Unionisation, first challenge brewing for Narasimhan as Starbucks CEO

Narasimhan holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering, University of Pune, India

Pune-born Laxman Narasimhan is set to lead the world’s largest coffee chain, Starbucks, as its chief executive officer. He will join the Seattle-based company on October 1 as incoming CEO and shall formally take on the role on April 1, 2023.

He will work closely with Howard Schultz, the interim CEO before assuming the aforementioned role and joining the board of the company.

Narasimhan joins the coffee chain at a time when its employees at over 200 outlets have voted to form unions. Harish Bijoor, founder of Harish Bijoor Consults, said Narasimhan’s primary challenge shall be to handle this issue astutely and