Starbucks ethics negative side Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Starbucks ethics negative side - Assignment Example Interest of the enterprises to follow and adopt business ethics as part of their functioning has fallen down during the recession period, with unethical practices indirectly leading to recession. (Purlys 711). Starbucks is under this ethical scanner for a long time, and now the global changes on how companies should function ethically, make it imperative on the part of Starbucks to be more ethically sound, but that is not the case, with Starbucks facing problems in organizing in the changing global environment. Although, Starbucks wants to establish itself as the most recognized and respected brand in the world, it is facing some ethical issues and it is negatively affecting its organizing efforts in the changing environment. Starbucks is facing criticism for unethical as well as controversial activities like not compulsorily providing Fair Trade Coffee in all its stores and because of the use of Bovine Growth Hormone milk in its coffees and ice-creams. Fair Trade Coffee is the term given to the coffee beans, which are purchased by Starbucks or other coffee makers through ethical means like providing fair and industry standard prices to the coffee growers in the Home country as well as in the Third World countries. Also, Fair Trade activities including Fair Trade Coffee support and intersect with other community development efforts, grounding and enhancing the resulting benefits (Raynolds, Murray and Taylor 1116). However, Starbucks is accused of not selling these Fair Trade coffees in all its stores compulsorily, instead selling only to the clients, who ask for it or demand it. This way, they still selling non-Fair Trade coffees and because of this unethical practice, they are giving very low prices to the farmers, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt, and also not doing enough community services for them. Although, Starbucks’ chairman, Howard Schultz mandated that coffee farmers from its major sources in the African countries