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Cara Stroud

OGL 481

Structural Frame Case Study

Arizona State University

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 The organization I have chosen is Starbucks. Starbucks is the world’s largest coffee chain
in America. Starbucks serves everything from hot coffee, teas, and juices, to blended beverages.
Starbucks was founded by Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker, and Zev Siegel and Seattle,
Washington, in 1971. Starbucks’ first store was in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. In 1987,
Baldwin, Bowker, and Siegel sold the Starbucks brand to Howard Shultz, who is currently the
Chief executive officer of Starbucks. Starbucks’ mission and vision are to inspire and nurture the
human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time (2022).”

“A-frame is a coherent set of ideas or beliefs forming a prism or lens that enables you to see and
understand more clearly what's going on in the world around you (Bolman & Deal, 2017).”
As previously mentioned, the culture in my store is fragmented, the turnover rate is high,
and Starbucks’ mission and values have been lost amid all the chaos. The situation occurred
when four partners talked poorly about one of our shift supervisors at a mandatory shift meeting.
Talking poorly of one of your partners or a customer is against Starbucks’ culture, mission, and
values as an organization.
“We live these values with our partners, coffee, and customers at our core (2022).”
 Creating a culture of warmth and belonging, where everyone is welcome.
 Acting with courage, challenging the status quo, and finding new ways to grow our
company and each other.
 Being present, connecting with transparency, dignity, and respect.
 Delivering our very best in all we do, holding ourselves accountable for results.
 We are performance-driven through the lens of humanity.
I believe Starbucks’ organizational structure is a matrix. According to our reading this week,
“Matrix structures provide lateral linkage and integration but are notorious for creating conflict and
confusion (Bolman, 2017).” There was a conflict between four partners and the shift supervisor;
these partners felt micromanaged by shift supervisors, which led shift supervisors and baristas to
not be on the same page. There are issues in our store with problematic partners; if we did not have
these partners, I think we would see higher productivity levelamongstgt team members. I also
believe with the right team members; my store can improve its overall internal communication. I
say Starbucks has a matrix structure because Starbucks keeps an open line of communication
between partners. At our mandatory store meeting, partners spoke freely.

I would use the matrix structure for an alternative course of action regarding my case by
outlining tasks for partners, so they do not feel like they are being micromanaged by myself or
other shift supervisors; this will allow my partners and I to collaborate better and will enable
partners to develop their skills. As a shift supervisor, I am in charge of leading the floor, and I
have a different task that I am responsible for; perhaps having a partner to help me with one of
my shift supervisor tasks will allow us to work together as a team.

I would do one thing to ensure that my partners understand their roles and expectations. I can do
this by voicing my expectations to them before they start their shift. I know that baristas have

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many tasks on top of their regular job, so I would make sure I split duties evenly between all
partners to make certain partners do not feel overloaded with mission and responsivities. Another
thing I would do would be to measure my partner’s performance; measuring their performance is
essential if they are working on more than one task.

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 References

About us: Starbucks Coffee Company. About Us: Starbucks Coffee Company. (n.d.). Retrieved
May 21, 2022, from https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/
Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (2017). Reframing Organizations, 6th edition. Jossey-Bass.