Howard Shultz Vision

"I always wanted to do something to make a difference."-Howard Schultz

Howard Shultz was a man with a vision, and from that quote, his vision was sparked by the reality he faced in life and the opportunity that was presented to him that changed the coffee industry forever. At 7 years old living in the rough Bay View housing project in Brooklyn, New York where his mother worked as a receptionist and his father lost his job due to his broken ankle. In this era sick or disability pay didn’t exist in low-paying jobs. Do to this misfortune his family became too poor to put food on the table. Howard carried this picture with him into adulthood giving him the motivation to make something of him-self. And soon after purchasing Starbucks that was when his vision began to take action. By introducing Italy's "coffeehouse culture" to the United States and packaging it for mass consumption, Shultz transformed Starbucks into the leading retailer of coffee in North America.

With his picture for Starbucks Shultz wanted to create an atmosphere for his customers with a "clean, well-lighted place" where his customers could comfortably relax and enjoy their coffee. From his perspective he was convinced that exceptionable guest service would increase sales. Faced with this challenge, he knew he had to enhance the way his company trained their employees. He designed a training program to groom employees who would enjoy being behind the counter. Quoted by Howard about the status quo, "Service is a lost art in America. It’s not viewed as a professional job to work behind a counter […] we don't believe that. We want to provide our people with dignity and self-esteem, so we offer tangible benefits." Those tangible benefits include a complete health care coverage to both full time and part time employees, as well as stock options, which is rare in corporate America. With this approach, Schultz deflects the creation of out-groups, to avoid his partners the feeling of disconnect with their...