Brooke Hrouda Book Review

Michelli, Joseph A., The Starbucks Experience. New York. McGraw Hill, 2006. Print.

The Starbucks Experience

Starbucks is the largest chain of coffee shops in the world. There are now more than 11,000 outlets in 37 countries, and five new shops start pouring coffee every day. Joseph Michelli, the book's author, was granted unlimited access to the inside workings of the company and used his findings to write his book, The Starbucks Experience.

His inquiry exposed a company unlike any other and helped to divulge why the company was and continues to be so successful. According to Michelli, there are three main emphases that make the company what it is. What he discovered is that all employees, whether in a top management position or in a part time after school job, are offered a stake in the company. On top of that, Starbucks goes to extra lengths to train their staff to be skilled in not only the company culture but also to be happy in their work. They believe that job satisfaction translates into happy customer relations. In fact, Starbucks spends more money on training than on advertising. Each staff member is trained to give the customer a personalized experience and to understand that no two customers are alike.

The third main emphasis of the book is the most pivotal aspect of the company's success: that Starbucks follows five main principles. They include: make it your own, everything matters, surprise and delight, embrace resistance, and leave your mark. Starbucks wants to give each customer his own experience, emphasize that every detail matters in achieving a competitive advantage, supply a consistent product to the customer's delight, grow stronger from resistance in the community, and be socially conscientious.

The Starbucks Experience shows readers how employee motivation, excellent customer
service and satisfaction, and community involvement build a great company. Starbucks could be said to follow a TQM system. Their main focus is on serving quality products while still maintaining good customer relations. Also, like Follett's collaborative management system, they believe in working “with” one another instead of “over” one another, and have a real focus on teams to develop their company. Starbucks gives each employee an opportunity to have a stake in the company. Think of the management grid. Starbucks employees mark high on both axes of the grid. They have both concern for people (Y-axis) and concern for the task (X-task). Their company follows the policies of the human relations movement because of its main concern with employees and customers.

Perhaps all this is embedded in the company culture. Because Starbucks spends such large amounts of money on training instead of advertising, their employees not only learn but also embody its principles. The company states that it tries to do two things every day, share a great cup of coffee with friends and make the world a better place. This approach by the Starbucks company, including their involvement in the community, helps to put Starbucks in a good light among the people. Over all, their system appears to work in a way that many other company's do not and helps to make them the success they are today.

All in all, I would recommend this book to both young and adult readers alike. Whether or not one likes coffee, the Starbucks management system is one unlike any other and has helped to make them the global powerhouse they are today. Their success is unmistakeable, and it is embedded in their business principles and their culture. Their five principles and ability to include their staff and customers is a system that should be reflected in every company and ones everyday life.