Overview:

This report has two parts. The first part is explaining the employees' behaviors, attitudes,
perceptions, motivational levels, etc., and their impact and effect on organizational performance.
This part of the report comprehensively describes the corporate culture of the organization,
employees' perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors, organizational as well as employees' work
performance and effectiveness, the effect of motivation on other factors, critical analysis of
research regarding each of the above factors, etc.

The second part of the report explains the motivational theories, methods of rewards and
evaluation, etc. applied to the organization. The data is gathered from different sources and is
related to the addressed questions as appropriate.

Organization: Starbucks

Introduction (company):

Starbucks is an American company named "Starbucks Corporation". It was founded in 1971 in

Seattle, WA. Starbuck is famous for its product, "Coffee". Premium coffee beans and tasty
coffee are the terms that are associated with the name “Starbucks” when it comes to taste and
quality. Starbucks dominates the industry with a market share of 36.7%.

As we know, the consumption of coffee is a normal routine for a huge number of people all
around the world. Moreover, coffee is diversified into different tastes and forms and is being
named differently e.g. Cappuccinos, Lattes, Frappuccino, Cold coffee, Black coffee, etc. all over
the world. So, Starbucks is considered a premium, well-known, and the best brand for coffee. It
has 30,626 retail store locations as of the third quarter of 2019. Their mission is to nurture the
human spirit and to inspire people with the 'one cup of coffee'. They provide a unique ambiance
and let their customers relax and enjoy their experience at the best rates, taste, and quality
(Kembell, 2002).

The reason for selecting the company was that there were references/easy access to one of the
employees at Starbucks and the general information was also available easily. The brand is well-
known and well-established which results in providing accurate information regarding the
requirements of the report. The data and information were collected through different mediums
but the most appropriate information source, according to us, was YouTube video interviews of
staff of Starbucks, Email interview by one of the employees of Starbucks, and the authentic sites
and research papers describing some strategies and culture of Starbucks.

1. Employees' perception/attitude about the organization and its impact:

Personality, attitudes, perceptions, and self-image are the key psychological explanations of
individual behaviors in the workplace. These factors have an impact on the work
performance of employees and they also define the employees' perceptions regarding the
organization. When an employee of Starbucks was interviewed virtually, about how he
thinks about the organization and how he serves it, he disclosed some facts about the
employee personalities and perceptions at Starbucks.
He said:
"I am a duty/shift manager at Starbucks. In my whole career being an employee at
Starbucks, I observed that employees of Starbucks are the ones with good attitudes and
strong personalities along with confidence in their selves. The employees see the
organization as their homeplace and serve it whole-heartedly. They exhibit a friendly,
positive self-image and open personality, provide their services with proper guidance and
supervisory. They demonstrate a positive attitude towards their supervisors as well as
customers. There is a level of satisfaction in the workplace when it comes to the employees
and their work. All of this positivity in their attitudes and behaviors have a definite positive
impact on their work performance which is increasing day by day”.
Starbucks has a very welcoming environment and it is the one distinctive feature that
customers take notice of. That is all because Starbucks the attitude of the employer toward
employees is so upright. This positive attitude is integrated into employees through training and
leads to implementation through a progressive working environment and exceptional work-life
balance.
2. Management’s perception/attitude regarding employees and resulting rules and
policies:
Starbucks aims to provide a unique and satisfying customer experience and to achieve that
goal, the company has fostered the rules and policies that properly portray their intention of
serving the customers at their best levels and to hire and retain employees that treat people
like their family and are loyal to the organizations (Morris, 1994). The rules and policies by
 the company include different motivational reforms and rewards given to the employees for
their loyalty, honesty, and positive work behaviors. They hire the best, skilled and talented
staff all over the world, give them proper training, and expect the best from them. Moreover,
the employees are encouraged to share their frank opinions and communicate with the
management openly. The interviews of the management on YouTube demonstrated the
positive attitudes towards their employees. Moreover, violation of policies and providing bad
customer service is not tolerable in the company.
3. The corporate culture of the organization the "special employee personality" (if
needed):

