“Diagnosing Organizational Effectiveness During Difficult Economic Times”

Management 842

Seminar in Organization Design and Change

Professor Mitchell Marks

May 12, 2009

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TEAM 2:

Seth Breedlove

Valentinos Themistocleous

Ian Kerwin

Zishan Xu

(Net) Manatsanan Anunatmatee

Sivaporn Ratanavilaiwan

Table of Content

Introduction........................................................................................3Presenting Opportunity...................................................................4Measures............................................................................................6Result from Observations................................................................7Result from First round interviews.................................................7Congruence Model............................................................................9Hypotheses.......................................................................................10Expectancy Theory of Motivation.................................................14Surveys.............................................................................................15Findings Applied to the Congruence Model................................16

Work.........................................................................................................................16People and the Informal organization......................................................................19Formal Organization................................................................................................21

Findings Applied to the Expectancy Theory................................23Findings in terms of correlation....................................................26

1. Performance management....................................................................................302. Communication....................................................................................................343. Career Development.............................................................................................35

Conclusion.......................................................................................36References:......................................................................................38Appendix A: Agreement..................................................................41Appendix B: Raw Data from First Round Interview Responses. . .44Appendix C: Raw Data from Second Round Interview Responses

..........................................................................................................49Appendix E: Starbucks Surveys Question......................................51Appendix F: Congruence Model.....................................................55Appendix G: Performance Management........................................56Appendix H: Result from Expectancy Theory................................57Appendix I: Mean and Standard Deviation....................................58Appendix J: Summary of Survey Results (See attachment)..........59

Introduction

Since opening their first location in Seattle in 1971, Starbucks has amassed to

over 16,000 locations worldwide. According to the Specialty Coffee Association of

America, in 1983 the specialty coffee market to which Starbucks belongs, represented

less than 4% of the $6.5 billion U.S. coffee market. In 1994, that market share reached

31%, and in 2001, specialty coffee represented 53% of the U.S. coffee market.

Modeled after the renowned coffee houses of Italy, Starbucks provides much more

than just a cup of coffee. Starbucks strives to provide an experience that includes a

friendly gathering place, merchandise, music, recently announced high speed Internet

access with AT& T, and of course of gourmet coffee. Starbucks mission statement

summarizes their approach to "conquering" the specialty coffee segment- "Establish

Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining

our uncompromising principles while we grow" (Starbucks, 2009)

As the largest retail coffee company in the world, Starbucks is not only

famous for social responsibility, but was also named number 7 of the 100 best

companies to work in 2008 by CNN.com (2008). The company’s reputation as an

employer is often accredited to its human resource strategies, corporate culture and

employee benefits. To many employees, it is a place to build long-term careers or to

enjoy job stability while pursuing other goals. It was through Starbucks' “Employees

First” policy that the company built a strong psychological contract with its

employees. Howard Schultz, Starbucks' CEO, has stated, “The customers always

come second -- the employees matter more.”  While this is not a traditional approach

towards customer service, Starbucks has proved its effectiveness as demonstrated by

its success and dominant market share within the industry. Schultz goes on to

illustrate that employee happiness is projected onto the customer in the form of

enthusiasm (H.R. Spectrum, 2003). 

Our client organization, located at 390 Stockton Street, San Francisco, is the

second largest revenue producing Starbucks in Northern California. Jon Smiley, our

client and contact, is the store manager of this location and has been with the

company for over twelve years. The organizational structure of this location is

comprised of 1 store manager, 2 assistant managers, 4 shift supervisors and more than

15 additional employees, or partners as they are referred to internally. It takes a

minimum of 3 employees to run the store at any given time during business hours,

which for this location are from 5:00am to midnight. This store is unique in the sense

that it is located in the company's top geographic pay scale, and has an additional

assistant manager compared to most locations. The first and third regional revenue

producing stores are located within blocks and this store has the flexibility to share

employees with neighboring locations to fulfill staffing needs.  

Presenting Opportunity     

After initially contacting and meeting with our client, they expressed a true

interest and commitment towards the scope of our project (See Appendix A:

Agreement). However, our collaborative efforts to identify a problem or concern

within this particular location were unsuccessful as the manager continued to express

that although things could always be done better, he felt all areas of his organization

were running smoothly. As a result of this, we decided to move forward with our

diagnosis based on two assumptions that we were confident would remain constant

for the duration of our research.  The first assumption is that there is always room for

improvement and efficiency, no matter how well an organization and its employees

may seem to be operating. With this concept in mind, we derived our second

assumption that lower business volumes, resulting from the current economic

downturn, would provide this store with the time and human resources necessary to

examine and improve the efficiency of their operations. By combining these two

assumptions, we entered into our diagnosis of this organization with a plan to identify

the concerns of Starbucks' employees and make recommendations regarding how to

satisfy those concerns, thus resulting in an overall increased organizational

effectiveness.

Starbucks Corporation is one of the great growth stories on Wall Street.

Starbucks has undergone a rapid expansion since it went public in 1992. It went from

125 stores in 1992 to approximately 15,000 stores in 44 countries by 2008 (Flynn,

2008). Since then, the U.S. and Global Economy has experienced a recession with

declines that have not been seen in decades. Facing the current economic situation,

Starbucks is going to have to make some changes about their operating structure. To

combat this decline, Starbucks is planning to close 600 under performing stores in the

U.S. and another 100 globally throughout 2009. In addition, Starbucks has been

downsizing and restructuring across the organization to compensate for the weakened

economy, including the elimination of almost 1,000 non-retail jobs as part of its bid to

re-energize the brand and boost its profit (Marcus, 2009). However, in the same year

the company intends to open 140 other stores in the U.S. and 170 internationally in an

attempt to reduce operating costs while maintaining their market share. While the

decision to close these stores was mainly to avoid overlapping territories, the opening

of additional stores is a result of the company’s strategy to expand and effectively

compete on a global scale. In an open system model, people, work, formal

organization and informal organization are generally considered to be of equal

importance. Starbucks current strategy of both downsizing and expansion has cast

uncertainty about the relevant influence these elements will have in the future.  

Downsizing and restructuring within an organization can have a profound

effect on its environment, with specific regards to a firm’s psychological contract. For

a psychological contract to exist there must be mutual expectations between the

employee and employer. This contract includes the “beliefs, values, expectations and

aspirations of employer and employee, including beliefs about implicit promises and

obligations”. These do not need to be written, but rather can be implicit and based on

good faith between the two parties (Wellin, 2009). Consequently, a psychological

contract can be re-negotiated and change over time. This re-negotiation does not need

to verbalized, but rather can be perceived, by either employer or employee.

Given the change to Starbucks’ operating environment over the past 18

months, there is a possibility that the psychological contract between the organization

and its employees has been augmented as well.  Through the process of data

collection and analysis of our client store, we aim to determine if such a change is

indeed evident and to what effect. If this relationship has not changed or remained

healthy, we seek to determine the reasons for this, so that Starbucks may capture this

advantage at the organizational level. We also seek to determine what affects this has

had on the store culture and in turn, what affect this has had on the store’s

performance. 

Our diagnosis is development-oriented. We will assess the current functioning

of Starbucks Coffee as an open system, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses, in

congruence with corporate strategy. Given current economic conditions, we plan to

pay considerable attention to emerging trends and the direct effects they have on the

operating environment of our client organization. We will perform a diagnostic

analysis of both the individual and group performance capabilities and review the

impact each has on the organization’s strategy. We will also use our findings to target

specific functional areas that show an opportunity to maintain and improve

effectiveness. Our findings will be summarized and delivered to our client, along with

a recommended course of action necessary to operate with highest level of

organizational effectiveness.  

Measures

In order to perform an accurate diagnosis of our organization, we will use a

variety of data collection methods to extract relevant information. By using the range

of methods detailed below, we are facilitating data collection that represents a

combination of foundation information, real life observations, and direct responses

from members of the organization. More detailed descriptions of our data collection

methods are described below;

    1.      Unobtrusive measures:  Starbucks will provide store relevant information

including compensation programs and performance evaluations. In addition, we will

analyze customer satisfaction surveys conducted by the company that examine items

such as overall satisfaction, friendliness, cleanliness and speed of service.

    2.      Observations:  We will observe organizational behavior three separate times

during various store shifts including rush hour, in order to collect data and better

understand the company culture, employee relationships and customer satisfaction

levels. We will be observing as regular Starbucks customers. These observations will

take place before the first round of interviews and our formal introductions with the

staff to not influence their behavior by the knowledge that they are being observed.

    3.      First round Interviews: In an attempt to gain more knowledge about the

organization and uncover presenting problems and issues, the first round interview

will be conducted with 6 employees (1 assistant store manager, 2 shift supervisors and

3 baristas) at roughly 25 minutes per interview during business hours. These will be

short interviews asking some background questions as well as some open-ended

questions to further develop issue identification. Please refer to appendix 1.

    4.      Surveys: A store-wide confidential survey will be distributed to 22

employees during their respective shifts. These will be surveys to assess more

comprehensive organizational characteristics including quantitative comparison and

evaluation. Moreover, they also can vary in the extent to the focused issues based on

findings we discover during the first round of interviews. This survey can be

completed at the employee's discretion and returned to the consultant team within a

specified period of time.     

    5.      Second round Interviews: After analyzing the results from our initial

interviews and survey, we will conduct a second round of interviews to get in-depth

information regarding presented issues. The second interview will provide us an

opportunity to validate the results of our analysis from the first interview, feedback

the results of our survey, and seek more detailed information from the interviewee.  

After collecting data from the two interviews and one survey, we will analyze

the data, by applying both quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques. First, for

qualitative tools, we will use content analysis to summarize all data from interviews

into meaningful categories in order to discover any issues or attitudes among the

group.  Second, for quantitative tools, we will calculate the means, standard

deviations and relevant correlations to summarize the survey data in order to better

gauge what issues the employees value most, and to examine any variance in their

responses.

Result from Observations

 

We went into Starbucks during a Saturday morning shift and a Thursday

evening shift, which had similar findings.  Employees enjoy their positions and

working with each other.  The store was well kept and clean and they were responsive

to employees and gave service with a smile.  When the store was slow, they promptly

focused on tasks to keep up the store appearance. 

