Business Ethic ASS2

8/18/2019 Business Ethic ASS2

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Table of ContentsI. Introduction....................................................................................................2

II. Analysis.........................................................................................................2

Task 3.1 Assess the role of the company acting as moral agent........................2

Task 3.2 Analyze the development of mechanisms for achieving employee

involvement and empowerment........................................................................9

Task .3 !esign a suita"le ethical code...........................................................12

#tar"ucks $ode of %thics.............................................................................13

III. $onclusion.................................................................................................1

&i"liography.......................................................................................................1'

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I. Introduction

According $arroll currently) most of the "usiness is focused towards the affects created "ythe "usiness operational activities to the "usiness environment. In result of increased concern

towards the ethical concerns and increase in customer awareness) most of the "usinesses are

trying to promote their social values) in order ensure a"out the competitive advantage

*$arroll) 1999+ .It is noted that "usiness ethics try to em"race the corporate social

responsi"ility) along with ethics that associates with the marketing) accounting practices)

human resource management) as well as production. ,ood working environment depend

most on the ethics of that environment) the rules... and it will help to increase the efficiency

of a company. &esides) I also use case of violation "usiness ethics of #tar"ucks is one of the

most famous "rand in coffee "usiness in the world.

II. Analysis

Task 3.1 Assess the role of the company acting as moral agent

About Starbucks

#tar"ucks $orporation) doing "usiness as #tar"ucks $offee) is an American coffee company

and coffee house chain "ased in #eattle) -ashington. #tar"ucks is the

largest coffeehouse company in the world) with 22)// stores in /' countries and territories)

including 12)02 in the nited #tates) 1)93 in $hina) 1)9 in $anada) 1)121 in apan and

02' in the nited 4ingdom. *#tar"ucks $offee $ompany) 21+

Starbucks was established in 1971 by three local businessmen to sell high

quality whole beans cofee. In 1981 when Howard Schultz isited the store

he !lan to build a strong com!any and e"!and high quality cofee

business with the name o# Starbucks. Starbucks air is to !roide high

quality o# cofee to its consumer and aim to achiee !roduct innoation$

retail e"!ansion and !roide serice quality #or long term. Starbucks o!en

its %rst cofee store in Seattle$ &ashington. In 199' Starbucks e"!and its

headquarters in Seattle and also build a new roasting !lant. In 199's

Starbucks o!ens (' retails sho!s in )nited *ingdom. +t the end o# ,'''s

2 Analysis (

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doing_business_ashttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffeehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffeehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffeehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_coffeehouse_chainshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_coffeehouse_chainshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattlehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffeehousehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdomhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doing_business_ashttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffeehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_coffeehouse_chainshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattlehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffeehousehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom


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Starbucks total branches was -''. /ofee is one o# the ra!idly growing

industry in this world due to its business strategy. +ccording to national

cofee association$ )S+ 09 o# +merican age 18 and more drink cofee

beerage eery day. /ofee industry was in !eak o# its success at the endo# 199's. 2arget market means to select one or more market segment and

!roduct !osition. Starbucks also #ocus on consumer habits and share its

s!eciality o# cofee with the buyers. In the end o# ,'th century there are

many changes in market that hel!ed Starbucks getting success#ul. 2he

most im!ortant change o# the last twenty$ thirty years is the changes o#

economic !olicies oer the world. Starbucks target market was 18 years to

,0 years young !ro#essional because they are not yet been loyal with

cofee industry. Starbucks strategy com!rises to locate its stores at !icky

!laces such as the %rst 3oor o# blocks o# o4ces$ underground main

entrance and urban areas. Starbucks sales totally de!ends on com!any

o!erate retail stores and certi%ed retail o!erations$ Starbucks sells cofee

and tea !roducts through many others channels like distribution targeting

restaurants$ hotels$ colleges and uniersities and other work !laces.

+ccording to 5leisher 6 ensoussan ,'', Starbucks target market was

wealthy$ u!!er class and educated who are agree to !ay high !rices o#

Starbucks due to its high quality and customer serice.