The corporate culture of the organization refers to the sum of their beliefs, work ethics,
norms, values, traditions, techniques, rules, and regulations, etc. that can be clearly depicted
and found by the employees of that organization. The corporate culture of Starbucks Coffee
promotes equality, dignity, and respect to the people doesn't matter they are customers or
employees. The main focus of Starbucks in on providing unique and best experience to their
customers. The major requirement for the employee's personality is their inter-personal
skills, involvement, communication skills, their passion and commitment, sense of
respecting others' culture, etc. (Alvesson, 2010). These are the main skills and personality
traits for which the employers of Starbucks are looking for. Starbucks ensures the structure
and culture syncing with each other to reach the maximum productivity levels and they seek
this kind of potential in their employees.

4. Motivational conditions and policies/strategies by the management of the company:

The motivational conditions at the workplace refer to the conditions under which the
managers, as well as employees, are motivated to work. These include interpersonal
competence, the opportunity to work leading a meaningful goal and the existence of
appropriate reward and management systems, etc.

Starbucks is well-known for its motivational impact on the employees (although it lacks
some measures to make it more effective and many people have criticized this fact as well
but still it is much better than many others). 3 to 4 different motivational theories are used by
the company managers for motivating employees as understood through different interviews
of their employees as well as employers on YouTube. Their policies and strategies promote
 their culture of inclusion, harmony, and equality and there are monetary as well as non-
monetary rewards for the employees based on their performance and interpersonal
competence. Some managers follow the monetary reward policies to motivate his/her
employees while some think the employee needs intrinsic and non-monetary rewards and
providing them opportunities to work, for motivation. There is no hard and fast rule to
follow a single policy or strategy.

5. The relation between employee's motivation and employee's performance:

Employee motivation refers to the willingness and eagerness of employees to work. There
are two types of motivations that are: Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Porter and Lawler,
1968). According to Calder and Staw (1975), intrinsic motivation is when the employee
undertakes an activity to fulfill immediate satisfaction. This refers to the phenomenon where
people perform an activity for satisfying and personal willingness (Van Yperen, 2003). It can
include demonstrating certain patterns, thought processes, behaviors, etc. (Steele, 2008).
Whereas extrinsic motivation is totally related to external values and it relates to the fact
when the people satisfy their needs indirectly, mostly through financial compensation
(Osterloh, 2002). Here, money is the goal that provides satisfaction despite that activity. That
external values may include salary, holidays, flexible working conditions, paid leaves, etc.
(Ryan, 2002).

Employee performance refers to the output employees are producing being an employee.
Both are inter-related processes as we know, if the employees are more willing and
motivated to work, they will produce more output or more efficient services. Similarly, if
employees are demotivated to work, they will more likely to be inefficient and less
productive. Intrinsic motivation has a great impact on enjoyment, interests, satisfaction, and
performance levels. Researchers have found a positive impact and the relationship between
intrinsic motivation performance. The same is the case with extrinsic motivation as well. It
means no matter what kind of motivation an employee has, it will positively impact their
performance. Is the duty of a manager is to find out the motivation type of their employees,
because motivating them with wrong motivators can have a negative impact too. Starbucks,
according to the person interviewed, motivates their employees extrinsically as well as
intrinsically. Starbucks creates an environment for the employees that they are not only
 extrinsically motivated for monetary benefits but they also like to work in an environment
that provides them the opportunity to learn and grow with the organization. When employees
know that their efforts are being noticed and they'll pay off one way or another they are more
motivated to work for their individualistic goal as well as organizational goals. This is all
because Starbucks management strives to motivate their employees by satisfying their basic
security, self-esteem, social needs.

6. Analyzing outcomes and performance levels of employees by motivating policies and

practices:

Starbucks values customers a lot and treats them as celebrities. One thing other than the taste
of their product for which Starbucks is famous is its ambiance and its welcoming
environment. As stated earlier employees cannot be so welcoming if they are not happy with
their job or the job does not satisfy their needs. They can provide such top-notch service
because they have such a positive organizational environment. A lot of students around the
globe prefer to work at Starbucks because they can manage their academics, jobs at a time,
and also pay their dues. Starbucks values loyalty and helps employees to become a better
person through different training programs.

