers. ”). To guarantee quality, Starbucks offers surveys in their stores that allow their customers to rate their performance against the company’s high standards (“Oxbridge writers. ”).
They also have mystery shoppers to ensure that their employees are giving the quality of service that the company expresses in their mission statement (“Oxbridge writers. ”). This is constantly improving Starbuck’s operations management issues (“Oxbridge writers. ”). Location Strategy is another operations management issue that Starbucks has mastered (“Oxbridge writers. ”). The company bases their site location on site accessibility and cleanliness (“Oxbridge writers. ”). The second criterion the company bases their location design on is the greatest coffee experience for the customers (“Oxbridge writers. ). Starbucks has designed their stores to be individually unique and different, no two Starbuck store is ever similar in looks, design, artworks, facility, merchandise display, or store atmosphere (“Oxbridge writers. ”). All locations are accessible for families with babies and/or physically challenged customers (“Oxbridge writers. ”).
The teams of architects that work for Starbucks are diligent in picking the right location and perfect brand image for the business (“Oxbridge writers. ”). The company’s retail store ranges in size, which spans from 1,000 to 1,500 square feet (“Oxbridge writers. ). Buildings, city centers, schools, and highly trafficked shopping areas are typically the locations of these stores (“Oxbridge writers. ”). Starbucks has designed their stores as a place for relaxation (“Oxbridge writers. ”). Customers are provided with the chance to talk with family or friends or simply enjoy a delicious cup of coffee (“Oxbridge writers. ”). The company has marketed their business as a warm place that is open to the public (“Oxbridge writers. ”). Hence, the facility layout is directed towards a fast and friendly coffee service (“Oxbridge writers. ). The stores are arranged in an appealing way to the customers (“Oxbridge writers. ”). The arrangement projects a perfect place for a break to breathe (“Oxbridge writers. ”). The stores provide a happy, comfortable, and positive atmosphere (“Oxbridge writers. ”). This is displayed through the large leather seats, fireplaces, soft couches, and reading supplies. Starbucks has designed their stores all over the world to be delivered with distinct color, lighting schemes, and categorized materials (“Oxbridge writers. ”).
These designs help the stores have a unique look and feel, including a mix of materials, facility size, and store arrangements (“Oxbridge writers. ”). Starbucks is assisted with all of their store layouts by computer software that automatically directs the store layout costing (“Oxbridge writers. ”). The key process in the business operations of Starbucks is the drink orders (“Oxbridge writers. ”). They exploit drink orders through the use of asynchronous processing (“Oxbridge writers. ”). The coffee is arranged along a line that reaches to the barista and then to the coffee machine (“Oxbridge writers. ”).
The main reasoning for the company’s speedy deliverance of coffee orders is due to the equipment and machines and the skilled and trained staff (“Oxbridge writers. ”). The business layout of Starbucks is highly mechanized and is united with their merchandise display and store layout (“Oxbridge writers. ”). A team of 10 analysts continually looks for ways to save time (Elaine, 2012). Some improvements include saving 8 seconds per transaction by not requiring signatures on purchases for under $25, saving 14 seconds per drink by changing the size of the ice scooper, and saving 12 seconds per shot with new espresso machines (Elaine, 2012).
The operations improvements have helped Starbucks increase yearly revenue per outlet by $200,000 to $940,000 in six years (Elaine, 2012). The company is continuously maintaining its personnel professionally throughout its store outlets with their brilliant scheduling system (“Oxbridge writers. ”). Each store has one manager, one assistant, and sixteen other partners (“Oxbridge writers. ”). The employees are offered a satisfactory benefit package that contains medical and dental benefits, stock options, free coffee or soda drink per shift, and a supply of one pound of coffee every seven days (“Oxbridge writers. ). Salary spans from 1% to 5% and this is grounded on bi annual work performance evaluations (“Oxbridge writers. ”). The company also employs non-monetary bonuses (“Oxbridge writers. ”). Labor scheduling, attendance, and a time management method are all valuable qualities that the workforce management system provides (“Oxbridge writers. ”). These associates to important labor cost reduction, better and enhanced employee productivity, more customer satisfaction, and larger profits for the company (“Oxbridge writers. ”).
The Starbucks organization intensely diminishes the number of hours that the store managers need to assign to his/her staff schedules (Thompson, 2005). In turn, the decrease of hours leads to the drop in generation costs (Thompson, 2005). It also adds capability, skill, and proficiency by which the store managers interact openly with their customers and concentrate on more revenue making tasks than administrative ones (Thompson, 2005). To ensure cleanliness and productivity throughout all of their stores, plants, and facilities, maintenance supervisors are employed to deal with maintenance operations (Thompson, 2005).
Their ecofriendly stewardship is also combined with their maintenance standards (Thompson, 2005). The company has committed into “going green,” which is not only a great marketing operation, but also a way to reduce utility and maintenance expenses (Thompson, 2005). In 2004, Starbucks launched several new lines of coffee, named Black Apron Exclusives (EBSCO, 2006). These coffees were launched with the introduction of 100% Kona coffee (EBSCO, 2006). Starbucks customers have discovered the world’s finest coffee beans that are only given in small quantities (EBSCO, 2006). The main focus of innovation in Starbucks is coffee (EBSCO, 2006).
A “Coffee of the Week” is featured to provide a focal point on the company’s coffee and employees (EBSCO, 2006). This gives customers an opportunity to learn about details and individual coffees (EBSCO, 2006). For instance, their flavor profile and/or roots (EBSCO, 2006). Coffee brands give Starbucks the chance to attract a bigger consumer base, for they present various types of coffee flavor profiles (EBSCO, 2006). Starbucks operations management is focused on forecasting, quality control, just in time production, material requirements planning, scheduling, and technology.
All of these important factors play a major role in determining what the future holds for them in terms of raw material prices and product demand. They also make certain that the products and services are provided of the highest possible integrity. The minimization of waste and getting products to the right location are actions that take place with the company’s focus on operations management. The success of this globally recognized coffee brand is due to their accomplishment of operations management principles.
They have handled and controlled management issues in a professional manner that has only helped the company excel in numerous ways. The attainment in the layout and location strategy is representative in what the company has become today. Starbucks has developed several unique strategies that have made their customers loyal, by recognizing and responding to their unique preferences and needs (“Starbucks”, 2011). They connect with the customers in a culturally relevant way, which provides a memorable experience (“Starbucks”, 2011).
