Howard Schultz faces threats to himself and Starbucks, but has managed to retain great customer service, leadership skills, and his unique management skills. Starbucks is one of the fastest growing companies in the world. The owner of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, has expanded the company through his vision of superior customer service. The core strength behind Starbucks’ brand is the quality of its products due to its ability to continuously innovate.

One of the threats Starbucks faces is the significant number of competitors. The competitors vary from Mc Donald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, and independent coffee shops; making it much harder for Schultz to keep its customers. Another threat is the loss of sales due to similar products like Mc Donald’s launching their new espresso and coffee products at a much lower price. Schultz also faces the threat of increasing prices which can lead many customers to decrease their spending and switch to alternative products. Schultz himself has gotten a lot of backlash for his views on gay marriage, gun control, and making education affordable. This may in turn hurt Schultz public image. However, all these threats have not faced Schultz unique managerial skills. Schultz has implemented a maverick managerial style to guide the business and the employees to engage in the execution of his vision. The main principle guiding Schultz’s management is in order for employees to love what they do, the company must love them. He believes it is essential to build a personal relationship with his employees, thus taking care of them by providing health care benefits and free college tuition. Schultz also uses transformational leadership to build upon advancement of higher levels of moral and motivation. It basically binds the leader and the follower together through the strength of the leader’s vision and personality, leaving an impact of its