Can someone help me to answer this question as I need the details as follows: competitator analysis of starbuck coporation:The new s curve

1.future objective

2.currently competing

3.capabilities

4.response

6223 CASE 17 Starbucks Corporation: The New S-Curves Case 17: Stabucks Corporation: The New S-Curves C225 While clearly working to boost same-store sales by Tea increasing its offerings, Starbucks maintained focus on Starbucks made its first major move into branded tea in its core morning crowd, so as not to cede market share 1999, when it acquired the Tazo brand of bagged tea to to other quick-service chains such as McDonald's and be sold in Starbucks stores as well as through grocery Burger King, which were striving to increase breakfastBurger King, which were striving to increase breakfast- hour sales. In March 2014, Starbucks launched four new and Tazo-branded single-serve products, but it wasn't and improved breakfast sandwiches: ham and swiss on until 2012 that the company made another major move a croissant; spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and cheese into the estimated sgo billion tea industry, and this one on ciabatta; egg and cheddar on toast; and a lower- was meant to be a game changer. In its biggest acquision ciabatta; egg and cheddar on toast; and a lower- was meant to be a game changer. In its biggest acquisi- calorie egg white, bacon, and cheese on an English tion to date, Starbucks paid a whopping s620 million in muffin. To industry analysts, the improved low-calorie cash for Teavana Holdings, Inc., a purveyor of high-end breakfast sandwich was a direct response to McDonald's loose-leaf teas and tea-making products that had 300 recently launched Egg. White Delight McMuffin.? shopping mall locations. The company said it planned to recently launched Egg White Delight McMuffin. Starbucks planned to test similar upgrades to caf lunch sandwichesduringthesummerof2014."developstand-aloneneighborhoodteashopswithretailexpandTeavanasmall-basedshopsworldwideaswellas Shortly after the La Boulange rollout, Starbucks components, tea bars, and food menus. Schultz said: again proved its commitment and responsiveness to its "We believe the tea category is ripe for reinvention and core customer base when, after numerous complaints, it "rapid growth. The Teavana acquisition now positions us brought back the popular pumpkin and lemon loaves to disrupt and lead, just as we did with espresso starting that had been pushed out by the new La Boulange menu. Another wrinkle of the rollout-long lines and wait Schultz also explained that in much the same way times-appeared more ominous, however. Many observ. that the company's Seattle's Best Coffee brand proers thought the delay was due to the new requirement of vided a lower price counterpoint to the higher-end having the baristas heat the baked goods before serving, Starbucks brand as a means of expanding the compahavingthebaristasheatthebakedgoodsbeforeserving,butitmayhavebeenthecoincidentalimplementationnyscustomerbase,togetherwiththeTazobrand,theStarbucksbrandasameansofexpandingthecompa- of a new cost-cutting store management process that Teavana acquisition would enable a two-tier approach was to blame. The process, called Playbook, was based to the immense and rapidly growing tea category. While on Lean assembly-line production practices designed Tazo would continue its pursuit of the less expensive to maximize efficiency and speed, and it required store bagged-tea market in grocery stores, Teavana would tomaximizeefficiencyandspeed,anditrequiredstoreemployeestomaintainrigidschedulesandstayonsin-battractcustomersofpremiumloose-leaftea,." gular tasks. For example, a store employee might be ther proof of its dual strategy and commitment to both tasked with cleaning tables at specific times, thus affect- ing the employee's flexibility to help on the second regis- in January 2014, Starbucks launched three new organic Tazo teas-Organic Earl Grey Blanc, Organic ing the employee's flexibility to help on the second regis- ter during rush times. Many baristas complained on the Tazo teas-Organic Earl Grey Blanc, Organic Earl Grey Noir, and Organic Sultry Strawberry-for sale Internet that Playbook prevented customer engagement, exclusively at Whole Foods. destroyed employee morale, and actually compromised In 2013. Starbucks unveiled its design concept for the and delayed service, new stand-alone Teavana shops in two stores, includin2010,whencustomerbacklashregardingStarbuckssCityandoneinSeattle.ThecompanysaiditwouldalsoingaflagshipTeavanaFineTeas+TeaBarinNewYork more mechanical, posttransformation focus on oper- debut Teavana-branded teas at Starbucks