Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul
Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul book cover

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

Hardcover – Bargain Price, March 29, 2011

by
Price
$5.44
Format
Hardcover
Pages
384
Publisher
Rodale Books
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1119977230
Dimensions
6.29 x 1.28 x 9.23 inches
Weight
1.6 pounds

Description

Amazon Best Books of the Month, April 2011 : Onward is not a puff piece. In just under 400 brisk pages, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz details the multitude of factors--the recession, new consumer behavior, overexpansion--that led to the company's downturn during 2007-2008. Obviously, Schultz was successful, and his book has plenty of valuable lessons about management and leadership--standard features for most business books. But the most interesting thing about Onward is Schultz's honesty about the whole process, from his determination to make difficult personnel changes to his admission that he considers it a personal failure when he sees someone with a competitor's cup of coffee. Schultz even makes the chapters about his agonies over the company's breakfast sandwiches a fascinating study in the minute decisions that go into running a multibillion-dollar company. Conflicts, raw emotions, high stakes: Onward is a business book that goes beyond feel-good maxims and actually has a story to tell. --Darryl Campbell From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. In 2000, Starbuck's founder and CEO Schultz (Pour Your Heart into It) stepped down from daily oversight of the company and assumed the role of chairman. Eight years later, in the midst of the recession and a period of decline unprecedented in the company's recent history, Schultz-feeling that the soul of his brand was at risk-returned to the CEO post. In this personal, suspenseful, and surprisingly open account, Schultz traces his own journey to help Starbucks reclaim its original customer-centric values and mission while aggressively innovating and embracing the changing landscape of technology. From the famous leaked memo that exposed his criticisms of Starbucks to new product strategies and rollouts, Schultz bares all about the painful yet often exhilarating steps he had to take to turn the company around. Peppered with stories from his childhood in tough Canarsie, N.Y., neighborhoods, his sequel to the founding of Starbucks is grittier, more gripping, and dramatic, and his voice is winning and authentic. This is a must-read for anyone interested in leadership, management, or the quest to connect a brand with the consumer. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. From Booklist Schultz is the founder and CEO of Starbucks, a company that began as a small Seattle distributor of coffee beans and ground coffee that he transformed into what it is today, inspired by the espresso shops he visited in Italy. Schultz described the founding of Starbucks in his first book, Pour Your Heart into It (1997). Written with Joanne Gordon, a former Forbes writer and contributing editor, this account is a spotlight on the period of 2007�08, when the company lost some of its vision due to overexpansion and the pressure to maintain unabated growth. Seeing that Starbucks was becoming a victim of its own success, Schultz returned to the CEO position after eight years away from overseeing daily operations of the company. He details the struggle to maintain the identity of Starbucks while attempting to branch out into areas such as music sales and hot food, facing competition and the oversaturation that caused the company the painful closing of about 600 stores in 2008. This is one of those turnaround stories that illustrates that a company can overcome its growth pains by returning to its core principles. --David Siegfried In 2000, Starbuck's founder and CEO Schultz ( Pour Your Heart into It ) stepped down from daily oversight of the company and assumed the role of chairman. Eight years later, in the midst of the recession and a period of decline unprecedented in the company's recent history, Schultz--feeling that the soul of his brand was at risk--returned to the CEO post. In this personal, suspenseful, and surprisingly open account, Schultz traces his own journey to help Starbucks reclaim its original customer-centric values and mission while aggressively innovating and embracing the changing landscape of technology. From the famous leaked memo that exposed his criticisms of Starbucks to new product strategies and rollouts, Schultz bares all about the painful yet often exhilarating steps he had to take to turn the company around. Peppered with stories from his childhood in tough Canarsie, N.Y., neighborhoods, his sequel to the founding of Starbucks is grittier, more gripping, and dramatic, and his voice is winning and authentic. This is a must-read for anyone interested in leadership, management, or the quest to connect a brand with the consumer. --Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review "Howard Schultz's refreshingly candid, compelling narrative demonstrates what it takes to lead in these extraordinary times. Onward is a rare first-hand account at how one of the world's most iconic brands overcame the challenges that confront us all."xa0 -- Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo “Through the lens of his personal leadership journey, with all of its dizzying ups and agonizing downs,xa0 Howard Schultz has written, with aching honesty and passion, the single most important book on leadership and change for our time and for every generation of leaders. This book is not just required reading, it's mandatory.”xa0 -- Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business, University of Southern California and author of Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership Howard Schultz is the chairman, president, and CEO of Starbucks and the author of the New York Times bestseller Pour Your Heart Into It.Joanne Gordon is a former Forbes writer and contributing editor who has spent more than a decade profiling companies and business leaders for numerous publications including five previous books. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • In 2008, Howard Schultz, the president and chairman of Starbucks, made the unprecedented decision to return as the CEO eight years after he stepped down from daily oversight of the company and became 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 his return and 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. Offering readers a snapshot of a moment in history that left no company unscathed, the book zooms in to show, in riveting detail, how one company struggled and recreated itself in the midst of it all. The fastpaced narrative is driven by day-to-day tension as conflicts arise and lets readers into Schultz's psyche as he comes to terms with his limitations and evolving leadership style.
  • Onward
  • is 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. Ultimately, he gives readers what he strives to deliver every day—a sense of hope that, no matter how tough times get, the future can be just as or more successful than the past, whatever one defines success to be.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
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(445)
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15%
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★★
7%
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23%
(409)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Some translation required