Motivation also has an impact on other factors like learning, discipline, job involvement,
OCB, working patterns, etc. When people/employees are motivated, they are more likely to
enjoy learning, work with more discipline, are more involved in jobs, satisfied with work
patterns and workplace environments, etc. they love to contribute, work according to those
policies defined by Starbucks and try to compete for different reward and compensation
criteria. For example, the staff members are rewarded with the number of customers
impressed by their service, the number of customers served, fruitful suggestions suggested
by them and similar. So, the employees, due to their loyalty and satisfaction, are willing to
compete and fulfill the criteria of every achievement related to their job. Starbucks
understands that its employees are the most important and driving factor of the company, so
it gives them quality health packages and benefits. So, the policies and practices of
Starbucks are themselves the source of employee motivation and outclass performance.
7. Strengths/weaknesses of management policies and their impact on employee
performance:
 Strengths:
 Starbucks values its employees as they value their customers.
 There are quality health benefits and compensation policies for their employees.
 A flexible work environment is provided to them.
 They are delegated to make some decisions like replacing the order (coffee) or giving
the customer a cookie etc. despite whatever position they own in the company.
 The wage rates are very suitable for the employees and are standard.
 Policies and regulations focus on speed, quality, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness,
and employees are compensated and rewarded based on fulfilling these objectives.
 Hiring policies are standard and only quality staff is preferred.
 Allowing no one to sleep, smoke, consuming alcohol, drug use, or using restrooms
improperly is not allowed.
 Proper training is organized for the employees (technical, non-technical, and others).
 Qualities are given the highest importance.
 Weaknesses:
 No acceptability for the new product range suggested by the employees.
 Stressful job
 Hectic routine (sometimes it burdens the employees).

When the organization cares for the employees as Starbuck do, the employees are more likely to
work with enthusiasm and honesty, being a loyal and consistent employee. Employees of
Starbucks, according to the interviews on YouTube as well as an email-based questionnaire,
employees of Starbucks are internally and externally motivated to perform their jobs. According
to them, they feel like Starbucks is their home and the customers and employees are their
families. If a workplace feels like home, employees will be more loyal. So, employee
performance is very much based on the strengths of the company. Similarly, when we talk about
the weaknesses and their impact on employees, then it also appears in the form of low
performance. For example, if an employee resigns from Starbucks, the reason can be the hectic
routine. Some of the students quit working their job because of the nature of the job and stressful
duty hours. Moreover, Starbucks accepts suggestions regarding existing products but can't accept
the ideas for new products as they think that Starbucks is famous for the existing products and
any change in a product line can change the reputation too. For this reason, they don't accept new
ideas because of which the employees may feel unvalued. But the overall performance
satisfaction regardless of their weaknesses is going perfect.

8. Critical analysis of findings to discover the degree of job involvement, satisfaction, and
engagement in employees:

According to my analysis and findings, most of the employees, almost all, are highly satisfied
working in that working environment of Starbucks. The employees may have a routine issue, but
it also often gets solved (often temporarily). Employees are properly engaged and involved in
their job, they know how to do their jobs and they have proper guidelines for their job as well.
As described in the interview too, the management is very cooperative and friendly towards
employees so employees are more likely to get involved in their jobs than anywhere else.
Employees engage themselves in each development opportunity and activity to improve
themselves even it is not mandatory.

9. Recommended measures to increase employee job satisfaction and engagement:

Starbucks management actively strives to increase employee motivation, satisfaction, and

engagement to motivate them extrinsically as well as intrinsically through providing social
needs, security needs, and others. But no matter how good you are and what measures are you
taking there's still room for improvement. Several changes can be made. For instance, most of
the employees work in shifts, and sometimes their shifts are changed on weekly basis and they
and they are not able to track their working hours and do not have a routine in which they can
utilize their off time as well.

