Motivational Strategies at Starbucks - Term Paper Example

Starbucks Corporation is a coffee company besides being a coffeehouse chain geographically situated in America. It was initially founded in the year 1971 in Seattle, Washington and as of November 2016, it has extended branches and thus operates in 23,768 locations worldwide. Having been considered as a significant representative of second wave coffee, Starbucks mainly distinguish itself from different venues serving coffee in the United States by taste, customer experience and, most significantly taste. While other coffee serving venues target quality minded coffee drinkers with handmade coffee, Starbucks on the other hand use automated machines and, as thus, enhancing safety and efficiency. The Starbucks became more profitable in the 1980s despite its initial economic degradation and therefore led to its expansion in the British Columbia and the Midwest in the late 1980s (Schultz & Gordon, 2011). The company, further, experienced reenergized profits with its initialization in California. Research by Schultz and Gordon states that the Starbucks opened averagely two new locations daily between 1987 and 2007, (2011).

The Starbucks has a well-perceived job motivation strategy that enables the company to be positively highlighted (Schultz & Gordon, 2011). It has, therefore, achieved success throughout history not because it offers quality products and services but as a result of the ambiance atmosphere of teamwork effectiveness and cooperation. Equally, Starbucks has always practiced three essential things. They include motivation of employees, proper communication, excellent relationships and continued teamwork. This has, therefore, enabled Starbucks continued accomplishments of its goals. Moreover, Starbucks promotes shared goals understanding as well as supporting task relevance understanding. Also, it manages good relationships between its managers and employers, ensures equal treatment of employees, Favorable welfare measures and, more so, allows equality in opinion giving by both employers and employees.

Starbucks management remains committed to particular aspects to empower its employees (Schultz & Gordon, 2011). These points include: competency development, task delegation, information sharing, and, most importantly reward giving. Starbucks has actively changed the viewpoints of global coffee consumers, a fact that has caught the world attention. This has, therefore, been achievable through teamwork and employees motivation playing as the critical factors of the companys policy contrary to the elements of traditional management which only lays focus on the production and ignores the employees idea.

Influencing and Communication

At the heart of an organizations effort to develop a startup culture is ensuring an effective barrier less communication (Certo & Trevis, 2016). To achieve this, employees are assigned work to a smaller team to provide ease in connection. Moreover, they organize for weekly meetings to discuss new ideas at the company. Open communication is an excellent means of improving employees' innovation and commitment. Influencing is the appropriate guiding of an organizations members activities in the desired directions which lead to the attainment of the management's objectives. Influencing, therefore, focuses on organization members and deals with issues such as the development of excellent working relationships, arbitration of conflicts and most importantly the morale towards achieving. Therefore, it is an important constituent of a manager's job; as a matter of fact, the potential to influence others is a core determinant of a successful manager. The influencing process involves the implementation of various management activities including leading, communicating, encouraging creativity and innovation as well as establishing a corporate culture (Certo & Trevis, 2016). These various activities are interrelated to each other as each is accomplished solely through communication with the organization members. For instance, managers can select the kind of leader members that they need after analyzing the characteristics of the different group and again determine the best strategies to motive them. Moreover, despite the leadership ways they adopt, their working with groups, their leading and they're motivating, for instance, will only be accomplished through communication with the organization members. This thus makes the ability of communication to be the basic management skill. Influence is not tied to managers' positions in an organization. Preferably, the employees are the most influential people in a group. Managers build on influence and prepare employees to take instrumental roles such like assisting their coworkers in adapting to change.

Communication on the other hand is the process through which organizational information transfer is enabled in a company. Research by Certo and Trevis states that communication is also an ordinary management skill and is mostly perceived to be the most responsible skill contributing to a manager's success (2016). Communication ways of managers often involve interpersonal communication which is the sharing of information with other members. For a manager to be a successful interpersonal communicator, he must understand how the interpersonal communication performs, the significance of both nonverbal and verbal interpersonal communication and finally, the relationship exhibited between interpersonal communication and the feedback. With good communication skills as well as excellent interpersonal communication in the Starbucks, the workers keep one another accountable. Moreover, it helps its employee to know what is expected of them is. This, thus, assists in improving accountability which in turn yields high produce in Starbucks.