• Structure

*21'+

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Starbucks has decentralized authority because they created decision:

making #or each manager. 2here are also lots o# stores around the world

and each store has diferent #rom the authority$ managers$ and

customers. So Starbucks will be an organization and its em!loyees tobehae in a 3e"ible way een as the organization grows and becomes

taller. 2his is the way managers are so interested in em!owering

em!loyees; i# they work good$ they can get good !osition$ and establish

cross:#unctional teams. 2hey are used to im!roe communication between

the em!loyee grou! who is res!onsible #or the !roduct and the grou! who

!roides the s!eci%c #unctional skill. 5or e"am!le Starbucks< cross:

#unctional teams could be someone #rom one de!artment being

res!onsible to work with an identi%ed !erson in making to sell the

!roduct; each de!artment within Starbucks will know the details o#

business actiities in the other de!artments.

• Culture

2he anthro!ological a!!roach toward identi#ying organizational culture is

shared by many organizational members with re#erence to status$ !ower$

authority$ rewards$ #riendshi! and res!ects &illco"son$ = and >illett$ $

1999. 2he organizational culture in Starbucks is #ocus on its teams. +ll

the com!anies hae their own teams$ teams re3ect the organizational

culture. Starbucks beliees return #or ha!!iness$ it means only i# the

customers satis%ed that they will back #or ne"t consum!tion$ only i# the

staf works with ha!!iness that can cause client consume in the #uture.

&e can use Starbucks< methods in building teams to see how they lead to

? return #or ha!!iness@. Starbucks /o!oration$ ,'1

About the ethical case

An 1-B$ a social network users !osted cli!s recorded scene girl named

Cuby /hen seres Starbucks staf were erbally abused badly. +ccording

to the share o# Cuby /hen$ as he walked into the store located on the

Dlmhurst$ Eueens$ she was called a 5ra!!uccino cu!. &hile o!en !ayment

a!!lications on mobile !hones$ #emale em!loyee asked her name but

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Cuby did not hear should not return. Immediately$ the staf hae oiced

rebuked her badly. Den these women also say; FGo away and neer come

back here againF while tugging hand scanner a!!lication. ot sto!!ing

there$ the #emale em!loyees also accused Cuby /hen stole a syringeshould ask your colleague to call the !olice. +ccording to Cuby /hens

e"!lanation$ she took large straws a#ter calling u! the ma! it acce!table.

&itness the s!ectacle$ many outraged customers and to de#end Cuby

/hen but were berated staf !ro#usely.

Shortly a#ter recording the cli! s!read$ the online community was really

!ressing #or em!loyees aboe. >any oiced su!!ort #or Cuby /hen and

ordered Starbucks to ofer !ro!er treatment measures. Howeer$ do not

wait too long$ the re!resentatie immediately a!ologized Starbucks did

her Cuby /hen about the incident. 2he com!any said the #emale

em!loyee in ideo sureillance is Just not the store manager. +nd

immediately a#ter the incident was discoered$ Starbucks has %red #emale

em!loyee. +ccom!any it$ Starbucks transmits a message that the content;

F2he #act that customers can not currently e"!eriencing quality o# our

serice. >anagers o# us are trying to contact the customer to a!ologize to

her. F2o the Cuby /hen$ she also con%rmed that Starbucks has #ormally

a!ologized and ofered her a gi#t card #or K 1''. 2he com!any also

!romised that similar incidents do not recur Starbucks$ ,'1.

Moral agent and Moral agency

+ moral agent is a being that is ?ca!able o# acting with re#erence to right

and wrong@ >oral agnet$ ,'1'. + moral agent is anything that can be

held res!onsible #or behaior or decisions. ?It is moral agents who hae

rights and res!onsibilities$ because it is moral agents whom we take to

hae choices and the !ower to choose@ lack /rayon$ ,''9. I# you do

not beliee that anything or anyone should eer be blamed or deemed

res!onsible$ then you are going against the idea o# moral agency$ and

denying the conce!t o# res!onsibilities and rights.

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Moral agency is an indiiduals ability to make moral Judgments based

on some commonly held notion o# right and wrong and to be held

accountable #or these actions +ngus$ ,''-.

How a moral agent act to guarantee moral principles

+ moral agent must be a liing creature$ as they must be able to

com!rehend abstract moral !rinci!les and a!!ly them to decision making.

