Engaging in CSR Activities for Starbucks - Research Paper Example

Engaging in CSR Activities for Starbucks Executive Summary Engaging into CSR activities has become the legal and ethical norms for most businesses in almost all countries across the globe. Starbucks as a multinational brand has engaged into many such activities. However, the issue of recycling of paper cups in the outlets has been subject to controversy. This paper makes an attempt to look into the issue and draw possible inferences from the point of view of the various stakeholders of the issue. Introduction Starbucks is a popular name in the coffee chain industry and has industry presence in more than 62 countries of the world. The company is headquartered in Seattle and has more than twenty thousand stores in different locations of the world. The coffee chain along with the main product coffee which comes in various forms also serves snacks and pastries. The stores sell packaged food as well as other merchandise that are used as materials for the promotion of the brand like coffee mugs (Pendergrast 133). Though mostly based in the US, Starbucks has ventured into the other countries as well like Japan, Canada, South Korea, Thailand, Mexico, Germany , China and many other countries. The company over the years of its existence has taken part into various CSR activities which has brought the brand into the limelight. These activities have varied across the various social issues including environmental protection, caring for the coffee producers, practicing fair trade as well as selling products for the sake of collecting money for children in need (Warner 1). Issue Identification The company as a part of its environmental sustainability measures started the use of the paper cups which were claimed to be made of the recycled paper. Thus the food and the beverages were coming in contact with this recycled paper cups. These recycled materials were being used not only in the cups but also in the in the cardboard carriers and the napkins. The company claimed that it would have a direct impact on the environment and would be able to save almost 5 million pounds of tree fiber every year (Tice 1). This was a positive step on part of the company from the sustainability point of view. However, the company came across a lot of controversy since the cups are made of materials that have been used before by other customers (Taylor 49). Thus there were hygiene and safety issues relating to the use of such used materials. It was claimed by a set of people that Starbucks had not taken the permission of Food and Drug Administration before taking such a step that could harm the health of the consumers. Thus the question that came up was how much Starbucks was being able to deliver the social responsibility goals that it had set and what were the consequences of the steps taken. Issue significance The issue is important from various respects because the health of the customers of Starbucks were at stake. First of all, the cost that was incurred by the company in the process of recycling was pushed to the customers who were buying the coffee. If it was a case of CSR then the recycling cost should have been borne by Starbucks. But the activist groups were of the opinion that the company evaded such costs. Secondly, the material that was used by one individual was given to another person (Bryant 173). This could lead to various health problems that would not comply with the hygiene standards. Thirdly, the company had not taken the approval of the FDA which was mandatory on part of the company. Finally, the customers’ opinions were not considered while taking this decision of implementing the use of cups made of recycled paper (Locke and Latham 73). Thus from the economic, legal, social, moral and ethical point of view the step was not appropriate. Identifying the stakeholders In order to identify the stakeholders and their relative interest and power in the issue a stakeholder map has been drawn and their relative importance has been plotted as below. In the above map it can be seen that for the customers both interest and power is high. This is because of the fact that their health and safety are most important and they may take legal actions in case their interests are at stake. Thus the company has to take immense care to manage the customers (Fletcher et al. 515). Their willingness to support the particular method of CSR would only ensure the success of the strategy. The activist group would be the ones who would have high interest in the issue but their power would be limited. The FDA being a monitoring body would have a lot of power but less amount of interest. Finally, the companies that are engaged in the process of recycling the used cups would have low power and interest in the issue. Therefore this group has to be monitored well so that they do the work of recycling in the most efficient and hygienic way possible (Schwartz 8). Recommendations The best option that is available to the company is to make use of the recycled paper in those parts like the tray papers, bags or the other parts of the packaging that would not come in direct contact with the food. The inner parts of the cups or the boxes in which food and beverage would be served should be made out of virgin paper only. Any kind of hesitation in the minds of the consumers regarding the cleanliness or the hygiene of the serving material would hamper the sales of Starbucks products. Along with that the cost that is incurred by the company in the process of recycling should be borne by the company (Davis and Blomstrom 41). CSR is a part of the activities of a business and such costs should be on the company’s account otherwise it cannot be counted as an activity pertaining to corporate social responsibility. Possible implications If these policies are implemented the consumers would be more assured about the credibility of Starbucks. The business managers should look into the proper processing of the recycled materials before they are given a proper shape for a second use. The company would be freed from the different types of allegations brought by the activist groups by abiding by the legal standards from the short run point of view (Mellahi and Wood 22-34). From the long term point of view the company would be able to deliver a CSR activity that would help in the sustainability of the environment and would save the trees. Works Cited Bryant, Simon. Everything but the Coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009. Print. Davis, K. and R.L. Blomstrom. Business and Society: Environment and Responsibility. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975. Print. Fletcher, Anne et al. "Mapping Stakeholder Perceptions for a Third Sector Organization." Journal of Intellectual Capital 4.4 (2003): 505 – 527. Print. Locke, Edwin A,. and Gary P. Latham. A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1990. Print. Mellahi, Kamel, and Geoffrey Wood. The Ethical Business – Challenges and Controversies. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2002. Print. Pendergrast, Mark. Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World. New York: Basic Books, 2001. Print. Schwartz, Mark S. Corporate Social Responsibility: An Ethical Approach. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 2011. Print. Taylor, Clark. Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce and Culture. London: Hachette UK, 2013. Print. Tice, Carol. “How Starbucks Will Make Millions Off Its New, Reusable Cup.” Forbes. January17, 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. . Warner, Melanie. “Starbucks Will Use Cups With 10% Recycled Paper.” The New York Times. Business. November 17, 2004. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. . Read More