OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Choosing an Organization Worksheet

1) Describe your organization.

The organization I’m going to talk about is Starbucks Coffee Company. We all
know it, we all love it, I’m sure some of us even work there. Starbucks prides
itself on being a third place environment for their customers and employees
(partners). The third place environment is basically a space where you feel
completely comfortable to be your authentic self, the way you would at your
other two priority places such as home or work. Specifically for this upcoming
year their biggest priority is investing into their partners so they can in turn
provide a good experience for customers.

2) Describe your role in the organization (it can be internal or external).

I am a current Shift Supervisor for the company, and have been a partner for
about 6 years. I do not have any direct connection to the issues I will be
discussing throughout this course, however I do have direct access to the
information given by the company itself.

3) Describe the situation. (see the Canvas instructions for details, especially
about how your situation will be analyzed from five different perspectives over
the next five modules)

I’m sure many have heard of the few stores that have succeeded in becoming a
union. Most of these stores are located in New York, however there are other
stores across the country working to achieve the same thing, including in
Arizona, Boston and Seattle, the original capital of Starbucks itself.

I have of course heard of unions and employees going on strike for fair wages
and such, but this is the first time I have really had to dive into what a union
means for both sides of the situation. During the initial talks of the stores in
New York wanting to unionize, Starbucks quickly acted by sending out a letter to
address it. This letter was sent to the whole company, available for partners of
any level to read. I’m sure I’ll get more into detail with it, but it basically pleads
partners to vote against the union in order to ‘remain a family.’ Throughout this
course I’m going to analyze both sides of this situation, the motives behind the
actions of both parties, as well as the responses given to those actions.