Buck up

So Starbucks has removed CEO Jim Donald and is bringing back founder Howard Shultz, who has been serving as Chairman since 2004. As you can see, the stock hasn't been performing particularly well, and investors blame Donald's strategic decision to take the focus off coffee and expand into creating a sort of fast food lifestyle brand.

But it seems as if Starbucks is still trying a little too hard to emulate Apple. CEOs matter, but the talismanic faith in the power of a founder-CEO to wreak miracles is overdone. Starbucks' market is saturated, and competition is heating up. On the low end, McDonalds and Dunkin' Donuts have stepped up their game; on the high end, the Starbucks revolution has created an independent coffee shop culture in urban areas that is siphoning off Starbucks' most lucrative sales. Perhaps Howie Schultz can bring back the magic . . . but this process was well underway when he was in charge, and he didn't seem to have much of an answer for it.

The market sure likes him, though; the stock jumped on the news. You can all watch me eat my words when I buy my first iLatte in 2009.