Schultz on Leadership, Love and the Competitive Advantage of Culture

We know that the BUSS4 is a big fan of the Apple and Steve Jobs - and with good reason. As our BUSS4 Topic Tracker indicates, a previous essay question (Jan 2010) used the example of Steve Jobs to ask students to evaluate how easy it is for a Chief Executive to change a struggling business into a more successful one.

Steve Jobs shares much in common with another well-known entrepreneur and CEO - Howard Schultz (Starbucks). Both men founded, left and then returned to lead a turnaround of their respective businesses.  Both have taken on the challenge of taking a business idea through rapid growth and then also manage a global brand in a much more uncertain external environment.

Might Howard Schultz feature in a future AQA BUSS4 essay choice? Its certainly possible and this article from Ernst & Young ought to be essential reading for any A2 business student who wants to build their understanding of Schultz and his leadership style and business strategy for Starbucks.

That article is here:  EY-Starbucks.pdf

Lots of useful insights into the challenges faced by Schultz when he returned to Starbucks in 2008.  Some have been well covered already here on the Business Studies blog (see below for some other great links).

The article provides some new material though which an A* star essay could use.  Here are a few examples drawn from Schultz quotes in the article - I’m sure students will want to get their highlighters working on other snippets:

Schultz on what leaders need to provide to a complex business:

“I think it is incumbent upon leaders to understand that the responsibility and burden of proof is on themselves to create trust, sensibility, a sense of purpose and a shared commitment” [the link between effective leadership providing a sense of purpose / vision for the business]

Schultz on a key problem of rapid growth and success

“Growth and success have a tendency to cover up mistakes…you never go back and look at what you did wrong, because there’s so much opportunity and the wind is at your back. That’s a great time in a company, but it’s not sustainable.”

Schultz on the importance of rewarding employees well as part of a sustainable culture

“We would completely fracture every aspect of the culture we have [by reducing employee benefits], which is the only competitive edge we have.” [a great example of how a strong sense of corporate culture can be a sustainable competitive advantage]

Schultz on the three key drivers of change in a global business

According to Schultz, a seismic change is under way in the business world, brought about by three factors: the economic downturn, the development of social and visual media, and an increased consumer interest in business ethics.