MOTIVATION

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Every individual is capable of moving up the rank towards achieving a specific recognizable level of self-actualization (Seeley, 1988). However, this progress is mostly prevented by failure to satisfy lower level needs. Maslows hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory that comprises of a model of human needs mostly portrayed as ranking levels within a pyramid. It is affirmed that motivation of people is essential for the achievement of individual requirements and that some particular needs take preference over others (Seeley, 1988). This theory further expounds on the need to satisfy lower deficient needs before meeting high-level growth needs initially.

Starbucks and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow constructed a hierarchy of needs consisting of five levels outlining the requirements of a person working within a company. The lowest level entails psychological needs needed by every employer and includes water, food, pay and job security. Starbucks successfully fulfills this level successfully by offering steady pay rate as well as issuing employees with breaks so as satisfy the hunger need (Schultz & Gordon, 2011). Moreover, the company also offers discounts on the products it provides to its employees. The second level in the Maslows hierarchy is safety needs, which ensures safe employees working environment in regards to both safety and health. Starbucks also fulfill this stage by offering safe and clean environments.This is exhibited via the organizations meeting safety standards and general health. Additionally, Starbucks offers a variety of health-related benefits to its employees including dental and vision care, life insurance, dependency and most importantly medical insurance.

Maslows third hierarchical level outlines the social needs such as respect among employers and employees, affection extended by employers toward employees. Regarding this, Starbucks employees are treated with respect. This is exhibited by the way the employees are addressed regarding job title partners rather than labeling them as workers by the managerial. Esteem needs such as promotion and job status are exhibited in the fourth level. Starbuck keenly follows this by promotions to baristas presenting outright performances in the organization (Schultz & Gordon, 2011). Starbucks solely strives to offer support to individual worker to move from being baristas to being store managers and eventually assume more prominent positions and roles in the company. Besides the barista position appearing simple, the Starbucks do not limit employees regarding promotion and capabilities. Finally, the last top hierarchical level outlines self-actualization on an individual job role whereby an individual attains a sense of achievement within their job title. Starbucks, therefore, puts its employees through training systems thus enhancing their choice of career and enables them to meet particular results.

Maslows system, as a fact, is hierarchical that initially focuses on satisfying lower needs before the motivation affects the higher level needs. Nonetheless, with personal developments exhibited by an individual potential, the need for self-actualization can never be fully satisfied. Thus, the motivating process through the requirements is endless. This, consequently, encourages the continued motivational process by the Starbucks which continues to uplift its status besides that of its employees.

McClellands Acquired Needs Theory

The McClellands theory lays focus on power, affiliation and achievement and how it affects individuals from a managerial view (French & Torres, 2010). An individuals effectiveness and motivation in a specific job is strongly influenced by these three needs. Regarding achievement, people with high demands for achievement seek to prosper and therefore avoid both high risk and low-risk situations. On the other hand, achievers avert low-risk circumstances and thus ventures into high-risk projects as the view the outcome of these projects to be one of chance instead of ones effort (French & Torres, 2010). Individual with high needs for affiliation focus on mending harmonious relationships with others, They, therefore, incline to suit or instead fit in their work group and, as thus, opt for work that enhances personal interaction. On the other hand, people in high need for power are often viewed to be undesirable for they always express the want to direct other people.

McClellands Acquired Needs Theory and Starbucks

The need for achievement is addressed by the Starbucks via exclusively intense training, and the stock options use to connect its employees and the organizational success. On the contrary, Starbucks addresses the need for affiliation by working through life and work programs that links employees with shared hobbies and interest and the need for power via the numerous partner relation programs. The social relationships exhibited between the Starbucks and its employees are based on the unique demands and the substantial private contributions of the partners (Schultz & Gordon, 2011). The organization demands perfect performance from its employees besides a positive despondence to humanistic values as well as a grand excellence vision. This, in turn, compels the companys pursuit of persistent growth and profitability. On the other hand, the Starbucks provides a beautiful working environment, respect, and dignity to its employees. The employees, often referred to as the partners, on the contrary, demand satisfaction of their needs via the organization's motivational program. The partners, in turn, offer their exceptional knowledge, skills, loyalty and customer service (French & Torres, 2010). This enhances performance by increased productivity which, as thus, leads to transcending profitability thus enabling Starbucks to maintain its status and popularity.

Theory X and Theory Y

Theory X and theory Y are two differing theories, regarding the Starbucks t...