Result from First round interviews 

In general, our first round interviews were both comprehensive and successful

(See Appendix B: Raw Data from First Round Interview Responses). They were

conducted in the lobby of the downtown San Francisco Starbucks store during

business hours. Following some initial unobtrusive observations, we decided that after

9:00 at night was the most appropriate time to conduct our interviews based on

business levels. The atmosphere of the store was inviting and friendly and our

interviewees seemed naturally comfortable in this environment. Upon introducing

ourselves to each employee, we briefly described the details of our project and

proceeded to ask them 12 predetermined questions. Each interview lasted roughly 20

minutes on average.

Our sample population included 1 assistant manager, 1 shift supervisor and 4

baristas, an accurate representation of the store's 23 employees, whom have worked

this store for between 15 to 30 months. Based on each employee's willingness to

participate, detailed responses and genuine interest in the scope of our project, we are

confident that we have gathered enough data necessary to continue with our

diagnostic analysis.

To make a broad generalization, each employee’s response seemed to be

positive regarding their experience working at Starbucks, with work environment,

including co-workers, and flexibility repeatedly being cited as major attributes to job

satisfaction. When asked what motivates employees to stay with the company, just

about every interviewee had something to say about the competitive compensation

package offered by their employer, and gratitude for employment given the current

economic situation. Similarly, almost everyone made a positive comment about their

co-worker relations, interaction and the overall culture within the store. They cite

Starbucks as a fun place to work where people treat each other with dignity. While a

third of our first round interview responses mentioned the desire to advance within the

company, the remainder viewed their employment as a flexible source of income,

while they pursued other things. Several interviewees were students whom are granted

full-time benefits for a part-time commitment.

Consequently, every employee was asked to describe his/her dissatisfaction in

working for the company, and responses were less consistent including product lines,

hours of operation, and dress code. Some responses talked about difficult customers

as motivation to prefer working in the back rather than interacting directly with

customers. A lack of internal communication was a prevalent negative response,

especially among the baristas interviewed. Criticisms regarding communication arose

again when we asked the employees to comment on any communication relevant to

the company’s plans to restructure, as well as their trust in the corporation as a whole.

While most employees seemed to be unaware of the company’s plans, the assistant

manager informed us of a web portal that gives employees access to company news

before it is released to the public.  However, this service is not made available to any

barista within the company. 

In conclusion, we found that employees at this store enjoy their jobs and the

people they work with, regardless of their position. The positive aspects of the job,

employees and culture were clearly communicated to our team in these interviews.

Everyone seems to enjoy the pay and his/her coworkers. The position entitled barista

provides a flexible and economic opportunity for some, while positions with greater

responsibility offer a path to career advancement as a primary motivator. One

emerging negative trend that we have identified relates to communication, evident

within this store, and pertaining to Starbucks as an organization. Based on our initial

interviewing, there are some evidences that the quality or content of communication

varies among positions. While some of the information being communicated may not

be relevant to an entry-level position, some of it absolutely is and can have a direct

effect on the performance and commitment of all parties involved.

Congruence Model

To analyze this particular location, we will be applying the concepts and

theories of the congruence model (See Appendix F: Congruence Model). We have

chosen this model because Starbucks fits within the underlying assumption that the

organization is an open system. An open system is comprised of three major

interactive components, which are inputs (environment, resources, and history),

through puts (task, individual, informal organization, and outputs (organization,

group, individual) (Falletta, 2005). The open system is dependent on the surrounding

environment for resources, information and feedback. The feedback helps to seek

equilibrium, and to provide feedback on the transformation process (Nadler and

Tushman, 1980).  We will use the feedback function to measure the alignment of this

process and identify potential strengths and weaknesses. Based on our diagnosis, we

will make recommendations to our client detailing which design components

maximize effectiveness and which ones are having an adverse affect.

The congruence model is a valuable assessment tool because it helps to

identify focus areas, such as task, individual, informal organization, and formal

organizational arrangements to improve performance and integrate changes within an

organization. This model proposes that the effective change management means

considering all four transformation elements and striving to reach the greatest

congruence between them (Falletta, 2005). In applying this definition to the model,

which assumes that the organization’s strategy is effective, we can conclude that

greater observed congruence correlates to a better performing organization.

  Given that a greater congruence or alignment regarding an organization’s

elements of transformation shows effectiveness, we will need to examine what

situations will result directly in a lack of congruence. A general limitation of

organizational effectiveness is the lack of congruence between corporate strategy and

the functions utilized in reaching their strategic goals. In a more detailed sense, a poor

fit between two or more functional elements can have a negative impact on an

organizations output (Eiser, A. & Eiser, B., 1996). When a lack of congruence occurs,

energy that builds in the system can be released in the form of resistance. Resistance

comes from a fear of the unknown, such as a change imposed from the outside, or a

need for things to remain stable. 

By analyzing the congruence of our client's organization, we can identify the

strengths and weaknesses that exist within the transformation process and recommend

embracing or correcting them as needed. We believe this model can help Starbucks to

enhance organizational effectiveness, even in a difficult economy, and to maintain its

performance as the second largest store in terms of revenue in Northern California.

Hypotheses  

Upon entering into this diagnostic analysis, the initial presenting opportunity

for our client organization was how to enhance organizational effectiveness during the

current economic downturn.  Based on the model that we plan to apply to Starbucks,

organizational effectiveness can be measured by the congruence or alignment that

exists between the strategic components of the organization. As a result, we must

analyze the current state of alignment, with the economic situation held constant, to

expose weaknesses in the congruence between work, people, the formal and the

informal organization and make recommendations that will improve alignment and

result in a more effective operation. By posing questions that relate directly to our

hypotheses, we can use the questionnaire as a test to identify potential issues that need

to be addressed. 

As mentioned in our introduction, Starbucks has built its success first on

employee’s attitude and second on customer relationship (Starbucks) (H.R. Spectrum,

2003). This employee first policy has created a strong and positive psychological

contract between employer and employee. However, for this to remain strong, the

mutual expectations must be clear, consistent and based on good faith between the

employer and employee (Wellin, 2009). Our initial first interviews with the

employees revealed that, while for the most part the psychological contract has

remained positive, there has been indication of damage and weakening of the good

faith of the corporation. This has led to some employees indicating that they do not

perceive a future with the company. Most of this damage appears to have its root in

the poor state of the economy. However, some remedies may lie in better

communication, employee development, awareness of entire benefits package and the

self-efficiency of employees to succeed in goals internal and external to the

company.  

H1: There is a positive correlation between employee self-efficacy (the ability

to exceed in a specific situation including their outside goals) and their expressed

intent to remain at Starbucks. Employee turnover is a process, not an event. It occurs

over time as the employee becomes less engaged with his/her employer, a process that

can take days or even years (Branham, 2005). Career planning, growth and learning

opportunities are the three top reasons for employee retention (Evans and Kaye,

2003). It is the perceived lack of opportunities in a company, or the lack of support

the company provides for external opportunities that create the most employee

turnover (Withers, 2001).

H2: There is a positive correlation between employee awareness of their

Starbucks compensation package and benefits and their expressed intent to remain at

Starbucks. An employer that can help an employee achieve his/her goals will have

employees that are more motivated to stay with the employer if that employee

perceives a reward for doing so (Kaliprasad, 2006). According to our initial

interviews, not all employees were familiar with the entire benefits package such as

tuition reimbursement. The development of personal goals and ability to use their

employment at Starbucks to achieve those goals should develop other skills for

present or future use.  It is shown that individuals who continually acquired new skills

demonstrated greater satisfaction and better work performance (Lantz, 2002).  

H3: The communication gap between management levels and baristas can

adversely affect employee motivation and trust. For example, by not clearly

communicating employee benefits to baristas, and the process to retrieve and manage

them, can result in dissatisfaction and reduced commitment. Training employees and

empowering them will motivate them to exceed customer expectations and contribute

to organizational goals. Development programs will bring personal goals and

aspirations of employees into alignment with the organization's goals. The issues

presented in our hypothesis promote ineffectiveness. The ideal result of this diagnosis

is to reveal these issues and correct them, resulting in increased organizational

effectiveness.

H4: There is inadequate communication between management levels and

baristas regarding many aspects of the organization. Low level employees are kept in

the dark about Starbucks' direction and immediate plans, which creates different

levels of uncertainty and trust issues at work. Within an organization, people often

feel shared emotions and are passionate and compelled to achieve that organization’s

goals in the presence of stability. "They want job security and opportunities for

personal expression in exchange for a fair day's work. They also prefer working at a

place where they feel they are being treated fairly, communicated with, and

contributing to the attainment of a clear and inspiring vision" (Marks, 2003).

H5: There is a positive correlation between the level and frequency of

employee development and their goals, whether they are internal to Starbucks or

external goals, and the employee’s expressed intent to remain at Starbucks. While the

responsibility for the cause of an employee’s lack of awareness of the entire

Starbuck’s benefits package or the lack of goals may not lie with management, it is

the responsibility of management to initiate and follow through with employee

development (Kark and Shamir, 2000). Management must take responsibility for

implementation of such programs. Managers who work to build “a solid foundation of

shared goals” experience increased employee loyalty and satisfaction (Koch, 2004).

These goals, as long as they are not in conflict with the employee’s performance, can

be external to Starbucks as well, such as an employee’s educational goals (Yuki,

2002).  An employer that encourages and fosters an individual’s personal

development helps to create a positive work culture (Kouzes and Posner, 2001). In

addition, an employer that understands its employees’ goals will better understand

what retains them with the company (Stock, 2001).    

For employees to achieve higher levels of performance, their personal goals

must align with the organization's goals. For this to happen, job stability is essential.

Ultimately, they are the ones facing the customers and representing Starbucks.

Management needs to be transparent with employees and communicate at all levels.

