Taking A Look At Starbucks's Global Responsibility

Starbucks has instituted a Global Responsibility Report, an annual document created by to highlight the company’s activities in CSR. The report is publicly available on the company website and provides and in-depth look at the corporate CSR program. This report covers activities in the three pillar areas of Starbucks’ CSR program, progress on stated goals, and what lies ahead for the company in its CSR efforts. The three concepts of people, environment, and community can cover a wide range of CSR ambitions and goals. Starbucks has primarily looked to its employees, suppliers, and customers since the 2008 transformation agenda. This has evolved into the creation of three pillars of CSR (Vandeveld, 2015). These three pillars of CSR are

Starbucks focuses on green retail by promoting recycling, minimizing environmental impacts, conserving water and natural resources. Starbucks also seeks to build and maintain Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certified stores, a rating by the US Green Building Council recognizing companies for environmental performance (Global Responsibility Report, 2014). In 2008, they began to use LEED certification not just for flagship stores and larger buildings, but for all new, company-operated stores. Even though they’ve been able to integrate green building design not only into new stores but also into existing stores, not all stores are certified. Since they have the capability for a practical certification option for retailers of all sizes, they should continue moving forward to have all stores certified (Starbucks, 2015). Starbucks has a robust and respected CSR program. Starbucks has shown that Financial Times reporter Thomas Donaldson (2005) was correct when he said “Corporate social responsibility means doing business with integrity and fairness – and it may even improve the bottom line” (pg. 1). Starbucks has had another stellar year of financial performance and the corporate CSR program has been an integral part of this

An institutional theory of corporate social responsibility,” the argument is made that “firms whose financial performance is weak are less likely to engage in socially responsible corporate behavior, conventionally defined, than firms whose financial performance is strong” (Campbell, 2007, p.952). Campbell makes the contrast with less profitable firms that “have fewer resources to spare for socially responsible activities than firms that are more profitable” (Campbell, 2007, p.952). That is not to say that smaller companies do not fit the model of corporate responsibility. In fact, it seems likely that if Starbucks had simply remained a small Seattle coffee shop, its devotion to corporate responsibility would simply be realized on a smaller scale. Starbucks growth has simply given it the capacity to participate in many social activities and programs to a higher degree. It has made myriad efforts to establish and maintain a clean bill of health for being a socially responsible organization (Reis, 2009, p. 204). In order to continue to maintain its CSR status, Starbucks must keep key Stakeholder interest at the forefront of corporate strategy. Starbucks has realized much success in its CSR efforts but as with all things, there is room for improvement. More attention is needed to address issues with some of their main stakeholders– the environment, employees, and the