Abstract
Starbucks is renowned for its morality due to their innovative sustainability and environmental policies and operations. They strive to go beyond mandated regulations by implementing ethics as part of their core practices. However, no matter how flawless their code of ethics is; they, too, face ethical issues and commit unethical acts. First, they are responsible for putting small, local coffee shops out of business which creates a uniform retail culture throughout cities. Second, they advertise to provide 100% fair trade coffee when it is not truly 100% fairly traded. Third, they use hormone added milk that is detrimental to the human body as well as the environment. Fourth, they set unrealistic, unattainable recycling goals, so they were unachievable; in turn, their trustworthiness is hindered and their reputation is tarnished. Lastly, it was revealed that Starbucks discovered ways to avoid paying taxes in the UK. To this day, Starbucks continues to be recognized as an ethical company. Although sometimes controversial, they are innovatively striving to positively change the ways of society and business operations.
Starbucks: an insight into the company & their ethical policies- Introduction
Millions of people all around the world wake up and drink a cup of coffee every morning before they go to work. One of the most popular places for coffee drinkers to attend is Starbucks. The company started in Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market, which was opened in
Starbucks’ commitment to ethical behavior is evident in the many steps they take to ensure employees not only comply, but also are able to report any issues. There are several available methods of communication for employees who wish to report unethical behavior, be it face-to-face, anonymously through the Helpline, or through their
Different businesses have different ways of advertising their products and contributing to the outside world. Starbucks being amongst these different businesses has an unethical way of marketing its goods. Their advertisements are very broad and manipulative to their customers. Starbucks follows business ethics, which is what makes marketing and global contribution circulate. They also give businesses different objectives they follow to be more fair and truthful to their consumers and workers. Starbucks, on the other hand, uses different strategies to reach its objectives while making unethical actions. Manipulations of consumer education, fair-trade, and advertisements can lead Starbucks to make unethical
“To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time ("Starbucks", 2012).” Starbucks mission is to not only provide the highest quality of coffee but also make a positive impact on the world. Ethisphere Institute over the last six years has selected the World’s Most Ethical Companies and Starbucks has made the list every year. What are the key components that make Starbucks one of the most ethical companies in the world? Starbucks has developed the Standard of Business Conduct guide for their financial environment, as well as the behavior of their employees. Starbucks uses strict regulations and a variety of audits to ensure their
“Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do” (“Potter Stewart Quotes”). There are two types of companies either ethical or unethical. Ethical companies try to do the best and the right things for the customers, community, environment, planet, and others. While the unethical is the company that tries to use anything to sell their products. They use unethical advertisements, pathos, faulty analogy and others. To begin with, companies are a group of people who have goals to make money. To be a successful company the customers need to trust it, so they can support it with their money when they buy their products. One of the most famous coffee companies is Starbucks Corporation. Howard Schultz bought the company from the founders, “the idea was to create a chain of coffeehouses that would become America's “third place”” (Moon). The company provides many types of drinks to provide tension between products and the customers. Also, Starbucks is serving twenty million customers over five thousand stores in the globe and the store growth over average three new stores a day (Moon). Although Starbucks follows their basic services like quality and speedy service which makes them have a good ethical business, but they use unethical advertisements to get the customer's attention to buy the products.
Two reasons Starbucks has been so concerned with social responsibility are the negative impact on the company if they aren’t and the financial and nonfinancial rewards because they are. According to our textbook, Starbucks has been engaged in responsible business practices almost from day one of operation.
starbucks Corp., an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington, has expanded rapidly since its opening in 1971. These outrageous success was due to its well-developed strategy vision which lay out the company's strategic course in developing and strengthening its business. Starbucks is a global corporation that sells authentic coffee in 30 countries, reporting revenues of nearly $5.1 billion in 2006. The main goal of Starbucks is to embrace diversity by applying the highest standards of excellence. Starbucks strives to perfect the relationship with the working class by making the service as fast as possible because they believe that every customer has their own personal rate. One
The first Starbucks opened in 1971, making the company 44 years old. In 2015 they were named the most ethical company by Ethisphere. Starbucks issues a book called “Standards of Business Conduct” to every employee when they start work. It outlines all of their policies and how an employee needs to act. They also required to go to trainings for compliance and ethics and are encouraged to report any issues or situations that emerge. They are also proud members of the ECOA (Ethics & Compliance Officer Association) and the Northwest Ethics Network. Starbucks is also a part of a plethora of organizations that give back to the local community and the world. All of Starbucks products like coffee and tea are fair trade, meaning that fair prices are paid for goods to developing countries. Economic transparency is also required in the company meaning that suppliers have to submit evidence of payment made throughout the supply chain to insure that a fair price is given to the farmer. Starbucks also has third-party verifiers who help to protect the rights of workers and their safety. They also comply with the minimum wage requirements and forbid child and forced labor. Third-party verifiers also protect the management of waste and water quality along with the conservation of water and energy. All of this is considered ethical because it protects both the employee and the customer, along with the
1. In the beginning, how was Starbucks different from other coffee options for coffee drinkers in the United States? What activities and assets did Starbucks leverage to differentiate itself from competitors?