stores in 2014. ational excellence first started. The Wall Street Journal To further illustrate his commitment and confidence reported that in an attempt to bring back the perception in Starbucks's tea strategy, Schultz welcomed a surprise of an artisanal coffee shop, corporate headquarters was guest at the end of the company's 2014 annual shareholdtelling baristas to actually slow down their drink-making ers meeting-celebrity talk-show host and philanthropace by preparing no more than two drinks at a time and pist Oprah Winfrey, who announced her endorsement steaming milk separately for each drink, which further of Teavana. Winfrey and Starbucks had collaborated exacerbated delays." The question remained whether these hiccups in debuted at Starbucks and Teavana stores later that spring, the company's new system to support its growth strat- In another dose of goodwill for the Starbucks brand, egy would prove to be temporary growing pains or early indications of more systemic future problems. Winfrey announced that her proceeds would be donated to three youth-education charities she supported. Never before had Winfrey agreed to endorse a com- than one-third of its U.S. company-operated locations. mercial product in this manner, although sheid been The company planned to debut more regionally derived pursued relentlessly for years. She told Starbucks share- flavors of Fizzio in locations in Singapore, Korea, and holders it was because both tea and Starbucks "nurture Several Chinese cities as the 2014 summer progressed." the human spirit" that she took the plunge. Undoubtedly, it also helped that Winfrey and Schultz had become good friends since he had appeared on Winfrey's "Super Keeping Up with Coffee and the Soul Sunday" show to discuss, in part, his social agenda for Starbucks. During the spring and summer of 2014 , the com- In addition to attacking all the new strategies to expand product and menu offerings during this period, panyexpandeditsTeavana-brandedofferingswithnewshakenicedteasandnewchaiflavorsatStarbucksstoresandtheopeningofanewTeavanaFineTeas+TeaBarlocationwithnewmenuitemsinLosAngeles.StarbucksEveningsIn2010,Starbucksbegananexperimenttoofferbeerandexpandproductandmenuofferingsduringthisperiod,strivedtoattractmorecustomersandchangingtastes,In2012,StarbucksintroducedBlondeRoasttoappealtotheestimated40%ofU.S.consumerswhopreferredalighterroast,manyofwhomhadcriticizedStarbucksforitstraditionallydarkerroastsbyreferringtoitas"Charbucks." wine after 4:00p.m. in one nonbranded Seattle location. "Charbucks," By the end of 2013, the company had expanded the proj- lion energy-drink market and the base of consumers ect into a branded program called Starbucks Evenings who preferred a cold, fruity jolt to a warm coffee buzz in other cities such as Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, by launching Starbucks Refreshers in two flavor: Cool Portland, other Seattle areas, and in the terminals at Lime and Very Berry Hibiscus. The drinks derived the Los Angeles and Washington Dulles International their "energy" (i.e., caffeine) from flavorless green coffee Airports. The company added the savory and sweet eve- extract made from unroasted beans. Julie Felss Masino, aroniandcheesetoaccompanythealcoholicbeverages,which,bytheendofFY2013.weresoldin23selectstores.usedincosmeticsandpharmaceuticals,amountedtoa With the help of a certified sommelier added to the "breakthrough innovation" for Starbucks." ranks at Starbucks headquarters, the company devised Inadditiontohanderaftedv ranks at Starbucks headquarters, the company devised individual wine and beer lists for the Starbucks Evenings ice in Starbucks stores, the company began marketing indifferentregions.ManyindustryanalystsannouncedtheirskepticismRefreshersinaready-to-makepowderedform(along.sideitsStarbucksVIAReadyBrewinstantcoffeebrand) ManyindustryanalystsannouncedtheirskepticismaboutthepotentialsuccessoftheStarbucksEveningsasacarbonatedversionincansinthreenewflavors:sideitsStarbucksVIAReadyBrewinstantcoffeebrand) concept, citing the complex web of differing state and Strawberry Lemonade, Raspberry Pomegranate, and trast to the company's other aggressive steps to expand also added more seasonal coffee beverages, expanded its food and drink offerings, however, Starbucks's strat- egy on this front remained relatively limited. Although line of its signature Macchiato to include a vanilla version(tojointheoriginalcaramelandrecently egy on this front remained relatively limited. Although Starbucks stated that additional stores would offer hazelnut versions), and in 2010 started its Starbucks Starbucks Evenings "soon," the company also announced that it had no plans