IN Thomas Babington Macaulay’s “History of England”, the bustling coffeehouses of the 17th century were “the chief organs through which the public opinion of the metropolis vented itself”. But what happens when the metropolis stays away? Laxman Narasimhan, boss of Starbucks, the world’s mightiest coffee chain, is finding out the hard way.
Mr Narasimhan has been in the top job barely a year. He inherited sluggish growth in China and a unionising workforce in America. Since then, things have got much worse. During the first quarter sales in America declined by 3%, year on year, and the firm slashed its profit guidance for
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