Anti-Union Howard Schultz Returns As Starbucks CEO

After five years in the role, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson will be stepping down next month. Former CEO Howard Schultz will return in an interim role. While the decision to step down is sudden, Starbucks board chairwoman Mellody Hobson says the decision to step down was Johnson’s own.

Other factors, however, suggest otherwise.

With a -24% stock price, rising wages, supply issues, and a growing unionization movement, the move to drop Johnson for Schultz seems hasty. Timothy Hubbard, assistant professor of management at University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business made a similar observation:

“It’s curious that they were not able to find a successor within a year.

“For a company the size and stature of Starbucks not to have a solid successor plan is surprising.”

Starbucks dropped the ball and now Daddy Schultz has to come in and clean up the mess. 

Why Didn’t Starbucks Prepare A Successor?

With a company as successful and organized as Starbucks, one can’t help but wonder why a successor wasn’t lined up. It’s not like there isn’t a wealth of executive talent for the company to pull from. 

So, what happened? 

The truth is that unless you were in the room when the decisions were made, we don’t know. We could argue that Roz Brewer’s poaching by Walgreens disrupted the process. But that was in early 2021. 

We could mention that Johnson, in a statement, mentioned his plan to retire after COVID. 

“A year ago, I signaled to the board that as the global pandemic neared an end, I would be considering retirement from Starbucks. I feel this is a natural bookend to my 13 years with the company.”

But we’re still technically in COVID and nobody’s buying it. 

Whatever the reason, the sudden departure of one CEO for the old CEO is not a cute look. And surely doesn’t inspire faith in the company going forward. Even with a company as big as Starbucks. 

Schultz’s Track Record

The reason Starbucks is where it is today is because of Howard Schultz. He spent the 80s and 90’s shaping Starbucks into a global phenomenon before stepping down in 2000, only to return in 2008. 

This will be Schultz’s third stint as Starbucks CEO. 

“When you love something, you have a deep sense of responsibility to help when called,”

“Although I did not plan to return to Starbucks, I know the company must transform once again to meet a new and exciting future where all of our stakeholders mutually flourish.”

Boomerang CEOs typically don’t have a great track record. They suggest instability and a hesitance to innovate. 

Schultz may find himself (or may think of himself) as the “Steve Jobs-type” of boomerang CEO. But we all know that Starbucks is no Apple. It’s difficult to imagine how you can make coffee innovative, but Schultz has found a way before. 

What Schultz’s return does seem to suggest is that the company is nervous about the unionization movement gaining momentum. And that they want Daddy Schultz to crush it. 

And crush it he may…

Is Starbucks Getting Ready To Start Union Busting?

The unionization movement spreading to 100 stores happened under Johnson’s watch. Schultz is notably anti-union and is not shy about it. Those involved in unionization have good reason to be nervous about Schultz’s return as Starbucks CEO. 

The unionization in Buffalo has inspired other Starbucks locations across the country. According to Hannah McCown, a Starbucks barista in Overland, Kansas.

“We were inspired by the partners in Buffalo that managed to do something many of us have dreamed of for a long time. 

“It’s something we didn’t think was possible, but they really pushed through and showed the rest of us across the nation that we could use our voices and actually unionize.”

“We are just looking to have our voices heard at a company that we really put everything into.

“We are the backbone of this company and while we do believe this is a great company to work for, we do believe things could be done better.”

The climate is good for unions, at the moment. There seems to be a hunger for them. And with it, a Reagan-era hunger for crushing them in favor of… corporate profits? It’s hard to find a reasonable argument against unions. 

Starbucks has already been busted for cracking down on unionization by the National Labor Relations Board. Why wouldn’t they continue? 

Regardless of the reasons, the sudden change in Starbucks’ CEO spells one thing: Starbucks is unsure of its future and is turning to its safety blanket.