OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Choosing an Organization Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Identify an organization and situation you want to study over the remainder of the course.
2. Describe the organization and situation.

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Describe your organization.

The organization I am choosing is Starbucks Coffee Company. Starbucks is a

coffeehouse extraordinaire whose relevance is sustained through their altrusistic approach
to business: “we like to say that we are not in the coffee business serving people, but in
the people business serving coffee” (Starbucks Coffee Company, 2023). Starbucks has
been in business for fifty-two years and is continually evolving to keep up with the times
while staying true to their people-over-profit mantra. Every cup of hand-crafted
excellence is accompanied with a taste of the company’s long-standing dedication to their
trade. In 1990, the company announced their first mission statement “to establish
Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our
uncompromising principles as we grow” (Starbucks News & Stories, 2023). The craving
for Starbucks coffee goes beyond the quality of the beans- it is about the quality of the
overall experience. This experience is driven by the company’s commitment to the “third
place” which describes a place that is neither work nor home where people can connect
and relax (Peiper, 2022).

2) Describe how Describe your role in the organization.

I have been with Starbucks for nearly ten years and am currently a shift supervisor. I am
responsible for deploying partners into their positions, running breaks, and coaching my
team to Starbucks standards. I pride myself in leading with empathy as I want my team to
feel secure in coming to me with any questions or concerns. Our store is currently top in
our district for the lowest turn-over rates and I am certain this has much to do with our
manager and seasoned supervisor team. The crew works together extremely well despite
the challenges that come with the demand of our coffee.

3) Describe the situation.

1
 A few weeks ago, one of my regular customers initiated a conversation that caught me
completely off-guard. As I was ringing in his tall whole milk cappuccino, he asked me if
there had been any talk about unionizing at our store and what my thoughts were about all of
it. With sweat beading down my temples, as my manager was directly within ear-shot, I
decided to downplay my answer in an effort to not get too political. I said something along
the lines of “I neither agree nor disagree as I am unsure of the risks/benefits involved.” This
interaction continued to eat away at me the duration of my shift as I thought of everything I
wish I could have said without feeling like I would have been severing some allegiance to the
Starbucks gods. The word “union” is practically a dirty word in our district as speaking on it
feels a bit taboo or forbidden. My fiancé has worked for Starbucks for 16 years now and told
me about how a partner posted a Union poster in their backroom a few months ago and how
it absolutely frazzled management. The day after the poster went up, the district manager and
store manager went in to have sit-down conversations with each partner to discuss their
experiences and offer support. Mind you, these conversations were NOT scheduled and took
place on a Friday morning during peak business time. My fiancé worked through his lunch to
compensate for the lack of coverage; between a call-out and the impromptu development
conversations, he was running himself ragged trying to meet business demands. After he told
me this story, it really put into perspective how important image is to Starbucks and how they
are desperate to save face.

From sending senior managers into vulnerable stores as an intimidation tactic, to exploiting
the hiring process in an effort to sway voter outcomes- the company seems to be going great
lengths to intervene in the affairs of select stores. Starbucks Workers United (SWU) is a band
of Starbucks partners in the United States trying to organize the workplace alongside
Workers United Upstate, an established union known for helping baristas (Starbucks
Workers United, 2023). SWU addressed former CEO, Kevin Johnson, on twitter stating “we
have specific grievances: the speech Howard Schultz gave in which he exhorted us to feel
grateful for what Starbucks has already provided us, and most notably, our store being
overstaffed once the union effort was announced and our hours being cut across the board”
(SBWorkersUnited, 2022). There is a lot of talk surrounding how competitive our benefits
are and how there are other companies worse off with less complaining. While our benefits
are excellent, they do not dismiss the real-life experiences and voices of those who want a
seat at the table. During the Covid-19 pandemic, a surge of customers downloaded the
Starbucks app to avoid the line/crowds. The mental load today that comes with the limitless
capacity of drinks that come in during any thirty-minute period is nothing like the mental
load of sharpie-ing cups back in 2014. Getting Mobile Order and Pay turned off is a luxury
that only managers have, and asking to have them off is not always met with understanding.
When a barista calls out for the day, the team is forced to pick up the extra slack with no kind
of incentive other than a pat on the back for awesome “teamwork.” I find the push for
unionizing intriguing and I want to gain more knowledge behind why Starbucks is against it
by analyzing the issue from a variety of angles.

2
 References

Peiper, H. (2022, September 13). Reimagining the Third Place: How Starbucks is evolving its

store experience. Starbucks Stories.

https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/reimagining-the-third-place-how-starbucks-is-

evolving-its-store-experience/

SBWorkersUnited. (2022, January 31). [Tweet]. Twitter.

https://twitter.com/SBWorkersUnited/status/1488179908484415496/photo/1

Starbucks Coffee Company. (2023). About Us. Starbucks Coffee Company.

https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/

Starbucks Workers United. (n.d.). FAQ. Starbucks Workers United. Retrieved August 21, 2023,

from https://sbworkersunited.org/frequently-asked-questions#:~:text=Who%20is

%20Starbucks%20Workers%20United