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ethics theories and business case studies
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ethics theories and business case studies
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Starbucks Business Ethics Case Analysis
INTRO
Ethical issues in business are a common placed every day occurrence that will never cease to exist. We will discuss an ethical issue that involves a large American corporation and its practices when dealing with suppliers of produce that is essential but not solely used by this business. We will present several point of views backed by literary findings that suggest ethical practices may or may not be at hand.
BODY
Mr. Donald states that one of the main goals of Starbucks is to expose the world to the coffee production/industry in Africa by showcasing African coffee name brands. However, there is evidence that points to the real goal that goal, simply put, is greed. The article "Starbucks Seeks The Right Blend of Global Ambition And Ethical Trade", written by Robin Pagnamenta, of the Times Online, in my opinion would be a goal oriented based theory.
Last year the American chain operated 12,800 stores globally and earned 6.4 billion dollars in revenues. Further, Mr. Donald plans to open a total of 40,000 Starbucks stores, 50 percent of them outside of the United States. "We open six new stores every day", says Donald. "We opened our first in Brazil last week. Cairo opens next week", he continues. Incidentally, Donald was paid $2.7 million last year, a former chief executive of America's Path mark supermarket chain a far cry from the salary he earned at that level.
Manifested Ground Rules
Every thriving company must embrace some sort of code of ethics ground rules which will guarantee its success. In this case, Starbucks wants to promote high standards of practice; by selling the richest and aromatic coffees in the world to the ...
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...m of discrimination and promote equal opportunity in all sectors of Starbucks business transactions. We will set down with leadership and emphasize the importance of honesty, integrity and the reason it flow's so diligently through this corporation. Our company doesn't subscribe to dishonest practices, such as corruption or fraudulent business dealings. We must hold our selves to the same standards that we hold our employees. Understand that diversity in all aspects of our company's daily ventures creates a worldly image and increases ability to fulfill our goal of opening 40'000 Starbucks with half being outside the US.
CONCLUSION
With a council in place and clear ethical guidelines established, we are sure that Starbucks will reconsider its current position on coffee trademarks and make way for new and improved trade between us and the whole world.
chose to analyze the mission statement and “About Us” page of Starbucks. The mission statement is:
Starbucks opens its first store in 1971 in Seattle. WA. From the very beginning it offered the coffee on highest standards to please customers. In year 1982 today’s CEO Howard Schultz joined Starbucks as a director of retail operations and marketing. Since that time the company started to grow rapidly. In just few years of operations more stores have been opened expanding a business around the country and around the world. Now, Starbucks has nearly 20,000 stores in 60 countries and it still growing opening more and more stores and moving into new countries. But the corporation is not only selling a coffee. When the company became more powerful and more valuable, Howard Schultz along with other board members and a president, started to get involved in all kinds of programs to make better coffee, but also to make the world better. These days a company recognizes itself as a part of the neighborhood it operates within.
An article in the Seattle Post, describes the alliance that Starbucks is making to ensure that a sustainable supply of high quality of coffee is produce in Latin America. "Starbucks President and CEO Orin Smith said the alliance is partly his company's effort to pass on the "high price" of a cup of coffee to farmers." (Lee, 2004). He states that the high price enables them to pay the highest price to the farmers. Though the high prices to suppliers can demonstrate that money get to farmers with being diverted. Starbucks overall goal with this alliance is to buy 60 percent of its coffee under the standards agreed upon by 2007. "The agreement reflects the growing power of the premium coffee market and efforts to exploit it for the benefit of small farmers" (Lee, 2004).
Today, they have expanded lunch programs to a total of 4,150 stores and introduced the ability to warm pastries and provide hot breakfast sandwiches to stores across the nation. Starbucks retail stores are operated through a number of joint venture and licensing arrangements in South East Asia countries as well as Thailand, Singapore and China. When they do the business in foreign countries, the most important issues will have to be aware of the exchange rates. They are planning to open 2,400 stores internationally in 2007, and they have approximately set financial growth targets for total revenue 20 percent and annual earnings-per-share 20 to 25 percent for the next three to five years. In addition, they have proposed new stores count target to 40,000 worldwide (20,000 U.S. and 20,000 International) in the long-term (Starbucks Financial Release, 2007).
There are many topics that arise throughout the case with Starbucks Corporation. Starbucks Coffee is located worldwide and there are many different ways to look at this situation. The company offers a unique range of coffee, lattes, espressos, and café style drinks. The company intended to reach a specific target audience, but has ended up in many different markets and has been growing rapidly. Starbucks has greatly used the “youth appeal” strategy to gain entrance into new markets. However, such enthusiasm cannot be counted on indefinitely; other strategies are always in the works. Over time Starbucks has been able to acquire a solid brand reputation and has a world renowned company logo.
