Project Plan

MGMT 310A
Dr. Gabriel
University of Arizona
September 27, 2017

Team 7
Rachel Brady
Ajitha Doniparthi
Richie Estrada
Greg Fina
Andreux Reynolds
Ayra Sabir
SMART Goal: Organizational Conflict
Our team has decided to focus our research on the organization conflicts within Starbucks.
Specifically, we will study conflicts between the baristas and managers while they are at work.
These include task conflicts that pertain to the barista and managerial roles, such as
miscommunications, incorrect orders, and competition. Although Starbucks is a successful
corporation, they are still prone to role conflicts that arise in the service industry. We plan to
measure these conflicts through surveying current baristas and managers as well as former
baristas. Our team will conduct interviews and surveys from October 9-12 (See Figure 1-3). We
hope to attain responses from 11-20 Starbucks employees. To acquire this many subjects, we
plan to visit 11 Starbucks locations around Tucson (See Figure 3). This method is relevant for
determining the different viewpoints from both roles in multiple work environments. After we
fulfill our individual roles, we will compile our results and analyze the data. Our team will then
draw conclusions, craft our major report, and record our presentation by November 17, 2017.
Finally, we will proofread and critique our final project and submit it by 9 AM on November 20,
2017.

SMART Goal: Emotional Labor/Stress

The second problem that our team has decided to focus on is the emotional labor and stress that
baristas experience due to dealing with customers. These specifically include conflicts between
baristas and customers while they are at work. In order to receive tips and make sure they deliver
the proper Starbucks experience, employees at Starbucks often display large amounts of
emotional labor by going out of their way to provide extraordinary customer service. This can
cause conflict as it causes baristas to hide negative feelings causing them to have anxieties in the
long run. These are measurable by interviews and surveys that will be given to current and
former Starbucks baristas as well as Starbucks managers. Our team will conduct these interviews
from October 9-12 across nine different locations. These goals are attainable because the surveys
and interviews will allow us to be able to clearly evaluate the baristas attitudes towards
customers. The goals are relevant to our overall organizational goals since we are assessing how
much of a toll this takes on employees. This level of stress could impact job satisfaction, task
performance, and turnover rates. Our SMART goals are timed so that our survey and interviews
take place from October 9-12 (See Figure 1-3). We will record our presentation as a group and
submit our final project by 9 AM on November 20, 2017.

Plan for Collecting Data

Collecting data for an international corporation such as Starbucks can be difficult, therefore, our
team decided to go straight to the source to receive feedback. We will be speaking to current and
former employees of Starbucks about organizational conflict and emotional. By conducting this
research, we will be able to aid upper management and inform them about conflict within their
company. Additionally, our team hopes to analyze the emotional labor employees experience
throughout interactions with customers. We plan to be in contact with people who work at
Starbucks in Tucson as well as employees that we personally know from back home (employees
from other states and cities). The locations in Tucson that we plan to visit are the Starbucks
locations at 1st Ave, Ina Road, Arizona Pavilions, University Boulevard, the University of
Arizona Main Library, Broadway Avenue, Speedway Boulevard, Star Pass, Tucson Mall, and
River Road. It is very important for us to contact people from different stores and states because
our data will be more accurate. For instance, if the employees from the Main Library Starbucks
are our only contacts, our conclusions may be biased. Our contacts are at the barista level as well
as the manager level. This will help us greatly because the manager and baristas may have
contending perspectives on conflicts within the company.

We plan to gather data via survey and interviews. A survey would help us efficiently receive
feedback from both former and current employees who work at locations in Tucson and
elsewhere. Current employees will be able to offer insight into the current dynamic at Starbucks,
while former employees may be able provide us with reasons why they left and a more honest
opinion of the work environment at Starbucks. Additionally, our varied samples will allow us to
assess multiple work environments. Our contacts can fill out the survey at their convenience and
send the data back to us. The other way we plan to collect data is through interviews; by
interviewing individuals who are closer in proximity to us, we will be able to better gauge their
emotions and reactions to questions. By conducting this internal research, we will be able to
understand the employees point of view on organizational conflict. Also, we are interested in
trying to understand small conflict such as day to day as well as large conflict that lead to bigger
issues such as employees quitting. We will evaluate our research from surveys and interviews in
an effort to discover common conflicts at Starbucks.

Interview Questions for Manager:

1. What are the responsibilities and tasks of baristas?
2. How are these conveyed/defined?
3. How are baristas held accountable?
4. Is there any penalty for an incorrectly made drink?
5. What kind of rewards or recognition system is in place?
6. Do you meet with baristas to discuss current/expected performance?
7. Is there direct competition for advancement in the company?
8. Are baristas expected to go to company events on personal time?
9. How do you mediate conflict between baristas/managers/customers?

Interview for Current Employees:

1. Why did you choose to work at Starbucks?
2. What do your daily tasks consist of?
3. Would you say that you are generally on task?
a. If no, what else do you do while on the clock?
 4. Do you get sufficient break time?
5. If you could fix one thing about your job at Starbucks what would it be and why?
6. Is there ever conflict at work between coworkers/supervisors/customers?
7. Do you have to control your emotions when this happens?
8. On a scale of 1 to 10 how stressful is it working for Starbucks (1 being no stress and 10
being unbearable)?
9. Do you get feedback from your supervisors or coworkers? How often?
10. How do you feel when you have an unsatisfied customer?
11. Are you required to act a certain way in front of customers?
12. Is there any penalty for an incorrectly made drink?

