Howard Schultz to write a book about Starbucks' "turnaround"

It's scheduled to come out next March. "My motivation [for writing the book] is to chronicle Starbucks transformation and how we confronted these challenges by reaffirming our core values and reinventing our company from the bottom up," says Howard Schultz. ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR THE TITLE? WHAT SHOULD HE INCLUDE IN THE BOOK? || Read "Howard Schultz to write second book || Read the publisher's press release

Comments

[peaches]

"pour your heart out of it?"

[Formerista]

@peaches, you hit the nail on the head. This company has been reinvented alright... to say that they have reaffirmed their core values is laughable. A company that was once centered around the desire to create a top notch customer experience while maintaining a work life balance for their employees has turned into nothing more than a corporate machine. Not to say that the bottom line isn't important, but what ever happened to Starbucks core values? Walking into Starbucks is a barrage of random crap that loosely relates (if at all) to the coffee. Don't kid yourself, this is in no way getting "back to basics"

[TiredofThis]

"LEAN your heart into it?"

[Will]

"How to lose benefits and alienate people."

The amazing turnaround of Starbucks from a progressive coffee shop to just another fast food joint.

[Joe]

We reaffirmed our core values... realized that there's no profit in that... and then cut labor 3%.

[disenchanted with SBUX]

"Bonus 12 Million By Undercutting Employees"

[Once Loved Starbucks]

"King of Spin...Turn over your board, exploit your workers and contribute to corporate greed"

[Free Refill]

Maybe I am weird, but I actually read his first book, and like where the company came from, and like where it is going. It has always been a dynamic coffee shop that consistently tries new ideas. Change is one of the few consistencies since day one. If you dont like it, go open your own coffee shop pay all your employees $9/ hr. Give them a few weeks of vacation a year, and see how long your money lasts.
On the grand scale of large corporations, partners are treated pretty darn good. If you feel so much resentment from what you do, day in and day out, you need to leave. Go do something you love and can poor your heart into. If its not Starbucks then oh well, at least the rest of us won't have to listen to you complain about your own choices you made, that you don't like.

[Ronbo]

"How to take credit for an improving economy" - it'll be a must-read for any politician running for re-election.

[@usorthem3]

"I am also writing this for Starbucks partners (employees), to honor the work they do every day and the human connection they've formed with our many customers around the world."
?????

[ncsm]

Talk about chutzpah!

[kaffee]

Values. You keep using that word, Howard. I do not think it means what you think it means.

[missingspellcheck]

On one hand, I have to give the guy credit for not taking us into Krispy Kreme territory- actions were taken quickly, layoffs occurred swiftly, bonuses were pulled (appropriately, though disperportionately).

On the other hand, he's a schmuck who dissenigrated the philiosophical underpinnings of the company. He himself realized that we could all be warm and fuzzy, or we could operate strictly by the numbers.

So I think this book is a joke, if his intent is to show that he created transformation by returning to the roots of the company.

But lets not kid ourselves- a lot of us would not be here, had he not done some of the ruthless business measures he implmented.

[baristamclane]

"The Big Book of Cajones"

You have to have them to write a book glorifying the so-called transformation of the company.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful to have a job when others are losing theirs, but I still feel like I've been kicked in the shins by Howard. And a book is not (in this situation) the best way to say "Thank you for riding out the storm".

I think I'd much prefer a MUG award...

[kaffee]

For the book signing tour, he should borrow Bush's "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" banner.

[Corvex Corvidae]

"How I wrung my employees dry and made millions for it."

F*ck you Schultz. Seriously.

[So Over It]

WOW-- this guy has to be the most out of touch leader at a major corporation. What "FreeRefill" is missing is the reason so many of us are so upset....We did pour our hearts into it! I listened to that book on CD several times as well as reading the hard-copy. I used to give copies of it to my new shifts. But once you pull back the curtain, you'll never forget what the wizard truly looks like. We saw what was important to HS and his band of "Yes Men." The bottom line. End of story.

[SBUX Alum Bill]

I am a frequent critic of Howard, but I really like the fact that the proceeds from this book will go to the Starbucks Foundation and the CUP Fund. Maybe his heart is in the right place, even if the reality of Starbucks falls short of the values that he aspires to. (Maybe).

[some partner somewhere]

I'm confused how anyone can stay true to a core value set but reinvent.Doesn't reinvent mean to totally change things around yet staying true to core values means keeping things the same. HMMMM.

[Jvagrl]

It has been a rollercoaster for sure...I waonder if he will read our partner view surveys before writing it. I worry that he will include comments from the survey, quotes from partners. I know some partners were scared not to be positive...esp sm ans asm that had to enter thier store # to do the survey.

[baristamclane]

@Jvagrl- Who was afraid of being honest on the survey? I can guarantee you my comments would make Howard cry if he read mine personally. Was I unnecessarily mean? No. Was I honest? Absolutely. Why? Because I'm a shareholder, and a customer who thinks that there is a middle ground between truly respecting partners and turning a respectable profit that at present is being overlooked. And if Howard fails to find that middle ground, it will only be a matter of time before the company begins to collapse upon itself.

[Andy]

"You Want some VIA with that?"

[So Over It]

LOL @Andy

[looong time shift]

PR 2.0 - Mastering the Spin Around Reality -OR- Expecting 110% Service @ Minimum Wage
I can really only hope he provides the 13 (or 14) transformation agendas he put out. I am pretty sure I remember a time that he released a message on the portal that specifically said "We do not answer to shareholders..." I wish I had printed it out for him to sign on the booktour.