Change management is reinforced by constant communication. The company should

not only focus on employee’s strengths during hiring, but also develop them through a

continuous systematic process. Consequently, employee development will motivate

employees to pursue careers in the organization, be enthusiastic and constantly strive

to excel. A process is needed to develop all employees and to align their goals with

the organization. Communication of employee benefits and responsibilities should be

an on-going event. Employees should be also heard and their concerns should be

timely addressed. As a result, there will be workers ready to take initiative and willing

to go the distance to exceed expectations. Employee empowerment can significantly

enhance Starbucks' effectiveness.

H6:    There is a positive correlation between the openness and amount of top-

down communication regarding the company’s plans and employee’s expressed intent

to remain at Starbucks. Employees that perceive that top-down communication and

information is being limited will experience stifled creativity and a lack of trust.  The

employees may sense a loss of control, an unwilling dependency and an ‘us against

them’ attitude (Ackerman, Ball and Squire, 2002). A perceived instability and lack of

freedom to choose their futures, on behalf of the employees, will lead to problems in

employee retention for the organization in the future. 

  An empowered workforce can help the organization enhance competitiveness

and achieve goals. Mitchell Marks, in his book "Charging back up the hill: Workplace

recovery after mergers, acquisitions, and downsizing", wrote “Already in the twenty-

first century, we have seen that organizational efforts to achieve, maintain, or enhance

competitiveness have been affected by the availability of a well-trained and highly

motivated workforce.” To compete in this environment, Starbucks needs to manage

the relationship with the workforce on a store-by-store basis. As employees, people

seek not only financial compensation, but also psychological rewards because the

people need to be loyal to the company. And, once the economy recovers they will

stay and not go look for other places and jobs. After a downturn there is an upturn.

Expectancy Theory of Motivation

The hypotheses derived from findings of the first round interview introduces

additional dimension to help understand the organization. Employee satisfaction and

motivation play an important role in improving organization efficiency. The

motivation model deals with motivation and management. An employee's

performance is based on individual factors such as personality, skills, knowledge,

experience and abilities. It proposes that employees in an organization will be

motivated if they have certain expectations. When employees believe that putting in

more effort will yield better job performance, better job performance will lead to

organizational rewards, such as an increase in salary or benefits. The employees in

question value these predicted organizational rewards. The motivation model

emphasizes self-interest in the alignment of rewards with employee's wants and the

connections among expected behaviors, rewards and organizational goals.  

From the employees’ perspective, internal communication appears weak at

Starbucks. Lacking effective communication within all employee levels leads to

several organizational problems. Lower-level employees who are not included in the

communication process may feel dissatisfied and reduce their commitment to the

company. Additionally, it is difficult for employees to connect their personal goals to

unclear organizational goals. Employees can also face unclear direction in terms of

self-development and motivation. Productivity can be increased through improved

employee communication, motivation and skills and abilities. Productivity can also be

affected through increased worker satisfaction, which in turn results in productive

employees joining and remaining within the organization. 

As a result, we have elected to apply the motivation model in addition to the

congruence model to better analyze the organization's situation. Since we believe that

if the employees' motivation is enhanced, Starbucks can achieve higher level of

efficiency. Vroom's (1964) Expectancy theory consists of three components: Valence,

Expectancy, and Instrumentality. First, the term valence refers to the feelings of

satisfaction people derive from their preferred outcomes should performance be

achieved. When people have preferences of attaining certain outcomes, the outcomes

have positive valence. On the contrary, if negative valence exists, people have the

desire to avoid the outcomes at all expense. The valence has no value if people are

indifferent to attaining or not attaining the outcomes. Second, Expectancy is defined

as “the probability or degree of certainty people estimate on how well a particular

alternative action will indeed lead to a desired outcome" (Miner, 2005). The desired

outcome depends not only on the choices that the person makes but also on the

circumstances that are out of the person's control. Third, Instrumentality is regarded

as means people have to successfully achieve their preferred outcomes. In order to

successfully achieve the desired outcomes, people must have the experience,

knowledge, physical ability and the right machinery tools as well as external support

such as the appropriate job design, organization structure and work procedure. 

The expectancy theory formula is as follows: Motivation Force =

Expectancy * Instrumentality * Valence. Because this theory is based on the

product of the probabilities of these three components, there will be no motivation, if

any of these has a value near or equal to zero. Vroom suggested that an employee's

beliefs about Expectancy, Instrumentality, and Valence interact psychologically to

create a motivational force such that the employee acts in ways that bring pleasure

and avoid pain.      

Surveys

  The next phase in the diagnosis of this organization is to create a short survey

that we will use to further explore our hypotheses (See Appendix E: Starbucks

Survey Question). Using the congruence model as a guide, we developed hypotheses

that test the alignment of the congruence components. The questions in this survey

pertain to the congruence model and help to reject or validate each hypothesis, as well

as to measure the degree of fit related to model component relationships. The

questions on this survey will be tailored to expose some of the areas, based on our

hypotheses, that we believe are causing this organization to come out of alignment

and affect employee motivation. This survey will allow us to gain feedback from

every member of the organization in a completely confidential forum. The format of

this survey will consist of 37 questions and will ask the respondents to rate from

'strongly agree' or 'strongly disagree', on a scale from one to six, with each statement

we have presented them with. Included in this survey is also a short section of

demographic questions primarily designed to create a summary profile of the typical

respondent.  This survey was distributed to all 22 employees, of which 15 were

returned to us.

Findings Applied to the Congruence Model

Work

In consideration of the results of our first round of employee interviews, the

concept of work seemed to be lacking very little based on employee responses.  This

particular throughput of the transformation process seemed to be operating efficiently

with no consistent complaints or concerns voiced by the sample of employees

interviewed.  These initial findings were not a surprise to our group as Starbucks is a

largely successful company operating close to 14,000 stores worldwide. Given the

size and nominal success of the company, it is fair to assume that they have devoted a

great deal of consideration regarding job design and the employees who perform such

tasks. (See Appendix I: for Mean and Standard deviation)

However, while employees may praise job design, the congruence model leads

us to not only to analyze the individual components of the transformation process, but

also to measure their alignment with regards to the organization’s overall strategy. An

individual’s work values can have a significant impact on their interpretation of their

surrounding environment (Adkins, Ravlin & Meglino, 1996). With this idea in mind,

we chose to move forward with the assumption that all employees are happy with

their role in the transformation process. In holding this assumption constant, that task

structure is properly aligned with Starbucks strategy, we were able to form a set of

hypotheses and test them by implementing a store-wide survey. 

    Of the six hypotheses that we aimed to test with our employee survey, two

were directly related to the work function of the transformation process (See

Appendix I: Summary of Survey Results). We created a theory that an employee’s

ability to succeed and their intent to remain at Starbucks would be positively

correlated.  This is important to companies who offer limited types of work because

they need to consider the future of their employees, including moving past the limits

of their current position and growing in their work.  Employee retention is often

supported by the opportunity to succeed through self-improvement (McConnell,

2003).   

The second related hypothesis presents the idea that an empowered workforce

can help an organization to achieve its goals and to operate effectively.  Empowering

employees can improve attitudes surrounding motivation, job satisfaction and loyalty

as well as impact performance values such as employee productivity and effectiveness

(Greasley, Bryman, Dainty & Price, 2008). Again, rather than directly examining job

design at Starbucks, the purpose of our survey was to analyze its alignment with the

other elements of the Congruence Model; people, formal organization and informal

organization.        

In order to perform this analysis, we attempted to better define the relationship

between Starbucks and its employees in terms of what each party contributes to the

other. The specific concepts targeted by our survey include motivation, loyalty,

expectations and resources. Initially our primary unit of measurement for this survey

was the degree to which each employee agreed of disagreed with the statement that

we presented to them. However, based on the range of standard deviations we have

decided to include the correlation between questions as an additional measurement to

analyze responses.           

In terms of motivation, 93% of those surveyed agreed that they were satisfied

with the compensation package offered by Starbucks although there was some

discrepancy surrounding the number of respondents who were thoroughly explained

these benefits at the time of their hire. Of those who regarded themselves as informed,

there was a strong correlation to those who felt encouraged to make important

decisions and expressed and interest in making those decisions. Consequently, among

those who felt uniformed regarding the company’s benefits, there was a direct

correlation to part-time employees or those who would leave Starbucks for a

comparable position with another employer.

This is a small percentage of the staff interviewed; however, as more than 65%

indicated that they would not even consider leaving Starbucks if offered a similar job

elsewhere. Additionally, all but two responses agreed that they would encourage their

friends to work for this company. Of those who demonstrated this type of loyalty

there was a positive correlation towards personal growth and career advancement.

Adversely, of those who wouldn’t recommend Starbucks as an employer or

demonstrated disloyalty, most cited a lack of training, opportunity and personal goals.

Regarding company expectations, there is a divide where just over half of the

employees surveyed express a motivation or incentive to meet or exceed these

expectations. Those who seek to exceed expectations also hold expectations of their

employer in terms of growth and empowerment opportunities. On the other hand,

employees who have little or no reason to exceed expectations repeatedly blame the

lack of potential for career advancement, rather than being poorly compensated.

             Lastly, in order to meet expectations described by a job, it is necessary for the

employer to provide the proper resources. Of the employees who participated in this

survey, every one of them agreed that Starbucks provides the necessary training

perform the functions of their job properly. With this unanimous response, there was a

positive correlation to those who agreed that their employer was aware of their goals.

More specifically two-thirds of the partners questioned felt that Starbucks provides

the resources needed to advance their careers. Of those who agreed, several felt that

they had the power to choose their future with the company and also agreed that their

personal growth was being supported.

            By analyzing the responses to these questions and correlating them to other

questions on the survey, we can see some distinctive patterns regarding the alignment

of Starbucks transformation process. There is a direct link between the motivation to

meet or exceed expectations and the perceived resources that are made available to

accomplish this.  Additionally, the degree of loyalty demonstrated by employees can

be viewed as an indicator of the level of motivation that is present.

People and the Informal organization

The concept of people consists of knowledge, skills, needs, expectations and

relationship of the employees in the organization. It is important to identify the salient

characteristics of the people responsible for the ranges of tasks involved in their core

work. Starbucks highly values its employees.  The company’s reputation for being an

employer of choice has been recognized countless times.  The congruence model

leads us to develop a store-wide survey to get further information that helps us better

understand people at Starbucks. The survey findings did not surprise us since

Starbucks employees' opinions related to the concept of people shows a multitude of

positive feedback.  In calculating the mean and standard deviation, we found that 95%

of employee feedback surrounding their environment was positive, offering support to

the initial opinion posed by the store manager.

