Starbucks Structure
Starbuck’s Structure
MGT 330
Jerry Simpson
August 20, 2012
We all live in a world or businesses and organizations. Our day to day lives are dependent on large public organizations, small businesses, well-known private companies or even voluntary groups. The ways these organizations are structured varies a lot and even in the same business categories companies/organizations differ a lot. initially started in 1971 as a very small structure, run by three partners in a small shop in Seattle. By that time the company then was simply selling whole bean and ground coffee but after taking over the operation of Starbucks in 1987, Schultz decided to expand the company 's business, which has now shops all around the world. In a generic way, it is possible to say that an organizations structure describes the way tasks are divided supervised, and coordinated. The first one is the size and age. A small and young company usually has a very simple structure but complexity and formality increase with size or age. Then we have the core process which must be aligned with structure so as to avoid important disruptions in daily operations. The structure of an organization also has to adapt itself to the environment. While a stable structure might be more easily addressed with an organization with a simple structure, an unstable and turbulent one will be, surely, more suited to an adaptable structure. Strategies and goals stand for others imperatives, structure and process must be both flexible as to adjust themselves to change. As for Starbucks, the best structural configuration for a company of this magnitude would be a divisional structure. This is due to the large size of the company, as well as the multi-market and multi-product offerings of the Starbucks Corporation. Though it must be noted that among the many weaknesses of the divisional structure is the duplication of activities and the potential for counter productive, inter-market competition for
MGT 330
Jerry Simpson
August 20, 2012
We all live in a world or businesses and organizations. Our day to day lives are dependent on large public organizations, small businesses, well-known private companies or even voluntary groups. The ways these organizations are structured varies a lot and even in the same business categories companies/organizations differ a lot. initially started in 1971 as a very small structure, run by three partners in a small shop in Seattle. By that time the company then was simply selling whole bean and ground coffee but after taking over the operation of Starbucks in 1987, Schultz decided to expand the company 's business, which has now shops all around the world. In a generic way, it is possible to say that an organizations structure describes the way tasks are divided supervised, and coordinated. The first one is the size and age. A small and young company usually has a very simple structure but complexity and formality increase with size or age. Then we have the core process which must be aligned with structure so as to avoid important disruptions in daily operations. The structure of an organization also has to adapt itself to the environment. While a stable structure might be more easily addressed with an organization with a simple structure, an unstable and turbulent one will be, surely, more suited to an adaptable structure. Strategies and goals stand for others imperatives, structure and process must be both flexible as to adjust themselves to change. As for Starbucks, the best structural configuration for a company of this magnitude would be a divisional structure. This is due to the large size of the company, as well as the multi-market and multi-product offerings of the Starbucks Corporation. Though it must be noted that among the many weaknesses of the divisional structure is the duplication of activities and the potential for counter productive, inter-market competition for
References: Reilly, M., Minnick, C., & Baack, D. (2011). The five functions of effective management. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education. Starbucks Facts (2008), Company Fact Sheet, Starbucks Coffee, Retrieved from http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/Company_Factsheet.pdf Starbucks Corporation. (2009), International, Retrieved November 6, 2009, from http://www.starbucks.com/default.asp?