Starbucks - Publications - Faculty & Research

18 Apr 2005
Research & Ideas

Selling Luxury to Everyone

established middle-market and even lower-market players." For example, she said, "eight years ago, Starbucks was a luxury game on the east coast. . . . Now, Starbucks is daily standard operating... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette; Consumer Products

14 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Rewriting the Rules of Service Competition

coordinating with others, working in teams, or being denied “star” status. These leaders know that the best uses of technology and other support systems create frontline service heroes and heroines. They use it to elevate important service jobs and eliminate the worst... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett, W. Earl Sasser & Leonard A. Schlesinger; Retail

07 Oct 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

How Companies Can Make Up with (Very) Unhappy Customers

for competitors. Tesco’s Stumble into the US MarketUK retailer Tesco was very successful penetrating foreign markets—until it set its sights on the United States. What Mark Zuckerberg Can Learn About Crisis Leadership from StarbucksWhile View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail; Air Transportation

23 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Brand Power from Wedgwood to Dell: Part Two

Starbucks Coffee Company; and Michael Dell—all successfully navigated the transition from "garage" to global business. ... No Detail Too Small All three of them made that transition very successfully, but my research suggests it... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

20 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Activist CEOs Are Rising Up—and Their Customers Are Listening

When former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced earlier this year he was thinking about running for president of the United States, it wasn’t a new idea. Past CEOs seeking the White House have included Carly Fiorina, Ross Perot, Herman... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

17 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

If Marketing Experts Ran Elections

effectiveness of commercial marketing. Most consumers have stronger relationships with brands like Starbucks (the "third place" after home and work) than with their elected representatives or the umbrella political brands,... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch

11 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

The Paradoxical Quest to Make Food Look 'Natural' With Artificial Dyes

A few years ago, a food blog reported that Starbucks’ popular Strawberry and Crème Frappuccino got its pink color not from strawberries, but from a dye made of crushed-up cochineal insects. Vegan consumers cried foul, and mainstream media outlets picked up the story.... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

23 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 23, 2015

device categories, such as the Apple Watch, the first new product the company had released since 2010? Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/715456-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 715-452 Coffee Wars in India: View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Sep 2011
What Do You Think?

What’s Apple’s Biggest Challenge: Replacing Steve or Wall Street?

the Starbucks experience? Is Apple's biggest challenge that of replacing Steve Jobs or is it that of resisting the inevitable pressures from competition and Wall Street? Just how are those pressures resisted? And at what risk? What do you... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Computer

05 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

In Praise of Marketing

much of our attention on material consumption. More recently, Benjamin Barber, in his 2007 book Consumed, claims that marketing is "sucking up the air from every other domain to sustain the sector devoted to consumption." He is correct. Coca-Cola, Nike, and... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Advertising

15 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 15, 2008

billion for the block of shares. Was the investment in CEMIG worth that price? Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=707512 Starbucks Coffee Company in the 21st Century Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

24 Jul 2018
Op-Ed

4 Ways Managers Can Exercise Their 'Agency' to Change the World

they feel a lack of “agency,” a sense that only the highest rank of management can effect positive social change from within a business. Ironically, an increasing number of C-suite executives, including former Starbucks CEO Howard... View Details

Keywords: by George Serafeim

05 Dec 2006
First Look

First Look: December 5, 2006

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=805139 Gordon Bethune at Continental Airlines Harvard Business School Case 406-073 Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=406073 Howard Schultz: Building View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Jun 2013
Op-Ed

Corporate Leaders Need to Step Up on Climate Change

Green initiatives are ubiquitous these days, implemented with zeal at companies like Dupont, IBM, Walmart, and Walt Disney. The programs being rolled out—lighting retrofits, zero-waste factories, and carpool incentives—save money and provide a green glow. Most large... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Toffel & Auden Schendler

25 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 25, 2018

find that changes in the local business landscape is a leading indicator of housing price changes and that the entry of Starbucks (and coffee shops more generally) into a neighborhood predicts gentrification. Each additional View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

02 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

Excerpt: ‘A Social Strategy’

the number of likes or followers, the number of responses, or the number of times corporate messages are forwarded to others. For example, by mid-2013 Target had slightly less than 22 million fans on Facebook, Wal-Mart had 30 million, while Converse and View Details

19 Dec 2016
Research & Ideas

The 10 Most Popular Stories of 2016

corporate HR function. Becoming a Cognitive Referent: Market Creation and Cultural Strategy Rory McDonald describes the making of a "cognitive referent," which is a firm that customers, the media, analysts, and employees automatically associate with a new... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

30 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 30, 2015

https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/115042-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 715-453 Coffee Wars in India: Starbucks 2015 This case examines the progress made by Starbucks in its first two years of... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

05 Jan 2009
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles and Working Papers 2008

Marketing Metaphoria. Q&A and book excerpt. 14. Starbucks' Lessons for Premium Brands After building a great franchise offering a unique customer experience, Starbucks diluted its brand when it overexpanded and offered too many new... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

03 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

The State of Customer Service Leadership

to improved efficiency and productivity. Yet you write that there are dangers in overdoing it. How so? Schlesinger: Technology can be used effectively to replace low-contact service work. But when Starbucks introduced a faster, larger... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Retail

Publications