2hey must hae ?sel#:consciousness$ memory$ moral !rinci!les$ other

alues$ and the reasoning #aculty$ which allows him to deise !lans #or

achieing his obJecties$ to weigh alternaties$ and so on@ >oral agent$

,'1. +ll o# your businesss decisions$ whether ethical or not$ will afect

the world$ starting with your em!loyees and your customers and

e"tending to the larger community. =ow wages will likely result in a low:

skilled or unha!!y work #orce. + !oorly made or dangerous !roduct could

harm a customer. >onitor the short: and long:term efects o# your

business decisions to ensure your organization im!acts the world in a

!ositie way. +lso$ in order to weigh the o!tions in decision making$ a

moral agent must ?attach a !ositie alue to acts that con#orm to his

moral !rinci!les and a !ositie alue to some o# the results that he can

achiee by iolating his moral !rinci!les@ Stan >ack and Lemand >edia$

,'1. &hen a !erson !er#orms or #ails to !er#orm a morally signi%cant

action$ we sometimes think that a !articular kind o# res!onse is

warranted. Mraise and blame are !erha!s the most obious #orms this

reaction might take Stan#ord Dncyclo!edia o# Mhiloso!hy$ ,'10.. 5or

e"am!le$ one who encounters a car accident may be regarded as worthy

o# !raise #or haing saed a child #rom inside the burning car$ or

alternatiely$ one may be regarded as worthy o# blame #or not haing

used ones mobile !hone to call #or hel!. 2o regard such agents as worthy

o# one o# these reactions is to regard them as res!onsible #or what they

hae done or le#t undone. I# all o# your alues could be easily and

immediately be achieed$ you would not hae to !ick between your moral

and non:moral goals$ and you could not !ractice moral agency.

Advantages and disadvantages to becoming moral agent

/ Analysis (

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moralityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethicshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moralityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics


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Advantages

usiness ethics ofer com!anies a com!etitie adantage. /onsumers

learn to trust ethical brands and remain loyal to them$ een during

di4cult !eriods. /onsumers may let a com!any take adantage o# them

once$ but i# they beliee they hae been treated un#airly$ such as by being

oercharged$ they will not be re!eat customers. Haing a loyal customer

base is one o# the keys to long:range business success because sering an

e"isting customer doesnedia$ ,'1. 5or e"am!le$ in 198,$ Nohnson

6 Nohnson s!ent oer K1'' million dollars recalling 2ylenol$ its best:selling

!roduct$ a#ter someone tam!ered with bottles o# the !ainkiller. 2he

com!any #ollowed its credo$ a set o# ethical organizational alues$ and the

result was a boost in consumer con%dence$ des!ite the contamination

scare. Society bene%ts #rom business ethics because ethical com!anies

recognize their social res!onsibilities Nudith Cehak$ ,'',. In addition to

becoming moral agent hel! the com!any retains good em!loyees$

talented indiiduals in organization be com!ensated #airly #or their work

and dedication$ career adancement within the organization to be based

on the quality o# the work they do and not on #aoritism or is become !art

o# a com!any whose management team tells them the truth about what is

going on$ such as when layofs or reorganizations are being contem!lated

rian Hill and Lemand >edia$ ,'1. +nd hel! com!any aoid legal

!roblems$ at times$ a com!anys management may be tem!ted to cut

corners in !ursuit o# !ro%t$ such as not #ully com!lying the !roisions o#

the law. 2he resulting negatie !ublicity can cause long:range damage to

the com!anys re!utation that is een more costly than the legal #ees or

%nes. /om!anies that maintain the highest ethical standards take the

time to train eery member o# the organization about the conduct that is

e"!ected o# them.

isadvantage

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usiness ethics reduce a com!anys #reedom to ma"imize its !ro%t. 5or

e"am!le$ a multinational com!any may moe its manu#acturing #acility to

a deelo!ing country to reduce costs. Mractices acce!table in that country$

such as child labor$ !oor health and sa#ety$ !oerty:leel wages andcoerced em!loyment$ will not be tolerated by an ethical com!any.

Im!roements in working conditions$ such as a liing wage and minimum

health and sa#ety standard$s reduce the leel o# cost:saings that the

com!any generates. Howeer$ it could be argued that the restrictions on

com!any #reedom bene%t wider society.

Application Moral Agent in Starbucks

5rom the case aboe$ although the s!eed o# the cli! s!read #ast sur#ace

but also acknowledged that the measures Starbucks also launched smart

handling and quick too. 2he result is that eerything had soon subsided

and the maJority o# customers are satis%ed with how to handle the

situation quickly$ equitable o# Starbucks and they continue to this chain.

