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Summary: Coffee Culture
Review: I am studying organizational communication. I also have a severe love affair going on with coffee so I decided that a book about Starbucks should be the best of both worlds for me. This was an excellent example of how corporate culture can influence an organization. Schultz sought to create a "coffee experience". It was not about how to sell a lot of expensive coffee quickly. He wanted to create a place for people to socialize and experience new gourmet coffees that they had never had before. Also, he created a different type of work environment. This was not the classic beaurucratic heirarchy. The "partners" at Starbucks were given stock options, higher than average wages and a feeling of being part of the company. From what Schultz says, it seems that the employees are truly treated as partners instead of "employees". He also tells about how the company seeks to give back to the communities that it is in. Starbucks also seeks to be diverse and appeal to different people, which is very important as it rapidly grows. Schultz also tells about the things that have gone wrong. Throughout the book, the tone is very optimistic and inspiring. If this is truly the way this company operates, it would be a very enjoyable place to work and Starbucks will be around for many years to come.
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Summary: Great on Organizational Development
Review: I am a church planter trained, not in organizational development, but in theology. I found this book very helpful and practical in dealing with growth issues that an organization faces through birth, infancy, toddler, and "teenage" years. Like a parent, the leader of the organization has to "reinvent" him or herself as the organization grows. The book has great ideas for instilling romance in any organization, especially a church that can grow stale real fast. This has been one of the most thought provoking books I've read pertaining to my field.
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Summary: A living example of corporate social responsibility.
Review: This is a story about Howard the hero who, despite challenges and risks, exercised what was considered as "uncommon" business sense at his day to invent and implement social responsible practices both at home relevant to its employees as well as environment and abroad to coffee farmers and their surroundings. A real life business case study which doesn't only talk but walk you through the theories of corporate social responsibilities in action. I recommend this book to everyone in the business world who wants to learn how to be social responsible while improving the bottm line.
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Summary: egomania and bad coffee
Review: A foolish, self-indulgent self-promotion, filled with cliches and boring details about the history of one man's successful effort to sell coffee made from low quality, burned coffee beans at exhorbitant prices. Astonishing primarily for its gall-- presenting the founder as a man of vision and commitment to social values-- while his real achievement is packaging inferior merchandise and pushing it without mercy on an unsophiticated market.
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Summary: Business as UNusual
Review: Pour Your Heart Into it isn't a book about a company that was a first mover in an expanding market, a company that made millionaires, or a company full of extremely smart people. The story of Starbucks is about a company who cares, not only about coffee, but about people. Read how Starbucks empowered employees, tied performance to pay for every employee, and expanded into markets without compromising their passion for having the best dark roasted coffee around. The Starbucks story is about people doing what they love, and helping others see their vision. Not only will you enjoy the story, but you will learn why a small shop from Seattle is now in your home town.
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Summary: Great read for anyone
Review: Although I have been obsessed with Starbucks since it arrived in Atlanta in 1994, I bought this book wanting to know things that went "beyond the bean". So, I read this book and became inspired. Mr. Schultz, you are such an inspiration. I am so tired of people having this misconception of Starbucks. There was a huge protest in the hick town I live in when a Starbucks came. I tell the Starbucks haters to read your book and they will probably feel differently. Sure, Starbucks is in the business to make money, but they have done an exceptional job in creating a positive work enviroment, while creating a wonderful "3rd place" for many (like me!) No matter where in the world you travel (well, for the most part) you can find a Starbucks, walk in it, and instantly feel at home. This book has helped me not only learn so much about the company, but has made me 100% sure that I want to work for Starbucks in the future.
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Summary: Starbucks Sensational Story Shines
Review: Ok, let me get this off my chest. I live in Australia where there is only one Starbucks in Sydney. I live in Melbourne. i've never been into a Starbucks store, i don't drink coffee but i am dying to try a Starbucks hot Chocolate! Anyway back to the book, I just finished reading it half an hour ago, three days after i purchased it. I couldn't put it down. Why does a book about a generic product propel me not to put it down? becasue the story is from the heart, from the man who took it from Seattle to Sydney and almost all points in between! "Pour your heart into it" is a one of a kind book, it tells it like it is, the highs, the lows, the passion and the challenges for a company committed to put financial awards aside in order to bring the worlds best coffee to your tastebuds. Seems that Howard Schultz does know something rather than nothing about how to treat a customer. (Hogan's Heroes Joke) Starbucks have no employees, they have partners, they offer stock options and health plans, help in charaties around the world but above all that, above all the corporate traps they have successfully managed to move around, the little coffee place that started out in Pike Place Market still has the desire and the romance to take customers into a world were drinking a "cup of joe" as you yanks call it, is now as enchanting as a waltz and as fresh as a spring day. Howard schultz should be appaluded for writing a book in a way that brings out the passion and dedication to the company and his partners. Business books seem to be just a date of events that tell us what happened, "pour your heart into it" goes into the who, how, where and when of the starbucks empire. so if you are haphazard about reading a book about a guy that runs a few coffee places, just buy it, sit back with a Frappucino or a Starbucks Blend and just be blown away by the realisation of one mans dream to educate the world, and educate everyone that reads this book to follow your dreams, take chances but most of all "pour your heart into it" Enjoy it, i know you will PS: Where can i get a Starbucks coffee mug from? can anyone help me here? :)
Rating: 
Summary: great
Review: An interesting story on how a man came out of the projects and became a CEO of a company and took it to the top where it is today. Howard Schultz saw promise in Star Bucks and wanted to expand nation wide, when he realized early on, they could make the artistry of espresso like the Italians did, as well as offering fresh roasted coffee beans. Over the next 10 years Howard, with a team of smart and experienced managers, reinvented Starbucks from a local business of 6 stores and 100 employees to a company with businesses of 1300 stores and 25,000 employees. Howard proved that a company could lead with its heart and soul and still make money. It also shows that a company can provide long-term value for its share holders and still treat their employees with respect and dignity, because they had a team of leaders who believed it was right and that it was and is, the way to do business. I found this book very interesting because it showed for once that a company could get ahead without chopping people down in the process, and that any one can follow in Howard's footsteps and really focus on the long-term effect. A must read for the businessperson who wants to get ahead.
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Summary: Easy reading, entertaining, even inspirational...
Review: For anybody that has experienced rapid company growth, this book has a number of entertaining and useful lessons. Few CEOs are able to manage a company from inception to the size of Starbucks with so few bumps along the way. Howard seems to have achieved this with Starbucks. He positions Starbucks as not abandoning its core values, depicting the struggle involved in defending them. It may be argued that Starbucks has not always succeeded at this, but easily more so than other coffee chains. Definitely a worthwhile read, but not a book that I'd reread.
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Summary: Worthwhile hagiography
Review: Written by (or, more probably, for) the founder and CEO of Starbucks, this is, of course, corporate hagiography. But it's nevertheless a fascinating story of how the entrepreneurial spirit can thrive even outside the high-tech arena. It's also a good read. It will also change the way you think about coffee. Recommended.
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