A mental model is a description of the thought process of an individual on how some events work in the real world. It entails representing the surrounding world, the correlation between the various parts, and individual intuitive perception of acting and the associated consequences. In business practice, different mental models are applicable. They include game theory, diversification of the portfolio, comparative advantage, scarcity, and the application of common knowledge. In Starbucks, mental models are applied by not focusing on creating a great coffee shop. Instead, there is a crucial consideration of individual components and the relationship between the features (Moon and Quelch, 2018). Therefore, the mental model creates systems that will create great coffee shops. The consumers of their products are affected positively since there is an increase in the quality of service and products delivery. For example, Starbuck realizes that the energy received by their consumers does not only arise from the coffee they purchase. Instead, it is from the interaction that they get from Starbucks employees. Therefore, Starbucks advises their employees to smile at their customers while serving. Instead, they create a system that eases interaction and increases the level of satisfaction of utility.
The concept of team learning and creating a shared vision could benefit Starbucks by increasing customer experience and, therefore, increasing satisfaction. So, the approach will make it easy to have all the employees focus on quality delivery and meeting the consumers’ demands. There will be a standard plan that has been set to be achieved, whether at the moment or in the future. All the employees will be working towards attaining the set goals and objectives. More so, team learning implies there will be sharing of skills and knowledge. The customer’s experience will elevate since there is the transfer of knowledge among the workers (Braun, 2002). A shared vision will include opinions from all the organization members in the decision-making process. Each person will have a strategy that they think will be more effective and efficient. Therefore, the client’s level of satisfaction will be on the rise since issues of risk will have been eliminated. The strategy will make it easy to create a contingency plan for current or anticipated issues in meeting consumers’ demands. Outcomes of the design will act as a contingency plan which can be implemented either in the short or long –run (Yang et al., 2019). The end goals will be to make sure there is an increase in demand and implement frameworks that meet the requirements.
One of the approaches that can be used to improve the client’s experience at Starbucks is to increase the time that the new baristas take in training. There is a need to relate with the consumers while providing the service. The best approach to be implemented is to have the workers, especially the new employees, taken through a training program that will fasten their skills and knowledge (Senge, 2006). An approach that can be implemented is that of making each worker understand the history of Starbucks. The learning process will make it easy to achieve the desired outcomes of efficient experience among clients since the baristas will be aware of the services they need to render. There is a need to establish a connection between the people who are offering the services and the reason for being a part of the personnel. Currently, the training hours are between 21 and 25 hours, which is insufficient to offer a barista the needed skills and knowledge to improve service delivery.
Secondly, Starbucks can consider introducing coffee education through seminars. The primary target audience for the approach is the consumers of their products. There is a lack of enough time for coffee education, and most of the clients do not experience the taste and feeling obtained inside their stores (Fang, Francis, and Hasan, 2018). One of the ways through which it will be possible to spread the enthusiasm for the whole bean coffee is by experiencing the love together with the customers. An individual can know the base of a subject so they can teach it to others. Hence, the approach will improve the level of satisfaction of the clients. Instead, it will increase the target audience and gain the needed competitive advantage. It will be fun to create a go-through coffee master’s program.
The partnership is the last approach that Starbucks needs to consider to improve satisfaction. The focus needs to be on removing partners that do not care about the needs of their clients and have a bad attitude. More so, their level of effectiveness of the recommendation can be realized if the implementation has taken place across all the departments regardless of the seniority of some members. Each of the employees in the organization needs to be aware that no individual is entitled to their job and success needs to be earned (Battilana and Casciaro, 2013). With more the 100,000 individuals wearing the green apron, there is no doubt that only a tiny percentage disparage the experience that they get from Starbucks? Such groups are the ones that need to be removed from being a part of the company.
Executive Summary
The primary purpose of the improvement plan is to ensure there is an increase in quality service delivery and that the needs of the consumers have been effectively and efficiently addressed. Therefore, in the implementation process, it will be vital to ensure that the opinions of all stakeholders, including the employees at the grass-root level, have been incorporated in the decision-making process (Yang et al., 2019). The approach will make it easy to adopt the changes, and collaborative efforts in terms of teamwork will be put in place. It will be easy to identify the various areas of weakness and make the necessary adjustments.
The leading cause of low customer level of satisfaction at Starbuck is an increase in the expectation of the consumers. Branding and service delivery in the organization has been the same ever since. Some clients want a change in the taste of products since there is a shift in the consumer’s taste and preference over time (Yang et al., 2019). Meeting the needs has been a challenge since their demand is not being fully met, and a gap is left for not feeling the best quality products have been issued by Starbucks.
A key recommendation that can be used to increase the customer’s level of satisfaction is to have some of their products and services customized. Starbucks will need to increase their investment towards research and development where the primary intention will be to study the change in consumers’ tastes and preferences. The approach will make it easy to create goods and services that counter the problem.
References
Moon, Y., & Quelch, J. (2018). Starbucks: Delivering customer service. HBS Case 9-504-016. Harvard Business School Publishing. http://hbr.org
Senge, P. M. (2006). Mental models. In The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization (pp. 129–162). Doubleday.
Fang, Y, Francis, B. & Hasan, I. (2018). Research: CEOs with diverse networks create higher firm value. Harvard Business Review.
Yang, M., Yang, F., Cui, T. & Cheng, Y. (2019). Analysis the dynamics of mental model using casual loop diagrams. Australian Journal of Management, 44(3), 495-512.
Battilana, J. & Casciaro, T. (2013). The network secrets of great change agents. Harvard Business Review.
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