A total of 93% of employees agreed that they get the respect from other

coworkers. We can conclude that respect between partners is strongly perceived. The

high correlation shared with the following statements; “My supervisor keeps

subordinates informed about store operations” and “If I consistently perform well at

my job, I will be rewarded” indicates that there is a relationship between what

employees contribute to their organization and what they receive in return. This also

allows us to conclude that people are treated fairly and generally grateful for their

employment at Starbucks. 

The survey result also shows that employees feel satisfied working at

Starbucks. Part of that can be attributed to the job security (87% satisfied) and

company’s benefit package (93% satisfied). However, it is not just the benefits that

attract employees. They indicate that personal growth and development are also

important to them.  For example, there are a lot of part- time employees who work

there while pursuing other things, such as education. While more than half of their

employees recognize that Starbucks supports their personal growth, 73% reported that

the company allows them to work on their outside goals.  Starbucks culture supports

employee's growth and development which result in higher levels of their

performance. All employees also agree that Starbucks provides necessary training to

perform their jobs properly. This makes employees feel that Starbucks pays attention

to their goals and helps them develop their knowledge and skills.   

  87% of employees also appreciate the opportunity to take part in company

decision-making. Even though employees feel that they are treated of equal

importance, 54% of them felt they were not allowed to participate in the process of

revising company policies. Second round interviewing indicated that only store

manager and assistant manager can make important decisions. Employees at this store

are not a big part of this decision making process. Even though they can make

suggestion to improve store performance and effectiveness, the final decision would

be in the responsibility of store manager or management level. Employees also

mentioned that the store manager is a key person involved with the level of employee

participation. The more the store manager shows consideration to their employees'

suggestions, the higher level of employee involvement.      

  When reviewing the summary of employee responses, there is consistent

evidence of employee loyalty at Starbucks. Close to 80% of our sample agreed that

the success of Starbucks is important to them, and view their job as more than just a

means to an income.  Additionally, 66% of current employees would not even

consider leaving the organization if they were offered a comparable position with

another company. More than just being loyal, there is a sense of pride and ownership

in the company shown by the 86% of employees who agreed that they would

recommend Starbucks as a great place to work to their friends. 

  Moreover, 47% of employees also question the career path Starbucks

provides. Baristas who perform their job well will get promoted to move to a higher-

level position. The career path seems to stop at the position of store manager which is

the highest level at the store. There is a little chance that an employee at Starbucks

store could be promoted to work in the corporate operation. While only 67% of

employees feel they are provided with the tools necessary to advance their careers, a

total of 74% admit that Starbucks gives partners the freedom to choice regarding

career options. There is a direct correlation between those who recognize this choice

and those who feel the resources necessary for advancement have been made

available to them. This doubt about their career path correlates with the motivation to

exceed company's expectation. It indicates that employees do not have a clear picture

of their career path at Starbucks, which results in the decrease in their motivation to

go over company's expectation. 

  In conclusion, applying findings from the survey and interview to the

congruence model, we found that people at Starbucks seems to be in general

positively aligned with organizational structure. Their knowledge and skills are

comprehensive and are developed continuously. Their needs and preferences are

served by the company appropriately, in terms of personal and financial rewards. To

strengthen its performance and effectiveness, Starbucks should plan to increase

employee involvement and provide a clearer career path to its employees.      

Formal Organization

We examined the alignment of the congruence components relation to the

formal organization. The fit of the congruence model components with the formal

organization component is determined. The alignment of the following strategic

components is tested; Individual-formal organization, work-formal Organization and

formal organization-informal organization. The results point to a slight misalignment

of Individual-Formal Organization component.

  There is a positive correlation between employee awareness of their Starbucks

compensation package and benefits with the clarity of the career path Starbucks

provides to the employees. It can be inferred that employees who see clear rewards

and benefits are motivated to further pursue their careers at Starbucks. However, 28%

responded that they are not fully aware of their benefits package. The survey results

show that 93% of partners want to be continuously updated about the company's

current situation. Employees who have a clear career path, are aware of their benefits

and are communicated with by management more often are motivated to take

initiative to address issues as they arise and/or suggest new ideas for improvement to

Management.  

  Employees get a sense of job security when they know whether they are doing

their job well. At Starbucks, 87% of those surveyed reported a good sense of job

security. However, 37% answered that they didn't know whether they were doing

their job well.  Job security also positively correlates with partner awareness of career

direction options to choose from. Interestingly, 67% answered negatively to the

awareness of career direction options to choose from in Starbucks. This misalignment

of the formal organization with the individual can have negative impact on employee

motivation and trust. To support this, even further only 61% of those surveyed

responded positive to being aware of their compensation package. This question

positively correlates with the partners' perception of company provision of a career

path for them. Only 54% of the partners surveyed agree that the company provides

them with a clear career path. Partners who believe there is good communication of

benefits and career paths would also like to participate in company decision-making.

Good communication clearly contributes to motivated and loyal employees. To

remedy this misalignment, systematic communication should be enhanced and

employee development programs need to be improved.

  60% of those responded agreed that their personal goals were not aligned with

Starbucks goals. But only 26% agree that they don't have the option to choose their

future at Starbucks. Goal alignment and freedom to choose future careers correlate

with how often partners feel that their job is stressful. 34% agreed that their job is

stressful with another 27% on the verge. Development programs will bring the

personal goals and aspirations of employees into alignment with the organization's

goals. This alignment will make employees aware of the opportunities they can

pursue within the company. Their jobs will be meaningful working towards clear

goals and consequently less stressful. The 67% of employees who feel that Starbucks

provides them with the tools to advance their careers also believe that Starbucks

supports their personal growth. That motivates them to want to work full time because

their goals are aligned with Starbucks. "My employer knows what my goals are"

positively correlates with "working at Starbucks helps me work on my outside goals".

This result is achieved with development and communication. 

  Employees are motivated to exceed company expectations when they feel that

Starbucks supports their personal growth. Moreover, they are motivated to excel when

they feel that they have several options to choose from regarding their careers at

Starbucks. Employee development provides a sense of fairness because employees get

a better organizational perspective. Communication and development enhance trust

between employer and employee. The employee feels part of a "family" and that their

employer knows what their goals are. The survey results show that 100% of the

employees believe that adequate training is provided at Starbucks to motivate

employees to achieve desired outcomes. When partners feel that Starbucks

management knows their goals, they are motivated to contribute to Starbucks'

attainment of overall goals and not just work for the benefits and paycheck. Employee

personal growth correlates with Starbucks employee development. When employees

believe that Starbucks provides them with the necessary training to achieve desired

outcomes, they are motivated to develop careers in the company. 

Findings Applied to the Expectancy Theory

  Of the 37 questions on our survey, 14 were related to the expectancy theory.

The objective of this paper was to examine the motivational factors of Starbucks’

employees and the relationship between their motivations and their intention to

perform better. We had analyzed the data into each component of the expectancy

theory as followed.

  First, expectancy is effort-performance relationship. It is the belief that

increased effort will lead to increased performance. This is affected by having the

right resources available, having the right skills to do the job and having the necessary

support to get the job done. We have calculated the mean, standard deviation, and

response correlation to interpret the level of expectancy at Starbucks Table 1 in

Appendix H The collected data shows that all employees at Starbucks believed that

they receive necessary training to help them achieve desired outcomes and perform

job properly. In addition, 93 % of them believed that their supervisor helps them to

develop their necessary skills to improve their performance. The data from the

correlation also showed that for these people, once they believed that their supervisor

supported them, they are likely to be motivated to exceed company’s expectation.

       In addition, we also conducted a second round interview to assess whether

work harder will result in better performance (See Appendix C: Raw Data from

Second round Interview). We found that all of the interviewees agreed that if they put

more effort, not only could they outperform their partners, but they could also help

their branch to increase revenue, attract more customers and increase customer

loyalty. In conclusion, by weighing the data collected from each source, we concluded

that the expectancy score of Starbucks is very high.

  Second, Instrumentality is performance-reward relationship. It is the belief

that if you perform well that a valued outcome will be received. We would like to

uncover to what extent does the individual expect that the outcomes are associated

with good performance differ from those outcomes associated with poor performance.

This is affected by clear understanding of the relationship between performance and

outcome, trust in the people that decide who gets what outcome, and transparency of

the process that decides who gets what outcome. At Starbucks, employee

performance is measured every six months; the data from the survey in Table 2 in

Appendix H showed that all employees agreed that they were treated fairly. It is a

positive sign that shows trust between Starbucks and its employees, they know they

will be rewarded fairly by their supervisor. Being treated or rewarded fairly is just one

of the components of instrumentality.

     On the other hand, some of the survey responses signaled some negativity

toward instrumentality. The employees answered differently when we asked if they

consistently perform well at their jobs, would they be rewarded. Since the coefficient

between mean and standard deviation of the question was a bit high (50%), we

decided to perform the second round interview to examine this variance.  To our

surprise, the result of the second round interview showed that all interviewees agreed

that if they do a good job, there is some good outcome for them, which was

inconsistent with the survey result. Then, we figured out that the variance came from

different the attitude toward expected rewards or outcomes they would receive; each

employee valued these rewards or outcomes differently. For example, the students

who work in Starbucks part-time might not be interested to get more working hours.

However, for some full-time employees, being scheduled for more hours can be a

measure of compensation or a representation of their worth to the organization. Or,

during this economic downturn, having a job is considered big reward for some

employee. In employees’ point of views, the expected rewards can be an increase in

working hours, an increase in pay rate, an increase in their own reputation, flexibility

in working hours, recognition from their supervisor, or a promotion.  

  From all sources of the data collected, we drew the conclusion that the

instrumentality score of Starbucks is quite high. The 6-month evaluation feedback

system in Starbucks is designed to reflect employee performance. The employees

reported noticing that if they work harder, they will receive a better reward. One of

the interviewees told us that he felt proud that he receives higher pay rate than other

partners, reflecting on his motivation to continue doing a good job. So, we can

conclude that employees at Starbucks strongly believe that there are some good

outcomes waiting for them if they consistently perform good work and are treated

fairly.

