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Bringing the Real World to Life S Case Application: Stirring Things Up: Part 2 tarbucks products have become an unaffordable luxury for many. As revenues and profits declined during the economic downturn, CEO Howard Schultz realized that the company needed to change almost every thing about how it operates." Although it built its business as "the anti-fast-food joint," the recession and growing competi- tion forced Starbucks to become more streamlined. Under one new initiative put into effect at its U.S. stores, employee time wasters such as bending over to scoop coffee from below the counter, idly standing by waiting for expired coffee to drain, or dawdling at the pastry case were discouraged. Instead, employees were to keep busy doing something, such as helping customers or cleaning. At one of the first stores to implement the "lean" techniques, the store manager looked for ways for her employees to be more efficient with simple things like methods, her store experienced a 10 percent increase in keeping items in the same place, moving drink toppings transactions, closer to where drinks are handed to customers, and altering Another thing that Schultz did that was quite unprece- the order of assembly. After two months under the new dented was to close every one of its stores for three hours on 460 CHAPTER 15 | YOUR TURN TO BE A MANAGER 2. one Tuesday evening to train ALL of their some 135.000 baristas (a barista is a person who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks). During that training, baristas were reminded that "pouring espresso is an art. If poured too fast from the spout into a shot glass, the espresso's flavor will be weak and the body will be thin. A shot poured too slow means the grind is too fine, and the flavor will be butter. The perfect shot looks like honey pouring from a spoon. It is dense and tastes caramely sweet." Despite warnings that closing the stores would be a public relations nightmare and a financial mistake, the decision seemed to be a sound one. In the weeks following the retrain ing, quality scores for the company's beverages went up and stayed there. 3. your choice. (Hint: You may need to review this material found in Chapter 6) How does its production/operations technology approach affect the way products are produced? What uncertainties does Starbucks face in its value chain? Can Starbucks manage those uncertainties? If so, how? If not, why not? Go the company's Web site at www.starbucks.com and find the information on the company's environmental activities from bean to cup. Select one of the steps in the chain (or your professor may assign one). Describe what environmental actions it's taking. How might these affect the way Starbucks "produces its products? Research the concept of lean organization. What benefits does "lean" offer? How might a business like Starbucks further utilize the concepts of being lean? What lessons could other organizations learn from Starbucks' actions? 4. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Would you describe production/operations technology in Starbucks retail stores as unit, mass, or process? Explain 5