Survey for Former Employees:

Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Agree Strongly Agree

Disagree nor Disagree

1 2 3 4 5

1. I was treated with respect.

2. I worked well with my coworkers.
3. There was rarely any conflict.
4. My job caused me to feel stressed.
5. I felt depleted after my shift.
6. I rarely messed up a drink.
7. I felt scared when I made a drink wrong.
8. Do you feel working for Starbucks has bettered you?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Unsure
9. What best describes the work environment at Starbucks?
a. Fun and exciting
b. Stressful with conflict
c. Mediocre
d. Stressful but fun
e. Other (explain)
10. As an employee, is the menu confusing with so many possible options?
a. Yes
b. No
 Gantt Chart
Our team has crafted a Gantt chart to help us stay on track with our upcoming assignments. We
have organized it by day to keep in mind how much work we need to do per day, rather than
focusing how much must be completed per week. This is meant to be a proactive solution to
combat procrastination or cramming. Figure 1 represents our overall assignments as a team, from
September 18 - November 20. This visual provides a timeline view of specific impending
milestones that our team will keep track of. Additionally, Figure 2 is a table that provides further
clarification and details of Figure 1. Finally, Figure 3 provides a clear outline of duties for each
team member to complete per assignment.

Figure 1
Figure 2

Date Description
9/19/2017 Begin Project Plan - Andreux Meets with Samantha (Preceptor)
9/22/2017 Delegate Tasks and Begin Written Portions
9/25/2017 Revisions and Proofreading of Project Plan
9/27/2017 Project Plan Due - Submitted by Andreux before 9am

10/2/2017 Begin Major Report - Andreux Meets with Samantha (Preceptor)

10/4/2017 Delegate Tasks and Begin Written Portions
10/26/2017 Begin Distributing and Conducting Surveys and Interviews
11/7/2017 Brainstorm Solutions for Presentation
11/8/2017 Delegate Portions of Presentation
11/13/2017 Revisions and Proofreading of Major Report
11/14/2017 Practice Presentation
11/17/2017 Record Presentation
11/20/2017 Major Report Due - Submitted by Andreux before 9am

11/20/2017 "Pitch" Presentation Due - Submitted by Andreux before 9am

11/20/2017 Team Member Evaluations Due Submitted by Individual Team Members

Figure 3
Starbucks Team Member Tasks Date
SMART Goals
Gantt Chart 9/22/17 - 9/26/17
Description Tables
Survey at 1st Ave, Ina Rd, Arizona Pavilions
Rachel Brady 10/9/17-10/12/17
Sort Results and Compile Data
Overview of Organization
10/4/17 - 11/19/17
Identification of Problem
Description of Solution 11/3/17 - 11/19/17
Plan for Collecting Data
9/22/17 - 9/26/17
Survey/Interview Questions
Survey at Broadway Ave, Speedway Blvd, River Rd
10/9/17-10/12/17
Ajitha Doniparthi Sort Results and Compile Data
Risks and Unintended Consequences
10/4/17 - 11/19/17
Communicating Findings/Overcoming Resistance
Resources and Consultant Estimates 11/3/17 - 11/19/17
 Plan for Connecting Data
9/22/17 - 9/26/17
SMART Goals
Survey at Star Pass, Ina Rd and Tucson Mall
10/9/17-10/12/17
Richie Estrada Sort Results and Compile Data
Risks and Unintended Consequences
10/4/17 - 11/19/17
Communicating Findings/Overcoming Resistance
Background and Problem Introduction 11/3/17 - 11/19/17
Plan for Connecting Data
9/22/17 - 9/26/17
Survey/Interview Questions
Survey at University Blvd, UA Main Library, UA
Bookstore 10/9/17-10/12/17
Greg Fina
Sort Results and Compile Data
Antecedents
10/4/17 - 11/19/17
Steps Taken to Solve Problem
Explanation of OB/MGMT Topics 11/3/17 - 11/19/17
SMART Goals 9/22/17 - 9/26/17
Submission 9/26/17
Survey at Broadway Ave, Speedway Blvd, River Rd
10/9/17-10/12/17
Sort Results and Compile Data
Andreux Reynolds Antecedents
10/4/17 - 11/19/17
Steps Taken to Solve Problem
Submission 11/19/17
Introduction and Conclusion 11/3/17 - 11/19/17
Submission 11/19/17
SMART Goals
9/22/17 - 9/26/17
Survey/Interview Questions
Survey at University Blvd, UA Main Library, UA
Bookstore 10/9/17-10/12/17
Ayra Sabir
Sort Results and Compile Data
Overview of Organization
10/4/17 - 11/19/17
Identification of Problem
Data Collection Explanation and Conclusions 11/3/17 - 11/19/17
Revisions 9/25/17 - 9/26/17
Sort Results and Compile Accumulated Data 10/12/17
Team Challenges to Organizational Change
11/17/17 - 11/19/17
Revisions
Creation of Slides 11/3/17 - 11/19/17