  Last, valence is the importance that the individual places upon the expected

outcome. The data from the survey in Table 3 in Appendix H showed that 74% of the

employees agreed that working at Starbucks helps them pursuing on their outside

goals, and 93% of them were satisfied with compensation package offered by

Starbucks. In general, we can conclude that most employees at Starbucks were

satisfied with the overall benefits and compensations they got from working at

Starbucks. However, all employees are eligible for these rewards as long as they are

Starbucks’ employees, regardless of how much effort they demonstrate.

    In order for partners to exert more effort in achieving better performance is

dependent on how they value the expected outcome they will get, and how they prefer

the outcomes associated with good performance.  If the employees at Starbucks

believe that putting more effort will lead to outcomes that are attractive to them, then

they will find that contributing more effort is attractive. However, as we mentioned

earlier regarding the variance as it pertains to instrumentality, the collected data

showed us that the degree of matching individual needs and the respective rewards is

not that high. As a result, we conclude that the level of valence at Starbucks is

medium.

  In conclusion, according to Vroom’s expectancy theory, the product of

valence, expectancy, and instrumentality is motivation. It can be thought of as the

strength of the drive towards a goal. After combining all three components together,

the motivation force for Starbucks is considered almost high. We can conclude that

there is a motivation force within Starbucks. Its culture is one of the most important

components that can motivate the employees to achieve higher performance. As one

employee reported to us that he did not want to be a partner that no one would like to

work with.  Although both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation within Starbucks is quite

high, it still has a room for improvement. The more Starbucks can motivate its

employee, the more Starbucks can improve its effectiveness.  

Findings in terms of correlation

Correlation Scale

r = 0.74 - “My employer knows what my goals are.”

r = 0.71 - “Starbucks provides partners with a clear career path.”

r = 0.62 - “I am motivated to exceed company’s expectations.”

r = Negative 0.51 - “I only want part-time employment at Starbucks."

    

Employee self-efficacy:

H1: There is a positive correlation between employee self-efficacy (the ability to

exceed in a specific situation including their outside goals) and their motivation to

remain at Starbucks.  

 

Independent Variable Question “My supervisor gives me the incentive to exceed

expectations.”

 

r = 0.72 - “M supervisor encourages partners to participate in important

decisions.” 

r = 0.76 - “I do not have an opportunity to take part in making decisions.” 

r = 0.59 - “Working at Starbucks helps me work on my outside goals.”

 

Compensation Package Awareness:

 H2: There is a positive correlation between employee awareness of their Starbucks

compensation package and benefits and their motivation to remain at Starbucks.

 

Independent Variable Question “The individual who hired me thoroughly explained

my benefits package at the time of hire.”  

 

r = 0.59 - “I would encourage my friends to work for this company." 

r = 0.56 - “Starbucks provides employees the tools to advance their career.”

 

r = 0.64 - “My supervisor encourages partners to participate in important

decisions." 

r = 0.71 - “I would like to participate in the company’s decision making."

Employee Goals:

H5: There is a positive correlation between the level and frequency of employee

development and their goals, whether they are internal to Starbucks or external goals,

and their intent to remain at Starbucks.

 

Independent Variable Question “The success of Starbucks is NOT really important to

me.”  

 

r = Negative 0.55 - “Starbucks supports my personal growth."

r = Negative 0.67 - “Starbucks provides employees the tools to advance their

career."

r = Negative 0.62 - “I am treated fairly.” 

r = 0.62 - “If I were offered a comparable position, I would consider leaving

Starbucks.”

r = 0.70 - “Starbucks does NOT provide the necessary training to help me

achieve desired outcomes."

                                                            

Independent Variable Question “My supervisor helps subordinates develop their

skills.”

 

r = 0.74 - “My employer knows what my goals are.”

r = 0.71 - “Starbucks provides partners with a clear career path.”

r = 0.62 - “I am motivated to exceed company’s expectations.”

r = Negative 0.51 - “I only want part-time employment at Starbucks."

   

Communication:

H3: The communication gap between management levels and baristas can adversely

affect employee motivation and trust. For example, by not clearly communicating

employee benefits to baristas, and the process to retrieve and manage them, can result

in dissatisfaction and reduced commitment.

 

H4: There is inadequate communication between management levels and baristas

regarding many aspects of the organization.

 

H6: There is a positive correlation between the openness and amount of top-down

communication regarding the company’s plans and employee’s expressed intent to

remain at Starbucks. 

 

Independent Variable Question “There is good communication between partners at all

levels.”

 

r = 0.80 - “My supervisor gives me incentive to exceed expectations.”

r = 0.74 - “Starbucks supports my personal growth."

r = 0.70 - “I feel I have several options to choose from regarding the direction

of my career at Starbucks."

r = Negative 0.63 - “I do not have the freedom to choose my future at

Starbucks."

 

r = 0.59 - “Working at Starbucks helps me work on my outside goals.”

 

r = Negative 0.62 - “The success of Starbucks is NOT really important to me.”

 

Independent Variable Question “I would feel better if I were continuously

updated about the company’s current situation."

r = Negative 0.53 – “I am treated fairly”

 

 

Independent Variable Question “My supervisor keeps subordinates informed about

store operations."  

r = Negative 0.74 “The success of Starbucks is NOT really important to

me."

Based on our findings we have chosen the following course of actions

regarding our originally stated hypotheses. We have chosen to reject two hypotheses,

specifically those that relate to self-efficacy and communication regarding the

company’s plans to restructure and a positive correlation towards an employee’s

intent to remain working at Starbucks. The reason we have chosen to reject these

hypotheses is not that there wasn’t enough evidence to support them, employees

definitely have the ability to succeed and would prefer to hear about the restructuring

plans, but there was no link between these instances and employees leaving their

employer.

Of the six hypotheses that we created following our first round of interviews,

our group has chosen to accept for of them as problems existing within the

organization. Two of these were related directly to the quality of communication

between various positions or management levels. Our hypotheses stated that

employees prefer higher levels of communication and that they often reinforce a trust

surrounding the people of the organization. After analyzing our survey responses it

was clear to us that employees were concerned about the reasoning behind a lack of

communication between certain groups, and they consistently agreed that they would

like to see more communication in the workplace. By eliminating these concerns the

organization could benefit from more engaged employees who truly feel that they are

part of the big picture.

Another hypothesis that our survey was designed to test was the correlation

between employee awareness of their benefits and their expressed intent to remain

with the company. We have chosen to accept this hypothesis based on the fact that

those who mentioned they were well aware of the benefits available to them also cited

their desired to advance in the company and their overall satisfaction with these

benefits. The final hypothesis we chose to accept is that there is a positive correlation

between employee development, their goals and their intent to remain at Starbucks.

Our support for this acceptance came from responses that indicated employees who

feel their skills are recognized and developed also see a future with the company.

However those who do not feel they are encouraged to grow personally and with the

company, also seem to work part-time or do not recognize their employment as a long

term opportunity. By increasing employee awareness of their benefits and presenting

them with opportunities to reach their goals through growth and development the

organization will benefit from increased retention of employees, willing to continually

improve themselves and as a result overall organizational effectiveness.

Recommendations

After conducting a careful diagnosis at this Starbucks store, focusing on the

presenting issues of quality or content of communication among positions, Starbucks

should focus on its human resources issues as an area of improving productivity. In

applying human resource management interventions, Starbucks would operate more

efficiently, improving its performance and effectiveness. These interventions focus on

employees by developing, integrating and supporting people in the organization,

believing that organizational effectiveness results from improved practices for

integrating employees into organization (Cummings and Worley, 2008).   

1. Performance management

Performance management interventions are designed to improve and

strengthen human resources in the organization (See Appendix G: Performance

Management). Performance management is an integrated process of defining,

assessing, and reinforcing employees work behaviors and outcomes (A. Mohrman, S.

Mohrman and Worley, 1990). It includes practices and methods for goal setting,

performance appraisal and reward systems. Goal setting specifies the kinds of

performances that are desired, performance appraisal assesses those outcomes and

reward systems provide the reinforcement to ensure that desired outcomes are

repeated (Cummings and Worley, 2008). These practices jointly influence the

performance of individuals and work groups.     

1.1 Goal Setting

Goal setting is a powerful way of motivating people. This change program

involves setting clear and challenging goals. From the survey, some employees at

Starbucks mentioned that their personal goals are not aligned with Starbucks' goals.

This practice will help improve organization effectiveness by establishing a better fit

between personal and organizational objectives. Goal setting describes the interaction

between managers and employees in jointly defining member work behaviors and

outcomes (Cummings and Worley, 2008). They periodically meet to plan work,

review accomplishment and solve problems in achieving goals. When applied to jobs,

goal setting can focus on individual goals and reinforce individual contributions and

work outcomes. Goal setting can affect performance in several ways. Starbucks could

influence what its employees think and do by focusing their behavior in the direction

of the goals. Realistically developed, stated, and implemented goals can be the

guiding principle for increased effectiveness and continued growth. 

  The store manager and subordinates at Starbucks should jointly establish and

clarify employee goals. First, a goal setting meeting should be conducted annually to

develop challenging but realistic goals. This formal meeting increases employee

perceived challenge and enhances the amount of effort to achieve goals. Having

employees participate in goal setting process can increase motivation and

performance. Participation can also convince employees that the goals are achievable

and can increase their commitment to achieving them. The goals could be established

depending on organization objectives and strategies, such as "improving customer

satisfaction" or "minimizing customer waiting time". Second, the manager needs to

clarify a system of goal measurement among employees to reduce ambiguity about

manager's expectation and focus their energy on appropriate behaviors. It is important

to define the goal operationally to be sure that the measure can be influenced by

employee behaviors. For example, a productivity goal could be defined by waiting

time per customer or the number of wrong order per employee.           

