Starbucks : Social Responsibility And Ethical Practices

* The organization has strong ethical values and an ethical mission statement as follows, 'Starbucks is committed to a role of environmental leadership in all facets of our business.'

Do you think that Starbucks has grown rapidly because of its ethical and socially responsible activities or because it provides products and an environment that customers want?

“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

Starbucks has an advantage over its competitors because of their strong, distinctive competencies. According to the article on NASDAQ "Starbucks targets a more affluent demographic of coffee drinkers that typically exhibit strong brand loyalty (Trifis Team, 2014)." This distinctive competency derives from the company 's philosophy to have a "commitment to the highest quality coffee in the world, to the way we engage with our customers and communities to do business responsibly (Starbucks, 2016)." The organization is committed to an excellent training program that reinforces staff competencies and engagement to the company culture. Starbucks CEO Howards Schultz, states in his book, Onward, "[Employees] are the true

As a worldwide leader in coffee and coffeehouse chains, Starbucks has been faced with both scrutiny and praise for their practices in regards to community engagement and corporate social responsibility. With locations across the globe from the United States to Saudi Arabia to Guatemala, Starbucks has seventy-two locations spread across 26 countries. With such a large footprint, this paper will be address employees and local communities within the United States operations and the suppliers in the Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E) Practices program. Starbucks has broadcasted and built a platform upon their ethical sourcing, employee relations, and community engagement with an impressive transparency not often seen by global corporations today.

Starbucks is committed to being social responsible. They have created a strategy based upon three pillars: Community, Ethical sourcing, and the Environment. Star bucks begin their business in 1971, since beginning their business the company has focused on responsibility and ethically change.

Starbucks has been around for more than four decades, and from the very beginning it has worked hard to operate in an ethical manner. Starbucks ranked as Fortune Magazine’s fifth most socially responsible company in 2012. There are a number of good reasons for the high ranking. The company looks for better ways to develop sustainable production of its coffee. It has set in place some guidelines it calls C.A.F.E Practices, ensuring environmental leadership, economic accountability, and product quality. Starbucks also supports Ethos Water, which provides clean water to more than a billion people

Starbucks has certainly does a good job communicating their social responsibility to consumers. First and foremost, Starbucks establishes an annual public Global Responsibility Report on their website. This report is easily identifiable and available for everyone to view. Besides their website, Starbucks uses a variety of media to communicate their social responsibilities. The company is highly dependant on social media to communicate their messages. Their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all display tokens of giving. In most cases, Starbucks ads are call-to-action campaigns. This entices consumers to purchase the Starbucks products because it allows consumers to feel they are contributing to something good/meaningful. Besides, social media, Starbucks uses their cups and coffee sleeves to communicate their humanitarian and socially responsible activities. Recently, the company informed consumers about the number of Veterans and military spouses hired through coffee sleeves. In addition, these sleeves always state the percent of recycled materials used, which is another way of expressing Starbuck’s holistic marketing approach. Finally, Starbucks has released a podcast which communicates everyday stories of positive change. In general, marketing communication should take a mass marketing approach, several forms of media should be used, and the communication budget should be properly allocated. Starbucks accomplishes each of those tasks. Moreover, consumers certainly feel the

It offered flexibility in working hours for the workers and 'one-size fits all' benefit for the employees, this benefit was adopted by different service provider companies. Company introduced 'Bean stock' program for the employees. Starbucks applies different strategies to hire and attain their employees.

Starbucks advertises two essential mission statements. First and foremost, it strives to “establish [ourselves] as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while [we] grow(s).” (Starbucks) Reflective of its mission, Starbucks bases its strategic campaign and communications on six indispensable philosophies; structuring a pleasant work environment in which employees are treated with “respect and dignity,” incorporating diversity in all business aspects, purchasing, roasting and delivering fresh coffee, retaining satisfied customers, giving back to the community and environment, and developing

For a short period, Howard left Starbucks to start up his own II Giornale coffeehouse. In 1987, he eventually returned to Starbucks with help from local investors to purchase Starbucks, he then became chief executive officer. Howard’s leadership skills led Starbucks to be the finest coffee in the world, providing coffee to consumers in 23,000 stores and 68 countries. Part of what makes Howard a good leader is that from the beginning; he set out to build a different kind of company, one that demonstrated respect and dignity. Through Starbucks, Howard created two programs that embraced the culture that he always wanted. The first program offers health coverage for eligible part-time and full-time employees, which is not something many retailers do. The second program known as the Bean Stock empowers partners (employees) to know that they can invest in a profitable business as well as share its success. These two programs are incentives for motivation as well as benefits for employees.

The Starbucks Corporation presents a strong appeal for potential customers and employees because it has a strong organizational culture based on its values, which include “ethical sourcing, environmental stewardship and community

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 acted ethically after their financial scare by upgrading their coffee equipment for their customers. Also, Starbucks added a new menu item to offer customers a more dynamic selection in their stores. Starbucks began to think more along the lines of a small mom and pop coffee shop to fit in with the local stores. To continue, Starbucks plays a significant ethical role within the community. Starbucks donates too many charitable causes within the community. Also, Starbucks allows their customers to provide feedback about their local coffee shop. Due to this ethical behavior, Starbucks gains new customers by offering them a place to relax and give their input on their

42). Training doesn’t stop there, however. Baristas can expose themselves to additional training if they desire to become Coffee Masters, Shift Supervisors, or Store Managers. In fact, Michelli (2007) reports, “Starbucks consistently spends more on training than it does on advertising” (p. 282). The Starbucks corporation feels that the Starbucks Experience starts with their employees. If their employees are happy, their employees create better experiences for their customers. This creative approach to the management of people shows. Michelli (2007) highlights that the turnover rate at Starbucks is much lower than at other similar establishments, “120 percent less than the industry average” (p. 282). He further goes on to mention that “employees have an 82% job-satisfaction rate” (p. 282). This deep desire to treat employees fairly stems from Schultz’s ideals. He himself mentions, “As a business leader, my quest has never been just about winning or making money; it has also been about building a great, enduring company, which has always meant trying to strike a balance between profit and social conscience” (Schultz, p. 107). Many believe his deep sense of empathy stems from his early childhood where his father was ill and could not hold a job. This is reflected today in his treatment of his employees. All