It is reasonable to believe that ethical business behavior has countless advantages and few, if any, disadvantages. Consumers have almost immediate access, via the Internet, to a company’s business practices so purchasing decisions can be fluid. This means good ethical business practices can have immediate reward from consumers. For seven years no Ethisphere Institute has published a list of the world’s most ethical companies. The list is developed through extensive surveys and research covering a broad range of categories. 2013 produced 138 companies ranging across virtually all types of industry. Although, motives for companies to be a part of this list might be organic to their mission statements, there are still many other advantages. Smith states, “Brigham says that recognition on the WME list has proven to be beneficial in various ways for the winners.” (para 9). Starbucks Coffee Company is on the Ethisphere Institute 2013 list.
Marketing ethics in the 21st century has become a priority for organizations. Society has a growing impatience with selfish actions that deprive some, while enriching others all for the bottom life, at whatever costs. Ethics is no longer an option for organizations in today’s society; it must be incorporated into their business plan. Each organization must have a concern for the society as a whole. Ethics has been at the top of the headlines in today’s society. Ethical behavior of a company can be the difference between their failure and success. A code of ethics is currently used by many corporations, which details the importance of every day responsibilities of the employees. Ethical decisions must start at the top of the firm’s organization, meaning from the CEO and then downward, how can one expect an employee to be ethical if the people in charge are not be ethical themselves. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is currently the only act in place that has a clear system of rules and penalties. This act was created to protect investors by enforcing the accuracy and reliability of compan...
In 1982 the president and CEO Howard Schultz, joined the company. He had just returned from a trip to Italy in 1983, and invasion a new way to serve coffee in the United States. He wanted to bring the way of Italian coffeehouse here. Nevertheless, this was not until 1987 where he would come in with several local investors to purchase Starbucks and rebrand. Opening their doors here in Chicago. In 1991, Starbucks took off and was the first companies to offer full and part time employment with benefits. They also were able to take the lead in the coffee world by offering Frappuccino’s. Their success landed a partnership in 1995 Pepsi-Cola. This help them market to consumers a ready-to-drink Frappuccino that was available for purchased through local grocery stores or convenient stores. It was also in 1996 that Starbucks opened its first store outside of North America, which expanded a branch in Japan. In 1998, this offer Starbuck to acquired Tazo Tea Company. This lead to collaboration with Conservation International in 1999, to promote environmentally responsible methods for growing coffee. Starbucks has continued to grow over the years, launching its VIA™ Ready Brew coffee in 2009 (Starbucks Timeline, 2010). They have continued to work aggressively to serve the public as of today Starbucks has more than 15,000 stores in 50 countries, and have taken their name to be known as the world’s premier
Moving on, Starbucks Corporation proves that consumers can trust them because one of the main goals of the company is ethical service, their goal is to serve the customers with less than three minutes. The author said, “Starbucks’ “Just Say Yes” policy empowered partners to provide the best service possible, even if it required going beyond company rules” (Moon). Having this policy shows that the company tries to make customers satisfied. Also, it is ethical to have this policy because service is a key that makes the company successful. For example, if the customer spilled a drink, he/she can ask for another one. Additionally, if a customer does not have cash or credit and wants to pay by check, he/she will get a simple drink for
Koehn, N.F., Besharov, M.A., & Miller, K. (2008). Starbucks Coffee Company in the 21st Century. [Case study]. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.
Bruss (2001) argues that the company hopes as well to make new investments in new coffee types. Starbucks has recently developed a new type of coffee called green-coffee. These strategies are created with the objective of support Starbucks’ commitment to buy coffee that has grown and processed by suppliers. They meet certain conditions of social, economic and quality standards. In addition to that, the company is paying additional premiums to those vendors who meet the specific requirements that the company wants.
Who knew that we would be using Starbucks and McDonald’s in the same sentence. When you first think about it, it does not make sense to compare Starbucks and McDonald’s; nevertheless, the two chains have become each other’s biggest competitor and have a great deal in common. Primarily, they conveniently provide consumers with coffee products and food that they crave. However, each company has a unique code of ethics. In this paper, I will be analyzing Starbucks and McDonald’s code of business ethics. Furthermore, I will be discussing three aspects that I like and dislike about each companies statements. In conclusion, I will be explaining why having a code of business ethics is not sufficient for ensuring ethical behavior in an organization,
Kluyver (2010) mentions that Starbucks maintains sole decisions making power over “brand, product line advertising and corporate communication”. Although though the choice o...
In 1971, three young entrepreneurs began the Starbucks Corporation in Seattle Washington. Their key goal was to sell whole coffee beans. Soon after, Starbucks began experiencing huge growth, opening five stores all of which had roasting facilities, sold coffee beans and room for local restaurants. In 1987, Howard Schultz bought Starbucks from its original owners for $4 million after expanding Starbucks by opening three coffee bars. These coffee bars were based on an idea that was originally proposed to the owner who recruited him into the corporation as manager of retail and marketing. Overall, Schultz strategy for Starbucks was to grow slow. Starbucks went on to suffer financial losses and overhead operating expenses rose as Starbucks continued its slow expansion process. Despite the initial financial troubles, Starbucks went on to expand to 870 stores by 1996. Sales increased 84%, which brought the corporation out of debt. With the growing success, Starbucks planned to open 2000 stores by year 2000.
The strategic vision that Howard Schultz had for Starbucks was "Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow". This s...