Business English Study (c) 2013

“Starbucks must represent more than a cup

of coffee."

Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks

INTRODUCTION:
Discuss these questions: Do you ever buy coffee at Starbucks? What makes
Starbucks attractive? What is a ‘buzz’?

Do you know the meaning of these words? You will hear them in the listening:
Chain – background - neighbourhood - survive – key - innovate – everything matters

LISTENING 1:
Visit www.businessenglishstudy.com for the free MP3 listening file
A spokesman talks about Starbucks. Answer the questions below.
1. Was Howard Schultz’s background easy?
2. The coffee shops in Italy were used as …
3. How many coffee shops did Starbucks have in 2008?
4. What was the company’s annual revenue in 2008?
5. What key principles are important for success?

Pronunciation: Silent letters In English

Some English words contain silent letters. Pronounce them with your tutor:
B: (in these words the ‘b’ is silent): climb, bomb, lamb, plumber, debt, doubt
I doubt the plumber made a bomb, because he was in debt.

H: honest, hour
"I'll be back in an hour," Henry said. However, it was not an honest answer.

L: salmon, calm, could, should, walk, talk, half

Tom talked calmly about salmon for half an hour, and could walk for miles.

P: pneumatic, psychiatrist, cupboard, receipt

The psychiatrist pointed to a cupboard full of receipts

W: answer, write, wrong, whose, who, sword

“We have the wrong food? Who ordered swordfish?” The waiter did not answer.

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 Business English Study (c) 2013

Grammar Practice: Prepositions of Time

Still, Yet, Always, Already, No Longer, During, By, Till / Until
Still means something continues when you think it has stopped:
Do they still produce good coffee?

Yet indicates that something has not happened but is expected to happen soon.
They haven’t signed the contract yet, but they will do.

Already means something has finished / stopped when you expect it to continue
Tom has finished the sales project already.

Always means ‘on all occasions,’ and is the opposite of ‘never’.

We always use this coffee.

No Longer explains that something does not happen any more.

We used to export to Canada but we no longer have any customers there.

During signifies ‘between two points of time’.

The cafe is shut during the night.

By is used for actions completed on or before a certain time limit.

We need to know the decision by Friday at the latest.

Until / till: means ‘continuing up to a particular time.’

We will stay in London until / till next June

EXERCISE: Complete the following with a suitable time preposition.

1. Please finish your coffee break 10.30

2. There are more customers at lunchtime than in the afternoon.
3. Are you working at Starbucks? Yes, I haven’t changed jobs .
4. The company is hoping for record sales the Easter period.
5. The store offers a breakfast menu. It finished last week.
6. The customers have paid .

Supplement this task with more exercises from a good grammar book.

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READING: put a preposition of time (from the exercise above) into the gaps.

STARBUCKS’ SUCCESS

In 1983, (by / during) a trip to Milan, Howard Schultz, got the idea of creating
a coffee shop that would be a social centre, a place to meet and talk. He had the
vision of his coffee shop opening in every city in the USA, and then across the world.

Schultz created the Starbucks concept and it became a great success.

(By / Yet) 2008 there were more than 15,000 Starbucks stores in 45 countries,
and the company is (till / still) growing. It created a real buzz around the world.
China is the next market Starbucks is concentrating on for expansion.

So how did Howard Schultz create such a successful company?

He trained for success: Schultz uses the same skills as a long distance runner,
endurance and perseverance to keep going, even when you want to stop.

He has vision: His dream of an Italian café experience across the world is now a
reality, and he is (always / during) thinking of news ways to grow.
Unusually, there are no Starbucks stores in Italy (yet / till).

Schultz built a global brand: “Starbucks focuses on the total experience of the
customer, and is not a cup of coffee, it is a lifestyle that people aspire to. They want
to live the Starbucks life.”

Starbucks (no longer / still) sells only coffee products. It also sells music and
has a partnership with Apple and iTunes for customers to download music in the
coffee stores. It is (already / yet) looking at other diversifications of the brand.

Starbucks is not (by / always) seen as a good thing, there is controversy

over globalization, labour conditions and exploitation of coffee produces.
It also saw a drop in profits in 2009 with increased competition, the international
economic crisis, and over-expansion.
However, most people agree that the company is a fantastic success.

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FUNCTIONAL VOCABULARY – Agreeing & Disagreeing

Sample sentences:
I agree with most of what you say, but I think we need to do more research.
I totally disagree with the new expansion plan.

Form and Uses:

Agreeing with Someone Agreeing to Something

Agreement I totally agree with you I totally agree
I completely agree I completely agree
I am in total / complete agreement I am in favour
with you
Partial I agree, but … I accept that, but …
Agreement I agree in part, but …
I agree with you, but …
You might be right, but … That might be right, but …
Disagreement I can’t agree with you I can’t agree to that
I don’t agree at all I don’t accept that
Sorry, but you are mistaken Sorry, but it is a mistake

EXERCISE: Provide a suitable word or phrase to complete the sentences.

1. I don’t the proposal. It’s completely wrong.

2. You , but we still need to improve customer service.
3. You’re right, I with everything you say.
4. Do we that the coffee is good? Yes, I that, but the store is bad.

SPEAKING PRACTICE: Provide a response to these statements:

• The price of coffee is too high
• The logo should be redesigned
• The weather has a big impact on sales
• Coffee will sell more than Coca-Cola next year

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CULTURAL AWARENESS POINT: Style of Disagreement

Generally, the British do not openly disagree in meetings. This style is too
direct for the British.
They like to hide disagreement and make it sound like agreement.
E.g. ‘That’s a very interesting idea, but …’
‘We would certainly like to do that, however …’

Other types of hidden disagreement include:

Vagueness in reply e.g. ‘That depends on a lot of things.’

Understatement e.g. ‘There might be a small problem.’

Humour e.g. ‘If my name was Howard Schultz I would buy you a coffee.’

Discussion
• How does your culture / nationality express disagreement in
meetings?
• Do you think ‘hidden disagreement’ is wasting time, or is it polite?
• Is humour important in a business meeting?

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 Business English Study (c) 2013

Questions: Do you agree that Starbucks has changed our idea of coffee shops?
What should a good coffee shop have?

Do you know the meaning of these words? You will hear them in the listening:
comfortable seating - atmosphere – soft music – stress free - cappuccino

LISTENING 2:
Visit www.businessenglishstudy.com for the free MP3 listening file.

You are going to hear the second part of the recording when the spokesman, talks
about what makes Starbucks so attractive to customers. Answer the questions.

1. What is the big attraction of Starbucks?

2. In which way is Starbucks like McDonald’s?
3. What new ideas has Starbucks introduced?
4. What image makes it popular with the business community?
5. How much does a cappuccino cost at Starbucks?

ROLE-PLAY

THE MEETING: The management team at Starbucks meet to discuss how they can
expand the stores and extend the brand.
First group wants to expand the stores into sports stadiums, mobile coffee units,
petrol stations, supermarkets, hospitals, airlines etc.
Second group wants to extend the brand through food, music, business services
and sponsorship.

Discuss the options and try to come up with a compromise solution.

Practice using the grammar (still, yet, by, etc.) and the functional vocabulary
(Agreeing/Disagreeing) you have learnt in this unit.

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