Starbucks Company. Audit Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Starbucks Company. Audit Report - Essay Example In this report, the focus is on ethical dilemmas in Starbucks Company. As at October 2011, Starbucks has 149, 000 employees, operating over 17, 000 Coffee Shops globally, spread in approximately 40 countries (Hoovers, 2011, p.1). Out of the outlets, The United States accounts for most of the outlets, meaning that the country forms the base of the company’s operations (Hoovers, 2011, p.1). The relative importance of the ethical dilemmas and the ways, in which the company deals with the dilemmas, shows its strength. Mostly, ethical organisations achieve success in their business undertaking and corporate citizenship. The combined factors have led to the success in Starbucks Company. Despite the improvements, which the company has made on its corporate ethics, there are various ethical dilemmas that it faces. 2.0 Ethical Dilemmas in the Company In essence, the ethical dilemmas of the company could be understood well using the stakeholder’s analysis to unveil the truth. Literally, stakeholder’s analysis is the detailed consideration of the people within, or outside the company whose influence in the business operation is significant. According to Crane and Matten (2010:62) â€Å"a stakeholder is a individual or a group which is either is harmed by or benefits from, the corporation; or whose rights can be violated or have to be respected by the corporation† ... The stakeholders, both internal and external are regarded as important since they contribute to the development of the company. In fact, the company has full influence on the stakeholders to maintain their public image. The chairman refers to the stakeholders of the company as skilled work-force in coffee industry. As an International company, the stakeholders embrace diversity of intellect, race, colour, taste, and religion without any form of discrimination, or prejudice. As any other company, Starbucks face a lot of ethical challenges during their operations. Those challenges either impact negatively or positively on the stakeholders and the communities of operation. Some of the ethical dilemmas facing the company include protection of private information, intellectual property, diversity and conflict of interest. The issues have been ranked according to their impact on the stakeholders. Rank Issue Stakeholder Why this issue has been ranked in this position 1 Data from customers C ustomers They are the most important Stakeholders. 2 Intellectual property Employees They make the organistion operate daily. 3 Diversity Employees They make the organistion operate daily. 4 Conflict of Interest Suppliers They supply necessities to the organisation. 2.1 Customers - Private Information being Held on Customers One of the ethical dilemmas that the company faced was the need to protect the information received from the clients concerning the business ethics and adherence to compliance requirements. Since data were collected from, the customers could threaten personal security, there was need to protect the identity and security of the person disclosing the data. Indeed, the information might threaten a person’s safety if confidentiality of the data is