Starbucks Corporation, the most famous chain of retail coffee shops in the world, mainly benefits from roasting and selling special coffee beans, and other various kinds of coffee or tea drinks. It owns about 4000 branches in the whole world. The chief executive officer of Starbucks corporation, Howard Schultz, considers that the reason for success in Starbucks is not coffee but employees. He firmly believes that the spirit of Starbucks is employees and feels honoured about the value of Starbucks employees. Starbucks offers an interactive structure that makes personnel throw themselves into their job. The managers in Starbucks treat each employee equally and all of the staff are called"partners", even the supervisors of each branch. In order to narrow the gap between managers and employees, they also co-work with the basic level staff in the front line. Starbucks has a well-organized communication channel for employees. It places great importance on labour. For example, managers plan the working hours per workers and arrange the schedule of time off, according to the workers wants in orderto meet their requirements. There are interviews weekly to see what employees'needs are. The partners have the right to figure out what is the best policy for them, and the directors show a respect for each suggestion. Starbucks even wants every employee to join in making and developing plans, then work together in achieving their goals. As a result, the policies and principles are communicated between all staff, and there is nolimitation in employees'personal opinions. All employees, including informal personnel, are offered a great deal of welfare policies, for instance, commodities discounts for employees, medical insurance (including health, vision and dental) and vacations. Moreover, the partners who work over 20 hours a week are entitled to benefits. Starbucks also thinks that debt financing is not the best choice, thus it chooses to allocate stock dividends to all employees with a free script issue. By this policy, the employees can get benefits from the dividends of the company. Because of this, theyhave the same goal;in other words, they are motivated to increase the sales to earn more profits.

Starbucks establishes a well-developed system to keep good relationships between managers and employees. As mentioned, they use the title"partner"regardless of the level of the worker, which narrows the gap of bureaucracy. Furthermore, they co-work in the first line to eliminate the distance between different statuses. Thirdly, the numbers of employees are usually from three to six. Such a small size helps staff get to know each other easily and deeply. Suggestions and complaints made by employees are treated of equal importance. In the same way, they have a right to participate in the process of revising company policies. In that case, each staff member thinks that they also play an important role in company operating, and they jointly work out the direction of Starbucks. All this gives employees respect and a sense of participation. Starbucks contributes part of its profits to public service. As a consequence, staff have an idea that what they do for Starbucks is for society as well. With regard to goals, Starbucks set a challenging and specific goal, and it allows all partners to decide the direction.

1. If you are one of the employees in Starbucks,based on the case study above, what are the five key motivation drivers at your workplace? Justify.

2. "Starbucks has a well-organized communication channel for employees." If you arethe manager of Starbucks, a workplace that consists of diverse employees that come from different culture, what can you do to reduce misinterpretations in the process of

communication? Discuss.