Running head: STARBUCKS UAE

Organizational Behavior: Starbucks UAE and Employee Motivational Strategies

Student’s Name:

Institution:

Running head: STARBUCKS UAE

ABSTRACT

Factors that improve the motivation of employees are in this day and age given top priority by

business and companies that are keen on thriving and remaining competitive in the market. Research

from recent years has shown positive indication of a direct correlation between rising productivity,

improved business performance, and employers who value and prioritize the motivation of their

employees. To ensure both productivity and business profit in service industry, a company needs to

identify what factors have an impact on the motivation of their employees. This research project aims to

examine the factors that influence the motivation of employees. In addition to this, this research examines

in the way of literature review the case of Starbucks UAE with the goal of measuring the impact of

monetary and non-monetary incentives on the motivation of employees. In order to deliver effectively on

this goal, this research will endeavor to show the differences between intrinsic and extrinsic motivational

strategies and attempt to value the impacts of intrinsic motivational strategies over those of extrinsic

motivational strategies.

Running head: STARBUCKS UAE

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................1

LITERATURE REVIEW...........................................................................................................................3

ANALYSES AND DISCUSSION..............................................................................................................6

Motivational strategies through growth and expansion phases..........................................................6

Motivation Techniques or Mechanisms for Improved Performance and Job Satisfaction..............7

Non-Monetary Incentives and Preference across generations............................................................8

Non-Monetary incentives at Starbucks in the UAE.............................................................................9

Flextime..................................................................................................................................................9

Effective Feedback Loops....................................................................................................................11

Intrinsic Motivators and Extrinsic Motivators...................................................................................14

Self-Management and Intrinsic Motivation........................................................................................15

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION......................................................................................17

Reference List............................................................................................................................................18

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INTRODUCTION

As a company, Starbucks is driven by values and a well-cultivated culture. The Starbuck’s culture

and adherence to a value system is sufficiently reflected in the Human Resources affairs and reward

systems. The culture at Starbucks is a result of principles that have been firmly established and are shared

extensively throughout the organization’s hierarchy. The CEO; Howard Schultz, has been reported to say

that he had envisioned building a company that first and foremost, sort to increase employees’ self-

esteem at the work place besides providing them comprehensive health insurance and ownership in

equity (Lemus, Feigenblatt, Orta, & Rivero, 2015). That said it is important to note that employees at

Starbucks are a priority as the organization has systems and funds in place to ensure that their human

resources are adequately invested in. This form of investment is not by accident rather by design as it is a

reflection of the beliefs and values held by the company’s CEO, who is a firm believer of empowering

partners in the business by putting them first (Jianfei, 2014). He believes that by so doing the company

nurtures by extension, customer service of exceptional standards, which in turn results in customers who

are highly satisfied and that ensures positive returns financially.

Employees at Starbucks in the UAE; both former and current, have been reported to say that

working at Starbucks they always felt that the value of their contributions was always felt and the

working environment fosters in them a great sense of self-respect, irrespective of hierarchy and level of

education (Lemus, Feigenblatt, Orta, & Rivero, 2015). To carry forward the innovative compensation and

benefits programs that form the core of the strong Starbucks culture, Starbucks in the UAE acknowledges

the value in investing in the welfare of their employees. Although the costs associated with the provision

of these benefits to both part-time and full-time employees is high and eats into the company’s revenues

the cost benefit analysis with regards to the competition registers low overall costs making the return on

investment worthwhile (Latif, Qurat-ul-ain, Gulzar, Bukhari, & Sameen, 2014). The employees who are

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beneficiaries of this compensation and benefit programs acknowledge and appreciate the value and most

importantly sufficiently motivated to serve Starbucks customer with utmost concern for their satisfaction.

This paper explores Starbuck’s UAE and seeks to explain how job satisfaction and performance

can be improved by applying various models of motivation mechanisms and techniques. It further

explores the ways in which effective working relationships are fostered and nurtured through networking

with others in team and group environments by looking at the impact of both monetary and non-monetary

incentives on team and group behavior. In light of motivational strategies, the paper also discusses how

organizational behavior is influenced by perceptions, attitudes, attributes, and personalities of employees.