BUSS4 - a clash of culture and a failed takeover [24 May 2012]
Measuring the competitiveness of a business [18 May 2012]
What do we mean by “competitiveness”? [18 May 2012]
Revision Presentation - Marketing and Competitiveness [17 May 2012]
‘Hooks’ in BUSS4 Essays [5 May 2012]
Paul Polman (Unilever CEO) on cultural change, leadership, Asia and Corporate Social Responsibility [27 Apr 2012]
Irene Rosenfeld on Leadership, Transformation, and THAT takeover [18 Apr 2012]
Leadership - meet the new boss of Starbucks UK [17 Apr 2012]
Strategy & Technological Change - Whatever Happened to BlackBerry? [14 Apr 2012]
Sony - Hirai’s Turnaround Strategy - in Video Clips [13 Apr 2012]
Move over Apple, Samsung, Sony & Nokia. Here Comes China’s Huawei [7 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Leadership [5 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Business Culture [4 Apr 2012]
“Strategy is Choice” - Takeovers are Just One Option [25 Mar 2012]
Starbucks acquisition provides the base for entry into the juice bar market [25 Mar 2012]
Women & Leadership [22 Mar 2012]
Starbucks chooses strategic alliance in bid to enter the Indian market [13 Mar 2012]
Sony - All Change at the Top with a new CEO [12 Mar 2012]
Apple’s new CEO and a new iPad - A Change in Leadership [9 Mar 2012]
International expansion and culture - doing business in the UAE [4 Mar 2012]
The Strategic Challenges Facing International Airlines Group - Interview with Willie Walsh [14 Feb 2012]
The Leadership Style of Willie Walsh - In Quotes [14 Feb 2012]
Ideas not Hierarchy Makes a Business - Steve Jobs on Teamwork & Culture [13 Feb 2012]
Innovation in Business - Perspectives from Stephen Elop (CEO of Nokia) [12 Feb 2012]
Starbucks growth - three out of four ain’t bad! [30 Jan 2012]
Leadership in a multinational business - what leadership style works best? [30 Jan 2012]
Leadership - Howard Schultz on the importance of leading an innovative culture [29 Jan 2012]
Leadership - what is the best leadership style? It depends on the “situation”! [29 Jan 2012]
Leadership - Tough decisions to turn Starbucks around [29 Jan 2012]
Leadership - 40 examples of leadership at the movies in just 120 seconds [29 Jan 2012]
Leadership - what qualities does an effective leader and manager have? [29 Jan 2012]
Leadership - it’s not a popularity contest [29 Jan 2012]
Leadership and strategy: what decisions does the boss of Microsoft make? [29 Jan 2012]
Strategic choice: What should Apple do for its investors? [29 Jan 2012]
Growth strategy - Starbucks eyes the franchise model [28 Jan 2012]
Who has what it takes for this job description? [23 Jan 2012]
What’s gone wrong for Kodak? [19 Jan 2012]
Straight-talking answers to business questions - the examiners might hate some of this! [12 Dec 2011]
Brilliant Video for Just in Time and Kaizen [4 Nov 2011]
Batten down the hatches - strategies for the next downturn [24 Oct 2011]
Meet the CEO of Dropbox - the man who said no to Steve Jobs! [20 Oct 2011]
How PepsiCo are trying to control diseconomies of scale [18 Oct 2011]
Leadership video - A heartfelt apology from the boss [15 Oct 2011]
Management By Committee? Not At Apple [9 Oct 2011]
The Biz Quiz (6 October 2011) - Steve Jobs Edition [6 Oct 2011]
Leadership styles for effective change management - Morgan Freeman style [29 Sep 2011]
Autocratic leadership style in action - Basil v Manuel [22 Sep 2011]
Inspiring leadership? [19 Sep 2011]
Olaf takes the knife to management hierarchy [5 Sep 2011]
Can investment in R&D provide a competitive advantage? [31 Aug 2011]
Steve Jobs on Luck, Life, Death and Making the Most of Every Day [25 Aug 2011]
Apple and Innovation - Iconic Product Launches by Steve Jobs [24 Aug 2011]
Leadership - Farewell to Steve Jobs [24 Aug 2011]
The Case for Transformation [29 Jul 2011]
Sir Ken Robinson on Creative Leadership [20 Jul 2011]
Rupert Murdoch and Leadership - Should a CEO Know What’s Going On? [20 Jul 2011]
Leaders’ Weaknesses [4 Jul 2011]
Lessons from the Tesco Growth Story courtesy of Sir Terry Leahy [4 Jul 2011]
Leadership, Culture and Trust - A Letter from Sir Richard Branson [1 Jul 2011]
Retrenchment for Thorntons following strategic review [28 Jun 2011]
British manufacturer exploiting a niche [21 Jun 2011]
Nokia and Strategic Change - the Essential A2 Business Case [17 Jun 2011]
ResearchBuster: New Leaders and Strategic Change [16 Jun 2011]
CSR & Strategy - Why the Cooperative Group changed to survive [16 Jun 2011]
Leadership styles - the importance of listening [14 Jun 2011]
Leadership - a crisis of confidence? [13 Jun 2011]
Strategy Video - Innovation through technology at Fern Howard [10 Jun 2011]
What makes Ferguson great? [27 May 2011]
Strategy explained - Insights into Amazon [13 May 2011]
CSR and Business Legislation - The Bribery Act comes to town [5 May 2011]
Whitbread goes for organic growth [2 May 2011]
Leadership and the Golden Circle [21 Apr 2011]
Private v Public Sector - A Clash of Two Cultures? [20 Apr 2011]
Leadership - a triumph of youth over experience? [6 Apr 2011]
Leadership Resource - Every Little Helps [16 Mar 2011]
Howard Schultz - A Changed Starbucks. A Changed C.E.O [13 Mar 2011]
Superb Analysis of the UK Coffee Market [5 Mar 2011]
CSR at the Movies - Black Gold [23 Feb 2011]
CSR - Michael Porter speaks on Creating Shared Value [15 Feb 2011]
Leadership - can Apple really be a one-man band? [19 Jan 2011]
Starbucks and our hostility to rebranding [17 Jan 2011]
Training, social immobility and tuition fees - KPMG’s blueprint solution [13 Jan 2011]
Was this the worst mistake ever made in the Dragon’s Den [5 Jan 2011]
Lessons in leadership [5 Jan 2011]
Starbucks - Two Examples of Financial and Non-Financial Methods of Motivation [19 Dec 2010]
Meet Sir Terry Leahy at the Business Teacher National Conference 2011 [18 Dec 2010]
Bruce Poon Tip exploits a huge Gap in the adventure market [12 Dec 2010]
Schultz on Starbucks Growth Strategy and the China Opportunity [3 Dec 2010]
Globalisation and Indian Coffee Houses [27 Nov 2010]
Dominos Pizza - Growth & Strategy (Part 1) - Driving Competitive Advantage [26 Nov 2010]
Starbucks goes for vertical integration to fuel growth in China [18 Nov 2010]
Microsoft - Competitive Strategy in the Post-PC world [30 Oct 2010]
Leadership in action - A Day in the Life of Willie Walsh [25 Oct 2010]
Bonus system to encourage safety improvements at BP [20 Oct 2010]
Making the FT Brand Sweat! [19 Oct 2010]
A great example of off-the-job-training - Starbucks Coffee College [16 Oct 2010]
Leadership skills of the new CEO drive profits at Pret [8 Oct 2010]
Culture & Change - The Challenge Facing Nokia [27 Sep 2010]
Leadership & Strategy - “Welcome to Nokia” [20 Sep 2010]
Can new leadership revive Nokia’s fortunes [12 Sep 2010]

BUSINESS TEACHER RESOURCE NEWSLETTER
Get first news of business teaching resources, ideas and other materials from tutor2u. Over 9,400 business teachers from the UK and around the world receive our regular teacher email newsletters. Sign up for free here!