I agree with the reviewers who'd lambasted this book for being nothing more than self-congratulatory and self-promoting tripe. However, in my opinion the worst thing about this book is its writing style, which is clumsy and overflowing with pompous jargon some of which was invented by Mr. Schwartz himself, I am certain ("tranformational agenda", "holistic restoration", "navigational blueprint") and such staples of corporate lingo as "moving forward", "historically", "telling the story", "at the end of the day" and so on.

Here's a sample of the writing: "The pillars also gave meat to the announcement of my return as CEO". That announcement must have been pretty hungry. I admit that this is taken out of context, yet even when placed within context, this is very badly written. Unfortunately for the reader, the book is full of such charming and eloquent turns of phrase.

However Mr. Schwartz deserves credit for providing details about the laborious process of making the Stabucks coffee what it is - excellent coffee: selection and mixing beans, roasting, certain methods of extraction and foaming milk - a technical and highly developed process, which sets Starbucks apart from other brands (although it would be presumptuous to say it's the best coffee unless we visit every coffee shop in every town, which may be a little difficult). Whether or not you are impressed with the corporate lingo, managerial know-how and financial maneuverings - fairly traded, expertly prepared and great-tasting coffee, as well as tasteful decoration and welcoming, cozy atmosphere of the cafés, makes Starbucks probably the best café chain. He has obviously made the right choices, and deserves credit for being a good CEO, if a lousy writer.

Early history of the company is also quite interesting, as are some of the behind-the-scenes events that shaped the company and its evolution from a coffee wholesaler/roasting house to an Euporean-style café. While the beginning of the book is interesting, it quickly gets bogged down with details of management activities (which may be interesting to managers) and Mr. Schwartz's endless and boring introspections, which clutter the narrative without necessarily providing any insight into his great managerial vision. The book quickly loses momentum and never regains it.

The most amusing bit was the management consulting seminar, where comparison was made between the Starbucks brand with the Beatles (viewed as an iconic brand) as an enduring cultural symbol. I thought it was really pompous to compare coffee, even as good as Starbucks', with the Beatles in terms of status as a cultural icon. Makes you wonder - in what units can the size of Mr. Schwartz' ego be measured?

