How do you foster happiness among your local employees?
The culture and the value of the company runs very deep. We have proved that culture is not American.
It is the human condition. You treat people with great respect and you honor them, whether they are American or Chinese, or Asian or Middle Eastern.
In China we have 30,000 people working for Starbucks and they feel that they are being treated with great respect. That is what we want to show to our customers.
What is your ideal company?
I grew up in the Canarsie Bayview Houses of the New York City Housing Authority, which provides public houses for low-income residents. I had lots of dreams and aspirations, but I was also perturbed by the endless pain and suffering around me.
The biggest concern for me was that my father, who was uneducated, had a series of very bad jobs. As a result, he was not respected or valued at his work place.
As he got older, I noticed that he became bitter. I never imagined or could believe that one day I would be in a position to start my own company or grow a global company.
All along, as we were thinking about the future, what I had in my mind was trying to build the company that my father never got a chance to work for.
In 1987, we had 11 stores and 100 employees. We did not have partners in America then.
But we had the dream and expectations of building a different kind of company, a company that makes profits and shares it with employees.
I had no money to build that company. I had to go outside to find money from other investors. When I told them about my theory of building a different kind of company and about sharing success, most investors said no. They said you cannot build a company that gives so many things back to its employees. You have to give that to the shareholder, they said.
I believe that is the wrong thing to do. We had to take the road less traveled.
I believe in the humanity of people. I believe as managers and leaders, the only way you can build a great company is if you can balance the expectations of customers with the expectations of the employees. That was in 1987.
There are 23,000 Starbucks stores in 70 countries. Last week, 85 million people went to our stores and over 300,000 people around the world are proud of wearing the green apron. It is hard to believe how it happened. But it happened because we share our success.
What's your favorite way of cooking coffee?
I prefer French press. It produces a wonderful rich cup of coffee.
A culture of belonging at Starbucks China
Starbucks announced several initiatives, including housing allowance subsidy and more leave without pay on January 11 while celebrating its 2,000-store milestone in China.
From January, full-time baristas and shift supervisors in Starbucks company-owned stores in China will receive a monthly housing allowance subsidy to help them overcome the initial financial challenges. This benefit is expected to cover about 50 percent of their monthly housing expenses.
Starbucks China will introduce the Career Coffee Break, which is a traditional partner benefit from the U.S., and the employees within the stores with 10 consecutive years of service will be eligible to apply for up to 12 months of unpaid leave.
The employees' social and company benefits will continue during their leave.
CV
Age: 62
Education: Bachelor's degree from Northern Michigan University, U.S.
Career:
1982: Director of operations and marketing in Starbucks
1987: CEO of Starbucks
2000: Chairman of Starbucks
2008 onwards: President and CEO of Starbucks
Honors:
Fortune's 2011 Businessperson of the Year
Distinguished Leadership Award from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management
Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics from Columbia Business School
The first-ever John Wooden Global Leadership Award from UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Time magazine's "Time 200," a list of the most influential people in the world.
Family: Married