to add the adult beverages and that it had no plans to add the adult beverages and evening menu beyond a "small selection of stores" 4 Carbonatedbeveragestionsin25U.S.marketsand10internationalmarketsacquiredin2008.Approximately500coffeehouseloca- During the summer of 2013, Starbucks began testing its offered the Clover brewing system technology in 2013." own carbonated, handcrafted, caffeine-free cold beverage The company announced plans to double its Clover locacalled Fizzio, in select U.S. and Chinese markets. Based tions by the end of 2014 and to introduce 14 different on the success of the experiment, Starbucks planned reserve coffees per year to its growing base of customers to roll out three flavors of Fizzio-Golden Ginger Ale, interested in unique, personalized coffee options." The Spiced Root Beer, and Lemon Ale-in June 2014 in more company also planned to continue innovating with the Clover system as part of its Internet-of-Things strategy in revenue. For financial reporting purposes, the brand by developing a process for keeping track of customers' was included along with 'Teavana. Evolution Fresh, and preferences and settings. Additional investments to its core coffee business pany's 2013 annual report. As a group, the segment genduring this time included developing support centers erated $393.7 million, a 185 million increase over the for coffee farmers in Manizales, Columbia, and Yunnan, previous year, which the company attributed to increChina, in 2012, and a new coffee-farming research and mental revenues from the Teavana acquisition during Q2 development center in Costa Rica. of that year. Starbucks's continued commitment to growing Seattle's Best Coffee the business was illustrated during Q2 FY2O14, when Another chapter in the Starbucks posttransformation it announced new Seattle's Best Coffee's "house" and whichthecompanyhadacquiredin2003andthenessen-tiallyignoredwhiletheformerrivalremainedinapprox-duedcolorsofitsoldpackaging.Inaninterviewwith imately 500 now-defunct Borders bookstores. Leading Bloomberg. Jennifer Dimaris, the vice president of the charge on a new branding strategy was Michelle Gass, brand management for Seattle's Best Coffee, explained a veteran of the company who had been Schultz's chief that the new varieties were replacing the previous varistrategist during the transformation agenda and had had eties (labeled "one" and "two") because the lighter roasts, major success both with marketing the Frappuccino in number-ranking system, and neon packaging weren't 1996andintroducingtheStarbucks.VIAReadyBrewinstantcoffeein2009.AfterturningwhatwasonceataboopracticeinStarbuckscircles(instantcoffee)into$100millioninsaleswithin10monthsofVIAsnationallaunch,GasssaidthatSchultzcalledherintohisofficeandstated,"Iwantyoutoturn[SeattlesBest]intoas1billionbusiness.Youcandowhateveryouwant."AspresidentofSeattlesBest,Gasssapproachwastotakethebrandtomarketthroughpartnershipswithresonatingenoughwithallcustomers."DimarisalsoexplainedthattheselatestpushesintothegroceryaislesforSeattlesBestCoffeewerepartofthecompanys"investingheavily"inthesupermarketandretailstoresideofthebusiness."Thesamewastruefornearlyallthenewproductspreviouslydescribed.YetStarbucksmaintainedafocusonshoringupitscoreretailcoffeeshoppresenceandcustomerexperience,aswellonexpandingitsstorefrontsinternationally. Delta, Subway, Burger King, Royal Caribbean cruise line, AMC Theaters, Rubi Coffee Kiosks, and numerous other hotels, restaurants, airlines, convenience shops, college Store Improvement, Development, campuses, and grocery stores. Within a year, the brand expandedfrom3,00odistributionpointstomorethan50,000.StarbucksdecreasedtheSeattlesBestCoffeepackagedlinetofivecoreofferingsandrevampedthepackagingwithnew,brightercolorstoreplacethebrownbags.Starbucksearlier,destructivegrowthstrategyaimedatglobaldominationwasanattempttocommoditizethepremiumcoffeeshop-tocombineubiquitywithhigher-quality,pricierproductofferings.Asthecompanydra-matic,pretransformationgrowthimplosionshowed,that bags. Although Starbucks never publicly admitted that pretransformation growth implosion showed, that plan proved too elusive. By 2013, the company still aimed reinvigorating the Seattle's Best Coffee brand at its lower to be "the leading retailer and brand of coffee" in its tarprice point and partnering with fast-casual retailers such get markets but this time in a "disciplined manner by asBurgerKingwasadirectcountertoMcDonaldsroll-outofitsMcCafebrandofcoffeedrinksthepreviousmarkets,aswellasincreasingsalesinexistingstores"isBy outofitsMcCafebrandofcoffeedrinksthepreviousyear,itseemedtoothersthatStarbucksnewestcoffeemarkets,aswellasincreasingsalesinexistingstores"-1,Bymid-2014,thecompanyhadexpandedto20,000storesin rival was at least part of the story." 