Corporate Social Responsibility at Starbucks

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Abstract

The business activities of any company are undertaken day in day out. These activities usually involve the employees and other stakeholders who play different but significant roles in the company. To ensure the company achieve its objectives and goals, the companies usually ensure that the interaction between them and their employees.

The employees are the one who are directly connected to the production and offering of the goods and thus their conduct and performance is of great importance. When undertaking the production the company releases some by-products such as smoke which when released into the atmosphere would lead to pollution. These by-products do not only affect the company and its employees only but also the community at large.

The company is supposed to act in a way in which its operations does not have negative effect on the environment and the community because failure to be responsible in its actions could make the stakeholders and community at large to lack confidence and good faith in it. This paper seeks to consider the social and corporate responsibility activities undertaken by Starbuck Company to ensure it fairs well in the market as well as getting a good reputation.

Social and corporate responsibility

This responsibility is not mostly expected to be driven by external forces but should be in-built in the company structure and strategy of undertaking its duties. It is mainly mandated to avoid the negative impacts that may result from the performance of activities of the company. This responsibility helps the community in expanding and developing in the activities they undertake as the negative effects from their surroundings which are companies have been taken care of.

There are companies and multinational companies which sometimes neglect it. To ensure that the companies undertake them, the government usually takes that responsibility. There are various benefits associated to undertaking the corporate and social responsibility as is evident in Starbuck Company. This is due to very strategic steps taken by the company in addressing the needs of all the stakeholders involved and the community at large (Brennan and Mullerat, 2005).

Importance of corporate and social responsibility

The operation of the business usually takes into the behavior of the employees and the governance to be very crucial. When the employees behave in an ethical manner, they usually strengthen the good relation between the company and the customers. This increases trust of the customers in the company activities and results in increased sales. Starbuck Company has instilled good ethical behavior among its employees.

These have resulted in good relation between the company, its employees and the customers who play a significant role in the continuous growth and development of the company. The customers and the general public thus view the company as being part of them. Most companies fail in executing this responsibility because they usually view it as a liability and thus take it to be totally separate from the business.

There has been a shift of company’s employees from one company to the other. This can be attributed to the fact that good companies are found to be favored by best employees. This has resulted in companies not undertaking their corporate social responsibility losing some of their best employees due to the reputation they usually have in comparison to others.

This usually leads to reduced performance and efficiency in the company’s activities which may lead to huge losses incurred and even business collapse and closure. The investors are usually very careful of any investment they make. The corporate and social responsibilities are usually viewed as having future prospects of business expansion and thus would be preferred by the investors.

In the current world, every activity including the customers preference is dynamic, thus for a company to be on a better position in the case of such occurrences, then the relationship between it and the customers should be good. This is because the business growth requires both short term and long term investment strategies which help to eliminate some setbacks and improvise ways of handling them.

In the previous years, corporate and social responsibility was viewed as a liability. This is because some of the revenues collected by the company were directed to it instead of being channeled back to the business operations to reap more profits.

The argument of the problem was challenged by the fact that the overall business success was not dependent only on the short term profits of the company. As a result of proper education on the idea, there has been continuous improvement in its execution. Due to the negative effects it had on the environment, some intervention was necessary. There are various rules that have been formulated to help us save our environment.

Barriers to corporate and social responsibility

Although companies such as Starbuck have been able to implement the corporate and social responsibility, it may not be an easy activity for other companies. The cost of implementing it is usually high. Thus in case the company is suffering from financial crisis, it would not venture in such an investment. The financial constraint in companies is one of the challenges to the implementation of corporate and social responsibility.

Time is an important resource which once lost is not recovered. The implementation of it is not an instantaneous process but would require some time and patience for the results to be achieved. The time could be used for other business activities which when viewed on short term basis would be more profitable. Thus the requirement for long periods of time to accomplish it is seen to deprive the comp0any a useful resource and the company usually prefer to use it differently.

Most companies do not like the impacts of some laws to them. The carrying out of the corporate social responsibility requires that adherence to some rules is mandatory. These rules are aimed at providing guidelines on how the responsibility is to be undertaken. They bring sanity and avoid exploitation. Due to the strict regulations and bureaucracy of undertaking it, some companies do not adhere to them. This has been responsible for the neglect of the responsibility.

At Starbuck Company, the importance of corporate and social responsibility is well understood. This has led to the company incorporating the corporate social responsibility in all its day to day activities from the farmers to the coffee customers drinking it. They are involved in activities that give back to the community. Due to the significant part each stakeholder plays in the overall success of the company, the company treats them very well.

