Naturally, the market reacted negatively.
I no longer serve on the Starbucks board of directors, and I have had no formal role within the company since April 2023. But my love of the company and all those who wear “the cloth of the company”—the iconic green apron—knows no bounds.
I, too, experienced some quarters of financial disappointment in my four-plus decades leading Starbucks. Ask any public-company ceo and they will tell you that “a miss” is virtually inevitable, even at the best-managed, fastest-growing firms.
It’s not the miss that matters. It’s what comes next. What’s the diagnosis of the problem? What’s the impact on morale? And what’s the strategy to fix it?
At any company that misses badly, there must be contrition and renewed focus and discipline on the core. Own the shortcoming without the slightest semblance of an excuse.
There is a natural tendency to try to do too much too soon. Don’t try to do everything at once. Leaders must model both humility and confidence as they work to restore trust and increase performance across the organization.
Starbucks will recover—of that, I am certain. Starbucks created an industry that did not exist. The brand is one of the most recognized and respected in the world. I am confident the China business will return to health and become the company’s largest market. The brand is incredibly resilient, but it’s clearly not business as usual.
Over the past five days, I have been asked by people inside and outside the company for my thoughts on what should be done. I have emphasized that the company’s fix needs to begin at home: U.S. operations are the primary reason for the company’s fall from grace. The stores require a maniacal focus on the customer experience, through the eyes of a merchant. The answer does not lie in data, but in the stores.
Senior leaders—including board members—need to spend more time with those who wear the green apron. One of their first actions should be to reinvent the mobile ordering and payment platform—which Starbucks pioneered—to once again make it the uplifting experience it was designed to be. The go-to-market strategy needs to be overhauled and elevated with coffee-forward innovation that inspires partners, and creates differentiation in the marketplace, reinforcing the company’s premium position. Through it all, focus on being experiential, not transactional.
At Starbucks, culture is the currency of the company and its internal operating system. All roads at Starbucks—groundbreaking innovation, relentless execution, years of growth, and outsized financial performance and shareholder value—go through its culture.
There are no quick fixes. But the path forward should be what has guided the company over decades of financial success: Inspire your people, exceed the expectations of your customers, and let culture and servant leadership lead the way.
星巴克上周公布了财报，但遗憾的是，财报结果大大低于股东的预期。