64 countries and was serving more than 70 million cusAfter barely two years, the Seattle's Best Coffee trans- tomers per week," and yet the company claimed that by formation was deemed, by the company at least, to be still only accounting for a small share of the total "global a success, and Schultz again reassigned Gass to rescue coffee occasions," it remained "significantly under-stored" a success, and Schultz again reassigned Gass to rescue coffee occasions," it remained "significantly under-stored" another business line - the company's EMEA (Europe, and ripe for expansion in several markets, including the Middle East, and Africa) business division head. North America, China, Brazil, and India., quartered in London; however, by the end of FY2013. As evidence that the company had further honed its the Seattle's Best Coffee brand had not reached s1 billion best-in-class store development and construction expertise, e-commerce and less foot traffic in brick-and-mortar the loyalty program even stickier. During the zot3 holretail shops during the 2013 holiday season. During the iday season alone, 1.5 million new members registered company's earnings call for that quarter, Schultz said: their Starbucks gift cards and joined the My Starbucks "No longer are many retailers only required to compete Rewards loyalty program for the first time." The mobile with stores on the other side of the street. They are now application also provided a direct marketing link to required to compete with stores on the other side of the customers. In 2014, analysts predicted that the mobile Experience, robust My Starbucks Rewards loyalty pro- new source of both growth and operational excellence. gram, and ongoing digital investments would offset During the transformation, Schultz had given technolexpected ongoing losses in traditional retail traffic, ogy a seat at the executives' table for the first time when One of those investments was a new partnership he hired former CNET VP of IT Stephen Gillett to the with Google in 2013 to increase the speed of the Wi-Fi position of CIO, reporting directly to him on the senior offered in Starbucks cafes to 10 times faster than the pre- leadership team. Prior to the transformation, the CIO viousservicepoweredbyAT&T.Inannouncingpl roll out the new Google service in all of its U.S. locations said he was intimidated by the level of responsibility over the next 18 months, Starbucks's chief digital officer and knew nothing about retail, but "[I]t was an exciting (CDO). Adam Brotman, said, "Were moving to much time in that Howard gave us a lot of leeway to reinvent more of a streaming world across all media types." turing the Starbucks Digital Network (a page of original news and entertainment content to which users were directed when accessing the Wi-Fi at Starbucks); devel- We replaced the point-of-sale system in our stores, a fairly oping a social media engagement platform; and building routine thing that a retailer would do. After spending a bunch of the vime videotaping and talking to partners, we theMyStarbucksloyaltyprogramsglobally.Thegrouplaunchedthemobilepaymentapplicationbunchoftimevideotapingandtalkingtopartncrs,wemadeacoupleofchangestothepoint-of-salesystemto in the United States in 2011. Then in 2012, Starbucks make it easier to ring transactions and decrease the time entered into a partnership agreement with mobile pay. it takes to do an electronic transaction. We were able to ments start-up Square to cover all the company's U.S. mobile payment, credit card, or debit card transaction. debit and credit card transactions. The agreement also Starbucks customers the option to use Square's That ended up saving us goo,000 hours of line time a mobile app, which through GPS technology allowed a year.t customer to pay simply by saying his or her name. By It was also in March 2012 that Schulz promoted the end of FY2013, Starbucks was processing 4 million Brotman to the newly created post of CDO, putting mobile transactions per week, for a total of 14% of all Starbucks on the forefront of companies investing in a U.S. store sales." Rather than offering a mere conve- top digital position. The company again illustrated its nience for customers, Brotman said the purpose of the focus on the growth potential of its Digital Ventures nience for customers, Brotman said the purpose of the focus on the growth potential of its Digital Ventures app was to "enhanclel the experience and the relation- business when it announced another organizational appwasto"enhanc[e]theexperienceandtherelation-businesswhenitannouncedanotherorganizationalshipwiththecustomer."