1.2 Performance appraisal

Performance appraisal is a systematic process of jointly assessing work-related

achievements, strengths and weaknesses. It can also facilitate career counseling,

provide information about the strength and diversity of human resources in the

company and link employee performance with rewards (Cummings and Worley,

2008). Performance appraisal represents an important link between goal setting and

reward systems. By collecting and disseminating performance data, the company

provides performance feedback to individuals. Since some employees said they

seldom know whether they are doing their job well or not, feedback will allow them a

chance to know how they are seen by others, to consider their skills and style, and

improve work outcomes. A good review system could help to improve

communications, while aiding people to increase their own effectiveness and to

clarify their own jobs and responsibilities. It will not only increase the performance of

the staff, but also help them to work together, with common goals and fewer

obstacles.

     All employees at Starbucks store are currently evaluated by their store

manager every six months. This formal, semi-annually evaluation results in an

increase in pay or promotion depending on employee performance. Although

Starbucks might not be able to increase the number of formal appraisals, they can

increase the frequency of informal feedback. The store manager can help the

organization achieve better performance by increasing the frequency of feedback and

reinforcement to employees. We suggest that the store manager introduces monthly

"five-minute meeting" feedback program. This informal, ongoing basis program will

be used to define employees' performance, strengths and weaknesses. From the survey

result, only 34 % reported that they know whether they are doing a good job. So, by

having a chance to talk to their manager personally, employees can share ideas,

feelings and opinions about their jobs, and they can ask where they stand in the

company. This program also enhances employee involvement. Since some employees

mentioned that they would like to take part in decision making, they could take this

opportunity to make comment or suggestion on improving performance and

effectiveness. The manager will receive input from those who actually perform the

task. The success of two-way communication from this program will enhance the

participation, commitment and productivity of Starbucks members. 

An immediate praise for a job well done is motivating. If the employees get

feedback on how well they have done their jobs, they will do better. The store

manager should acknowledge employees’ performance by personally congratulating

them, offering an incentive or celebrating the success. An immediate praise for a job

well done is motivating. A positive reinforcement will stimulate a person to do better

(Anonymous, 2009). On the other hand, if they do not perform well, they will know in

which area they have to improve. The sooner they know, the better the end result will

be. They will continuously improve their performance until they are formally assessed

by the company in semi-annually assessment. Feedback from manager helps

employees understand their performance and the way to adapt their work behaviors to

align with manager's expectation and company goals. Lack of reinforcement can

result in a decrease in motivation (Anonymous, 2009). Without reinforcement, they

are uncertain of their progress toward the company's objective and even their own

goals.    

1.3 Reward systems

Reward systems involve the design of organizational rewards to improve

employee satisfaction and performance (Scott, Farh and Podsakoff, 1988). It elicits

and reinforces desired behaviors and work outcomes through compensation and other

forms of recognition. The reward systems approach includes innovative approaches to

pay, promotions and fringe benefits. 

  According to Vroom’s Expectancy theory, this theory emphasizes the need for

organizations to relate rewards directly to performance and to ensure that the rewards

provided are those rewards deserved and wanted by the recipients. However, there are

many reasons that can negatively affect employee motivation. One of the reasons is

rewards do not match expectations (Anonymous, 2009).  An employer must not

assume that all employees want the same things. Giving something that a person does

not highly value will do little in terms of motivation. From our findings, the

expectancy theory also showed that there are some contradictions between expected

and actual rewards in which the overall motivation force at Starbucks was decreased.

Since humans have different needs, each employee has her own expectations and

expects appropriate rewards (Anonymous, 2009). From collected data, we found that

some employee at Starbucks may expect a salary increase, some may expect having

flexible working hours, another would want a promotion while someone else would

love to feel important and be praised with recognition. As a result, first we suggest

Starbucks to achieve the ideal outcomes that the employees desire by matching

reward expectations to actual rewards. However, this does not mean that Starbucks

has to meet all the employees’ needs. Starbucks just has to understand their individual

needs and use this knowledge to keep them motivated.  All motivation is self-

motivation, and each individual is motivated by their specific needs.

  Second, we suggest that Starbucks clarify the rewards systems that were

covered during the hiring process.  Starbucks has already done a great job to

communicating its compensation package to its employees; however, the survey result

shows that 21% of the employees still are not well aware of the benefit package. As a

result, Starbucks can improve both the store performance and the employee'

motivation by clearly informing its compensations and benefits during the hiring

process

2. Communication 

Starbucks was hurt by the economy going sour and decided to close 600 of

their under-performing stores in the US over 2008 through the first part of 2009.

These closings eliminated an estimated 12,000 jobs.  Although the company said they

will place employees in other stores that are remaining open if possible, surviving

employees still worry about the next wave of layoffs. Downsizing has an unavoidable

and unpredictable effect on the employees who remain with an organization. As stress

rises, positive energy declines. The inescapable results are lowered morale, reduced

productivity and energy, and diminished effectiveness. A workplace recovery plan

will help the survivors move through the pain of change and accelerate their return to

productivity and positive morale. 

  Although this store is not directly affected by the downsizing program,

negative rumors are still present and have an effect on employee performance and

satisfaction. Employees have almost no clue about the company's next decision plan.

To restore employee confidence and energy, the store manager should engage people

by communicating as much as possible. During and following a downsizing,

communication should be improved both in frequency and in thoroughness (Marks,

2003). This is not easy when leaders are stretched thin by the demands of running an

organization in tough times. Staying in touch with employees demonstrates that the

manager is genuinely aware of the stress employees are experiencing and concerned

about them. The leader should also strengthen internal communication within the

organization by providing information received from the corporate level to his staff

whenever possible. The store manager should include in their monthly meeting any

updates regarding company news, overall strategy plan and important information

effecting to employees and their benefits. Keeping people in the know through

frequent and thorough communication enhances organizational effectiveness and

employee satisfaction. 

3. Career Development

As we mentioned in People part, the career path seems to stop at the position

of store manager, the highest level at the store. The doubt about the employee’s future

career path can correlated with their motivation. It can result in the decrease of their

motivation to exceed company's expectations. Starbucks can increase nationwide

performance by providing an opportunity to promote some outstanding employees

from within the company. Starbucks should create this incentive for the employees. If

they perform well, they should have a chance to be promoted to work in the corporate

operation. Their future will not get stuck at store manager level. When an

organization emphasizes promotion from within, its employees have an increased

incentive to strive for advancement. As they witness their promotions occurring

within the company, employees become increasingly aware of their own opportunities

(Caruth, Donald L., Handlogten, 1997). Consequently, a promotion-from-within

policy enhances motivation and leads to a relatively high level of morale. A company

that frequently goes outside to hire the people it needs pays a price: a persistent

erosion of the loyalty of the people already on its payroll (Lewis, B. 1999).

However, this recommendation is out of the store’s manager control. Giving a

chance to promote from within seems to be top management’s decision. To make it

happen, the store manager should report to top management at corporate level to

realize the benefit of this fact in order to strengthen its performance and effectiveness,

and to increase employee involvement by providing them a clearer career path.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our experience diagnosing this organization has been a learning

experience.  An opportunity that began as challenge to identify how Starbucks could

increase organizational effectiveness has with ended with a slightly different set of

recommendation for our client.  We entered into our contract with an assumption that

everything was operating smoothly and our goal was to capture the things that were

promoting this effectiveness so that they could be even further approved upon.

However, in the course of our diagnosis, some issues and concerns were expressed by

employees that indicated that things were not as positive as they could be.

Specifically, we received repeated criticism regarding communication and motivation

with the store environment.  

     This is not to say that things were not satisfactory as far as company policy,

but these were the areas that seemed to concern employees the most.  As a result, our

group has made a set of recommendations to our client that we feel, based on our

academic research, will help to meet the expectations of their employees.  Finally, if

these issues are resolved and expectations are met, the positive result will be evident

in terms of performance and morale.  If our recommendations are implemented, we

feel that we will have succeeded in increasing organizational effectiveness for our

client, which was our original goal, however it is necessary to first correct some issues

within the organization before we could proceed to this improved state.

 

 

 

References:

Miner, J. (2005) Organizational Behavior 1—Essential Theories of Motivation and

Leadership. Armonk, NY: M.E.Sharp. P94-P98, P107   

Marks, M. (2003). Charging Back Up the Hill. Workplace Recovery after Mergers,

Acquisitions and Downsizings.

Branham, L. (2005). The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave. Sound vie Executive

Book summaries, 27 (6), 1-8

Goldman, D., Boyatizis, R., McKee, A. (2002). Primal Leadership: Realizing the

Power of Emotional Intelligence. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School

Publishing

Kaliprasad, M., (2006). The Human Factor II: Creating a High Performance Culture

in an Organization. Cost Engineering: 48 (6), 20-34

Lantz, G. (2002). Effective Leadership Development Can Mean Success for

Company. Retrieved March 30, 2009 from

http://birmingham.bizjournals.com/birmingham/stories/2002/06/17/focus3.html

Withers, P. (2001). Retention Strategies That Response to Workers Values. Retrieved

March 30, 2009 from

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_OFSX/is_7_80/ai_76938893/print  

Wong, P. (2002). Lesson Learned from Enron: Corporate Culture Matters. Journal of

Management Inquiry, 8, 5-16

Spreader, M. and Quinn, R. (1997). The road to Empowerment: Seven Questions

Every Leader Should Consider. Organizational Dynamic, 26, (2) 37-39

Stock, B. (2001). Eradicate the Turnover Virus. Retrieved March 31, 2009 from

http://ww.byronstock.com/retention.html.

 Locander, W. and Luechauer, D. (2005). The Leadership Equation. Marketing

Management. 14. (5) 42-44  

Kark, R. and Shamir, B. (2000). Untangling the Relationships between

Transformational Leadership and Followers’ Identification, Dependence and

Empowerment. Retrieved April 1, 2009 from

http://www.si.umich.edu/ICOS/idenfications.html

Koch, C. (2004). Servant Leadership: Can the Bishops Learn from Southwest

Airlines? America Press Inc: 191 (1), 17-19 

Kerfoot K and Wantsz L. (2005). On Leadership: Compliance Leadership the 17 th

Century Model That Doesn’t Work. Urological Nursing. 15 (2), 131-133 

H.R. Spectrum (2003). Performance Based Pay: Does the Benefit Outweigh the

Cost?. Cornell University, Retrieved March 11, 2009 from

http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/cahrs/research/pubs/hrspectrum/upload/HRSpec03-10.pdf

Wellin, M. (2009). Managing the Psychological Contract. Retrieved March 11, 2009,

from

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h2.pdf

CNN (2008)100 Best Companies to Work For (2008). Retrieved March 11, 2009

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2009/snapshots/24.html

W. Scott, J. Farh, and P. Podsakoff (1988). Organizational Behavior and Human

Decision Processes. 405-25.