With all that, I like going to Starbucks, and enjoy drinking their coffee, so this criticism applies to the book only, and I can only wish Starbucks and Mr. Schwartz all the prosperity and success. It is my hope that the next episodes "of the Starbucks story" are written and edited by "resources" with the "relevant skill set", so that the authors' and readers' "agendas are globally synchronized", pardon the jargon.
15 people found this helpful
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A Unique Story

This a unique story because it traces the struggle of running a company that is built around people and their loyalty to a brand. I say struggle because at the same time it has to answer to its stock holders. This quote from page 306 best sums its up, "As Starbucks now knew all to well, growth for growth's sake is a losing proposition." Rather than hang on and ride out the decline in the economy that started in late 2007, Starbucks made heavy cuts in employees and stores and reinventing themselves to emerge now in 2014 stronger than ever. Going from a stock low of $7.17 in 2009 to $77.00 in January 2014 shows that leadership did its stockholders well. But at the same time, I feel sad for the 600 stores and 12,000 employees in the USA that got cut in one big slash.

Very interesting to read how new products came to be and others went by the wayside. Would have liked more details into how some of the decisions were made but how often do we get a CEO writing this frank about a company he dearly loves. What really comes across is how what can only be viewed as a self indulgent commodity can generate so much profit worldwide. Although the economy forced many people to cut back on their trips to Starbucks, those people were the first to go back when their situations improved. That ultimately is what continues to drive Starbucks "Onward".

I use to be a regular customer until my local Starbucks quit serving their Blonde roast after 11am. As Mr. Schultz points out it is the Partners at the local level that makes Starbucks thrive as a whole. Keep the store comps up by selling what the demand is for.
2 people found this helpful
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The importance of a global brand.

This book is written by the president of Starbucks Coffee Company.
This product is very simple to send in the market, but it doesn't simple to make buy it from the global people.
Starbucks in fact is a global brand, in a sense that it is achieved by the people of the all world.
In the book there are some facts those could reveal particolar aspects of the production.
But the typical back-ground is that of social networks, whom determine the rules of the market.
2 people found this helpful
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the first book was great but this one has a different writer and I ...

the first book was great but this one has a different writer and I have yet to finish it. Was really quite disappointed after reading the first one and don't recommend buying this one
1 people found this helpful
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Kind of a slog

I really liked the first Starbux book Pouring Your Heart and was excited to see this one come out (at actual Starbux stores I think?).
I didn't know that this book was about the slight dip in growth and stuff that Starbux experienced a few years back (which every business was feeling I think so was it really that unique to Starbux?) and man I'll tell you that the length of this book kind of made it tough for me to get through and also the subject matter wasn't as great as the first book.
I think it's important to not lose sight of who you are as a company but man, I think it could've been written about in a better, entertaining and really a lot shorter of a book.
But it's always great to get a look into the company that has dominated most of my adult life (that and Microsoft and Apple I think) and learn more about what makes them tick. I don't think there's that much I can apply to my life since I'm not dominating the world and am not really the person most responsible for the values and culture in my various jobs. I am really curious how your contract changes when you return to such a well-known company like Starbux though and what everyone involved learned about that person and things like that (just like Apple too).
I'm trying to figure out what this means to me personally so that's a good thing but I do realize why most of my friends haven't heard or read this book even a couple of years after the fact.
It's not a definite book that I think everyone should read but a good book if you happen to read it.
1 people found this helpful
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Too much hidden advertising

I'm a huge fan of biographies and company stories so that's the reason I bought this book. This book is okay but you have to read through the typical sentences to see the real story ("hard work", "ethics", "passion" etc).
1 people found this helpful
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Cover

I ordered this book as a gift for someone. I was disappointed to find that the cover was very dirty and marred. It looks like it once had a sticker on the front that was removed, but the sticky goo was left behind to collect dirt. It also looks like it's been dropped and banged around.
1 people found this helpful
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Worth Reading

Very interesting book.
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AN AMAZING MAN THAT COULD RUN A NATION AS WELL AS HE RUNS HIS BUSINESS? Look for clues reading this book.

A INDIVIDUAL THAT CAN MAKE SUCH A BIG DIFFERENCE IN HOW BUSINESS IS DONE, BY BEING FAIR TO ALL THOESE HE DOES BUSINESS WITH AND GIVE'S HIS CUSTOMERS AN EXCELLENT PRODUCT...I WONDER WHAT HE COULD ALSO DO POLITICALLY...READ THE BOOK FOR CLUES...HE'S TRULY AMAZING.
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Five Stars

Good Book!!

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