Page 187 - The Starbucks Experience

PRINCIPLE 5

ducted our business. We believe we can offer insights for
others to model.”
As for leadership in specific areas of social responsibility,
Sandra adds, “On health care, we are talking about how we
are able to provide for our partners and why we think that’s
a good model for industry. We also want to offer our coffee-
purchasing guidelines to other coffee companies as a guide to
having sustainability in their relationships with coffee farm-
ers. And we’re looking to see if those buying principles can
be applied to the purchase of other agricultural commodities,
like cocoa, dairy products, and pulp for paper. It might lead
to a universal way to achieve sustainable agriculture. All of
this not only allows our partners to serve quality coffee and
create uplifting experiences, but actually helps them be a pos-
itive force for change in their world and—dare I say it—gives
172 them a chance to improve the world at large.”
Starbucks partners can make a difference on a large scale,
as witnessed by their actions following the massive tsunami
that struck southern Asia in 2005. In the immediate after-
math of the tsunami, Starbucks in-store partners in Phuket,
Thailand, gave thousands of baht (the local currency) of their
own money to the community to buy food, water, and cloth
to wrap victims’ bodies. The leadership in Thailand sup-
ported their efforts by having Starbucks stores in Thailand
proclaim a “Day of Giving,” during which 100 percent of
store profits were designated for relief. Globally, Starbucks
donated sizably to tsunami relief efforts and offered cus-
tomers opportunities to do so as well.
Through a commitment to social responsibility, Starbucks
leadership has opened possibilities for partners so that they
can have a more tangible impact on the broader world. By
guiding their staff members to think and act in ways that con-