This is very good in motivating them and increases trust in the company by the stakeholders. There are various activities undertaken by the company in regard to corporate and social responsibility and they include ethical sourcing, environmental stewardship and community involvement. All these activities are aimed at different stakeholders and they are directed into the activities they undertake.

Ethical sourcing

In the undertaking of services and goods from a certain company, most of the customers are concerned about where the goods came from. If the source is convincing, then there is increased trust in the customers. This usually to good cooperation between the customers and the company and thus the company realizes increased sales. There are various labour standards that are set in different regions depending on the resources and technology available.

Adhering to these standards in collection of the raw materials used in the company and processing are of importance in ethical sourcing. Thus ethical sourcing takes into account all the personnel involved in these processes and their affair in relation to the company. These include their salaries, safety and working conditions among others. There are some companies which undertake discrimination and use of child labour. This is not right and is against ethical sourcing (Fellner, 2008).

One of the main results of ethical sourcing is gaining an upper hand in the market. This is attained by increased trust in the customers and other stakeholders. It is one of the aspects responsible for creating brand loyalty in a product. The customers are fully satisfied and thus do not see the need of looking for other alternatives.

Due to the improved reputation, the company is in a better position to attract investors. The investors play an important role in financing the business so that it can undertake its activities without straining its resources. Ethical sourcing improves the workers morale due to transparency. This is very important in the overall production as motivated employees usually perform better and are always in the urge to improve in their undertaking. This spirit is very essential.

Undertaking ethical sourcing usually requires company’s dedication of some of its resources. These activities usually require money, time and human resource which are some of the most important resources of the company.

There are regulations which are used in undertaking ethical sourcing. The activity requires well informed human resource. This thus means that more human resource is required to undertake it. The workers of the company involved usually require good salaries according to the stipulated rules. This is not usually an easy task to many companies.

Due to the numerous activities involved, there is an increase in the cost of production. The rise of the production cost usually requires the company to increase the sale price of the commodities or goods. Increasing the prices may result in the customers looking for other alternatives which may be cheaper. Thus it is very important to consider the prices the customers are willing to buy the commodity at so as to improve the sale by maintain the customers already there and attracting others (Henley and Derickson, 2007).

In ensuring that ethical sourcing is undertaken, then regular inspection is necessary. This usually enables one to see areas that need immediate responses due to the various failures. There is no institution or company that is one hundred percent efficient and thus such failures are bound to occur. In realizing the failures, the company undertakes the necessary improvements. These failures are very useful in that they assist the company in not making them again as they are a learning experience.

There are organizations that usually provide guidance on the undertaking of ethical sourcing. Some of the examples include Oxfam and United nations. These organizations are very good in consultation and they usually undertake ethical sourcing. Due to large demand of the resources required, the activity can be distributed. This requires the company to start with minor changes which usually makes other activities to be easily handled.

Taking into account all the above factors about ethical sourcing has been done by Starbuck Company. The company is dedicated on offering the best services it can to the farmers who sell the products to them to the customers taking the coffee. The company is usually keen in making sure that they purchase the best coffee. They take into account the growing practices used. To ensure that the company gets the best coffee, there have been guidelines about the growth of coffee.

These measures are intended that its growth does not have negative effect on the people and the environment. These guidelines are mainly referred to as the coffee and farmer equity practices. They usually give guidelines on production quality, economic accountability, social responsibility and environmental leadership. The standard that the company wants to uphold in the community is usually expressed by these guidelines (Xomba, 2010).

The prices that the producers usually sell their products are one of the important aspects in their interactions with the companies. The farmers usually use the resource in improving their production methods. The farmers are able to buy the necessary pesticides and other chemical that boosts their production.

The best chemicals are usually environmental friendly as they usually have minimized effects on the farmers and the environment about them. The pay from the sale also put the farmers in a position to be able to undertake more training of the activities they undertake. The money is used to educate the farmer’s children who usually improve the future human resource. This ensures the presence of a better and informed human resource which would help to improve the economic and literacy level of the society.

In selling their products to Starbuck, the farmers are usually grouped into given organization. The company is usually responsible for requesting the members to organize themselves into these groups. When in these groups the members are in position to air their views on whatever aspects they would like to be addressed.

In these groups the company usually assists the community in making some of the social amenities they require. For example Starbuck has assisted in the making of many health centers across the globe. These hospitals have been of great help to the community in relation to their health problems.

There are some services or machinery that are of significance importance but are not available to the farmers at their regions. Starbuck has assisted the farmers in purchasing the machinery through their financial support, technical support, informational support or a combination of them. This is usually aimed to provide long term economic benefit to the community.