Advantages #rom the handling o# Starbucks build customer loyalty

because haing a loyal customer base is one o# the keys to long:range

business success because sering an e"isting customer doesnt inole

marketing cost$ as does acquiring a new one. +nd can hel! it create a

more !ositie image in the market!lace$ which can bring in new

customers through word:o#:mouth re#errals. /onersely$ a re!utation #or

unethical dealings hurts the com!anys chances to obtain new customers$

!articularly in this age o# social networking when dissatis%ed customers

can quickly disseminate in#ormation about the negatie e"!erience they

had.

isadvantages! Handling o# the em!loyee giing the com!any a number

o# disadantages such as em!loyees and #amily members o# em!loyees

!arking #elt an aersion to the com!any$ the com!any will hae to s!end

time in handling em!loyee and while the em!loyee was %red em!loyee

!ositions will be le#t em!ty and the com!any would hae to s!end the

time and cost to %nd suitable staf #or staf !ositions hae been laid of$

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but although %nd a new em!loyee in that !osition the com!any well to

take costs into em!loyee training in order not to re!eat the e"!erience on.

Speci"c moral agent activities of Starbucks

2o become a moral agent com!any$ Starbucks should hae two elements;

legal res!onsibility and moral res!onsibility.

#egal responsibility

Ce#ers to a com!anyuch o# Starbucks< moral res!onsibility has reoled around the as!ect o#

im!roing the quality o# its !roducts and serices to its customer 5lynn$,''8 &hile analyzing this !ers!ectie #rom a an eco:e4ciency iew!oint$

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it can be deduced that Starbucks has stried to remain com!etitie in the

restaurant and ca#es industry by ofering good !rices$ !roducts$ as well as

serices that seek to im!roe the quality o# li#e consequently resulting in

enhanced customer satis#action. Starbucks has continuously embraced aalues:based serice towards its customers #or many years. 5rom the

com!any


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are aimed at enabling the #armers to mitigate climate change im!acts on

their res!ectie #arms Stabucks$ ,'10.

2hrough these e"am!les$ we can a4rm that Starbucks is a moral agent.

Task 3.$ Analy%e the development of mechanisms for achieving

employee involvement and empo&erment

e"nition

'mpo&erment is the conce!t in management that i# em!loyees are

gien in#ormation$ resources$ and o!!ortunity while being held res!onsible

#or their Job outcomes$ they will be more !roductie and hae higher Job

satis#action. Dm!owerment in >anagement; Le%nition 6 D"!lanation$

,'1

'mployee involvement can be de%ned as; 2he direct !artici!ation o#

staf to hel! an organization #ul%ll its mission and meet its obJecties by

a!!lying their own ideas$ e"!ertise$ and eforts towards soling !roblems

and making decisions. 5rom this de%nition$ !artici!ation can include

re!resentatie !artici!ation$ direct communication$ and u!ward !roblemsoling. &e will #ocus on the latter two categories because this article is

more about understanding outcomes$ tools$ and methods Cobert ullock

and Scontrino:Mowell$ ,'1.

The machanism to enhance employee involvement and

empo&erment

+bout the mechanism to !romote the em!loyee inolement andem!owerment in cor!orates$ there are - !rocesses; ethical culture$ ethical

leader$ code o# conduct building.

• 'thical culture

Dthical /ulture is a religion centered on ethics$ not theology$ whose

mission is to encourage res!ect #or humanity and nature and to create a

better world. >embers are committed to !ersonal ethical deelo!ment intheir relationshi!s with others and in actiities inoling social Justice and

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enironmental stewardshi!. >embers Join together in ethical societies to

assist each other in deelo!ing ethical ideas and ideals$ to celebrate li#es

Joys$ and su!!ort each other through li#es crises. Dthical culture aim at

the em!loyees$ it #ocuses on ethics$ encourages the members to showtheir res!ects to each others and com!any to create a new better working

enironment or ethical culture is the em!owerment$ eery em!loyees

must act in res!onsible ways. ysec$ n.d. &orking in an ethical culture$

em!loyees are also encouraged to inole in the com!any


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su!eriors also e"!ressed dimensional communication strong u!ward

Upward communication$ which is way communication hel!s em!loyees

can share their di4culties and e"!ress knowledge and new skills which

em!loyees hone is 2uan$ ,'1,.It was a#ternoon u!ward communicationwill increase the con%dence o# staf to their su!eriors and the com!any

2uan$ ,'1,. Celations with su!eriors as sticking the way communication

#rom the to! down Downward communication also strengthened$

threading #eedback as well as the !raise and recognition are

communicated to em!loyees to hel! them im!roe the e4ciency o# their

work as well as increased motiation to contribute to the organization.

