Assignment 1: A Growing Small Business

Assignment 1: A Growing Small Business

Due Week 3 and worth 200 points

You made it! You received your master’s degree in Human Resource Management, and now it’s time for you to start seeking career opportunities. At this point, you may be a little confused as to what areas you should focus on in HR since your experience may be limited. Imagine that a friend shares with you that he/she has a small but rapidly growing business which is in need of an HR department. He has asked you to be the HR Manager. Your friend mentioned that he / she previously worked with an HR consultant, but now has close to 100 employees with no definite, dedicated HR department, and really needs your assistance. Although you are nervous, you realize that it’s now time for you to show your skills and put all your years of studying into action.

Select an existing small company in an industry you are familiar with to be the basis of the small business in this case. Review the company’s structure, culture, business strategy, mission, and vision.

Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you:

1. Provide a brief summary, in your own words, of your selected company’s overall business strategy. Next, determine the direction you visualize the company growing within the next five (5) to ten (10) years.  Hint: Review the common business strategies of Cost Leadership, Differentiation and Focus or Niche on p. 50 of your text.
2. Design a human resource management strategy to support your selected company’s business strategy. Explain the competitive advantage of your HRM strategy. Hint: Review the following common human resource management strategies of Loyal Soldier, Bargain Laborer, Committed Expert and Free Agent from previous courses.
3. Develop an HR Scorecard table for your selected company. Include the four (4) dimensions (i.e., financial, customer service, internal process, and learning / growth / sustainability). Next, assess the value of your proposal to the small business in each of these dimensions.  Hint: Review the video titled “Building the Human Resources Performance Measurement Scorecard” (4 min 1 s) located at  for additional guidance in creating an HR Scorecard.
4. Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment from within the past five (5) years. Note: Wikipedia does not qualify as an academic resource.
5. Format your assignment according to these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
• Include a reference page. Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Assess the strategic role of human resource management and the components that provide a competitive advantage to the organization.
• Determine the human resource management function of human resource planning and its importance to business strategy.
• Develop work designs that support the human resources strategy.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in human resource management.
• Write clearly and concisely about human resource management using proper writing mechanics

ANSWER

Starbucks Corporation

Starbucks Corporation is typically an American coffee industry and also a coffeehouse chain that was discovered in Seattle, Washington DC in early 1971; and recently, the business has been able to operate in close to 28,000 places across the globe. The company is regarded as the primary representative of the so-called second wave coffee, previously distinguishing itself from other coffee-serving firms in the United States through its unique taste, quality, and client experiences while marketing the darkly roasted coffee. As from early 2000, the coffee marketers have always targeted quality-oriented coffee consumers with hand-made coffee centered upon lighter roasts, while the company recently applies automated espresso equipment for efficiency and safety purposes. A majority of Starbucks locations serve their customers with hot and cold drinks, whole-bean coffee, fresh juices, and snacks including items such as chips and crackers. They also offer services including the yearly fall launch of pumpkin spice latte that has seen the industry remain stable within the marketing environment as a result of customer loyalty and dedication of the business in fulfilling their needs.

Business Strategy

The business has put some strategies that would typically assist in its marketing growth and stability; firstly, it is planning on increasing the total number of their stores thus changing its store mix. Instead of focusing on coming up with more dine-in restaurants, Starbucks is typically focusing on improving their marketing capabilities in the outer edges of both urban and the suburban areas. Moreover, the industry is planning to open express chains that strategically operate as walk-through in the Boston, Seattle and New York cities (Chua & Banerjee, 2013). This technique is focused on boosting the firm’s store penetration; even though, forces that may affect the incremental increase from the current store openings is cannibalization. The company remains determined and confident that at some point it will acquire a minimum six percent comparable sales growth in the United States. Another business strategy within Starbucks is to raise the coffee experience globally; with the coffee business set to rise steadily in the market within the next few years, the company is continuously pulling all stops to position itself as the leading preferred coffee shop. The industry is planning to open close to 600 new reserve places that will strategically target the upper-middle income customers. Starbucks is also planning to come up with new customer occasions where the lunch hours for the industry have been the most developing part of the past years. The advanced food offering has ever since driven this aspect; fresher foodstuff packed in bistro boxes and sandwiches.

Another business strategy within the company is to incorporate technology in its significant operations, and this makes it adamant when it articulates that the primary intention of modern technology is not only to enhance its website or make the process payment faster for customers but also uses technology in product development and communication purposes. Some of the most suitable examples for value addition through the use of technology by Starbucks includes the launch of a system referred to as mobile order and pay features that allow clients to purchase freely without getting in line. Therefore, in the next couples years to come, the industry will have improved in its service production techniques and will be known globally thus meaning an increase in profitability and marketing stability (Chua & Banerjee, 2013). Moreover, the business will take control of the coffee-house business and even overtake its main rival known as the Donuts that also possess several stores and customers. Starbucks in the coming ten years will have an active financial status more than the current economic flow and also enhance its dividend thus making the business the most preferred over its competitors. With the successful implementation of these strategies and innovations, the market is particular about gaining a more customer base.