In addition to this, the paper makes an assessment of how various motivational techniques and

management styles are employed by organization s towards fostering a sense of job satisfaction while

improving performance and productivity.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

In 1971 at the University of Seattle, three friends; Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin and Zev Siegl,

launched ‘Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spice’ that was located at Pike Place Market in Washington,

Seattle (Lemus, Feigenblatt, Orta, & Rivero, 2015). Back then, their core business revolved around

selling roasted coffee beans to both restaurants and individuals at a profit. By 1982, the trio has expanded

their business to four store and it was around the same period that the three entrepreneurs met with

Howard Schultz; the current CEO of Starbucks, who then joined them as the marketing and retail sales

director. Under his directorship and borrowing from how Italians interact around coffee bars, he

envisioned the adoption of a new coffee flavor served in a stylish environment where friends can

socialize over coffee (Latif, Qurat-ul-ain, Gulzar, Bukhari, & Sameen, 2014). This idea was largely

opposed by the three owners who felt that turning their business into a restaurant was not how they

intended to grow the business. This fork on the road prompted Schultz to part ways with Baldwin,

Bowker and Siegl opting not to discard his vision but instead to launch his coffee shop in Seattle, dubbed

‘Il Giornale’ (Lemus, Feigenblatt, Orta, & Rivero, 2015). His became so successful that within the first

two years, the Starbucks original three had no better prospects than to sell their business to Schultz who

then together with other investors, dropped the name Il Giornale and retained the name Starbucks.

During these early days, Schultz, armed with a relatively new coffee flavor, his strategy was to

expand as widely as possible in order to introduce his coffee to as many people as he could by opening

branches of his stylish coffee shops. By 1987, the first Starbucks store overseas opened its doors to

customers in Japan (Latif, Qurat-ul-ain, Gulzar, Bukhari, & Sameen, 2014). By 2002, Starbucks had

grown tremendously with a presence in more than 30 countries and 5, 688 stores from a mere 17 stores.

In 2005, Starbucks was voted at number 11 as one of the best companies to work for in the United States

(Lemus, Feigenblatt, Orta, & Rivero, 2015).

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The word motivation is a derivative from the word motive, which makes reference to whatever

moves or energizes an individual towards behaving in a certain way or towards acting in the way that

they do subject to varied conditions and environments. Motivation is thus one of the key features of

human behavior as it plays a major role in determining not only individual’s thoughts and his behavior

but also his interactions with other people and what influence he is likely to have on them (Kingir &

Mesci, 2010). Unless change makes a difference or has a direct impact in the life of the person expected

to make the change, they are unlikely to make or sustain any changes.

In support of the concept of motivation in general, and, there are several theories advanced by

scholars that lead to this conclusion. The Expectancy Theory for instance, emphasizes the strength of an

expectation is proportional to the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way, provided the out of the

situation is attractive to the individual (Marshall, Mottier, & Lewis, 2015). In line with the Reinforcement

Theory, it is clear to see that consequences nurture behavior and leads to the understanding that, the more

positive effort at work is rewarded the more effective the employees are likely to be. When goals are set,

especially precise goals considered to have a higher degree of difficulty, the Goal-Setting Theory

hypothesizes that genuine feedback is most likely to lead to improved performance and increased

motivation on the part of the doer (Njoroge & Yazdanifard, 2014).

For managers especially, it is paramount to understand the effects of motivation because, to

achieve their goals and the overall goals of the company, they would require to rely on other people and

more often than to people who can work efficiently in a team. This places managers on the constant

search for strategies to motivate their employees in order for them to perform optimally in the

accomplishment of objectives of the company. In broad terms, motivational strategies used by managers

on their employees can be classified into two: incentives that are either monetary or non-monetary

(Simons & Enz, 1995). Monetary incentives tend to motivate employees extrinsically while non-

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monetary incentives motivate employees intrinsically with studies indicating intrinsic motivators over

extrinsic motivators are more efficient and have a lasting impact over the long run for both the company

and the employees (Njoroge & Yazdanifard, 2014).

