Starbucks and Corporate Social Responsibility - Case Study Example

Running Head: Starbucks and corporate social responsibility Starbucks and corporate social responsibility of the of the institution] Starbucks and corporate social responsibility Introduction Starbucks has intrducd a bttld watr prduct namd ths, sals f which will cntribut t hlping allviat th wrld watr crisis. Th prduct fits in wll with Starbucks' attmpts t play th crprat scial rspnsibility card and is als 'n-trnd' as it capitalizs n th thical cnsumrism mvmnt and th grwing ppularity f bttld watr in lin with halthy ating trnds. Starbucks [SBUX] has takn up th caus fr saf drinking watr, rlling ut ths acrss its US strs. With plans t dnat fiv cnts pr bttl sld, th cmpany is hping t cntribut $10 millin vr th nxt fiv yars t bst clan-watr supplis in prr cuntris. ths was acquird by Starbucks in April but has bn availabl in th US fr sm tim, in strs such as Whl Fds. This rlativ brand familiarity and th prcptin f it bing stablishd indpndntly f a glbal playr lik Starbucks may hlp initial markting ffrts. Th caus-rlatd markting initiativ cmplmnts Starbucks' rcnt fcus n incrasing its cmmitmnt t scially rspnsibl practics, including prviding thically-prducd cff. Caus-rlatd prjcts hav bcm an incrasingly ppular way f cnncting with cnsumrs as thy tap int shard attituds and valus. (Barr, 2007, 234-67) Starbucks and crprate scial respnsibility xplanatin Th Starbucks Crpratin, a Sattl, WA basd cff hus, fllws sm fairly standard practics fr mting tday's thics and cmplianc. Fr businsss t rmain cmptitiv and hld rspct frm bth th businss wrld and its custmrs, a businss must striv t mt and vn xcd th lgal and thical standards that hav bcm th xpctatin tday. Starbucks mts ths bligatins by fllwing its wn cd f thics alng with mting th lgal rquirmnts and th xpctatins f its custmrs and invstrs. (Jams, 2005, 72-89) Rl f thics and CmpliancTh rl f thics and cmplianc in Starbucks financial rganizatin is up frnt and wvn int th backbn f th cmpany. All partnrs must nsur th accuracy and intgrity f Starbucks crprat rcrds.Mst imprtantly this includs rliability and accuracy f bks and rcrds, as wll as hnsty in disclsurs and in prviding infrmatin. Financial rcrds, bks f accunts, financial statmnts and rcrds f Starbucks ar maintaind in accrdanc with th rquirmnts f law and gnrally accptd accunting principls. All f Starbucks assts and liabilitis ar prprly rcrdd in its financial rcrd bks. Csts and rvnus ar rcrdd in th right tim prids. Th sal has nt fficially bn cmpltd until thr is vidnc f a sals agrmnt, th titl has passd, and th sals pric can b dtrmind and is rasnably cllctibl (Starbucks 2009). Accrding t Starbucks principals rcrding a sal until thn, wuld b a misrprsntatin f rcrds. Starbucks blivs that cnducting businss thically and striving t d th right thing is vital t th succss f th cmpany (Jams, 2005, 72-89) Fr th third yar in a rw, thisphr Magazin has namd Starbucks as n f th Wrld's Mst thical Cmpanis. thisphr cnductd data analyss n hundrds f cmpanis basd n thir rspnss t svral survys, as wll as dcumnts and infrmatin rsarchd and rqustd by thisphr t cnfirm survy rspnss. vry cmpany was thn givn an Q scr basd n th rsults f th survy and masurd against svn distinct catgris. Ths catgris wr Crprat Citiznship and Rspnsibility; Crprat Gvrnanc; Innvatin that Cntributs t th Public Wll Bing; Industry ladrship; xcutiv Ladrship and Tn frm th Tp; Lgal, Rgulatry and