Starbucks: Taking a Stand on Social Issues

Starbucks Taking a Stance on Social Issues
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Starbucks: Taking a Stand on Social Issues
Starbucks, one of the leading food retailers in the world, has quite an amazing history inspired by the company’s founder, Howard Schultz. Schultz was unfortunate to see his parent have a tough life, where he felt like the employer never valued him. He then swore to do the exact opposite in his company, where employees become part and parcel of the organization, partaking in key company activities, including decision making. Schultz created a corporate culture that empowers employees, which saw the company experience a lot of success until 2000 when he stepped aside as the CEO. The company took a turn for the worse, forcing Schultz to return in 2008. Schultz had not changed in any way and continued his culture of employee empowerment, further introducing programs such as compensations, healthcare benefits, student reimbursement, and an ethical sourcing plan in his transformational agenda. Schultz’s transformational agenda brought the company back to life, as he continued to push for other social aspects not directly related to the company.
Schultz’s personal experience with the treatment of employees played a part in influencing his stance and that of the company on ethical issues. The other motivating factor is the notion that every organization must have an ethical code of conduct and values to guide it as it strives to serve the stakeholders in the most effective way possible (Ferrell et al., 2019). Taking a stance on ethical issues is crucial in shaping the corporate culture that contributes to the organization’s overall success. It also helps the organization while defining its goals and strategic objectives. On the flip side, ethical issues demand some kind of flexibility, requiring the organization to apply the guiding principles differently in some scenarios. Having a stance on ethical issues deprives an organization of the luxury to exercise this flexibility.