To support this claim, there are several theories advanced by scholars that lead to this deduction.

According to the Cognitive Evaluation Theory, intrinsic motivation is affected negatively by extrinsic

reward, since extrinsic motivation reduces autonomy and consequently decreases intrinsic motivation.

The McClelland’s Theory on needs points to three needs that would give rise to motivation; affiliation,

power and achievement. The need for affiliation would motivate employees to seek close interpersonal

relationships with colleagues by being friendly. The need for achievement on the other hand would

motivate an employee to strive towards success by the achievement of set standards, which is bound to

drive them in the direction of excellence. Finally, the need for power is the motivation to have influence

over other in order to influence them to act in a way that they otherwise would not have. Great emphasis

is placed on an intrinsic reward system that includes; recognition, personal-growth opportunities,

opportunities for promotions, achievement, and responsibility that have better outcomes in the long run

and that employees respond to favorably (Simons & Enz, 1995). In the proposition of intrinsic motivation

over extrinsic motivation, the Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs best explains that there exists a lower order

of needs and a higher order of needs. The lower classification of needs such as basic needs can be

satisfied externally, hence extrinsic motivation, whereas the highly classified needs such as the need for

self-actualization can only be satisfied from within, hence intrinsic motivation. Employees are bound to

compare their outcomes at work versus their inputs and versus the outcomes of other employees with the

aim of flattening any inequalities. According to the Equity Theory, an employee is likely to work towards

better performance in order to receive the same if not better recognition for achievements, if another

colleague has been a beneficiary of such a reward system (Kingir & Mesci, 2010).

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ANALYSES AND DISCUSSION

Motivational strategies through growth and expansion phases

In order to execute its strategy for mass expansion seamlessly, Starbucks needed to implement

human resources strategies that would ensure it attracts highly qualified staff and be able to retain them.

For this to happen, the company need to apply motivational techniques that would be valued and

appreciated by its workforce. These included but were not limited to above average compensation rates,

flexible working options, self-managed team, training and development, fitness programs, health

insurance that included both vision and dental packages, elderly and childcare programs, equality and

non-discrimination policies, feedback process and employee surveys (Jianfei, 2014). These strategies

ensured that the work environment at Starbucks was friendly, supportive and one that encouraged

innovation. Employees felt comfortable working for the company as was evidenced by high employee

retention, job satisfaction among the employees, minimal employee turnover, and bare minimum cases of

absenteeism, especially in the early days of growth (Lemus, Feigenblatt, Orta, & Rivero, 2015). As the

company entered into its expansion phase the initial motivation strategies required revising and

upgrading into stronger commitment policies that suited the stature and complexities of the coffee giant

(Latif, Qurat-ul-ain, Gulzar, Bukhari, & Sameen, 2014).

The appraisal systems both in the U.S and in the UAE have been redesigned to measure

performance more wholesomely linking compensation to performance and consequently attaching

rewards and retributions accordingly. Motivation is thus improved when challenging goals are set and

constructive feedback provided throughout the process. As the changes in motivational policies were

being implemented, there were numerous lessons to be learnt throughout the processes and best practices

to be carried forward. Over time, it became increasingly apparent that motivational strategies and

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techniques that relied heavily on monetary reward systems only inspired short-term compliance to

standards and performance indicators but had no lasting impact on the commitment of employees to the

company goals and neither did they affect team cohesion positively. Monetary incentives appeared to

yield the desired results initially and temporarily, past the initial excitement and buzz created by the

reward system it became counterproductive in that instead of fostering team cohesion it bred

competitiveness that in later stages became unhealthy (Jianfei, 2014). This unhealthy sense of

competition brought with it a host of unwanted behavior relating to sidelining colleagues, false reporting

of performance, cutting corners, and other toxic conduct were introduced into the work environment

making it hostile and incapable of nurturing talent, authenticity or innovation. Ultimately, a working

environment that has no trust, zero teamwork and is not conducive to growth is counterproductive and

eventually ruins motivation and overall morale. This kind of a situation is bad for business since

demotivated employees have no commitment to the achievement of the organizational goals.