Starbucks is a multinational organization and has branches all over the world so theirs's room for
mismanagement in some branches. Some of the branches are short-staffed and employees share a
high workload which leads to affecting their work-life balance. They should have strict policies
regarding staffing and workload to retain employees.
 Part-II

Motivational theories applied at Starbucks and their importance:

Managers must understand and apply motivational theories in the workplace because it makes
the employee perform better. Motivational theories help managers to motivate employees and
also help them to understand how the staff can be managed effectively. Taking an example of
Starbucks that how their managers understand and apply motivational theories in the workplace.
The first motivational theory is Maslow's Hierarchy of needs which includes physiological
needs, safety needs, social needs, self-esteem, and self-fulfillment. In physiological needs, the
basic need for staff includes food, water, regular pay, oxygen, and a good atmosphere. In safety
need, Starbucks provides protection and safety for their workers. They make their employees
feel secure. They also give pension schemes for their staff and provide them healthcare. In social
needs, Starbucks gives employees a competitive salary and work as a team. Starbucks gives
good working conditions to their full-time staff as well as their part-timers. In self-esteem needs,
Starbucks employees give respect to all the workers within the company from top to bottom
level. Managers of Starbucks seek opinions from their members and take them as a priority. In
self-fulfillment, Starbucks support their staff and provide them with training and learning
sessions, workshop, interview, etc. This is an opportunity for the staff of Starbucks who want to
make their roles higher. Another motivational theory is Fredrick Herzberg's theory also called
the two-factor theory. It is how workers feel about their job and how important it is with their
present and past jobs. Managers need to follow the motivator and hygiene factors to improve the
performance of their staff. Now take an example of Starbucks. Their manager trains their
employees to understand the working condition. Starbucks managers also monitor how much
their staff is productive in their work conditions. Starbucks companies take feedback from their
staff and at the meeting they increase the pay. During the meeting, staff can communicate
directly with their managers and director about what they feel and how they are contributing to
work. Starbucks is popular for giving its staff great benefits i.e. empowerment that is the reason
they are more satisfied with their jobs.

We already know what motivation is and what does it mean in an organization and how it could
affect the performance of employees and the overall performance of the organization.
Organizations are working to motivate and engage their employees as much as they can to
increase organizational performance. From all the theories used to study the organizational
behavior of the employees, need-based theories emphasize the issue in the best way possible.
Further, in need-based theories, Alderfer's ERG theories state that every person has some
Existence, Relatedness, and Growth needs which motivates them to contribute more to their
organization and people around them. Existence needs are our need for food, shelter, and
clothing for which we basically work. Once this need is satisfied we move to the next level of
Relatedness, the need for affiliation. We want to be associated with some social group after we
have identified ourselves with some group we want to Grow. After other needs satisfied we want
Growth in our social circle and we want to outstand in our social bubble that the main reason
employees are more motivated to work.

In the context of Starbucks which is an American based world's largest coffee house with over
17,000 stores around the globe. Starbucks is not only famous for its taste but also for the
Ambiance, customer service they provide. They have created such a positive environment that
employees not only want to be there for the salary factor. Salary is obviously the main
motivation but they also provide other benefits such as health care, pension scheme, and growth
opportunities. Maslow's hierarchy best fits here. According to which first comes psychological
needs like a good environment and good work ergonomics, locker rooms where employees can
store their possessions.

The second thing is the Security needs. It is very important for employees to feel safe
environment they are working organization satisfies this need by providing a healthy work
environment.

Social needs: Social needs are most of the time related to monetary factors. Starbucks offers a
competitive salary, competitive pension plan, and also offers jobs to students to help them grow.
Self-esteem needs: People value self-esteem needs the most. Starbucks strives to provide this
need to all of its employees from CEO to baristas.

Self- Fulfillment: Everyone wants to grow in their career and learn new things. Starbucks offers
workshops and learning opportunities to its employees through different programs.

Constructing a better work environment for everyone:

Starbucks already offers a great work environment. They have already injected the new reward
strategies, use a different method to evaluate the employee’s performance, maintain work-life
balance, job redesign, job enrichment, etc. Now discussing below the motivational tools taking
as an example of Starbucks. Starbucks ' current reward strategy is that a customer can earn one
star at a single purchase. If a customer gets multiple things, then split his/her purchases to get
multiple stars only in one visit. I get 30 stars then reach towards the gold level so customers get a
reward that can be used on any food item. But Starbucks constructs a new reward strategy i.e. the
amount of money you spend instead of the number of purchases. Customers will get a star by the
purchase of a minimum of $1 and if reach to $125, you get a reward. Starbucks rewards benefit
the people who buy a lot from the menu of Starbucks. Starbucks can change the reward systems
based on customer requests. Starbucks uses different methods for performance evaluation.
They use customer comment cards to measure the job performance of their employees. Customer
comment card is a question-based survey that is answered by Starbucks customers. It is a good
way to measure job performance as customers don't know the employees but customers share
their experience. Starbucks managers give bonuses to employees who scored higher on a
customer comment card. Almost all the employees in Starbucks are satisfied with their work-life
balance. Employees work at Starbucks for about 8 hours a day but few employees work for 12
hours. So the majority of Starbucks employees are satisfied with their work-life balance and do
not burn out. Starbucks practices job enlargement; there are many steps to make coffee and it
depends on the coffee type that the customer ordered. The employee follows all the steps instead
of 2 or 3 steps. The Starbucks cashier sometimes handles the records of orders and this increases
the cashier satisfaction. Starbucks also practices the job rotation that every employee is
multitasked and covers the job of another member easily.

In every organization, managers tend to discuss employee management and organizational

culture in different conversations. But at Starbucks, they have a very and welcoming culture.
Starbucks does not only sell coffee, but they also sell an experience. Wherever you go around the
globe you will find this behavior consistent. You don't just teach your employee that you have to
be welcoming. You integrate these values by providing these same facilities to your workforce.
Starbucks management actively uses motivational theories to build organizational strategies.
Starbucks management often uses Maslow's hierarchy to manage its employees and integrate
organizational values. Starbucks officials provide them their basic needs such as job security,
comfortable work ergonomics, and a positive organizational environment in which they can
prosper. Starbucks officials provide a market competitive salary and other performance-based
rewards to motivate their employees to give them a feeling of being valued. Because if they feel
valued, they'll go for the extra mile for the betterment of the organization and put extra effort to
make customers satisfied. Because in the end customer satisfaction is what matters.

The detailed structure of the plan and reasoning why it will be successful:

Starbucks is the leading coffee in the world. It has stores in more than 76 nations. The only
reason for their success is the hunger to keep customer satisfaction as a top priority. Through this
mindset has been successful in the global market up till now. Organizational culture helps the
organization to get a higher share in the market. Starbucks has a vertically integrated value chain
model, which means they are included in every step of its supply chain process. Starbucks gets
its supply of coffee beans from 30 countries around the globe and then they roast their coffee
beans themselves. This gives them all the control from the supply chain to every cup of coffee
served. Through vertical integration they have been quite successful in maintaining competitive
advantage in the future it will help them a lot. The H.R managers at Starbucks always try to hire
those employees that have an aligned mindset with the Starbucks long term plan. They believe
that satisfied employees lead to satisfied customers so they also tend to retain their employees
through forming employee motivational strategies using theories like Maslow’s hierarchy, ERG
theory to fulfill their basic, social and societal needs. This positive attitude and constant self-
improvement will them to maintain their competitive advantage.
YouTube video links:

[Link]

[Link]

[Link]
References:

Kembell, B., Hawks, M., Kembell, S., Perry, L., & Olsen, L. (2002). Catching the Starbucks
Fever. unpublished paper, Missouri State University, Retrieved October 11, 2009

Morris, P. W., & Morris, P. W. (1994). The management of projects. T. Telford.

Alvesson, M. (2010). Self-doubters, strugglers, storytellers, surfers, and others: Images of self-
identities in organization studies. Human Relations, 63(2), 193-217.

Porter, L. W., & Lawler, E. E. (1968). Managerial attitudes and performance.

Calder, B. J., & Staw, B. M. (1975). Self-perception of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Journal
of personality and social psychology, 31(4), 599.

Van Yperen, N. W., & Hagedoorn, M. (2003). Do high job demands increase intrinsic
motivation or fatigue or both? The role of job control and job social support. Academy of
Management Journal, 46(3), 339-348.

Steele, B. J. (2008). Ontological security in international relations: Self-identity and the IR state.
Routledge.

Osterloh, M., Frost, J., & Frey, B. S. (2002). The dynamics of motivation in new organizational
forms. International Journal of the Economics of Business, 9(1), 61-77.