Rputatin Track Rcrd; and Intrnal Systms and thics/Cmplianc Prgram (Jams, 2005, 72-89) Starbucks thical Bhavir PrcdursStarbucks has bn succssful thrughut th past dcad by cnducting businss with a strng blif in thical bhavir. As a rsult, Starbucks has arnd a rputatin as an industry ladr and rl mdl in rgards t businss thics. It is n surpris that Starbucks has bn rankd as n f "Wrld's Mst thical Cmpanis" by thisphr magazin fr thr yars in a rw(Jams, 2005, 72-89)Th fundatin f Starbucks rganizatinal cultur is utlind in th Standards f Businss Cnduct Manual. It is usd as a larning tl fr nw rcruits and can b usd as a rfrnc manual during daily pratins. Cmpany rfrncs play a significant rl in aiding mplys, maintaining cmpany cultur, and nfrcing cmpany plicy. Pllutin and starbucks ne is risk management. By ding this type f thing, yu can avid lawsuits. There was actually a very interesting analysts' reprt prduced by sme equity analysts at Unin Bank f Switzerland recently n the issue f pllutin. This was nt by an envirnmental grup. Let me repeat, this was by sme fairly hard-nsed equity analysts at UBS in their Lndn ffice. They basically came up with the fllwing argument. They said: When a cmpany pllutes, this frequently, thugh nt always, leads t litigatin; thse wh are damaged by the pllutin will litigate. If it desn't lead t litigatin, it ften leads t plitical unhappiness and eventually t regulatin f sme srt r ther. Starbucks want t knw abut a cmpany's pllutin recrd. Starbucks believe that when a cmpany states its liabilities n its balance sheet, it shuld list its recrd f pllutin, and pllutin shuld be treated in the same way as what are called in accunting cntingent liabilities." Cntingent liability is smething which has the capacity t becme a liability under certain circumstances. The classic example is a derivatives psitin f ne srt r anther, which are very tpical at the mment. S these guys at UBS Starbucks re arguing that basically pllutin shuld be treated like a derivative, it is smething which culd becme a liability under certain circumstances, and therefre cmpanies need t make statements abut their pllutin and abut the ptential liabilities assciated with that when they state their balance sheets. This is emphasizing the pint that minimizing pllutin can be seen as a way f reducing risks t which a cmpany is expsed, reducing lawsuits r reducing regulatry risks. Th Safty, Scurity, and Halth Standards Cmpany Manual prvids imprtant cmpany plicy ssntial t prmting businss thics. Th Starbucks tll-fr Standards f Businss Cnduct Hlplin is availabl 24 hurs a day. Mst imprtantly, th callr may rmain annymus. In additin, th cmpany will nt tlrat any backlash shuld th callr's idntity is rvald. In vry cas applicabl, Starbucks will cnduct thir wn full invstigatin n all mattrs f cnflict. Th invstigatin will b cnductd with prfssinalism and withut bias. In spcial cass, Starbucks will invlv th Crprat Cmplianc Prgram and th Law, and/r Crprat Affairs dpartmnt. In additin, th Partnr Rsurcs Dpartmnt is anthr rsurc availabl t rslv cnflicting mattrs. (Jams, 2005, 72-89) vrall thr prcdurs f thical bhavir ar vidnt at Starbucks in thr aspcts f businss als. Fr xampl, th cff srving cmpany mbracs divrsity. In fact, Starbucks uss it as a cmptitiv businss advantag vr thir cmptitrs. Starbucks ds nt prmt r ncurag in any way th us f bribry r kickbacks t anyn. In similar fashin, th cmpany is clar and adamant abut