In favor of employee welfare, it became more apparent that Starbucks needed to focus more on

non-monetary incentives to motivate desired conduct in employees.

Motivation Techniques or Mechanisms for Improved Performance and Job Satisfaction

Various models of motivation techniques or mechanisms play different roles in improving job

satisfaction and performance. Monetary incentives for instance, are based on a reward system that links

money to excellent performance at work. Bonuses; both random and scheduled, project bonuses; whether

based on performance or completion, profit sharing, paid vacation time and stock options all constitute

monetary incentives. Toward maintaining an environment that supports positive mechanisms for

employee motivation, monetary incentives have conventionally done the job. It is important to note that

employees of different ages respond differently to different monetary incentives as their needs evolve

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over time (Simons & Enz, 1995). For instance, older employees may respond enthusiastically to mutual

funds offered through the company’s insurance program or pension plans. Younger employees, would

however, have a different set of needs and would thus respond differently to this kind of provisions in the

form of monetary incentives. Although differing in type, varied monetary incentives are capable of

having similar effect on varied employees and would be a matter of figuring out which type of monetary

incentive appeals to what kind of employees. When it comes to the new generation of employees who are

much younger and value different things compared to the older generation, companies like Starbucks are

thus compelled to find alternative forms of incentives to replace the conventional incentive packages that

no longer appeal to this demographic (Jianfei, 2014).

Non-Monetary Incentives and Preference across generations

Non-monetary incentives seek to reward excellence in performance at work by providing the

employees with more opportunities instead of money. A pleasant environment to work in, flexible hours

of work, sabbaticals, and training for self-development, advancement, and growth all constitute non-

monetary incentives and have a lasting appeal on employees (Jianfei, 2014). Unlike monetary incentives

that promote achievement and compliance, non-monetary incentives stimulate foresight, creativity, and

innovation, which in the larger scheme of things produce authentic growth that is of great benefit not

only to the company but also to the employees.

Different generation respond to non-monetary incentives differently with the younger generation

of employees responding better to a system of non-tangible rewards with most of them being drawn to

motivators such as autonomy, feedback, attentive employers, flexible work schedules, networking

opportunities and travel. These increased levels of demands would need to be met if a company is to

attract and retain prospective employees who have the desired skillset to perform tasks with exceptionally

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high results (Lemus, Feigenblatt, Orta, & Rivero, 2015). The current generation of young employees is

more challenging to deal with as they have little loyalty to companies and as such require more

motivation to either be attracted or retained.

Age is thus a key factor on the issue of employee motivation making the level at which an

employee is at in their career a solid point of consideration for a company when assessing the most

appropriate motivation or incentive to offer. Proximity to entry-level or to retirement is a relevant source

of information as to what employees may consider most appropriate to their needs. For instance, a

younger employee closer to the entry-level positions is likely to draw inspiration and be motivated more

by a friendly, nurturing, and supportive work environment and a sense of job satisfaction (Marshall,

Mottier, & Lewis, 2015). On the other hand, an older employee with expert-level status and closer to

retirement is more likely to draw inspiration and be motivated by a promising retirement plan or

opportunities for temporary or part-time engagements that would allow him to supplement his retirement

income.

Non-Monetary incentives at Starbucks in the UAE

Flextime

Core hours are a scheduling strategy used by Starbucks in the UAE since it offers employees

great level of flexibility (Jianfei, 2014). This scheduling system stipulates the number of hours each

employee is to work every day and allows an employee the flexibility to get to work and end their shift

whenever they want to provided they work the stipulated core hours allocated to them every day. For

instance if the stipulated core hours are between 10am to 3pm then an employee has the liberty to come

in and start their work earlier than 10am or stay late and finish their work later than 3pm but will be

always available to work during the stipulated core hours set by the company. The employee’s

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compensation, benefits and workload is not affected by this somewhat irregular work schedule for as

long as the total number of hours worked remain consistent.

