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Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul
Verfasst von Howard Schultz und Joanne Gordon
Gesprochen von Stephen Bowlby
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Mit Anhören beginnenBeschreibung
In 2008, Howard Schultz, the president and chairman of Starbucks, made the unprecedented decision to return as CEO eight years after he stepped down from daily oversight of the company to become chairman. Concerned that Starbucks had lost its way, Schultz was determined to help it return to its core values and restore not only its financial health, but also its soul. In Onward, he shares the remarkable story of the company's ongoing transformation under his leadership revealing how, during one of the most tumultuous economic times in history, Starbucks again achieved profitability and sustainability without sacrificing humanity.
A compelling, candid narrative documenting the maturing of a brand as well as a businessman, Onward represents Schultz's central leadership philosophy: It's not just about winning, but the right way to win.
A compelling, candid narrative documenting the maturing of a brand as well as a businessman, Onward represents Schultz's central leadership philosophy: It's not just about winning, but the right way to win.
Buchaktionen
Mit Anhören beginnenInformationen über das Buch
Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul
Verfasst von Howard Schultz und Joanne Gordon
Gesprochen von Stephen Bowlby
Beschreibung
In 2008, Howard Schultz, the president and chairman of Starbucks, made the unprecedented decision to return as CEO eight years after he stepped down from daily oversight of the company to become chairman. Concerned that Starbucks had lost its way, Schultz was determined to help it return to its core values and restore not only its financial health, but also its soul. In Onward, he shares the remarkable story of the company's ongoing transformation under his leadership revealing how, during one of the most tumultuous economic times in history, Starbucks again achieved profitability and sustainability without sacrificing humanity.
A compelling, candid narrative documenting the maturing of a brand as well as a businessman, Onward represents Schultz's central leadership philosophy: It's not just about winning, but the right way to win.
A compelling, candid narrative documenting the maturing of a brand as well as a businessman, Onward represents Schultz's central leadership philosophy: It's not just about winning, but the right way to win.
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Fascinating story by the man who built Starbuck's and may just be a future president of the United States.
Very easy to listen, you really connect to the story and it has great anecdotes
Excellent behind the scenes insight into how Starbucks operates. Inspiring.
I'm not really sure why I decided to read this book. I mean, I drink Starbucks coffee (who doesn't?) but I've never been particularly interested in business or the theory behind it. Which probably means that I'm not ideally placed to review it. However, for what it's worth, I started off fascinated and quickly descended into boredom. To qualify - I really did find it interesting to learn about the small origins of the world's biggest coffee company, and to find out about the combination of good luck and good management that lead to its growth. I also really felt Schultz's personal connection to all his stores and staff - he writes about them as parents would write about their children - and I, against my instincts, warmed to him over the course of the book. However, the book quickly became repetitive (I mean, how much is there really to say about a chain of coffee shops?) and as Schultz repeated his business mantras over and over again, I became rather turned off.
It took a while for me to get into this; I received it as an audio book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers program and it is no longer easy for me to play audiobook CDs in a convenient manner. In my work with small businesses (many of them solo operations) I try to find ways to relate what they are hearing in the media about larger enterprises to their own situations. While much of what Schultz discusses is to the concerns of a large global organization, there were some sparks of interest to all organizations and leaders, no matter what size. It is not an easy road to travel but with passion, an open mind, and a group you can rely on to delegate responsibly and some to help bounce ideas off of, leading an organization can be quite the experience. I thank Schultz for sharing the journey. Overall, Onward was interesting to listen to and I'd like to reread it as paper one day because it does not quite flow in a coherent manner when listened to as an audio book, or at least it was impossible for me to easily flip back and reread something mentioned earlier. Additionally if I was educated in Starbucks history some of the bouncing would have made more sense to me and the name dropping became repetitive and annoying at times, but I understand Schultz's need to do so.
OK, this was fun to read. It DID make me want to rush out to Starbucks and order a latte, but I suppose that was part of the point of writing the book. Howard Schultz describes coming back as ceo at Starbucks in 2007 when the company was in serious financial trouble. He talks about the spirit of his company -- integrating socially responsible business practices with a superior product line. What happens when the economy tanks and your business begins to look shaky? Do you abandon your principles to save your business? Howard Schultz says his business and his principles are inseparable and proves it by bringing Starbucks back from disaster. He did have to close stores and lay off people, but those employees who stayed with Starbucks kept their health insurance and the coffee growers kept the support that Starbucks is famous for. Not a brilliant book, but inspiring to learn how he fought for his company and his principles. Other reviewers have complained that the book is very repetitive and that is true, but I still enjoyed the first 70% of it.
I was really excited to read this book when LibraryThing sent it to me on a ten disc CD which was listened to between business trips and an apartment location in Chicago. Howard Schultz's passion and vision is evident and his direction is Onward considering the very difficult period in our economic history that he faced. Finishing this book, my thought was that I could have listened to the final disc and reached the same conclusion. Onward is self indulgent with the readers time. I really wanted to come away moved but became impatient with name dropping and other indulgences. I still admire his vision, ethics, and environmental choices. It takes a tremendous ego to build an empire but it requires heart to take it Onward..