[Darth Sidamo]

"How To Trim The Fat And End Up With No Meat Left On The Bone."

[Darth Sidamo]

"How To Base Reviews Off Selling Something That Is Cheaper In Grocery Stores."

[Darth Sidamo]

"VIA And Why We Compare Italian VIA To Pike Place And Not Italian Roast."

There. After three I am done for now.

[whatever]

One decent quarter, one so so year when the economy itself is supposedily better does not a turn around make...

When the economy does truly get better, check out the turn over rate and try again.

[Darth Sidamo]

"LEAN! On Me"

[Shifted]

Good news: partners won't be getting lame CD's for their xmas "bonus" this year.

Bad news: guess what they _will_ be getting?

And one more lie: he is going "to write" a book that comes out next month? They take a lot longer than that to write. So, it's been written for a while. It's almost as if he was writing it before he had done what he says he did....

[(former) FLA SM]

"reaffirming our core values"

BWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

[Andrew]

Re: Shifted

Wait... we're getting that book for a Christmas bonus?

If that is true, I say we have a book burning. Let's all find ways to creatively burn our books, then post the pic on a Flikr group page or something.

Getting that book as my bonus Christmas gift would be the epitome of insulting IMO. Then again, I wouldn't have to buy toilet paper for a while.

[Barista G]

@Andrew

Remember, this is the Bux. So we'd have to log into the portal on three different screens and enter in an individual code to receive our free copy of the e-book. The code should be sent to our stores by Dec. 22nd, but most of us won't receive it until Jan. 2nd, and our DM will occasionally pop in for a "Perfect Foam" Vanilla Latte and ask us why we haven't all retrieved our mandatory copy.

[Darth Sidamo]

Next March =/= This May

[Sheik]

One Word VIA

[neverlookback]

i wouldnt read it. when i read pour your heart into it i was so excited about my job, but about halfway through i realied that we didnt run things like he said in the book. it seemed fake to me so i put it down. then i bought behars book - because i know what a great leader he is/was - but that book only made me upset because we no longer followed any of those principals. like let the people that sweep the floor - choose the broom...we had dm's hiring baristas instead of managers...and so on. so this book is probably how howard sees it and not what is really going on.

[ncsm]

Shultz is probably no better or worse than most other CEO's out there. What's so annoying is how he seems to continue to want to be regarded as a leader cut from a different, better mold. I'll stop begrudging his greediness if he'll stop pretending to be something that he's not.

[Andrew]

@ NCSM

Schultz may not be better or worse than other CEOs, but it's his narcissism that really ruins it. I mean, if you're going to be a tool, at least admit it. There's no point in trying to fool anyone.

I still stick by my book burning idea. On top of that, maybe some veteran partners could get together and write a book of their own...

[MCSM]

"...At the expense of the Partners: The Story of How Howie Turned the Coffee Giant around"

[Coffee Soldier]

How Via Saved Starbucks Coffee Company:The Inside Look of the True Tale.....then there could be a Lifetime movie about it as well....who could play Howard?

[Coffee Soldier]

and there could be a guest appearance of the little girl who played Akeelah!

[Melody]

I always see a bit of a disconnect on this site with the quasi-Howard-bashing. At the same time, if someone comes on this site really questions whether Starbucks has made a good business decision with Pike Place Roast, new Frappuccino recipes, Sorbetto (remember that?), or Via, usually those who question the business will be jumped on and told things like, "get with the program" (or that tone of voice). Yet how does Howard ever become the bullseye for all these cracks if no one wants to question business choices. I mean, the buck stops with him, and he is the final decision maker in some of these drastic business decisions like one coffee everyday, all day. I have my reservations about some of the things that have happened, but fundamentally he did what he promised: brought up the stock!

On a less serious note, Darth's title "LEAN! On me!" cracked me up! Priceless! Can you imagine the video that would go with it?

[VIC VIA]

Wait until my book is released
"How Starbucks Took My Life"
memoirs of a store manager fighting through middle management...I will release it before next march

[baristamclane]

I got it..."Howard and the Bean Stock"

[Darth Sidamo]

If we have the band of hobo's come back and write another song for our "Christmas Bonus", then I hope Howard busts out his inner LL Cool J.

Dont call it a comeback
Ive been here for years
Rockin my peers and
Putting suckers in fear.

[Who Dat?]

"Get Other People To Pour Their Hearts Into It"

or

"42 Million Reasons I Don't Give a Flying Frack What Other People Say About Me"

[Doug]

"Pour your heart into it...oh wait! The cups got a leak in it and your heart's leaking all over the floor! Quick, deck-brush before the auditor comes!"

[shirley]

Thats the biggest joke. Its the story of mismanagement and massive layoffs at the expense of the lowest paid employeed while management sits around enjoying millions. They got rid of great talent at the SSC and kept annoying sorority girls for male execs to flirt with.

[dcstateofmind]

Anything for a buck, hey Howard?

[mike]

Attn: "So Over it" -- u suck, u jackass! hehee, all u haters out there are absolutely sickening! schultz is a "g" for turning this ship around. he came back when he didn't have to (financially set), and brought us back baby! The stock is up, earnings r up (both r wayyy up!) and u still complain. shut the "f" up for once. u people are so unimportant and stupid, u have no idea what ur talking about. stuck in ur useless little lives drinking all the "haterade!" enough... do ur thing howard (and he's donating 100%) of the profits, and u know that's a ton of dough, cuz he did the same thing with the first book and it killed as well.