Starbucks in the UAE also offer its employees other forms of flextime where a non-conventional

work schedule is encouraged. However, in order for this system to work seamlessly, great coordination

between the manager or the supervisor and the employees is required so that plans are made in advance to

avoid disruptions at work due to either overstaffing or understaffing. Starbucks in the UAE also offers

compressed workweek where employees can work more hours than stipulated every day of the week in

order to create a day off at the end of a period (Jianfei, 2014). Under this arrangement, the total number

of hours remains consistent and does not affect compensation. Adjusted lunch is another effective

scheduling strategy that allows employees with pressing needs or errands to run to extend their usual

lunch breaks and fit in urgent personal errands such as a workout session or a doctor’s appointment

(Jianfei, 2014). The employee is then obliged to make up for the personal time taken either in the

morning or in the evening since this arrangement is offered as an unofficial privilege it is limited only to

occasional instances.

This type of arrangement is good for the employees as they can pursue their other interests

outside of work that contribute to their being wholesome individuals and eventually has benefits to the

company since the more wholesome the employees are the more of themselves they are likely to give at

work. According to Kingir & Mesci (2010), when an employee is allowed the freedom to plan their time

and interests around their responsibilities at work in a more flexible manner, the more productive they are

likely to be. This is true because they will feel more in control of the process and consequently more

responsible for their actions as opposed to the feeling of being stuck with no power to make any possible

adjustments. Since flextime can sometimes bring problems, especially if some employees working in

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departments where flextime may be impractical due to the structure of work, Starbucks ensures that

departments that are not eligible for flextime get other rewards that equalize the situation (Jianfei, 2014).

Effective Feedback Loops

As a value-driven company with a strong organizational culture, Starbucks UAE like Starbucks

U.S value the feedback loop as it helps to align new employees with the company’s values and beliefs

while keeping them constantly aware of what is expected of them. This provides numerous opportunities

for the new employees ask question, acclimatize, and acculturate to the working environment at

Starbucks. This eases their integration into the team they are expected to work with and eases their

adoption of tasks and responsibility, as the feedback system is supportive, nurturing, and sensitive to

special needs. Within the first month of joining the company, employees hired to work in retail position

must undergo training session of not less than 24 hours (Jianfei, 2014). Besides orientation in the

technical skills needed to work in such a store, the skills needed for customer service and general

introduction to the company, employees are trained extensively on career development, diversity, and

leadership skills through the management-trainee program (Lemus, Feigenblatt, Orta, & Rivero, 2015).

The feedback system is crucial in avoiding the formation of negative relationships that are as a

result of people talking behind people’s backs which causes resentment. The elimination of improper

communication is thus eliminated by open, clear, and direct feedback system that is both formal and

informal. Constructive feedback can be classified into two categories; negative and positive, where

morale is improved by positive feedback and performance is improved by feedback (Simons & Enz,

1995). Poor feedback on the other hand is made up of elements of malice, insensitivity and is often

delivered in unorthodox ways and through improper channels. According to Simons & Enz (1995), poor

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feedback is bad for employee morale as it breeds resentment, builds conflict between employees and

management, does not support talent, and ruins confidence in employees’ capabilities.

The feedback culture at Starbucks prepares and trains employees to not only give constructive

feedback in a sensitive manner but also to receive feedback effectively. This means that parties involved

in the feedback loop are willing to pay attention by listening open-mindedly and engage in the process in

non-threatening or non-offensive ways and with the willingness to put the recommended action points

into practice (Marshall, Mottier, & Lewis, 2015). This culture ensures that information is not random and

disruptive but instructions and information that is relevant to performance is collected, packaged, and

delivered precisely, clearly and directly to whomever it may concern. Effectiveness, frankness and

sensitivity is thus encouraged in the feedback system and is also encouraged on all spheres of work, from

ideas, work performance and code of conduct. When feedback is given to employees directly, frankly and

sensitively, the information becomes useful to the employees as they can use it to perform self-

evaluations every now and then that create non-hostile opportunities for self-improvement and

consequent performance improvement.

