Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

With the recent ignorance of Starbucks concerning their recalling of coupons that were said to go beyond their original intent, we're seeing a continuation of management blunders that somewhat boggle the mind.

We at managersrealm don't bash people for simply making mistakes or trying unique, different things, but to send emails out with instructions to share them with family and friends, and then recall them when people do, is just asking for a lot of trouble. Well, Starbucks is now getting that trouble.

A New York law firm has filed a class action suit against Starbucks, asking for $114 million in damages. In my opinion the suit is idiotic and ridiculous, but win or lose, Starbucks has lost a lot of good will among the public.

Peter Sullivan of Sullivan Gardner PC, said, "The excuse proffered by Starbucks, that they did not believe that an offer released over the internet would be so widely distributed, is ridiculous clearly, Starbucks chose to initiate a viral marketing campaign to counteract their slumping sales."

From a management standpoint, there are a lot of mistakes here. First, the attorney above is right in his assessment. Starbucks is claiming that it didn't have any idea that this would be this successful. If that is even remotely true, then Starbucks better do some hiring of someone that truly understands the online environment then.

Second, what if they did start the campaign knowing that it would bring in a lot of people, and had already decided before they started it to shut it down? In other words, they were looking for a quick windfall to boost their sales quickly. This would be extremely stupid if someone thought that one up. Whether they did think this or not, some people have suspicions, which isn't good for the company image.

Last, if they were trying to reward and encourage employees by offering them product for them and their families and friends, why didn't they just provide little coupons or codes for them that they could redeem at the stores? This would have required more work and cost, which Starbucks evidently didn't want to do.

This is probably what really happened; they didn't want to go through the trouble of doing it that way, so went and did it the easy way. This just wasn't thought through at all, and their attempt at doing something good, has grossly backfired and may come back and bite them hard.

Even when we attempt to do something for our employees and their families, it still must be done right, or just don't begin the process in the first place.