Not-So-Secret Menu: Organizational Sense-making with Starbucks and Breastfeeding (Comprehensive Exam, COM 680)

Not-So-Secret Menu: Organizational Sense-making with Starbucks and Breastfeeding

In August of 2004, Starbucks was struck with a crisis of comfort when a mother was asked to relocate in their café for breastfeeding publicly and multiple customers had complained. In an effort to best address the issue, I would approach Starbuck’s public relations crisis with Karl Weick’s sense-making. In organizational sense-making, Weick’s theory understands that as with any event, participants and organizations do not always view circumstances through the same lens and thus a wider approach may need to be taken to resolve it. As Starbucks representative, Ms. Lincoff, and the Starbucks leadership is already doing, understanding the potential impacts of the crisis for the company’s future is just as important as managing the crisis itself. In order to continue navigating this crisis, I will utilize Weick’s sense-making theory to best understand the situation as of Ms. Lincoff’s current circumstance and what next steps can be taken to minimize impact and prepare for future events like this in the future.

First, Weick’s ideas of retrospective sense-making would be beneficial to address the company’s current circumstance and begin establishing an initial thought process. Retrospective sense making focuses on understanding an organizations previous actions prior to planning for future ones. Firstly, to best understand the response to this situation, Ms. Lincoff should observe what’s already been established by Starbucks as a whole which is retrospection. What has the company already said about handling these circumstances? Has there been another event similar but with less press coverage? It had already been established at the state level that mothers could not be discriminated against for breast-feeding or asked to stop, but had there been an event similar at another location? Next, along that same thought process should be understanding the company’s identity in regard to various ideas like in-café actions and the level of employee involvement within those circumstances. Then there’s the understanding that as the company shifts, so will culture, which introduces Weick’s idea of extracted cues. Regardless of location, as Starbucks continues to grow, what is done and said now will continue in the future. How are employees trained to handle not just a circumstance with breast feeding, but how are they trained to handle confrontations with employees that may be uncomfortable or based in preferences? This should include an understanding that any established policy may be taken both out of context by customers or taken literally by employees. Next is considering the long-term implications of adopting a formal policy and the consumer response, which reflects Weick’s idea of socialization. Although the actions of a consumer cannot necessarily be predicted, we have to consider the plausibility of circumstances arising again potentially with different context. After taking these ideas into account and understanding Starbucks’ existing identity and how to integrate that sense-making into the current PR crisis.

In turning to next action, I would advise Ms. Lincoff to immediately take action towards adopting a formal policy. Using Weick’s sense making theory to base this decision, we know and understand Starbuck’s current constructed identity according to the case study as “progressive, even liberal, for a large corporation.” Based on that and existing company information, we can use Weick’s idea of retrospection to confirm that they do not currently have an existing breast-feeding policy, so it’s assumed that there has been no formal explanation as to what their position is. Next, in using Weick’s socialization, they indicate that they put their employees first, so it would be reasonable to assume the same would go for their employee’s breastfeeding preferences. Not necessarily of whether they allow an employee to breastfeed on the job or not, but rather their identity as a company that supports the needs of the individual. Then, as a company that respects those need but also understands the desire for privacy, using Weick’s continuation to establish an ongoing conversation with consumers and branches to provide the best possible solution for all parties involved. Starbucks focuses on providing a great experience for all customers, so it is important to extend that to those who are not breast-feeding as well. This also ties into the idea of plausibility where although we understand both sides of the situation, it is the responsibility of the company to cover those circumstances in which the policy may not be perfect.

However, being a major franchise with hundreds of stores across the country does make for a weaker infrastructure which bridges in the Weick’s idea of loose coupling. Adopting a strict breastfeeding policy within a widened infrastructure can be detrimental to the organization. Starbucks stores span different cultures, preferences, and environments (like in college libraries or hospitals). Though this policy can plan for the immediate crisis, it cannot prevent another disagreement in the future. A potential idea for circumstance to this would to be to establish a loose policy and rely on individual franchises to implement and provide alternative solutions and spaces for breast-feeding parents. Individual franchises are the most likely to know their customers and their environments, so establishing a policy that respects that knowledge while still making a statement allows for a more effective long-term solution. This also takes into account that specific employees may not necessarily share the views of the company as a whole. Allowing individual branches to establish action plans in regard to the new policy allows for partial inclusion in the decision-making process, even if they do not necessarily agree in total with the policy.

Once a new policy is established, Ms. Lincoff can take next steps in implementing them from the top down. For example, say the policy built upon Ms. Lincoff’s original statement that Starbucks branches respected state and federal laws regarding breast-feeding in restaurants and cafes, but that Starbucks as a company, with respect to breast-feeding parents, allowed breast-feeding in their cafes. They would also promote innovation for clean, alternative spaces or coverings for those who preferred to breast-feed privately or who would prefer not to observe the act of breast-feeding in the cafes. To communicate this using Weick’s theory, I would advise that Ms. Lincoff first send out specific guides explaining the choice in policy to their employees in order to promote the employee first mindset that Starbucks is known for. I would also promote the idea of those alternative spaces/coverings to branches that would like to run with the idea, promoting Weick’s idea of loose coupling and partial inclusion for employees. Though the policy promotes inclusion, its action-based approach is placed on the shoulders of individual branches rather than the company as a whole. This is before releasing any press statements regarding the policy or ongoing efforts since Ms. Lincoff has already provided a formal statement prior to any adjustments. I would allow time for employees to engage with the guides as well as provide specific answers to questions they may have regarding the official new policy. I would next advise sending out press packets with the adapted policy and the explanation of next steps. It would be imperative to include Starbucks constructed identity as we have established with Weick since this would be a central base for our decision to adopt such a policy.

In conclusion, I believe that using Weick’s organizational sense-making theory to develop and implement a breast-feeding policy with Starbucks. The theory allows organizations to use hindsight to implement ongoing strategies of communication and policies for their leadership and audiences.  Utilizing Weick’s theory also specifically focuses on Starbucks established brand identity and respects the established laws of the locations in which their cafes are housed.