CASE STUDY
AN EXTRA HOT CUP OF HUMILITY
STARBUCKS’ REPUTATION CAPITAL
From the time Starbucks was founded in 1971, opening in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, it built a reputation as an employee-friendly business. Not long after Howard Schultz became CEO in 1987, the brand earned its progressive bona fides by offering “full health benefits to eligible full- and part-time employees, including coverage for domestic partnerships.”26 In addition, Starbucks embraced initiatives focused on issues such as diversity, competitive wages, and ethical coffee-sourcing standards.27
When Kevin Johnson succeeded Schultz as CEO in 2017, he made it clear that the coffee chain, with more than thirty-one thousand stores worldwide, would lean into its well-established ...
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