Starbucks

Starbucks tells the story of how a single retail outlet opened in 1971 became the world's largest chain of coffeehouses, and for that matter, one of the largest franchises of any kind, with over $10 billion in sales in 2008.

Starbucks offers readers the opportunity to get to know this extraordinary corporation's leaders, employees, guiding principles, corporate innovations, competitive strategies, setbacks, and future prospects. Along the way, it explores a number of fascinating issues, including the company's pivotal decision to use Arabica beans instead of mass-produced coffee and its efforts to support sustainable coffee farming worldwide. The book also looks at how Starbucks is coping with the global economic downturn, detailing its recent initiatives to reduce costs, offer healthier food, and re-embrace its coffee-centered, customer-based roots.

Follow the history of Starbucks on its journey from one local retail store in Seattle to a global chain of coffeehouses found in more than 47 countries around the world.

VOYA

The Corporations That Changed the World series focuses on international companies that shape world culture, and whose products set the standard for innovation and success in their respective markets. Starbucks, the most recent company to be profiled, certainly fits the mold and joins such trendsetters as Google, Apple, Toyota, and Harley-Davidson Motor Company (with Southwest Airlines as the subject of the next book in the series). Following the format of its fellow series titles, this latest book describes the origins and history of Starbucks, early strategies and corporate principles that made the company a success, controversies and challenges the company faced and overcame, and future prospects. A plethora of fun, informative appendices appear after the text, including a Starbucks timeline, a succinct explanation of how coffee futures are traded, a glossary of coffee terms, a trendy list of coffee Web sites and podcasts, an extensive bibliography, and a detailed index. Author Bussing-Burk's emphasis on economics throughout the text isn't surprising given that she is an economics lecturer in the University of Southern Indiana's College of Business. Black-and-white photographs, tables/charts, and trivia boxes pepper the text, offering a welcome change of pace from the occasionally dry and economics-heavy narrative. While best suited to college and business school students, high school students studying economics, sociology, or American history will easily find enough information for a research paper on a variety of Starbucks- and coffee-related topics. Reviewer: Leah Sparks