+TheapplicationalsoenabledshiftduringQ22014.CFOTroyAlsteadwaspromoted Starbucks to leverage its customer loyalty program by to the newly created position of COO to take over offering discounts, coupons, and an easy way for cus- day-to-day operations management from CEO Schultz, tomers to reload their My Starbucks cards and rack up which, the company explained, freed up Schultz to work additional digital rewards called Stars, all of which made more closely with Brotman and Chief Security Officer e-commerce and less foot traffic in brick-and-mortar the loyalty program even stickier. During the zot3 holretail shops during the 2013 holiday season. During the iday season alone, 1.5 million new members registered company's earnings call for that quarter, Schultz said: their Starbucks gift cards and joined the My Starbucks "No longer are many retailers only required to compete Rewards loyalty program for the first time." The mobile with stores on the other side of the street. They are now application also provided a direct marketing link to required to compete with stores on the other side of the customers. In 2014, analysts predicted that the mobile Experience, robust My Starbucks Rewards loyalty pro- new source of both growth and operational excellence. gram, and ongoing digital investments would offset During the transformation, Schultz had given technolexpected ongoing losses in traditional retail traffic, ogy a seat at the executives' table for the first time when One of those investments was a new partnership he hired former CNET VP of IT Stephen Gillett to the with Google in 2013 to increase the speed of the Wi-Fi position of CIO, reporting directly to him on the senior offered in Starbucks cafes to 10 times faster than the pre- leadership team. Prior to the transformation, the CIO viousservicepoweredbyAT&T.Inannouncingpl roll out the new Google service in all of its U.S. locations said he was intimidated by the level of responsibility over the next 18 months, Starbucks's chief digital officer and knew nothing about retail, but "[I]t was an exciting (CDO). Adam Brotman, said, "Were moving to much time in that Howard gave us a lot of leeway to reinvent more of a streaming world across all media types." turing the Starbucks Digital Network (a page of original news and entertainment content to which users were directed when accessing the Wi-Fi at Starbucks); devel- We replaced the point-of-sale system in our stores, a fairly oping a social media engagement platform; and building routine thing that a retailer would do. After spending a bunch of the vime videotaping and talking to partners, we theMyStarbucksloyaltyprogramsglobally.Thegrouplaunchedthemobilepaymentapplicationbunchoftimevideotapingandtalkingtopartncrs,wemadeacoupleofchangestothepoint-of-salesystemto in the United States in 2011. Then in 2012, Starbucks make it easier to ring transactions and decrease the time entered into a partnership agreement with mobile pay. it takes to do an electronic transaction. We were able to ments start-up Square to cover all the company's U.S. mobile payment, credit card, or debit card transaction. debit and credit card transactions. The agreement also Starbucks customers the option to use Square's That ended up saving us goo,000 hours of line time a mobile app, which through GPS technology allowed a year.t customer to pay simply by saying his or her name. By It was also in March 2012 that Schulz promoted the end of FY2013, Starbucks was processing 4 million Brotman to the newly created post of CDO, putting mobile transactions per week, for a total of 14% of all Starbucks on the forefront of companies investing in a U.S. store sales." Rather than offering a mere conve- top digital position. The company again illustrated its nience for customers, Brotman said the purpose of the focus on the growth potential of its Digital Ventures nience for customers, Brotman said the purpose of the focus on the growth potential of its Digital Ventures app was to "enhanclel the experience and the relation- business when it announced another organizational appwasto"enhanc[e]theexperienceandtherelation-businesswhenitannouncedanotherorganizationalshipwiththecustomer."