FIN/370 Week 2 Team
Starbucks’ Ethics and Compliance Paper
Ethical behavior within a company is very important to its future and success. This type of behavior is not just important for the employees to follow, but for the entire company. In 2001, a failing company called Enron was involved in numerous unethical behaviors. For example, Enron’s Chief Financial Officer temporarily suspended their “code of ethics” not once, but twice in order to partake in personal financial gain. Enron’s actions eventually resulted in bankruptcy and assisted with the creation of a new set of guidelines for companies to follow. The so-called guidelines were called the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Titman, S., Keown, A.J., & Martin, J.D. 2011). The SOX helped institute a set of rules for companies to follow, one being the creation and compliance of a code of ethics within every company. One company that seems to do a very good job with complying with the guidelines of SOX is Starbucks Corp. They have a strong program set in place to support their mission of making ethical decisions at work. The use of their program “Business Ethics and Compliance” might just be the very reason why their SEC filings show a relatively successful business.
Financial Environment
In regards to the finance environment, Starbucks plays an active role in ethics and compliance. Not only are their employees offered ways to voice concerns of unethical issues in the work place, but also Starbucks’ partners as well. Starbucks holds a meeting every year for their shareholders in order to review the yearly performance, vote on issues, and voice their concerns about the company. Starbucks’ ethics program is setup in a way that helps integrate and network ethical business practices on all levels of the company. For six years now, Starbucks has been named among the world’s most ethical companies and to this day is still going strong (Business Ethics and Compliance. 2012).
Ethical Behavior Procedures
* Starbucks vision and values business
Ethical behavior within a company is very important to its future and success. This type of behavior is not just important for the employees to follow, but for the entire company. In 2001, a failing company called Enron was involved in numerous unethical behaviors. For example, Enron’s Chief Financial Officer temporarily suspended their “code of ethics” not once, but twice in order to partake in personal financial gain. Enron’s actions eventually resulted in bankruptcy and assisted with the creation of a new set of guidelines for companies to follow. The so-called guidelines were called the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Titman, S., Keown, A.J., & Martin, J.D. 2011). The SOX helped institute a set of rules for companies to follow, one being the creation and compliance of a code of ethics within every company. One company that seems to do a very good job with complying with the guidelines of SOX is Starbucks Corp. They have a strong program set in place to support their mission of making ethical decisions at work. The use of their program “Business Ethics and Compliance” might just be the very reason why their SEC filings show a relatively successful business.
Financial Environment
In regards to the finance environment, Starbucks plays an active role in ethics and compliance. Not only are their employees offered ways to voice concerns of unethical issues in the work place, but also Starbucks’ partners as well. Starbucks holds a meeting every year for their shareholders in order to review the yearly performance, vote on issues, and voice their concerns about the company. Starbucks’ ethics program is setup in a way that helps integrate and network ethical business practices on all levels of the company. For six years now, Starbucks has been named among the world’s most ethical companies and to this day is still going strong (Business Ethics and Compliance. 2012).
Ethical Behavior Procedures
* Starbucks vision and values business
References: Business Ethics and Compliance. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information/business-ethics-and-compliance Starbucks. (2012). Goals & Progress: Ethical Sourcing. Retrieved from http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/global-report/ethical-sourcing Starbucks. (2012). Our Starbucks Mission Statement. Retrieved from http://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information/mission-statement * Starbucks. (2011). Starbucks Global Responsibility Report. Retrieved from http://globalassets.starbucks.com/assets/c007fb25782442ac8283b154364c1016.pdf Starbucks. (2012). Annual SEC Report. Retrieved from http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/829224/000082922412000007/sbux9302012x10k.htm?&lang=en_us&output=json&sessionid=b8b8d8789fa561d3a28e0e8364892091#s5DEA4EAA7E24474BF2FEFE18445B0D7 Titman, S., Keown, A.J., & Martin, J.D. (2011). Financial management: Principles and applications (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. (September 30, 2012). Starbucks Corporation Form 10-K. Retrieved from http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/829224/000082922412000007/sbux9302012x10k.htm?&lang=en_us&output=json&sessionid=b8b8d8789fa561d3a28e0e8364892091