Email Interview with an Employee of Starbucks

Videos of CEO, now Chairman Emeritus of Starbucks, Howard Schultz

Fiscal reports of Starbucks available on the company's website.

[Link]
[Link]

[Link]

[Link]

[Link]

[Link]

[Link]
Appendices:

Email-based of the employee of Starbucks

Questionnaire

Here is the Email-based interview of an employee from Starbucks. It was a semi-formal

interview as semi-formal questions were asked from the employee. The following questions
were asked by the employee.

> Hi,

>
> Hope you are doing well. We talked earlier about the questions I needed to ask for my
management project from someone working at Starbucks. I’m writing this email in that regard.
Thank you for agreeing to help me out.

> > The following are the questions related to the information I need to know. All information
shared by you will be kept strictly confidential and used only for this project.
>
> 1) Kindly state your name, store location you work at, and job description, along with how
long you have been working there.

> 2) What is your work environment like?

> 3) What is the management style like in your store?

> 4) How cooperative is management?

> 5) What sort of guidelines were shared with you before you starting your job?
> 6) What sort of impact does the management have on your morale to work at Starbucks?

>
> You can answer the questions within the reply email, or attach a document with the answers, as
per your preference.
>
> Kindly let me know this information by November 7 th, 2020, at 9 pm EDT, as I have a deadline
to meet for the project. Let me know if you have any questions.

>
> Regards,
> Mishaal Naeem

Reply to that email-based interview

1)

a) Olivia Sanio

b) 650 Erb Street W, Waterloo, ON, Canada.

c) Barista & Barista Trainer. Barista - Serve customers, keep the store tidy, prepare food and
drink, create a warm and welcoming environment for all customers. Barista Trainer - Train new
employees on how to do all barista tasks, mentor them, ensure they feel welcome and a part of
the team.
d) 1.5 years

2) My work environment is extremely positive! Starbucks gives my team and me the tools and
strategies to work well as a team and serve the customers in a way that allows me and Starbucks
to be seen positively. They do this by providing outstanding training, mentoring, and coaching. I
am given the tools to fix any problems a customer has which allows me to make the moment
right, avoiding further conflict. For example, if a drink is made incorrectly, I am allowed to
replace it with another drink for free, I am even able to give the customer a cookie or upsize.
What this does is show the customer that we are sorry and brightens them from their negative
experience because they got something free out of it. My manager and other team members are
also delightful to work with because the majority of us are happy to go to work every day
knowing we work for a company that is constantly working to better itself, our communities, and
the world. Lastly, I would say my favorite part of working at Starbucks is knowing that I am
appreciated not only by my team and my manager but by the CEO as well. He shows this
appreciation by providing me with outstanding benefits, free beverages, money toward my
education, and statements put out by him, and the higher team of Starbucks thanking us and
mentoring us.

3) The management at my store is amazing! We have numerous levels, a shift supervisor

(responsible for the store when the manager is not present), an assistant manager, and a store
manager. All levels of management care about us and feel more like our friends than our bosses
because when you work at Starbucks you work so closely with one another that it's hard not to
become family, regardless of your ranking.

4) My management is very cooperative! They are amazing with giving us our booked time off,
trying to put us on positions we like (ex. Bar, till, etc.), and allowing us the flexibility to move
our schedule around. They are amazing at helping us become better workers and will go out of
the way to ensure we are happy with not only our jobs but our lives as well.

5) I was given full training, but the major guidelines given were giving your full attention to the
customer. It is essential that the customer is happy and at the center of everything we do. Other
than that, it was similar to other jobs, respect everyone, and work hard.

6) I would say the management is one of the biggest reasons I work at Starbucks. Although it is
not the field I plan to go into, the job is so perfect for someone like myself who benefits from the
flexibility and benefits that it is worth staying to me. I also don’t think I could ever find a team as
amazing and close as my own, thus another reason. Starbucks has become my retirement plan, a
job I will likely have if I want to stay at home with my children but still have a hobby. Starbucks
has given me a second home, and that’s more than a lot of people can say about their jobs.

If you have any further questions let me know!