+TheapplicationalsoenabledshiftduringQ22014.CFOTroyAlsteadwaspromoted Starbucks to leverage its customer loyalty program by to the newly created position of COO to take over offering discounts, coupons, and an easy way for cus- day-to-day operations management from CEO Schultz, tomers to reload their My Starbucks cards and rack up which, the company explained, freed up Schultz to work additional digital rewards called Stars, all of which made more closely with Brotman and Chief Security Officer Part 4: Case Studies giant into a diverse consumer packaged goods (CPG) com- with the arbitrator's decision, Schultz stated that ending pany. By the beginning of 2014, Starbucks' CPG business the relationship was the right call at the time: included sales of whole-bean and ground coffees, premium Tazo teas, Starbucks- and Tazo-branded single-serve We are literally in [the] very nascent stages of building a products,ready-to-drinkbeveragessuchasStarbucksRefreshersandEvolutionFreshjuices,EvolutionHarvestsnackbars,andotherbrandedproductssoldworldwidethroughgrocerystores,warehouseclubs,specialtyretailers,conveniencestores,andfoodserviceaccounts.multibillion-dollarglobalconsumerpackagedbusiness...Havinggainedfulloperatingcontrol,wenowhavetheflexibilityandthefreedomtocontrolourowndestinyand,mostimportantly,preserveandenhancetheStarbucks convenience stores, and foodservice accounts. In 2012, this segment, which Starbucks called its It wasn't only packaged coffee that the break with channel development business, experienced a whopping Kraft affected. It was also in 2011 that Starbucks entered 50%netrevenueincrease(dueinparttotakingalldis-tributionactivitiesbackfromKraft)beforelandingatthesingle-servecoffee-podmarketthroughapartnershipwithKeurigGreenMountain(formerlyGreenMountain a more sustainable pace of 10% growth, or $1.4 billion Roasters), which manufactured Keurig K-Cup coffee in revenue in 2013 ( 9% of total company revenue). It is brewing systems for home and commercial use. Keurig important to note that those numbers did not include the was the U.S. leader among systems that with the push of relatively new CPG business from the Evolution Fresh a button forced a high-speed jet of water to pierce a small brand, which Starbucks still accounted for under All coffee capsule and filtered a single-serve cup of coffee Other Segments in its 2013 annual report. A consolidated within zo seconds. As part of the Kraft deal, Starbucks look at the mix of net revenues for all of CPG and other had been limited to producing single-serve coffee segments as a percentage of total revenues and against exclusively for Kraft's much less popular Tassimo system. net revenues from company-operated stores and licensed The Keurig system required a patented K-Cup capstores is provided in Table 2 . According to Schultz: sule for its machines, and the partnership agreement with There hasn't been one company I can identify that has Keurig made Starbucks the producer of the exclusive, been able to bensed super-premium coffee brand used in the K-Cup been able to build complementary channels of distribution by integrating the retail footprint and the ubiquitous chanby integrating the retail footprint and the ubiquitous channelsofdistribution-inourcase,grocerystoresanddrugstores.Sothemodelis,Starbuckscanseedandintroducenewproductsandnewbrandsinsideourstores."Notably,itwasin2013thatStarbucksfinallysettledalegaldisputewithKraftFoodsthatstemmedfromStarbuckss2011terminationofacontractwithKrafttodistrib-uteStarbucksandSeattlesBestCoffee.Inabindinggrowingatarapidpace.Starbuckscontinueditsaggres-sivepursuitofsingle-servethatyearbylaunchingitsownbrandedsystem,theVerisimo,forbrewingnotonlycof-feebutalsoespressodrinksandlattes,Then,in2013,thecompanyexpandedtheKeurigpartnershiptotriplethenumberofStarbucksK-Cupproductsandbrandscov-ered,includingSeattlesBestCoffee,Torrefazioneltalian decision, an arbitrator ordered Starbucks to pay Kraft $2.7 billion in damages, interest, and legal fees for ter- had 15\% of the single-serve market and had agreed to. minating the contract three years prematurely. Although amend the Keurig agreement to terminate its exclusive Starbucks issued a statement saying it fully disagreed position for supplying premium coffee in exchange for better business terms. Case 17: Starbucks Corporation: The New 5 -Curves C233 Loyalty and employee engagement were factors in this Community Service new growth period not only at the top but also throughout the organization. Despite its cost-cutting during the It was also in 2011 that Schultz began taking very public transformation and rising health insurance premiums in stands on political and social issues. He incited a media the wake of the Affordable Care Act (causing many other frenzy by publicly announcing his disgust regarding the public companies to slash employee coverage), Starbucks dysfunction in the U.S. Congress and then working to fix maintained its medical, dental, life, and disability insur- it. In an open letter, Schultz urged fellow CEOs of public maintained its medical, dental, life, and disability insur- ance benefits for eligible full- and part-time (more than an open letter, Schultz urged fellow CEOs of public companies to join him in boycotting all campaign con20 hours per week) employees and continued to give them tributions in order to send a message to politicians who a free pound of coffee per week. Starbucks also kept up its had "chosen to put partisan and ideological purity over Bean Stock program-an employee stock-purchase plan the well-being of the people."7" CEOs from 140 compa- for both full- and part-time employees that Starbucks nies joined the boycott. for both full- and part-time employees that Starbucks nies joined the boycott. started in 1988. Starbucks remained one of the only During the October 2013 federal government shutstarted in 1988. Starbucks remained one of the only retailers to offer a stock program to part-timers. In 2013. down, Starbucks led a nationwide petition through its the company spent $250 million insuring its full- and company-operated U.S. stores and digital channels to part-time employees. That same year, it shared \$234 mil- reopen the government. Within a week, the company lion in pretax stock gains with employees and matched collected nearly 2 million signatures, which Starbucks sgo million in 401(k) contributions."t $50millionin40(k)contributions."OneWallStreetbloggercalledthelevelofsatisfactionemployeespersonallydeliveredtotheU.S.CongressandtheWhiteHouse.Themonthprior,Schultzhad among Starbucks employees the company's "magic bul- sent an open letter to customers asking them to refrain let"thatcontributedtoitssuccessduringthisperiodofrapidgrowth."Thebloggerclaimedthatthecompanysthatyear,SchultztoldanoutspokenshareholderatthefrombringingfirearmsintoStarbucksstores."Earlier rapidgrowth."Thebloggerclaimedthatthecompanysgenerousbenefitsmotivatedemployeestoprovidethe2013annualmeetingthathewasfreetosellhisshares superior customer service that justified Starbucks' higher when the shareholder complained about a dip in the faction was the positive feedback given on the employee launched a "Dump Starbucks" boycott the previous year. rating site Glassdoor.com-a 3.7 out of 5 overall rating In defending the company's support of marriage equality. and an 88% CEO approval rating in Q22014. Shultz responded, "It is not an economic decision. The Perhaps what contributed at least as much as the lens in which we are making that decision is through the generousbenefitsprogramtoemployeesatisfactionandengagementduringthistimewasthefactthatStarbuckshadbecome"cool"again.InFebruary2014,Nitrogramso,awebsitethatcalculatedthetop50brandsonInstagram,listedStarbucksasnumbertwo,thankstoits2,398,226followersand11,345,441comprehensivepostsonhashtag,(i.e.,photosofStarbuckscoffeecups,morninglattes,andcafescenespostedbyInstagramusers),lensofourpeople.Weemployover200,000peopleinthiscompany,andwewanttoembracediversity,"Schultzreceivedhighpraisefromothershareholdersinsidethemeetingroomaswellaslaterinthemediaforhisresponsetothedisgruntledshareholder.Nodoubt,thefactthatStarbucksstockhadearneda38%returnin2012helpedmostinvestorsacceptStarbucksor,moreappropriately,Schultzs-moreaggressivepolitical During its downturn, Starbucks became a poster profile. child for growth run amok-the popular satirical news-_ In addition to the ethical sourcing and environmental paper the Onion once published an article titled "New Starbucks Opens in Rest Room of Existing Starbucks", so thinability initiatives undertaken by Starbucks during this time, the company also used its brand and coffers StarbucksOpensinRestRoomofExistingStarbucks."Now,however,thecompanysmoreartisanalanddisci-thistime,thecompanyalsouseditsbrandandcofferstoaddressthegrowingwealthgap.Starbuckscreateda plined retail footprint, savvy social media presence, and nonprofit funding model called a community store. In declared focus on both high quality and the environ- five such U.S. stores and one in Thailand, a Starbucks mentally sustainable and ethical sourcing of its prod- cafe partnered with a local nonprofit to help revitalize ucts" restored its cachet and earned admiration. Having a struggling neighborhood by providing jobs as well as been absent from everyone's "best" lists for years, in 2014, a source of funding for the nonprofit. Starbucks also been absent from everyone's "best" lists for years, in 2011, a source of funding for the nonprofit. Starbucks also Schultz was named Fortune's Business Person of the Year, helped launch the Create Jobs for U.S.A. program with and Starbucks placed 16then Fortune's list of the Top so the Opportunity Finance Network to provide loans to Most Admired Companies in 2011. By 2013, the company small businesses. Starbucks also pledged to hire 10,000 was 5 th on the list. NOTES