I liked this account of the rise, stumble, and re-rise of Starbucks. Schultz is passionate, and he honestly cares about all aspects of how Starbucks effects all that it touches.

But this book bothered me and I had a hard time finishing it. I just had to plow through. Schultz is very passionate and caring, but from this book, I got the impression that he is more than a little in love with himself.

As a small business owner...
I found his approach to business interesting. I found his approach both inspiring and disagreeable all at the same time.

Inspiring: He really truly cares about his employees. Health care for all? Awesome. Just... awesome. Yeah, they had to downsize at one point in time, but he did not give up that position... health care for all employees. Just. Wow.

Inspiring: He cares about the growers... though it was a bit murky about how far he goes with this. They are involved with Coffee and Farmer Equity practices, which are good. Regardless, they are doing more than anyone else their size.

Disagreeable: If you are not nearly 100% as passionate about his business as Schultz is... He doesn't get it. Schultz loves what he does and it is his life. From the book, I get the impression that he expects that of everyone from manager on up.

Disagreeable: Growth Growth Growth. He is so focused on growth and then wonders why the nature of the business has changed. He often repeats that he wants to mimic the personal nature of an Italian coffee shop. If that is the case, he wouldn't have gone public and spurred growth to 10s of 1000s of shops.

Anyway... it is a good read until it becomes a tiresome read. It is worth reading just to get in the brain of a successful businessman who is also civic-minded.

( )

Fascinating story by the man who built Starbuck's and may just be a future president of the United States. ( )

I enjoy a good story of success from failure. Starbucks has always seems so strong, I was amazed to learn otherwise. The company had a very low point and the turn around is amazing with a stroke of genius. I have a new respect for the company and Mr Shultz, he really forged a new path with blood and sweat. ( )

I'm not really sure why I decided to read this book. I mean, I drink Starbucks coffee (who doesn't?) but I've never been particularly interested in business or the theory behind it. Which probably means that I'm not ideally placed to review it. However, for what it's worth, I started off fascinated and quickly descended into boredom.

To qualify - I really did find it interesting to learn about the small origins of the world's biggest coffee company, and to find out about the combination of good luck and good management that lead to its growth. I also really felt Schultz's personal connection to all his stores and staff - he writes about them as parents would write about their children - and I, against my instincts, warmed to him over the course of the book. However, the book quickly became repetitive (I mean, how much is there really to say about a chain of coffee shops?) and as Schultz repeated his business mantras over and over again, I became rather turned off. ( )

“Onward” documents Starbucks fall from glory and the second coming of Howard Schultz – Starbucks’ first CEO, who returned to his position after stepping down from daily operations nearly seven years prior. Whether or not one is a Starbucks devotee, “Onward” is well-told and packed with great business acumen and leadership insights. B+ ( )

One of my most favorite Early Reviewer books yet and I had to share with everyone once I finished. I’d been eyeing Onward every time I walked into Starbucks and heard so much about it that when it showed up in my mailbox I was so excited!

Onward is the story of how Starbucks struggled up and down with change (in almost every way) and pulled out on top through perseverance and strength. In the end, the one thing Starbucks refused to give us was the core of the company, the culture and soul that the community had come to love and trust.

Delving into many factors, including the economic downturn, product testing, new/old stores, Schultz digs deep into how he kept the company he loves from succumbing to hard times and giving up.

I highly recommend this book to everyone, no matter where you work or the stage of your life. The lessons Schultz touches on work for any time and place! ( )

It took a while for me to get into this; I received it as an audio book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers program and it is no longer easy for me to play audiobook CDs in a convenient manner.

In my work with small businesses (many of them solo operations) I try to find ways to relate what they are hearing in the media about larger enterprises to their own situations. While much of what Schultz discusses is to the concerns of a large global organization, there were some sparks of interest to all organizations and leaders, no matter what size. It is not an easy road to travel but with passion, an open mind, and a group you can rely on to delegate responsibly and some to help bounce ideas off of, leading an organization can be quite the experience. I thank Schultz for sharing the journey.

Overall, Onward was interesting to listen to and I'd like to reread it as paper one day because it does not quite flow in a coherent manner when listened to as an audio book, or at least it was impossible for me to easily flip back and reread something mentioned earlier. Additionally if I was educated in Starbucks history some of the bouncing would have made more sense to me and the name dropping became repetitive and annoying at times, but I understand Schultz's need to do so. ( )

OK, this was fun to read. It DID make me want to rush out to Starbucks and order a latte, but I suppose that was part of the point of writing the book. Howard Schultz describes coming back as ceo at Starbucks in 2008 when the company was in serious financial trouble. He talks about the spirit of his company -- integrating socially responsible business practices with a superior product line. What happens when the economy tanks and your business begins to look shaky? Do you abandon your principles to save your business? Howard Schultz says his business and his principles are inseparable and proves it by bringing Starbucks back from disaster. He did have to close stores and lay off people, but those employees who stayed with Starbucks kept their health insurance and the coffee growers kept the support that Starbucks is famous for. Not a brilliant book, but inspiring to learn how he fought for his company and his principles. Other reviewers have complained that the book is very repetitive and that is true, but I still enjoyed the first 70% of it. ( )