disapprving f "insidr trading" and/r "tipping". As a rsult, any vilatin f th ruls will caus fr immdiat dismissal. In rgard t intrnatinal businss, Starbucks is cmmittd t cmply with bth th Frign Crrupt Practics Act and th rganizatin fr cnmic Cpratin and Dvlpmnt. Starbucks thical plicis ar cratd t apply t a varity f businss situatins including intrnatinal businss. (Atkins, Michal 2007, 123-54) SC CmpliancStarbucks is rgistrd with th Natinal Assciatin f Scuritis Dalrs r NASD and is tradd publicly undr th symbl SBUX. All publicly tradd cmpanis ar rquird t cmply with Th Scuritis and xchang Cmmissin (SC) rgulatins. Pr th U.S Scuritis and xchang Cmmissin wb sit (2009):"Th laws gvrning th scuritis industry ar:Scuritis Act f 1933Scuritis xchang Act f 1934Trust Indntur Act f 1939Invstmnt Cmpany Act f 1940Invstmnt Advisrs Act f 1940Sarbans-xly Act f 2002"Starbucks' ffrt t mt ths rquirmnts is vry clar. Th SC filings ar radily availabl n th Starbucks wbsit. Ths includ th 10-K Annual Rprt, th 10-Q Quartrly Rprts, 8-K Currnt Rprts and svral Frm 4 Statmnts f changs in bnficial wnrship f scuritis (Atkins, Michal 2007, 123-54) Includd in th 10-K filing fr fiscal yar nding Sptmbr 28, 2008, Starbucks Crpratin ntd Disclsur Cntrls and Prcdurs. This itm dscribs Starbucks practics as:Th Cmpany maintains disclsur cntrls and prcdurs that ar dsignd t nsur that matrial infrmatin rquird t b disclsd in th Cmpany's pridic rprts fild r submittd undr th Scuritis xchang Act f 1934, as amndd (th "xchang Act"), is rcrdd, prcssd, summarizd and rprtd within th tim prid spcifid in th SC's ruls and frms.( Itm 9A, )In additin thy rfrnc xhibits 31.1 and 31.2, includd in thir Annual Rprt (Starbucks, 2009), which ar xcutiv crtificatins cratd spcifically t mt th Crprat fficr acknwldgmnt rquirmnts f th Sarbans-xly Act. Bth th Principal xcutiv fficr and th Principal Financial fficr ar rquird t sign ff n th Annual Rprt. This stp is t crtify thir rviw f th dcumnt and its cntnts nsuring t th bst f thir knwldg that it cmplis with th lgal rquirmnts f th filing. (Atkins, Michal 2007, 123-54) Cnclusin Spcifically, ths aims t hlp childrn gain accss t clan watr. Accrding t figurs qutd by USA Tday, narly a fifth f th wrld's ppulatin lacks saf drinking watr. Givn this, it is prhaps unsurprising that Prctr & Gambl is als fcusing n th crisis with its Pur systm. Als imprtant frm Starbucks' prspctiv is th fact that ths will add t th divrsity f prducts ffrd. Cnsumrs ftn purchas ht and cld drinks simultanusly and watr is frquntly chsn t allviat th thirst-inducing ffcts f cff. Th fact that grwth f bttld watr sals in th US is cntinuing unabatd prvids furthr ptimism abut ths' intrductin frm a cmmrcial prspctiv. Indd, th US bttld watr markt is frcast t b wrth $18.9 billin in 2009, up frm $13.8 billin in 2004. Finally, althugh critics wuld suggst that many rganizatins' cmmitmnts t charitabl causs ar mrly attmpts t assist th bttm lin, th multi-millin dllar dnatins f cmpanis such as Starbucks will hpfully mak a diffrnc t th livs f ths in nd. (Atkins, Michal 2007, 123-54) References Barr, Greg (2007). "Star Bock Beer case runs dry as high court denies petition". Houston Business Journal. James, Andrea (2005). "Rollergirls bump up against Starbucks", The Seattle Post-Intelligencer Atkins, Michael (2007,. Records Show Starbucks Hasn't Yet Opposed Rollergirls' Mangi, (2003). "Starbucks coffee denies partnership in Pakistan". Daily News Read More