Human Resource Management Strategies

According to Coff, R., & Kryscynski, D. (2011), a human resource management strategy is considered as the overall technique or plan that leads to the implementation of a given human resource management functional areas. These strategies are used in guiding the management decision that puts into consideration the best interest of the institution and that best fits the organization goals and objectives. It is also significant to acknowledge that all functional areas of the human resource management strategies should be similar to those of the business plans. When it comes to the human resource management strategy that is essential in supporting the already discussed Starbuck’s business strategies, the leadership of the organization strategy fits it well. In this approach, the top business management and other leaders within the industry have the power to affect the success or the downfall of the business’s goals and objectives. The human resource plays a significant role in the acquisition of the of the business managers through acquiring the respect from the decision making the team via carrying out useful searches (Coff & Kryscynski, 2011). In any business composition, the human resource team ought to carry out leadership responsibilities in reaching essential decisions and recommending some of the ideas and mechanisms to other organizations. Therefore, this is the best strategy for the Starbuck business to use in implementing the planned business strategies that will see gain marketing stability within the market.

Leadership strategy within the Starbuck as a human resource management plan involves getting to understand what the top business leadership should be doing with the intention of coming up with a strategy-focused institution. An efficient, competitive advantage is essential in providing the appropriate value to the clients without typically being in a position to be imitated. The leadership of the organization strategy will put the organization to competitive advantage through creating modern business ideas essential in fulfilling the planned procedures. The business has been able to install free wireless fidelity facility through the use of technology, and this makes the clients feel comfortable. The strategy will also lead to the production of new goods and services as evident in the business where it has been able to bring new coffee sachet that is almost similar to that of the coffee; however, produced by Nescafe. Opening stores in economically stable environments in another competitive advantage that the human resource management plans have brought to the business as Starbucks has continuously had a social consciousness as opposed to other global industries (Coff & Kryscynski, 2011). An indication of this can be seen through the manner in which it handles its workers in regions across the globe, and the resultant low attrition rate.

Starbucks Scorecard Table

Customer	Existing Market Enhance loyalty Boost Satisfaction Increase sense of community Improve clients profitability	New Market Boost market share	Reputation Societal effort Create the third place
Financial	Revenue Development Increase the number of new products Move to more profitable products Get new consumers	Cost Reduction Lower products cost per unit Reduce selling administration coast		Asset Utilization Enhance asset utilization
Internal Process	Improve Customer Relations Improve service efficiency and quality Enhance complaint resolution services	Boost Supplier Relation Enhance long term relationship Increase quality and yield of coffee	Operations Lower process cost and time Increase process efficiency and quality
Learning and Growth	Improve Worker Capabilities Enhance the quality of training Attract and retain quality workers	Boost Worker Motivation Maintain high degree of motivation	Improve Worker Alignment Alignment of workers

 

According to the customer perspective that is the most significant aspect of the Starbucks industry, it is easy to acknowledge the three fundamental drivers. With the customer being the organization’s primary reference, the trade channels its efforts towards the existing market, searching for a diversification it is production, increasing the customer profitability and satisfaction. Putting into consideration the new market, the primary goal for the company is the expansion of its already existing market share through the incorporation of new clients and the increase of sales per consumer (Uysal & Katipoglu, 2015). With its reputation, the industry focuses on two main aspects of its strategy. On the financial development, three main drivers include revenue growth that is reached through boosting the total number of the new products in the entire differentiation, getting to the new clients and changing to a more profitable product and service mix. In cost reduction, Starbucks plans lower product cost per unit. Asset utilization, it is possible to come up with and sell more products with the similar invested capital (Uysal & Katipoglu, 2015). Internal process measures are to enhance the kind of relationship existing between the company and the customers where there will need to improve service efficiency and quality and improve the complaint resolution service. There is also the need to increase supplier relationship and in the operations. Finally, the learning and the growth strategies are to increase worker capabilities through improving the quality of training and also boosting worker motivation through maintaining a high degree of motivation.

 

References

Chua, A. Y., & Banerjee, S. (2013). Customer knowledge management via social media: the case of Starbucks. Journal of Knowledge Management, 17(2), 237-249.

Coff, R., & Kryscynski, D. (2011). Invited editorial: Drilling for micro-foundations of human capital–based competitive advantages. Journal of Management, 37(5), 1429-1443.

Uysal, G., & Katipoglu, Y. (2015). Strategic Management of Finance Theory: Use Balanced Scorecard in Finance Theory.