The brilliant management strategies of Howard Schultz

The brilliant management strategies of Howard Schultz, who just announced a pay raise for US employees of his $82 billion Starbucks empire

On Monday, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced a number of new company benefitsfor US employees — including pay raises of at least 5%.
Presumably, it's a way to make employees feel appreciated.
Another way Schultz does that?He encourages his team — at least the executives — to step up and push back against his ideas when they don't agree.
According to a profile of Schultz by George Anders in Forbes, even now that he's running a global business with upwards of 238,000 employees and a market capitalization of $82 billion, Schultz still has the impulse to micromanage.
At a recent staff meeting, Forbes reported, Schultz jumped in with a critique of some cards introducing Starbucks' new partnership with Spotify. "Black looks so dull," he said. "We're talking about music. This should be lively. Can we go with green instead?"
But Schultz has found strategies to temper his urge to meddle.
He's hired seasoned execs from companies like Microsoft and Disney to serve on Starbucks' management team. As Myron Ullman, JCPenney's chairman and a Starbucks director, told Forbes: "There's a lot more here than just The Howard Show. Leadership doesn't have to come from Howard on every topic."
Schultz also remains open to new ideas from staffers. For example, according to Forbes, in 2008 Schultz ordered that Starbucks stop selling melted-cheese breakfast sandwiches because the smell was masking the aroma of coffee, the company's core offering.
Key leaders pushed back and argued for the sandwiches, and ultimately they found a compromise. Now Starbucks is once again selling them and cooking them in a way that makes them less aromatic.
Luigi Bonini, Starbucks' head of product development, told Forbes, "Howard can always be convinced."
According to a profile of Schultz by George Anders in Forbes, even now that he's running a global business with upwards of 238,000 employees and a market capitalization of $82 billion, Schultz still has the impulse to micromanage.
At a recent staff meeting, Forbes reported, Schultz jumped in with a critique of some cards introducing Starbucks' new partnership with Spotify. "Black looks so dull," he said. "We're talking about music. This should be lively. Can we go with green instead?"
But Schultz has found strategies to temper his urge to meddle.
He's hired seasoned execs from companies like Microsoft and Disney to serve on Starbucks' management team. As Myron Ullman, JCPenney's chairman and a Starbucks director, told Forbes: "There's a lot more here than just The Howard Show. Leadership doesn't have to come from Howard on every topic."
Schultz also remains open to new ideas from staffers. For example, according to Forbes, in 2008 Schultz ordered that Starbucks stop selling melted-cheese breakfast sandwiches because the smell was masking the aroma of coffee, the company's core offering.
Key leaders pushed back and argued for the sandwiches, and ultimately they found a compromise. Now Starbucks is once again selling them and cooking them in a way that makes them less aromatic.
Luigi Bonini, Starbucks' head of product development, told Forbes, "Howard can always be convinced."
Source: Business insider
Skillinside
Tamer ElSagheer

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