Since people’s personality differ greatly, good feedback at Starbucks focuses not on personal

attitudes and personalities but on results, behavior and prospects in the future, be so doing an employee

does not feel personally attacked but receives the intended messages in a professional manner that allows

them to straighten whatever issues came up without resistance (Marshall, Mottier, & Lewis, 2015). It also

helps that feedback is not given on received by people who already had prior personality clashes as this

will be redundant, in a situation such as this; it helps matters if a neutral party is engaged to deliver

honest and unbiased feedback. To ensure that the feedback is effective and consistent, Starbucks has

developed their feedback system to be accurate, specific, and balanced and that it is delivered

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periodically. Delayed feedback does not yield the desired effect nor does ambiguous feedback that is

vague and not specific.

At Starbucks UAE, the responsibility to initiate the feedback process is not considered

management’s job but is encouraged to from all quarters (Jianfei, 2014). Employees at Starbucks operate

in a work environment that allows them to initiate the feedback process, as they are equipped with the

necessary skills required to do so and since the work environment is supportive, they find themselves

willing to take part in the process. This is also because they understand the basics team cohesion and that

for teamwork to yield the desired effect on work performance empowering the individual units of a team

is of paramount importance. Employees that participate constructively in the feedback process find that

they are empowered and develop a secure sense of job satisfaction as they concentrate their energy and

effort on their work as opposed to playing office politics that do more harm than good.

In 1990, the company set a formal program known as Mission Review, which was an appropriate

feedback system to help the company remain true to its mission statement (Lemus, Feigenblatt, Orta, &

Rivero, 2015). Comment cards addressed to the Mission Review team were made available to all

Starbucks stores to ensure that whenever outcomes and decisions were made that did not align with the

company’s mission statement; the employees would highlight the events and query the direction.

According to the system, relevant mangers would the respond to the queries within two weeks. Reports

addressing employees’ concerns were also produces and presented in open forums that brought together

teams from across the organization. This strategy strengthens the organizational culture by fostering

openness and remains critical to upholding Starbucks mission statement.

The open forums are organized a few times in a year at Starbucks UAE providing an excellent

platform for the employees to be updated by the company on changes within the larger organization. The

forums also provide the employees with a platform to meet senior management and receive explanations

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of what the financials mean to the them as employees including how the day to day running of the stores

are likely to change or improve (Jianfei, 2014). During the forum sessions, employees get to ask

questions extending the feedback loop to other areas of discussions and with more information on the

discussions of the development of the company being provided through much more regular publications

such as the employee newsletter.

Intrinsic Motivators and Extrinsic Motivators

Non-monetary incentives fall under intrinsic motivators; where action is inspired by the

appropriateness of its application, whereas monetary incentive is constitute of extrinsic motivators; where

action is motivated by the reward of money at the end (Marshall, Mottier, & Lewis, 2015). While both

types of motivators can be used by an organization to achieve whatever result is desired, it is worth

noting that intrinsic motivators nurture talent and a sense of creativity as opposed to extrinsic motivators

that tend to foster unhealthy competition among employees. Competition can be good but when it reaches

unhealthy levels, it acts as a disruption to team work because it poisons the workplace environment,

denying both the employees and the company as a whole the benefits and collective joys of team

cohesion. Monetary incentives have been employed in certain instances by companies to compensate

employees for poor working environments or poor management in the same breath; employees have been

known to make false reports of their achievements in order to improve the eligibility for monetary

rewards. Monetary incentives have also been used by top management to prevent middle managers from

leaving, a strategy that may work in the short term but may have adverse effects in the long term as the

managers become increasingly counterproductive (Simons & Enz, 1995).

Intrinsic motivators, most of which constitute non-monetary incentives is more effective as it

cultivates the impetus to work from within as the employees find their jobs fulfilling and draw

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satisfaction from the work that they do. This kind of arrangement makes the work of management much

easier as it reorganizes the activities of management from a system of control to a system of support, a

function that employees would appreciate have a better response. Intrinsic motivation does not depend on

monetary incentives and is for that reason more efficient as it rewards self-management. Under self-

management, employees have the liberty to work on activities they feel are most suited to the results they

are aiming for and are over and above this charged with the responsibility to commit to a cause, monitor

their progress over time, and even participate in the monitoring of their competency levels (Njoroge &

Yazdanifard, 2014).

