The US postal service sells ‘Forever’ stamps for first class postage domestic use. The forever is meant to indicate that even if postal rates rise, you can continue to use these stamps without additional payment.

Some CEOs also seem to be forever. Certainly, Howard Schultz of Starbucks Corp., the coffee chain, would qualify. Times may change, but Starbucks fans can rest peacefully at night knowing that their favourite founder will not be asleep but keeping a watchful eye over the company.

Schultz will step down from his role as CEO for the third time on April 1. He loves his chain so much that he has written books about it and keeps coming back. Previously, he stepped down in 2000 and 2017. Now, is handing over the reins to Laxman Narasimhan whom he recruited from Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, a UK consumer products company.

Schultz keeps returning because there is a problem that only he can solve. The first time he returned, he said the company had become too bureaucratic. He is known to closely follow the affairs of the company and to be in touch with its senior leaders even when he is out. When he stepped in for the third time, it was after he sought a meeting with the board to share his concerns with what he had been hearing about the company, and so came back to solve them.

Starbucks’ employees have not been a particularly happy lot and are looking for better pay, staffing levels and working hours. They reportedly had problems with some of the equipment too. Their response was to start forming store level unions which the company did not like and tried hard to dissuade them from doing so. Over the last 18 months, 288 stores successfully formed unions, although 57 failed to do so. These are but a minor percentage of the over 9,000 stores in the US but also suggest a changing culture within the company.

When Schultz rejoined in April 2022 for his third stint as CEO, he felt that the company had not fully addressed changes in consumer behaviour at the chain. Over 75 per cent of store sales are now said to come from cold beverages. Customers today purchase drinks with flavours and colours, lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos, and with different kinds of milk. The complexity has added to the time and strain of the barista.

This time, Starbucks selected Narasimhan in September 2022 and said he would spend six months as a CEO intern, learning the ropes. During that period, he has travelled extensively with Schultz to learn about the company and its culture. Narasimhan has made the right moves, earning a barista certification along the way and said he was ‘humbled’ to be taking over as CEO. He is the first CEO from outside the company which places an additional burden in a company that prides its culture. CEOs generally like to be free to chart their course, so I wonder how he really feels having been handed a strategy plan to follow by Schultz who will also be keeping an eye on implementation.

Other companies have tried recalling a former CEO to deal with a crisis, like falling sales or market value. Dell Computers is one. More recently, Bausch + Lomb, the eye care company did it. Research doesn’t particularly support the effectiveness of CEOs in their second innings, and it must be particularly hard for the board to refuse if the former CEO is also the founder.

Schultz presently remains on the board and the company chairperson, Ms. Hobson, has said in the past that Schultz will continue to play a special role in the company. Founders have a tough time letting go. You can be sure he will not just be sitting in the corner of a store sipping his coffee and reading the newspaper.

The writer is an emeritus professor at Suffolk University, Boston

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