A. Mohrman, S. Mohrman, and C. Worley (1990). Managing Complexity in High-

Technology Organization. New York: Oxford University Press. 216-36

T. Cummings and C. Worley (1998). Organization Development and Change, 9th

Edition.          

Anonymous (2009). In order for an organization to succeed, it has to give emphasis to

its employee motivation. Retrieved on May 6, 2009 from http://www.about-personal-

growth.com/employee-motivatation.html

Raida Abu Bakar, Abdul Latif Salleh, Lee Chee Ling. (2008). 'How We Do Things

Around Here': Implications of Corporate Culture On Job Performance. The Business

Review, 

Cambridge, 9(2), 339-344.  Retrieved March 11, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global

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h2.pdf  

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2009 http://www.chainleader.com/article/CA6633206.html?industryid=47554  

H.R. Spectrum, Cornell University, (2003) Retrieved March 11, 2009

http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/cahrs/research/pubs/hrspectrum/upload/HRSpec03-10.pdf

 

 

Appendix A: Agreement

Consultant team Agreement

 

This agreement dated 03 March 2009, is made  between the students of San

Francisco State University (Valentinos Themistocleous, Zishan Xu, Sivaporn

Ratanavilaiwan, Seth Breedlove, Ian Kerwin and Manatsanan Anuwatmatee),

whose address is 835 Market St, San Francisco, CA, referred to as

“Consultant team”, AND Jon Smiley  representing  Starbucks whose address

is 390 Stockton Street, San Francisco CA 94108.

 

 

1. Consultation Services: Starbucks at the above address allows the consultant

team named above to provide consulting services in accordance with the

general expectations set forth in this agreement: This agreement is non-

binding, revocable and may be renegotiated at anytime by either party.

 

2.  This agreement will begin 3 March 2009 and will end 12 May 2009.

 

3. Time Devoted by Consultant team: It is anticipated the consultant team will

spend approximately 10 weeks in fulfilling its obligations under this contract.

The particular amount of time required by the client may vary from day to

day or week to week. The consultant team will conduct two rounds of

interview sessions in early March and mid April, and administer one

questionnaire in late March. In the time immediately prior to and following

these interviews the consultant team will perform some random observations

of the business environment of Starbucks to its duties in accordance with this

agreement.

 

4. Accessibility: The Starbuck’s manager agrees to provide the accessibility

needed by the consultant team with the objective of obtaining valid data. 

This access includes providing advance notification to employees, space and

time needed by the consultant team to conduct one on one interviews, on-site

observations, and providing relevant documents such as work schedule, job

description, evaluation criteria, company reward programs, discipline rules,

when needed for diagnosis. In addition, the company allows the consultant

team to deploy a company-wide written survey to be voluntarily completed

by all willing employees. All interviews will be conducted in the lobby of the

store during business hours. The specific amount of time we need from the

company's employees will be as follow:

    

·         1st Round Interviews: 10 partners (one assistant store manager, two

shift supervisors and seven baristas) at roughly 25 minutes per employee,

during business hours.

·         Store Wide Survey:  Surveys will be distributed by the consultant

team to all partners during their respective shifts.  This survey can be

completed at the employee's discretion and returned to the consultant

team within one week's time.

·         2nd   Round Interviews:   10 partners (one assistant store manager,

two shift supervisors and seven baristas) at roughly 25 minutes per

employee, during business hours.

·         The consultant team and store manager will arrange time to

communicate informally to discuss research progress and feedback on a

weekly basis or as needed.

·         The store manager agrees to acknowledge phone or email

communication requests within 48 hours. The consultant team agrees

likewise.

5. Confidential Information: The consultant team agrees that any information

received while providing its services which concerns the personal, financial

or other affairs of the company will be treated in full confidence and will be

shared only with Professor Mitchell Marks, and the students of Management

0842 on the presentation day, May 12th.  Please note that individual

responses are completely confidential—at no time will we ever reveal any

individual’s responses.  The only feedback will be aggregated at the group

level.

 

6. Voluntary Participation & Notification: Participation in this project is

completely voluntary.  No partner can be forced to participate. Partners will

receive at 24 hours notification before any interviews and surveys are

conducted

 

7. Deliverables: Starbucks will receive a report from the consultant team at the

time the service has ended, on or before May 12th. The report will indicate the

diagnosis of presented problems or opportunity with an appropriate model

applied, and alternative solutions that can be implemented to improve or

continue the effective management of the client’s business. It is strongly

suggested that the company provide feedback to employees. The feedback

can be a short summary report and not necessarily the full presentation.  It is

helpful to determine the method of feedback as soon as possible, and to have

an answer prepared for when employees pose the question asking whether or

not they will be presented with our findings.

 

8. Signatures: Both the Starbucks manager and the consultant team agree to the

above    contract.

 

 

The Company

 

Date:                                                                                       Name      (_____________________)

 

Signature (                                                                                    )

 

The Consultant team

 

Date:                                                                                      Name      (______________________)

 

Signature (                                                                                  )

Appendix B: Raw Data from First Round Interview Responses

1) How long have you worked here?

18 Months.

17 Months.

2 years at this store, 3 total with the company.

1 year currently and 1 year previously.

1 year and 2 months.

2 and half years .it is a good company.

2) What do you like best about working here?

The environment, location.  Being downtown is very exciting.

My Co-workers, we have fun and I like dealing with the customers, we have

nice regulars.

I also get to meet interesting people; if you are pleasant to your customers they

return the courtesy, making it not boring. 

Simplicity, motivating work that keeps you busy, great company

communication, get to work with people I may not otherwise befriend, multi

task job, high energy.

It is flexible with my second job; I work part-time and get full time benefits.

Just having fun and interacting with a lot interesting customers.

They are very good at working around your schedule and be flexible with

school hours. And work is really fun. He has clear view of expectation while

at work.

3) What is your motivation to stay with the company?

Flexibility during school, fun, being in the city/downtown.

The shape of the current job market and that I enjoy the people I work with.

Easy to advance, good pay.

I enjoy the store and the pay is good.

Benefits and pay.   

Job has flexible hours and the pay is better than any other coffee shop.

4) What to you like the least about working here?

The lack of hours; having to work at other stores for a full work week.

The repetition of the job and dealing with certain customer attitudes.

Nothing.

Minor conflicts with co-workers.

Opening really early and closing really late.

Sometimes, working really early or super late, there are a lot grouchy

customers.

5) If you could, what is one thing you would change about the organization?

Communication between management tiers, everybody needs to be on the

same page regarding expectations.

The dress code.

Decisions regarding product lines should be made at the store level.

Improve the Quality of products (merchandize). But the drink quality is good.

Change the hours, because sometimes it’s not busy and there are people idle.

Nothing structural or cultural needs changing.

6) What do you think about when you are preparing for a shift?

The staff on my shift, what I'll have to do to accomplish every responsibility

during the shift.

The time commitment that I'm entering into.

My role as a manager takes over as soon as I walk in the door

I like to open the store, sometimes I think about whether I want to work with

the customers (front) or production (back).

Customer flows and what task needs to be done.

The type of customer I will be dealing with. I will choose bar over register.

Sometimes would like less interaction with customers.

 

7) How would you describe the relationships among the employees at this store?

Generally we all have a good working relationship; every manager has at least

one person that they don't see eye to eye with.

I like everyone but some don't take the job as serious, we are friends but only

at work.

We are 98% on the same page.

Everyone is happy and I like the manager.  We occasionally socialize outside

of work.

Very close. We hang out with each other.  

Really close. Same age partners. A few go to San Francisco State. Some of

them have two jobs. Easy to get shifts covered.

8) Has there been any communication regarding the company's plans to restructure?

They made some initial cuts after the holiday season last year, and now there

has just been a shortage in hours, but everyone seems grateful for their job.

Communication overall is good.  There is an internal portal that gives

employees (except baristas) access to company news ahead of the press.

Employees with different position level rarely go hang out together.

No, but the communication is good at our meetings. 

No. They don’t communicate with the employees.

Yes. There was training for transformation last year. During the meetings

partners were well informed about new policies.

9) Do you trust the corporate side of this organization?

Yes, I have faith in them.  Every company is dealing with the economy.

Yes but they kind of keep employees in the dark. They don't communicate

with them.

Yes.

10) How do you see your future with Starbucks?

Two or more years, while I complete school.

No Real Future. I might go back to school.

I have talked with management about becoming a store manager within six

months.  Starbucks fits the other aspects of my life (school).

I will continue to work here.

Just a part time job. I own a production company.  I have my own stuff to

pursuit.

I am Student at SF state. Working on Business Marketing degree. Would like

to advance to work in the marketing department at Starbucks. Good

corporation to work for.

11) How have your perceptions of the company changed since you started as an

employee?

Sales volume has been cut in half, less busy.

I was hired on the spot and thought the pace was fast and overwhelming, but

now it is just normal.

I didn't initially realize how strong the work ethic was and how customer

focused the employees were expected to be.

At first I wasn't comfortable as a non-native English speaker, but now I am

confident.

People think it is Power House Company but I don’t think so because they

don’t have the corporate office culture. They keep downsizing, and getting

smaller… I think the company will downsize because of the economic

downturn and lots of other new coffee shops opening.

It has changed a lot. Used to think Starbucks was corporate. But they are easy

going and like to treat everyone with respect. Better view now than initially

held.

12) Is there anything you would like to add that we have not covered in this

interview?

Each store that I've floated to has a different feel.  It is important to have

enough work to keep all of our staff.

If you are promoted to upper level management you have to change stores, my

benefits were not clearly communicated to me.

No.

Things in general are OK.