Self-Management and Intrinsic Motivation

The concept of self-management place more control of the work process in the hands of the

employees which nurtures and fosters an increased sense of responsibility over their decisions and

choices of actions and in-actions (Kingir & Mesci, 2010). When intrinsic motivation is applied in a

situation where self-management is the mode of operation, the outcomes are more desirable since the four

events of management; purpose, opportunity, activity and reward, are all energized by intrinsic

motivation. This then continues the cycle where employees apply their judgment to situations by

determining how meaningful tasks are to the purpose, the progress being made, the competence of

performance while providing them with the autonomy to choose the most appropriate activities towards

effective completion of projects.

The intrinsic reward system especially when applied within the context of self-management

enhances the sense of choice, a sense of progress, a sense of competence, and a sense of meaningfulness.

The ability to make choices and apply judgment at work allows for employees to bring authenticity,

creativity and innovation to work, which make them good at their jobs over time as it builds confidence

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and whenever mistakes are made out of an error in judgment, the lessons are swiftly learnt and quite

rarely repeated (Simons & Enz, 1995). A sense of progress at work allows employees to view their

contribution in perspective to the rest of the organization and to see how it is linked to the completion of

tasks and the achievement of goals, both project goals and organizational goals. This feeling of progress,

especially when a previous task has been completed successfully or with outstanding results, tends to

increase enthusiasm in individual employees as well as teams and motivates them to keep the spirit as

they dive into other more challenging aspects of project management and delivery. A sense of

competence by employees convinces them that their work is of high quality and that their job is good

which increases their level of confidence in their skillset, which constantly encourages them to be more

innovative as they push the boundaries of what they already know and into the unknown where

discoveries are likely to be made. Finally, when employees apply themselves to tasks in a supportive and

friendly working environment where their contribution is felt and valued, they develop a sense of

meaningfulness. This feeling makes it worthwhile for them to pour their energy and time to do not only

what is expected of them but even more as they feel that in the big picture, their contribution is of great

value (Marshall, Mottier, & Lewis, 2015).

Overall, companies should ensure that whatever incentives they choose to adopt, should bear in

mind the long-range impacts both to the organization and to the employees, and most importantly, that it

is best suited to the preferences of the employees. The more motivated the employees are, the more likely

it is to be reflected in good performance at work.

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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

As observed in the case of Starbucks UAE, reward packages and reward systems ought to be best

suited and well understood by the employees, otherwise they would be of no value to them and

consequently of no value to the company since they would not be motivating to the employees. It is

required for a company to gain an in-depth understanding of how employees and managers perceive the

concept of reward and what areas senior management thinks the reward system should concentrate for

maximized benefits. This highlights the need for the participation of the senior management team in the

development of the reward policies right from the beginning so that they can build a full picture of how

to make the reward system best suited for the employees while yielding optimized benefits for the

company. In addition to this, involving management in the development of motivational strategies

provides a wonderful opportunity to pin responsibility on whomever the responsibility to implement the

program will fall on for accountability purposes. Collaborative effort in the development of motivational

mechanisms and reward systems will furnish managers with adequate information from the senior

management team needed to come up with an actionable action plan.

The involvement of the senior management team will mean that detail-level definitions will be

avoided but the larger frame of things will be made clear which calls upon managers to concentrate on

overall priorities and that paints a clear picture of what matters to the type of people the company is keen

on attracting and retaining. At Starbucks, motivational strategies and reward systems are a show of

commitment to their mantra and business strategy of prioritizing the needs of their employee and by

living this reality Starbucks reinforces their firm value system and organizational culture which

consequently. Going forward it will be of interest to see the strategies Starbucks will implement in their

human resources and general organizational behavior towards maintaining the benefits of working in a

small company as they grow larger spread wider.

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Latif, M., Qurat-ul-ain, H., Gulzar, H., Bukhari, S. R., & Sameen, S. N. (2014). Starbucks Sustained

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