Investigation of the Harvard Business School case study "Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service"

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The focus of the paper is to explore the marketing process at Starbucks and evaluate the firm's decisions. Marketing concepts portrayed in the case will be examined as well.

Mission Statement

The company's mission is to: Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles as we grow. Starbuck's mission statement sets a corporate vision for the company by identifying the focus of expertise, coffee, and establishing the desire to grow larger.

In addition to their mission statement, Starbuck's operates on the following principles:

1. Provide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity

2. Embrace diversity as an essential component in the way we do business

3. Apply the highest standards of excellence to the purchasing, roasting, and fresh delivery of our coffee

4. Develop enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time

5. Contribute positively to our communities and our environment

6. Recognize that profitability is essential to our future success

Essential Company Background

Starbuck's started as a small café in 1971 at a downtown Seattle market by three coffee drinkers. The hiring of Howard Schultz in 1982, and his subsequent trip to the coffee shops of Italy began the transformation of Starbuck's from corner coffee shop and wholesaler to corporate success story. In traveling to Italy, Schultz discovered the sociological impact of coffee shops on the Italian way of life. Believing Americans needed a third place besides work and home, Shultz transformed a downtown Seattle shop into an espresso bar under the Starbuck's name to more closely resemble the Italian coffee shops he had visited. A few years later Shultz bought the founders out and in 1992, Starbucks had grown to 150 stores across the Northwest and Midwest. Shultz took the company public raising over...