1. Where did the original idea for the Starbucks format come from? What lesson for international business can be drawn from this?
Starbucks Corporation is a multinational coffee conglomerate that opened their first store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington in 1971. Over the course of the next 40 years, Starbucks has grown in leaps and bounds in not only opening more stores domestically and internationally but also in selling a variety of some of the world’s best coffee and tea blends available. The selling of Starbucks products does not only happen in their stores, it also happens in grocery, convenient, and specialty stores across the world. With the growth of the Starbucks Corporation came the responsibility of ethical and financial compliance to their organization, their shareholders, and the multitude of government agencies they deal with
As previously mentioned Starbucks has numerous initiatives in social responsibility. Examining each exposes the company’s values revealing why Starbucks is a leader in business ethics, and why it continues to thrive in an economic down-turn. First, is how Starbucks treats its partners; partners is the term used throughout Starbucks to refer to its employees. Each partner, full or part time is eligible for health care benefits. In 2008 when Schultz resumed his role as CEO, multiple institutional investors called asking Schultz to reduce partner healthcare coverage, which cost the company $250 million annually. Schultz refused the calls. He believed not paying the premiums would be inconsistent with the goal of turning profit (Kaplan, 2011). In addition to health care, partners can participate in the company’s Bean Stock program. The program offers Starbucks stock at 85% of its fair market value, four times a year. Starbucks partners also enjoy a 401(k), where the company matches 25% of the partners’ contribution. These benefits lead to extremely loyal employees. Food industry turnover rates are about 400% per year, while Starbucks’ is only 50% (Reis, 2010).
The elusive goal of customer satisfaction has long provided companies with endless headaches and difficult decisions. In the end, associating specific customer satisfaction metrics to company profit and loss would provide the undeniable proof needed to make changes, and then invest the required capital to address any concerns. Starbucks, not unlike the rest of the business world, has found itself in the same situation. At a basic level, the argument that more investment in customer service creates higher customer satisfaction has already been fundamentally agreed upon. However, more specifically, Starbucks must decide if a reinvestment of $40M annually in
I've chosen the Starbucks Corporation on which to do my case assignment for the session. I first became interested in Starbucks while working on a paper for a previous marketing class. I became intrigued at the entrepreneurial spirit that such a large corporation had managed to maintain throughout its massive expansion. Starbucks corporation, unlike many of its now-defunct rivals, has done an outstanding job since its meager beginnings in 1970 with the execution of its strategic process; resulting in it currently owning 40% of the specialty coffee market and boosting annual sales exceeding $7 billion according to Burt Helm. Historic successes and recent turmoil within the company, including a near 40% decline in 2007 in profits (Sullivan
The mission statement is an opportunity to show the company’s ethics, goals, culture, and norms for decision making. The perfect mission statement should include the company’s goal minimum in 3 ways: What the company does to their customers, what the company does to their employees and what the company does for its own stakeholders. Better mission statements go further and define fourth and fifth dimensions: how the company helps in the community, and around the world. The mission statement should be about one or two paragraphs. It should take about 30 seconds to read the mission statement. The mission statement should state particular question such as Who is your company? What does your company do? Why are you in that particular business?
Starbucks is one of the top leading coffee sellers in the world. With more than 17,000 stores in more than 55 countries, Starbucks has created the ultimate brand and coffee shop (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2015). Building Starbuck’s name was a process performed by the founder Howard Shultz that focused on quality ethics and good coffee. One of the main aspects of Starbuck’s culture is its mission. Starbucks brand has been ranked number 16 in the Fortune’s one hundred companies to work for because of its honorable, ethical back-round (Lemus, von Feigenblatt, Orta, & Rivero, 2015). However, like all businesses, Starbucks has encountered some ethical issues along the way of their success.