This book too me is way more than Starbucks, it is about and individual taking a stand for something he/she believes in. It is about going against the tide, instead of just ridding with it. Howard did this in a time where people/managers just look for the quick buck. Howard is a leader that all people/workers should look for when it comes to thier best intrest. So many bad things are heard in the news today of CEO's-- Howard himself has set the bar for all future leaders both at the top of companies and at the bottom of them. This audio book was really listened too throughly on my daily travels too and from work. I even have took a few of his ideas and shared them with my employees, and they as well enjoyed the passion he had for his bussiness. Doing what he did takes a real leader, a real platton sargent--this audio book was just given too my dad to enjoy for he loves coffee, but this book is way more about how to get out of a rut, how to lead people back to success, how too share passion and zest.
Howard Schultz returned as CEO of Starbucks in 2008, after serving as Chairman for eight years. His return was precipitated by financial declines and a belief that the company had moved too far from its core values. This book describes Schultz's decision to return as CEO and Starbucks' subsequent transformation efforts. In telling Starbucks' story, Schultz addresses many common management problems. He discusses the challenges that growing organizations face in maintaining a focus on core values and purpose. He reiterates Starbucks' commitment to their partners (as Starbucks calls its employees), but admits difficulties in keeping them engaged throughout the transformational efforts. We see Schultz balancing his ongoing passion for Starbucks' core business while recognizing the need for change. One of Schultz's lessons is that organizations must tell their own story, not let others tell the story for them. It's clear that this book is part of Schultz's effort to tell Starbucks' story. While Schultz is relatively open about the parts of the transformation agenda that did not work as planned, he puts a relatively positive spin on the events. Despite this one-sided perspective, Schultz tells a story that interested both the coffee aficionado and the management professor in me.
I adore Starbucks coffee, and so I picked this up almost as soon as it hit shelves. I liked that I was able to learn more about the company's history and the tracks it has set itself on for the future. It was a good introduction to how much further behind the scenes Starbucks goes than the barista preparing your drink. I would recommend this for people who want to learn more about the coffee industry, or just Starbucks itself, because it does a great job introducing the variables that Schultz has to balance in the company and different coffee making technologies that aren't obvious to those of us on the other side of the counter.I disliked the writing style because it was hard to wrap my brain around the book as a whole. It seemed to be organized by Schultz' stream of consciousness, which would pull me out of the story that seemed most relevant to that chapter and towards past events and corporate buzzwords. I prefer to have one topic explained before moving on to the next, so this made it difficult for me to read the book and understand the order that things happened.
First, I need to own that this book is not a natural fit for me. I don't drink coffee, and I rarely go into Starbucks. Nevertheless, it was a very interesting listen. Fundamentally it is about the creation of, and then recreation of the Starbucks brand. It is a a fundamental primer on the culture of Starbucks. about a culture that is notable for it's humanity (at least according to the founder) Schultz is also a sensitive observer of culture and the role of the merchant and the role of intangibles in a brand. Observations on the role of the specialty merchant. Since I don't often read the business literature, I found this very interesting. The psychology of a "founder," as he tells the story of his reaction when Starbucks added breakfast sandwiches to the menu, and his intuitive response that this was a bad idea. A whole catalog of what he feels was going wrong. Some definite views on why successful companies eventually fail. The mechanics of the transition as he made the decision to take back the CEO spot.Navigating the economic downturn. "Stick to the core." "Get down and the mud and get very very dirty." A defense of the tough choices that were made. Would I recommend this book? Absolutely, particularly for those who are interested in the psychology of thriving as a merchant in this economy. In some ways it has encouraged me to look at my own career, and think about approaching it as an entrepreneur.
I really enjoyed both the book itself and the reading of it in the audio version. I have long been a fan of Starbuck's product, but this book gave me a new appreciation for the company and its leadership. I also enjoyed the information about coffee that I picked up as I listened. Great for the entrepreneur or coffee lover!
In February 2008, for three hours every Starbucks in the country closed, so baristas could be retrained in the art of espresso making. Starbucks stores were growing at an expediential rate, but training had been limited for new baristas. While critics dismissed stores closing in 2008 as a stunt, this is just one step that Schultz took to get his company back on track. In July 2008, the economy took a turn for the worse and Starbucks closed 600 stores and 1,000 non-store positions were eliminated. While this story could be the tragic telling of a large corporation during the recession, this is the story of how a ceo (Starbucks uses lower-case letters for job titles) brought back his company stronger than ever. Schultz used this time of trial to bring the heart back into Starbucks by creating his new signature coffee, Pike Place Roast; creating MyStarbucksIdea.com where customers could make online suggestions; and rewards for frequent customers. An enjoyable read for the business managers and Starbucks fans!