• Code of conduct building

+ code of conduct is a set o# rules outlining the social norms and rules

and res!onsibilities o#$ or !ro!er !ractices #or$ an indiidual$ !arty or

organization. /ode o# conduct is a ty!e o# a document which hel!s !eo!le

in making decision. It is meant to clari#y an organizations mission$ alues

and !rinci!les$ linking them with standards o# !ro#essional conduct It

clears the mission$ ision and core alue o# a com!any and integrate them

to a standard ethics uilding Mro#essionals oard $ ,'1. ased on the

documented code o# ethics$ em!loyees will be enable to e"ert their control

!ower to ensure an ethical behaior o# their colleagues and also

com!any


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+ com!any


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!rocess and !artners are encouraged to ofer their iews on the

candidates< !otential com!atibility with the com!any. 2he com!anyission Ceiew 2eamFQcom!rised o# !artners #rom throughout the

com!anyQisits Starbucks outlets to reiew the consistency o# the stores<o!erations and the com!anyost large

businesses will hae a code o# conduct$ which are o#ten deelo!ed in

res!onse to legislation regulating business actiities and behaior or some

sort o# ethical scandal /ode o# usiness /onduct; Dthics$ Standards 6

D"am!les$ ,'1. /ode o# conduct is a ty!e o# a document which hel!s

!eo!le in making decision. It is meant to clari#y an organizations mission$

alues and !rinci!les$ linking them with standards o# !ro#essional conduct

It clears the mission$ ision and core alue o# a com!any and integrate

them to a standard ethics uilding Mro#essionals oard $ ,'1.

Code of ethics is a collection o# !rinci!les and !ractices that a business

beliees in and aims to lie by. + code o# business ethics usually doesnt

stand alone$ it works in conJunction with a com!anys mission statement

and more s!eci%c !olicies about conduct to gie em!loyees$ !artners$

endors$ and outsiders an idea o# what the com!any stands #or and how

its members should conduct themseles. + code o# ethics can hel! a

business determine its !riorities and alues. It can also hel! you down the

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line i# one o# your em!loyees or endors drags you into legal trouble

S!iro$ ,'1.

Starbucks Code of 'thics

Starbucks Mission; 2o ins!ire and nurture the human s!irit one !erson$

one cu!$ and one neighborhood at a time Starbucks /o!oration$ ,'1.

Here are the !rinci!les o# how they lie that eery day;

Co)ee; It has always been$ and will always be$ about quality. 2hey


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Shareholders; 2hey know that as they delier in each o# these areas$

they enJoy the kind o# success that rewards their shareholders. 2hey are

#ully accountable to get each o# these elements right so that Starbucks

and eeryone it touches can endure and thrie. Anward Starbucks$,'10.

III. Conclusion 2his assignment to understand the main ethical issues in the work !lace

and how the business could harmonize the ethics and its obJecties$ and

required by the business in order to consider and learn how the ethical

alues deelo!ment can im!act oer the behaior o# the business. 2he

re!ort also tries to identi#y the social im!lications related to business

ethics #or many actiities o# the business$ which create im!act oer the

com!any along with the e"ternal enironment. ut this assignment hae

#ocus on the work !lace like moral agent$ mechanism to achiee em!loyee

em!owerment and inolement$ and also tries to assist the e"tent to

which all the obJecties im!act the behaior and een try to ensure that

business obJecties are #ul%lled.

1 Analysis (


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,ibliographyAngus) T. *23+ 6Animals 7 %thics6) An Overview of the Philosophical Debate.

Peterborough, Ontario) p. 2.

Black Crayon *29+) 8nline:) Availa"le; http;


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&oral agnet *21+) 2 cto"er) 8nline:) Availa"le;

http;


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"tarucks *21'+) 8nline:) Availa"le;

http;

Business Ethic ASS2

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