SledgeD

Major Organizational Processes

- Environmental Footprint: How is environmental impact analyzed and tracked? How are
decisions made to reduce the environmental impact of the organization?

Starbucks is a big proponent of ethical sourcing and sustainability. Starbucks’ environmental

impact is analyzed and tracked by their Global Environment Council, which is made up of
senior leaders throughout the company (Starbucks Corporation, 2021). Their latest initiative in
sustainability is to become a resource-positive company (Starbucks Corporation, 2021). This
means that Starbucks would give back more to the environment than they take. Their five key
strategies for attaining this are: “expand plant-based menu options, shift away from single-use to
reusable packaging, invest in regenerative agriculture, reforestation, forest conservation and
water replenishment in our supply chain, invest in better ways to manage our waste, and innovate
to develop more sustainable stores, operations, manufacturing and delivery” (Starbucks
Corporation, 2021, para. 3).

- Purchasing and Supplier Management: Who is responsible for purchasing? What is the
criteria for supplier selection? What is the relationship with suppliers?

Kelly Bengston is Starbucks’ chief procurement officer. Her duties under this role consist of:
“enhancing Starbucks enterprise-wide functional strategic sourcing and supplier relationships,
creating consistent global sourcing processes, developing a sourcing talent management program
and building a values-based approach to working with suppliers across all categories of the
business” (Starbucks Corporation, n.d.a, para. 1). Bengston also created Starbucks Global Supply
Chain Strategy and Deployment team, in order to reach the company’s goal of digitizing their
supply chain processes (Starbucks Corporation, n.d.a). To ensure that all of their coffee is
ethically sourced, Starbucks abides by what they refer to as Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices,
or for short, C.A.F.E. Practices (Starbucks Corporation, 2020). All potential suppliers must meet
the C.A.F.E. Practices criteria before they can become an official coffee supplier. The four areas
of criteria include economic transparency, social responsibility, environmental leadership, and
quality (Starbucks Corporation, 2020). Once it has been determined that a supplier meets the
C.A.F.E. Practices criteria and the supplier has been approved, Starbucks will continually
evaluate them to ensure long-term supply, high quality, and to help make a positive impact on
farming communities (Starbucks Corporation, 2020).

Human Relations
- Flexibility: What career flexibility is there to care for family? To study?

Starbucks is a very flexible place to work. Partners have the option to change their availability or
request days off anytime they need. As partners accumulate hours worked, they gain vacation
and sick hours, which can also be utilized anytime they need. For family support, Starbucks
offers a plethora of benefits and resources. Family leave is one option that partners have if they
need to take time off for the birth of a new child, caring for a newborn, adoption, foster care, or
caring for a relative with a serious medical condition. Additionally, the health care benefits that
are available to partners can also be used for their children. One of the most unique aspects about
Starbucks is that they offer the Starbucks College Achievement Plan through ASU. This plan has
given me the opportunity to get an education, while still being able to work and provide for
myself. I am able to get most of my work done after my morning shifts or on my days off, so
there is definitely flexibility to study.

- Succession Planning, Promotions, and Job Rotation: What are the processes for changes
in responsibility? Who makes decisions? How are coworkers supported in preparing for
change in responsibility?

At the store level, the store manager is responsible for handling succession planning, promotions
and job rotation. Succession planning takes place in the form of a Partner Development Plan.
This is where the manager sits down with each partner individually, and discusses the goals and
plans that they have for themselves while working for the company. If a partner is interested in
being promoted, they can express that to their manager during their PDP meeting, and the
manager will help them devise a plan and strategy for getting there. The most common
promotion seen at the store-level is going from a barista to a shift supervisor. In preparation for
changes in responsibility, partners are supported by their manager and shift supervisors. Should
they have any issues with newly promoted supervisors or newly hired managers, they are
encouraged to speak to another supervisor, manager, or district manager about it. If partners need
further support, they can reach out to Partner Resources, whose mission is to “inspire and nurture
partners to unlock their full potential” (Starbucks Corporation, n.d.b).

Daily Life
- Community Building: How is community built among coworkers inside the organization?
How does the organization connect with the external communities it operates in?

Starbucks’ culture thrives on community. Community is built inside the organization through the
sharing of values and goals. Everyone is working together to achieve the same mission: inspiring
and nurturing the human spirit. One of the most prominent community initiatives that they have
is the Starbucks Foundation. This foundation provides neighborhood grants and disaster response
to local communities in need (Starbucks Corporation, n.d.c). Additionally, Starbucks offers
partners easy access to participating in community service. All they have to do is log in to their
Starbucks account and search for community service opportunities near them. Starbucks aims for
their partners to engage local communities and celebrate local events and projects (Starbucks
Coffee Company, n.d.).

- Internal Communication: Who gets access to what information? How does information
flow from the top to the frontline? From the frontline to the top? Horizontally across
groups?

All partners have access to the Partner Hub, which is a website that can be accessed from work
or from home. The Partner Hub includes a plethora of resources and information regarding many
different topics such as benefits, social impact, your career journey, and the company in general.
The Partner Hub is one way that information travels from the top to the frontline. Another way
this takes place is through what Starbucks calls the Weekly Update. Each week, stores receive
the Weekly Update and each partner is required to read through it and sign their initials to verify
that they have assimilated the information. The Weekly Update includes information regarding
changes that are being made that will affect the way partners do their job. For example, when
prices change, new items become available, or items are being discontinued partners are
informed through the Weekly Update. Information flows from the frontline to the top through a
much more complicated process. Partners would have to speak with their manager or district
manager, who would then communicate with regional or district managers should they feel that
the issue is important enough to do so. Communication takes place horizontally across districts.
Each Starbucks store is part of a district that includes the other stores within the area. Stores can
communicate with each other if they need extra stock of something, or if they need help getting
shifts covered. Each store in the district has access to the drive-thru times of the other stores
within their district, meaning that stores can leverage how well they are doing by comparing their
time to the others. Additionally, if a store is struggling to achieve low drive-thru times, they can
reach out to another store that is performing well, and gain some information on how and where
they can make changes to improve.

References:
Starbucks Coffee Company. (n.d.). Community service: One neighborhood at a time.
https://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/community/community-service
Starbucks Corporation. (2020, February 28). C.A.F.E. practices: Starbucks approach to ethically
sourcing coffee. Starbucks stories and news. https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2020/cafe-
practices-starbucks-approach-to-ethically-sourcing-coffee/
Starbucks Corporation. (2021, April 27). 2020 report: Planet. Starbucks stories and news.
https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2021/gesi-report-2020-planet/
Starbucks Corporation. (n.d.a). Executive team: Kelly Bengston. Starbucks stories and news.
https://stories.starbucks.com/leadership/kelly-bengston/
Starbucks Corporation. (n.d.b). Partner resources. Partner hub.
https://departments.starbucks.com/sites/pce/Pages/PCE.aspx
Starbucks Corporation. (n.d.c). The Starbucks foundation. Starbucks stories and news.
https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/the-starbucks-foundation/