Starbucks Continuing Case
Continuing Case Starbucks
#3
Regional and Functional Departmentalization:
Starbucks uses geographical departmentalization to arrange their organizational structure. (See diagram below). Geographical organization is an effective way to keep the company running smoothly and connected to the leaders’ vision and strategic direction as “Starbucks continues its global expansion and pursues innovative strategic initiatives.” (Page 358 Paragraph 1 Management ninth edition. Robbins Coulter Langton). Since Starbucks is an International Corporation, geographical departmentalization creates an impression of individual entities; each Starbucks location running as one unit, and as smaller teams within that unit, depending on the country/region/city where each store/office is location. The chain of command extends from Starbucks top leaders, Howard Schultz and Jim Donald. Under the leaders are the presidents of each ‘location’, and under them are the vice-presidents, and so on. Senior vice-president positions include vice-president of finance, vice-president of coffee and global procurement, and vice-president of corporate social responsibility. It is then broken down into zone offices where a manager oversees regional operations of 8-10 stores. These offices are also broken down into areas such as accounting, finance, information technology, sales and supply management. Finally, each store has a manager, assistant manager and employees.
Work Specialization – Jobs at Starbucks are specialized, especially at the retail level. For example, some stores also operate with a drive thru window. At any given time there will four employees working to operate the drive thru window: one to take orders, one to handle cash, one to make coffee, and another to help where needed most. Management and other positions are broken down into categories such as “finance” and “corporate social responsibility”.
Chain of command – At Starbucks, there are clear lines of chain of command from the
#3
Regional and Functional Departmentalization:
Starbucks uses geographical departmentalization to arrange their organizational structure. (See diagram below). Geographical organization is an effective way to keep the company running smoothly and connected to the leaders’ vision and strategic direction as “Starbucks continues its global expansion and pursues innovative strategic initiatives.” (Page 358 Paragraph 1 Management ninth edition. Robbins Coulter Langton). Since Starbucks is an International Corporation, geographical departmentalization creates an impression of individual entities; each Starbucks location running as one unit, and as smaller teams within that unit, depending on the country/region/city where each store/office is location. The chain of command extends from Starbucks top leaders, Howard Schultz and Jim Donald. Under the leaders are the presidents of each ‘location’, and under them are the vice-presidents, and so on. Senior vice-president positions include vice-president of finance, vice-president of coffee and global procurement, and vice-president of corporate social responsibility. It is then broken down into zone offices where a manager oversees regional operations of 8-10 stores. These offices are also broken down into areas such as accounting, finance, information technology, sales and supply management. Finally, each store has a manager, assistant manager and employees.
Work Specialization – Jobs at Starbucks are specialized, especially at the retail level. For example, some stores also operate with a drive thru window. At any given time there will four employees working to operate the drive thru window: one to take orders, one to handle cash, one to make coffee, and another to help where needed most. Management and other positions are broken down into categories such as “finance” and “corporate social responsibility”.
Chain of command – At Starbucks, there are clear lines of chain of command from the