Starbuck has been making and modifying the guidelines with conservation international. These modifications have been good in making sure that the guidelines are able to accommodate the varying forces in the market as well as the environment. To make the necessary adjustments the company usually reviews reports compiled by other parties who are not attached to the company’s activities after which they undertake the research for themselves.

This usually assists in getting the various perspectives the other parties view their activities so that they can pinpoint easily the areas that need improvements. This is of great importance to the farmers, suppliers and the employees who usually air their views on what they usually feel to be oppressing them. The presence of such guidelines assists the company in its undertaking and thus should be adopted by all other companies.

Starbuck has been of great help to society and the community at large. It has incorporated the various stakeholders in activities such as community service. These activities are mainly aimed at raising the standards of the community. In the past years the company has been dedicating some of its hours in community service. Due to the good result achieved from it, the company has been dedicating more and more hours to community service.

This usually increases the interaction between the company and the society. The company usually has a direct look into the challenges of the community so as to be able to know how to integrate the idea in their production. The customers usually view this dedication in a very positive way. It makes the customers to feel that their presence is recognized and appreciated by the company. This good interaction has good returns in the long run for the business and the community as well (Xomba, 2010).

Environment

The environment is one factor affecting any field of operation ranging from agriculture to communication. Starbuck is a company whose backbone of its operation is agriculture. Agriculture entails the growing of crops on our land for either subsistence or commercial use. Most of the raw materials bought by star buck need some processing before consumption. These are mainly cash crops such as coffee and tea. In the growing of the crops, the environmental conditions are very important.

In the presence of good environmental condition such as the required humidity, rainfall, sunlight and nutrients, the crops usually thrive very well and are very productive. There are activities that are taken by companies and individual that interferes with the environment. Interfering with environment usually alters the seasons making it unfavorable for the crops to grow. This has very great economic setbacks to the Company and the farmers. Thus there is necessity of undertaking activities that do not destroy our environment.

Recycling

There are some waste products that can be recycled. Doing so usually reduces the quantity of wastes released into our environment. Starbuck Company has been recycling some of its byproducts to make better use of them. It started implementing this idea some years back. In recycling a company usually takes into consideration the quantity of the material that can be recycled.

Most of the company has been implementing the activity by making sure that the package in which they pack their products are mostly made of a single material. This usually increases the amount of material that is recovered. In the case of the packaging being made of different materials, then the recycling requires that there be someone to oversee the separation of the materials.

Recycling usually require more labour force and thus is not implemented by many companies. This usually requires more resources from the company. Instead of undergoing this cost the company usually looks for other alternative available that could be cheaper. On the other hand most people do not have the proper information on recycling.

Due to lack of this information, the company usually does not undertake it although it may have been economically viable. Proper information about the process should be availed to companies because recycling could assist in taking care of their wastes. There are also other people who are unaware of the recycled products. This combined with the lack of consistent supplies usually make some companies not to undertake it (Wilcox, 2007).

Recycling usually makes what could be considered a waste to the people to be of help to them. This usually reduces the quantity of raw materials used. In the search and collection of the raw materials, the natural environment in which they are located is usually interfered with. This interference may have negative effects in our environment such as interfering with our soil profile, ecology and vegetation cover among others.

Starbuck Company has incorporated recycling to be part of its activities. This is usually aimed at minimizing the negative effects the y may have on our environment. The company has been facing various challenges in the implementation on all its stores across the globe. This is mainly due to the resource requirement and the control of the land on which they operate their businesses by the owners.

In such cases, the landlord has major control of the activities carried on his land and thus undertaking any activity will be under the consensus of the party intending to undertake it and the owner. Due to the large cost incurred in recycling, Starbuck has been looking for other parties to undertake the activity together. In this regard, it has been working with local authorities who are mandate to undertake and ensure proper disposal of waste materials.

In the recycling of these materials, they are usually classified as either organic or non-organic. The coffee by products can be used as a form of manure in the farms. This usually increases the nutrients available to the crop for their growth. The products can also be used for keeping off some insects away as well as removing grease from greasy hands.

Thus instead of letting the byproduct to go as a waste, they have good economic returns. The company has been using the process to recycle waste products. This is to be accelerated if more customers are to use the recycled cups. In the recent years, the company has been addressing the issue by encouraging the customers to reuse their cups.

This has been achieved by offering a discount on the price of their products on the customers who reuse their cups. For many customers who are to take the coffee in their stores, they are encouraged to use other cups. This is because the more the numbers of these cups are used, the higher the rate of our forest cover is used. These cups are mainly made from tree products. Although there has been continuous progress in the recycling, more has to be done to cater for the number of stores without the facility.

