Starbucks Corporation: Employee Retention Case Study

Richard Summers
Nevada State college      
Starbucks Corporation:   Employee Retention Case Study
Richard Summers
Nevada State college      
Starbucks Corporation:   Employee Retention Case Study

Introduction:
Starbuck’s business model provides an optimal subject to study the effects of employee motivation and the development of teamwork on employee retention and customer satisfaction. According to Starbucks’ website the company’s mission is to “inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time” (Starbucks Corporation, 2014). This is further supported by the company mission statement to “provide a great work environment and to treat each other with respect and dignity” (Case 6: Starbucks' Mission, 2011).
Starbucks’ rapid success has grown out of a combination of providing products and an environment that customers want as well as its ethical and socially responsible activities. High end coffee is a luxury item that customers seek out by sacrificing other luxuries because of the high quality of the product, the environment that it is served in, and the social and ethical responsiveness of the company. The success of the company greatly depends on the personal interaction between its engaged employees and its customers. This most evident in the statement by Shultz that Starbucks is “not in the coffee business serving people, but in the people business serving coffee” (Case 6: Starbucks' Mission, 2011).

Starbucks’ History:
The history of Starbucks originates from Seattle in 1971 when three friends from the University of Seattle were inspired to open their own coffee shop. Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker got their idea to open Starbucks from Alfred Peet of Peet’s Coffee. Baldwin, Siegl, and Bowker initially focused on selling coffee beans and coffee making equipment exclusively. In 1981 Howard Schultz walked into his first Starbucks and, drawn by his first cup of Sumatra, joined the company as Director...