Get deadly serious about improving leadership and operations without losing your soul
Pros
The company is attempting to change to resume high growth in a business environment of rapidly growing competition and deteriorating economy. If you like to participate in change, solve problems, focus on priorities and what's important, there is a lot going on at the Service Center (corporate headquarters). Senior leadership is extremely aware of the danger that this environment poses to the truly unique Starbucks culture, and takes great efforts to maintain the best elements of our culture. Those include passion about the customer and the business, true celebration of diversity and uniqueness of person and perspective, joy in the workplace, and work-life balance as a real commitment rather than a buzzword.
Cons
Data and effective utilization of technology is nearly non-existent relative to truly competitive large companies. Decisions have been made almost entirely on intuition of the most powerful personalities, rather than business savvy and analysis. In certain highly critical areas, there is an attempt to change this, but it doesn't happen overnight. There is very little planning or project management expertise, process, or discipline or appreciation for these skills. The business is significantly more complex than it might appear, and so these specific issues have great impact on financial and operational performance. On the flip side, there is extreme potential for improvement, so if the ongoing change efforts are successful, Starbucks is going to be reborn like a phoenix in the medium term.