Energy conservation

Energy is any important resource required in the running of machine and other equipments in a company. This thus means that there should be means of ensuring that there is fair use of the energy available. In many company the energy usually takes a large amount of the resources. This is usually achieved by use of more efficient machines. Due to improved technology, more and more efficient machines are being produced.

A switch into the use of these machines would ensure reduced and efficient energy consumption. There has been ongoing research of the availability of other alternative sources of energy (Dunning and Thumann, 2008). Some of the alternative sources of energy include the sun and the wind. These resources are freely available in nature and their availability is almost a guarantee in various parts of the world.

Their use has no negative effect on our environment. At Starbuck, there have been numerous attempts to reduce the energy use and increase efficiency.

The use of alternative energy sources usually is very effective in handling power shortages by ensuring that the business activities are not adversely affected. The company has changed to the use of energy saving lighting system in the stores and the use of more efficient machinery in its activities. The purchase of these alternative sources of energy has reduced the quantity of electricity it uses.

Water Conservation

Water is a basic necessity in the existence of a human being. In the industries it is used in almost all activities. The water is not always easily accessible and thus good measures must be undertaken to avoid its wastage. The water conservation is usually aimed at ensuring that the available water is used efficiently. Technology is one of the key aspects in water conservation. Through it there have been developments on how to best use the available water resource by the use of various equipments.

Efficiency in use of water is mainly aimed at ensuring water sustainability, energy conservation and habitat conservation. In the provision of water to the companies, energy is usually used to pump it there through machinery. If this water is then misused, then the energy used goes to a waste. The use of water efficiently ensure that the rate of withdrawal of the water from its sources is not more than the rate it is being replaced. This thus ensures that our environment is safe with the aquatic life not being interfered with.

In the previous years Starbuck used to use running water in undertaking its activities. This meant that a lot of water went into waste. This led to major challenges on the company in administering its social responsibility. Due to overwhelming need for the company and the society for it to administer its social and corporate responsibility, new measure were implemented.

The company used controlled water usage instead of the use of running water. The washing of the utensils and other equipments was changed to the dipper well system. This ensured that not much of the water available was used for the activity. In the purchase of their new equipment, water efficiency is considered. This is achieved due to the continuously evolving technology.

Green Stores

The building style and technology used usually affects the environment either directly or indirectly. To avoid the negative effects there has been continuous improvement in the building technology. This usually gives room for carrying out the day to day activities of the stores with minimal effect on the workers and the surrounding. The main items under consideration in the construction are energy conservation, water conservation and the use of recycled materials.

In the conservation of energy Starbuck company has use and designed the store to allow the access of natural lighting and the use of efficient lighting system equipments. In the conservation of water the building installs very efficient valves. These valves usually control the rate of flow of water. The building materials are chosen in such a way that the recycled materials are use instead of using wood products.

Climate change

There have been continuous changes in the climatic conditions of differing regions in the world. This has been attributed to the various activities that have affected the natural environment. The impacts of these activities are felt on all the sectors of the economy. Being an agricultural dependent company, Starbuck has tried to work hand in hand with the farmers.

The farmers are encouraged to maintain their environment clean and not to exploit the forests. These moves have had positive results and if implemented by all people across the globe irrespective of the agricultural practices they undertake, then there would be significant improvement on our environment.

Conclusion

Corporate social responsibility is an expensive activity with numerous positive results on the company and the society at large. Starbuck Company has been continuously improving on its undertaking of corporate and social responsibility. The process has not been smooth as it has been faced with challenges.

Some of the areas it has improved on include water conservation, energy conservation, material conservation and the issue of climate change. Despite these positive steps undertaken there is much more that the company can undertake to improve its corporate and social responsibility.

References

Brennan, D and Mullerat, R. (2005). Corporate social responsibility: the corporate governance of the 21st century. London: Kluwer Law International.

Dunning, S and Thumann, A. (2008). Plant engineers and managers guide to energy conservation. Georgia: The Fairmont Press.

Fellner, k. (2008). Wrestling with Starbucks: conscience, capital, cappuccino. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.

Henley, K. and Derickson, R. (2007). Awakening Social Responsibility: A Call to Action Guidebook for Global Citizens, Corporate and Nonprofit Organizations. Cupertino, USA: Happy About.

Wilcox, C. (2007). Recycling. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications.

Xomba. (2011). Starbucks Social Responsibility. C.A.F.E. Practices. Retrieved from: https://www.xomba.com/

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