I was really excited to read this book when LibraryThing sent it to me on a ten disc CD which was listened to between business trips and an apartment location in Chicago. Howard Schultz's passion and vision is evident and his direction is Onward considering the very difficult period in our economic history that he faced. Finishing this book, my thought was that I could have listened to the final disc and reached the same conclusion. Onward is self indulgent with the readers time. I really wanted to come away moved but became impatient with name dropping and other indulgences. I still admire his vision, ethics, and environmental choices. It takes a tremendous ego to build an empire but it requires heart to take it Onward.. ( )

This book too me is way more than Starbucks, it is about and individual taking a stand for something he/she believes in. It is about going against the tide, instead of just ridding with it. Howard did this in a time where people/managers just look for the quick buck. Howard is a leader that all people/workers should look for when it comes to thier best intrest. So many bad things are heard in the news today of CEO's-- Howard himself has set the bar for all future leaders both at the top of companies and at the bottom of them. This audio book was really listened too throughly on my daily travels too and from work. I even have took a few of his ideas and shared them with my employees, and they as well enjoyed the passion he had for his bussiness. Doing what he did takes a real leader, a real platton sargent--this audio book was just given too my dad to enjoy for he loves coffee, but this book is way more about how to get out of a rut, how to lead people back to success, how too share passion and zest. ( )

This book was an excellent insight into the inner workings of Starbucks as a corporation. It was also an intimate look at how and why Howard Schultz made the decisions he did. Many management books and books by CEOs are pretty darn boring, but Schultz managed to keep this interesting. There are some great insights into leadership during change and some excellent stuff on how to determine what your customers want. Schultz has definitely drunk the Kool-Aid and thinks Starbucks is the best thing to happen to beverages, but all in all, this book *increased* my respect for the company, and made me more likely to patronize them than I would have been otherwise.

NB... I hate ripping audiobooks from CD so that I can listen to them on my iPod. ( )

Howard Schultz returned as CEO of Starbucks in 2008, after serving as Chairman for eight years. His return was precipitated by financial declines and a belief that the company had moved too far from its core values. This book describes Schultz's decision to return as CEO and Starbucks' subsequent transformation efforts. In telling Starbucks' story, Schultz addresses many common management problems. He discusses the challenges that growing organizations face in maintaining a focus on core values and purpose. He reiterates Starbucks' commitment to their partners (as Starbucks calls its employees), but admits difficulties in keeping them engaged throughout the transformational efforts. We see Schultz balancing his ongoing passion for Starbucks' core business while recognizing the need for change.

One of Schultz's lessons is that organizations must tell their own story, not let others tell the story for them. It's clear that this book is part of Schultz's effort to tell Starbucks' story. While Schultz is relatively open about the parts of the transformation agenda that did not work as planned, he puts a relatively positive spin on the events. Despite this one-sided perspective, Schultz tells a story that interested both the coffee aficionado and the management professor in me. ( )

I adore Starbucks coffee, and so I picked this up almost as soon as it hit shelves. I liked that I was able to learn more about the company's history and the tracks it has set itself on for the future. It was a good introduction to how much further behind the scenes Starbucks goes than the barista preparing your drink. I would recommend this for people who want to learn more about the coffee industry, or just Starbucks itself, because it does a great job introducing the variables that Schultz has to balance in the company and different coffee making technologies that aren't obvious to those of us on the other side of the counter.

I disliked the writing style because it was hard to wrap my brain around the book as a whole. It seemed to be organized by Schultz' stream of consciousness, which would pull me out of the story that seemed most relevant to that chapter and towards past events and corporate buzzwords. I prefer to have one topic explained before moving on to the next, so this made it difficult for me to read the book and understand the order that things happened. ( )

First, I need to own that this book is not a natural fit for me. I don't drink coffee, and I rarely go into Starbucks. Nevertheless, it was a very interesting listen. Fundamentally it is about the creation of, and then recreation of the Starbucks brand. It is a a fundamental primer on the culture of Starbucks. about a culture that is notable for it's humanity (at least according to the founder)

Schultz is also a sensitive observer of culture and the role of the merchant and the role of intangibles in a brand. Observations on the role of the specialty merchant. Since I don't often read the business literature, I found this very interesting. The psychology of a "founder," as he tells the story of his reaction when Starbucks added breakfast sandwiches to the menu, and his intuitive response that this was a bad idea. A whole catalog of what he feels was going wrong. Some definite views on why successful companies eventually fail. The mechanics of the transition as he made the decision to take back the CEO spot.

Navigating the economic downturn. "Stick to the core." "Get down and the mud and get very very dirty." A defense of the tough choices that were made.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely, particularly for those who are interested in the psychology of thriving as a merchant in this economy. In some ways it has encouraged me to look at my own career, and think about approaching it as an entrepreneur. ( )

I really enjoyed both the book itself and the reading of it in the audio version. I have long been a fan of Starbuck's product, but this book gave me a new appreciation for the company and its leadership. I also enjoyed the information about coffee that I picked up as I listened. Great for the entrepreneur or coffee lover! ( )

I remember the days of "Starbucks Sucks" coming out of every mouth and it wasn't until I read this book that I realized that I don't hear that any more. This book explains what Starbucks did to overcome the problems and get the company back on track. I now have a renewed appreciation of the company.

Really thorough, personable read. Learned a ton about sbx and the CEO. a bit too heavy on the marketing but overall an awesome story and interesting details.