From when it was established, Starbucks had projected itself as a different kind of organization, which celebrated coffee and tradition with a focus on connecting with people. The Starbucks store was a place where customers could meet up, chat, and work. It was a portrayed as a ‘third place’ between home and office for customers and employees; it was a place for conversation and for community bonding..

Human Resource and Organization Behavior Case Studies | Case Study in Management, Operations, Strategies, Business Environment, Case Studies

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THE INCIDENT

On April 12, 2018, two black men, Donte Robinson (Robinson) and Rashon Nelson (Nelson), visited a Starbucks store in Philadelphia for a business meeting with a partner. Robinson wanted to use the restroom of the store but was denied access by the manager who stated that the restrooms were meant only for paying customers. Robinson and Nelson decided to wait for their business partner as he was supposed to arrive shortly...

INCIDENTS IN THE PAST

Starbucks had been involved in several instances of discrimination in the past and had had suits filed against it on such grounds as assault on the job, sexual harassment, rape, etc. in the US. In 2010, a former Starbucks employee filed a complaint against the company after she was allegedly subjected to rape by her supervisor. The former barista filed a suit which stated that the company had failed to protect her from the demands made by the supervisor at the store where she had worked as a teenager..

TRAINING CULTURE AT STARBUCKS

Starbucks had a rich training and development culture. The training activity at the company was an ongoing process and there were training programs catering to different levels of partners. These included the Barista Training Program, Shift Supervisor Training Program, Retail Management Training Program, and District Manager Training Program. But large-scale training programs involving the entire chain of stores were done in only one instance. In February 2008, Starbucks closed 7,100 stores to impart ‘espresso excellence training’ to its 135,000 partners. As part of the training, which went on for three hours, baristas were trained to brew the perfect coffee. The cost incurred on the training was US$ 6 million..

PREPARING FOR THE RACIAL BIAS TRAINING

The April 12, 2018, incident of racial discrimination at Starbucks Philadelphia led to the ‘Racial Bias Training’ program being conducted on May 29, 2018. The four-hour training program was held at 8,000 company-owned stores and 175,000 Starbucks employees participated..

THE TRAINING PROGRAM

The four-hour training program comprised partners being shown training videos, This was followed by group discussions, focus group discussions, comments of opinion leaders, and team activities. There was an exercise called ‘difference challenge’ where two employees teamed up as a pair and discussed how they were different from each other. Other exercises focused on racial anxieties, bias, and stereotypes...

REACTIONS

The racial bias training evoked a mixed response from the employees. Some of the employees gave positive feedback while some were of the view that the training would not serve any purpose. A female employee of mixed race at Starbucks, North California, had planned to resign from her job after the Philadelphia incident..

LOOKING AHEAD

The management of Starbucks said the racial bias training program was an ongoing process and would be continued in the future. Schultz said that this training would form part of Starbucks’ employee onboarding program, and over the next one year, the partners at its 7,000 licensed stores would also participate in the training program. Georgina Dodge (Dodge), Associate Provost for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Bucknell University, observed,..

EXHIBITS

Exhibit I: Key Financials of Starbucks Corporation Worldwide from 2014 to 2017
Exhibit II: Market Share of Top Coffee Chains in the US in 2016
Exhibit III: Starbucks Mission and Values
Exhibit IV: An Open Letter to Starbucks Customers from Executive Chairman Howard Schultz
Exhibit V: Ground Rules
Exhibit VI: What Makes Me, Me? And You, You?
Exhibit VII: In your Life, where do you Feel a Sense of Belonging
Exhibit VIII: The First Step to Becoming Color Brave
Exhibit IX: Details of the Questions
Exhibit X: What do you want to Say to Your Customers