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[review] The Starbucks Experience by Joseph Michelli

starbucks experience


The Starbucks Experience was an interesting book which introduces some of the key ideas principles that the Starbucks management use. It explains the success of Starbucks from the perspective of the 5 principles mentioned in the book.

The 5 Principles are:
1. Make it your own -> taking ownership, and having employees take ownership
2. Everything matters -> importance of details
3. Surprise and Delight -> go the extra mile to provide customers with more that what they expect
4. Embrace Resistance -> listen, differentiate between constructive and non constructive complains, and take action to improve
5. Leave your mark -> contributing to communities

Although this book was marketed as a publication written by and outsider, I felt that the author was positively bias toward Starbucks. Perhaps this was required in order to show the expected results from implementing the 5 principles mentioned.

The major takeaway I got from this book was the importance of inter-personal relationships. A workplace with healthy and motivating relations between the managers and employees would encourage healthy relations with their customers.
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