No.

Starbucks makes really good coffee and and treats employees fairly. They are

really good at business ethics.

 

Appendix C: Raw Data from Second Round Interview Responses

1. If you put in more effort and work harder, will you perform better?

Yes, this is necessary for such a big store.

Yes, especially in performance measured in customer satisfaction. 

Yes.

2. Do you think if you do a good job, there are some good rewards waiting for you? 

E.g. promotion, higher pay, higher bonus

Yes, rewards come in the form of more hours (important during current

economic times), positive feedback from supervisors and positive recognition

by co-workers.

Yes, raises, feedback at six month review, receiving hours is important now.

Hours, long-term recognition.

3. If you perform well, do you think you will be satisfied with how you are rewarded?

More hours/time on the schedule is important.

Yes, Starbucks does a good job of recognizing performances.

Rewards are accurate with performance levels.

4. What is your motivation to exceed the expectations of your employer/customers?

Good feedback, making supervisors aware of my efforts.

To please my supervisor, this also results in happy customers.

Money, repeat business of customers and their relationships.

5. What are your options for advancement within the company?

They are there but I am more focused on strengthening my current position.

There are options (they are fairly limited beyond the store level).

Interview, promote from within, you must show initiative.

6. What type of career development programs are provided by Starbucks? Who

participates in them?

You have to follow up on this, it is mentioned at hiring.

Training, Learning Coach Workshops.

Promotion.

7. Could you describe the decision making process and How could Starbucks involve

partners with the decision making process? How could Starbuck increase employee

power/ involvement? 

Trickle down by department, good corporate communication.

Programs such as learning coach and 'how to be a leader' strengthen

skills...Supervisors ask for input.

Everybody has their fair say, and we are asked about our preferences.

8. How does Upper Management communicate with partners regarding store

performance, individual performance, and company direction? Is this communication

is adequate? How could communication be improved between levels?

Communication through store manager, 'workbooks' to inform employees

about promotion.

Communication is good overall.

9. How does Starbucks value your personal goals (growth/development/benefits)?

And how could Starbucks help you achieve these goals?

Tuition reimbursement, they are keeping important benefits despite store

closings and cost cutting. 

Tuition reimbursement and flexibility.

I am a parent and they grant me flexibility.

10. Does Starbucks provide you with a clear career path? What is it? How does it

affect you and your performance?

My focus is daily, but sometimes I have to look into the future.

Work harder for career possibilities, store by store basis for success

motivators.

We are given good reviews/reports, positive recognition results in harder

work. The feedback we receive during reviews often focuses on negatives.

Appendix E: Starbucks Surveys QuestionDemographics

This information is 100% voluntary and is for analysis information only. No information will be collected and stored about you. No information will be released that may identify the answers of any particular individual. 1. Please select your gender.

1 Female2 Male3 Transgender

2. What is your education level (indicate highest completed)?1 Some elementary school (grades 1-7)2 Completed elementary school (8 grades)3 Some high school (grades 9-11)4 Graduated from high school or G.E.D.5 Some college or technical training beyond high school (1-3 years)6 Graduated from college (B.A., B.S., or other Bachelor's degree)7 Some graduate school8 Graduate degree (Masters, Ph.D., M.D., etc.)

3. What is your marital status?1 Married2 Widowed3 Separated4 Divorced5 Never married

4. Please choose the best answer that defines your ethnicity.1 African American2 Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander3 Native American4 Hispanic 5 Caucasian6 Others7 Decline to answer

5. How old were you on your last birthday? ________

6. Is your income the primary source of financial support for yourself and/or your immediate family?1 Yes2 No

7. How many dependents do you have (others who depend on your income for their financial support)?________

8. When did you first come to work for Starbucks (at any location)? Date: ____/____/____

9. When did you start your present job in this Starbucks store?Date: ____/____/____

Dear Starbucks Partners:  Your store is participating in a project with students from San Francisco State University MBA program. The purpose of this survey is to understand how Partners at this location feel about working at Starbucks.

Please take a few moments to answer these questions. In appreciation for your cooperation, every employee who completes a survey will have a chance in a drawing for two $25 Visa gift cards.

Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary and all responses are completely confidential. At no time will any individual’s responses be shared with the company. The only reports provided by the student team will summarize overall results. Please answer each question honestly; there are not right or wrong answers. We are interested in your opinions about working at Starbucks.  Instructions

Each question is posed as a statement to which you are asked to respond by selecting a number on the scale below the statement. Please choose the number that best matches how you feel about the statement. 

At the end of this survey, we have included an opportunity for you to add any additional comments, or information as well as some questions about yourself.

When you have completed the survey, please place it in the sealed envelope we have provided, and return to the manila folder located next to the time clock. Once you have submitted your survey, please check your name off the list of employees as “returned”.

Please complete all surveys by Friday, April 22 at 6 pm, as we will be collecting the results then. We will announce the name of the winner on the following Monday.

Thank you very much for your time and cooperation. 

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1. I get respect from the partners I work with. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}2. I would feel better if I were continuously updated about the

company's current situation. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

3. The success of Starbucks is not really important to me. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

4. There is good communication between partners at all levels.{1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

5. My supervisor keeps subordinates informed about store operations. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

6. My employer gives me incentive to exceed expectations. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

7. I have a good sense of job security. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

8. I would encourage my friends to work for this company. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

9. If I consistently perform well at my job, I will be rewarded.{1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

10. The individual who hired me thoroughly explained my benefits package at the time of hire. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

11. Starbucks provides necessary training to perform my job properly. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

12. My supervisor helps subordinates develop their skills. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

13. I seldom know whether I'm doing my job well. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

14. I am not satisfied with my compensation package. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}15. I have been made aware of all benefits that are part of my

compensation package. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}16. Big part of the reason I work for Starbucks is for the

benefits. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}17. My supervisor encourages partners to participate in

important decisions. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}18. I do not have an opportunity to take part in making

decisions. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

19. Starbucks provides partners with a clear career path. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

20. I am motivated to exceed company's expectations. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

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21. My personal goals are not aligned with Starbucks' goals. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

22. I would like to participate in company decision making.{1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

23. I do not care about Starbucks' performance as long as I get my paycheck. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

24.I do not have the freedom to choose my future at Starbucks.

{1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}25. Starbucks provides employees the tools to advance their

career. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

26. I only want part-time employment at Starbucks. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

27. Starbucks supports my personal growth. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

28. I do not feel satisfied with my own performance. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}29. I feel I have several options to choose from regarding the

direction of my career at Starbucks. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

30. I am treated fairly. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

31. I am grateful for my employment at Starbucks. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

32. My employer knows what my goals are. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}

33. My job is usually stressful. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}34. If I were offered a comparable position, I would consider

leaving Starbucks. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}35. Starbucks does not provide the necessary training to help me

achieve desired outcomes. {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}36. Working at Starbucks helps me work on my outside goals.

(i.e education, personal projects) {1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6}37. Is there anything else you would like to add?

           

Appendix F: Congruence Model

 

 

Appendix G: Performance Management

Appendix H: Result from Expectancy TheoryTable 1: Expectancy

Ques No. Mean SD CV11 Starbucks provides necessary training to perform my job properly. 5.20 0.56 0.1078112 My supervisor helps subordinates develop their skills. 4.67 0.82 0.174963

625 Starbucks provides employees the tools to advance their career. 3.93 1.16 0.295657

435 Starbucks does not provide the necessary training to help me achieve desired outcomes. 2.80 0.77 0.276641

7

Table 2: Instrumentality6 My employer gives me incentive to exceed expectations. 4.14 1.23 0.2972489 If I consistently perform well at my job, I will be rewarded. 4.40 1.30 0.295079

720 I am motivated to exceed company's expectations. 3.80 1.47 0.387783

427 Starbucks supports my personal growth 3.86 1.41 0.364627

830 I am treated fairly. 5.20 0.77 0.148960

9

Table 3: Valence14 I am not satisfied with my compensation package. 2.14 0.66 0.30939716 Big part of the reason I work for Starbucks is for the benefits. 3.73 1.71 0.45801329 I feel I have several options to choose from regarding the direction of my career at Starbucks 3.33 1.50 0.448807

934 If I were offered a comparable position, I would consider leaving Starbucks. 3.07 1.16 0.379212

836 Working at Starbucks helps me work on my outside goals. (i.e education, personal projects) 4.60 1.30 0.282250

1

Appendix I: Mean and Standard Deviation

Questions Mean1) I get respected from the partners I work with2) I would feel better if I were continuously updated about the company's current situation3) The success of Starbucks is not really important to me4) There is good communication between partners at all levels5) My supervisor keeps subordinates informed about store operations6) My supervisor gives me incentive to exceed expectations7) I have a good sense of job security8) I would encourage my friends to work for this company9) If I consistently perform well at my job, I will be rewarded10) The individual who hired me thoroughly explained my benefits package at the time of hire11) Starbucks provides necessary training to perform my job properly12) My supervisor helps subordinates develop their skills13) I seldom know whether I'm doing my job well14) I am not satisfied with my compensation package15) I have been made aware of all benefits that are part of my compensation package16) A big part of the reason I work for Starbucks is for the benefits17) My supervisor encourages partners to participate in important decisions18) I do not have an opportunity to take part in making decisions19) Starbucks provides partners with a clear career path20) I am motivated to exceed company's expectations21) My personal goals are not aligned with Starbuck's goals22) I would like to participate in company decision making23) I do not care about Starbuck's performance as long as I get my paycheck24) I do not have the freedom to choose my future at Starbucks25) Starbucks provides employees the tools to advance their career26) I only want part-time employment at Starbucks27) Starbucks supports my personal growth28) I do not feel satisfied with my own performance29) I feel I have several options to choose from regarding the direction of my career at Starbucks30) I am treated fairly31) I am grateful for my employment at Starbucks32) My employer knows what my goals are33) My job is usually stressful34) If I were offered a comparable position, I would consider leaving Starbucks35) Starbucks does not provide the necessary training to help me achieve desired outcomes36) Working at Starbucks helps me work on my outside goals. (i.d. education, personal projects)

Appendix J: Summary of Survey Results (See attachment)