Founded in 1971 in Seattle, Starbucks is present in 50 states in the US and 43 countries. It is one of the most respected brands, winning awards such as "Best Business", "Most Admired Company", "100 Best Corporate Citizens" and so on. While its quality is unquestionable, its price has always been higher than those offered by the domestic coffee houses in various countries. This was one of the reasons why the company took a hit during the economic slowdown of 2008 as customers opted for cheaper options for their everyday coffee. Starbucks was forced to shut 600 shops that were not making profits. By March 30, 2008, its profit had fallen 28 per cent compared to the same period in 2007. In 2009, it closed another 300 stores and laid off 6,700 employees. On January 8, 2008, Howard D. Schultz returned as CEO of Starbucks after a gap of eight years, replacing Jim Donald. Schultz had nurtured the company since 1982 when it had only four outlets. He had served as CEO from 1987 to 2000 and had presided over the companys public offering in 1992. ounded in 1971 in Seattle, Starbucks is present in 50 states in the US and 43 countries. It is one of the most respected brands, winning awards such as "Best Business", "Most Admired Company", "100 Best Corporate Citizens" and so on. While its quality is unquestionable, its price has always been higher than those offered by the domestic coffee houses in various countries. This was one of the reasons why the company took a hit during the economic slowdown of 2008 as customers opted for cheaper options for their everyday coffee. Starbucks was forced to shut 600 shops that were not making profits. By March 30, 2008, its profit had fallen 28 per cent compared to the same period in 2007. In 2009, it closed another 300 stores and laid off 6,700 employees. On January 8, 2008, Howard D. Schultz returned as CEO of Starbucks after a gap of eight years, replacing Jim Donald. Schultz had nurtured the company since 1982 when it had only four outlets. He had served as CEO from 1987 to 2000 and had presided over the companys public offering in 1992.In a departure from conventional strategies like "a redo of the store layout", Starbucks soon embarked on a technology-oriented strategy. An environment where employees could think freely about the organisation and contribute in terms of strategies and ideas was fostered. As a result, a community involvement concept was developed. Starbucks utilized its Human Resources to its full capacity. Employees are required to follow Starbucks comprehensive store operating procedures and attend training classes. Starbucks realizes that its growth depends considerably on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of key executives and other employees and its ability to recruit and retain those employees. In March 2008, "My Starbucks Idea" was rolled out for customers to exchange ideas with each other and directly with the company. As part of this, customers were able to give opinions on everything such as products, services, layout, advertising, corporate social responsibility, in-store music and so on. More than 93,000 ideas were shared by about 1.3 million users on social media, and page views per month rose to 5.5 million. After the 2007/08 crisis, Starbucks had to rebuild its customer relationships and show the world that it cared for quality and consistency. It also had to give a leg up to the altruistic component of the brand such as community building and care for the environment. Through the "My Starbucks Idea" customers had a direct link with the headquarters and of course Starbucks was listening. Soon Starbucks's ubiquity became an asset as customers from around the world had an opportunity to connect with each other, spawning like-minded communities like the 'free Wi-Fi group', 'soy group', 'comfy chair group' or 'frappuccino lovers'.
BY TARUN SINGH THAKUR your Tarun
