Howard Shultz essays

Howard Shultz essays Howard Schultz, founder of Starbucks, was born in 1952 and raised in a Brooklyn, NY housing-project. At the age of twenty, he was unsure about what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. Growing up in a fairly poor family, Schultz knew that he wanted to make a better life for himself; he did not want to be burdened with financial problems. Schultz had a very unique entrepreneurial drive to try to improve himself and his standing in life, because he did not want to be part of that class of people who did not have access to the American dream. It took Schultz a year to convince the Starbucks owners to hire him. When they finally made him director of marketing and operations in 1982, he had another epiphany. He introduced the idea of not only serving coffee, but also transforming Starbucks into a coffee bar- a meeting place with a comfortable environment to enjoy coffee. But in Seattle, the Starbucks owners resisted Schultzs plans to serve coffee in their stores, saying they didnt want to get into the restaurant business. Frustrated, Schultz quit and started his own coffee-bar business, called II Giornale. It was so successful, that a year later Schultz bought Starbucks for $3.8 million. The company began with eleven Seattle stores and fewer than one hundred employees. Schultz has since led Starbucks to become a half billion-dollar company. Schultzs mission for Starbucks is to establish the company as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow.(Mission Statement) Howard Schultz manages his company based on the following guiding principles: 1) Provide a great work environment, 2) Embrace diversity, 3) Highest standards of excellence to the purchasing, roasting, and fresh delivery of our coffee, 4) Develop satisfied customers, 5) Contribute positively to our communities and our environment, and 6) Recognize that profita...