Starbucks’ Ethical Practices

Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

MGT360 – Spring 2010

Term Paper

STARBUCKS’ ETHICAL PRACTICES

Prepared by:

ShahRukh Khan

@31806

UTR – 9AM

Submitted to:

Dr. J Lade Heaton

Table of Contents

* Introduction………………………………………………………..3

* Introduction to Starbucks….…………..…………………………...4

* Starbucks and the Environment …………..…………….………….5

* Starbucks advertisement – too cool for the people in America.……8

* Starbucks Logo – too hot to handle?............…………………...….10

* Starbucks and its stakeholders……………………………………..13

* five years down the line ……………………………………..……16

* Conclusion………………………………………………..…….....21

* References………………………………….…..…………………22

Introduction

As seen in recent times, a profitability of a business is measured more in terms of money and other factors such as goodwill and the welfare of a society are all considered to be secondary. Evidently, all the business actions lead to the same path of success, which means “high level of profits”. Profits mean everything to the businesses in present times, even if they come at the cost of a particular sector or a society being affected by the actions of the businesses. Be it the top industries/businesses on the list, or be it the least known brands in the market, all have the same goal to achieve; higher profitability and increased shareholder wealth. Hence, I have chosen a company that would help me to bring out their Ethical responsibilities and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which is solely dedicated to ethics and not money making – Starbucks Coffee Company. Starbucks has devoted more towards promoting high ethical standards than its counterparts. One of the reasons why Starbucks has been motivated to improve its’ CSR is because Starbucks has been a frequent target of protests on issues such as fair-trade policies, labor relations, environmental impact, political views, and perceived anti-competitive practices.

Introduction to...