Daily Decisions - Starbucks Head honcho advocates for politeness and corporate accountability (VISUAL)
Starbucks CEO Urges Companies to Balance Purpose with Profit
In a bid to promote optimism and unity, Howard Schultz, the chairman and CEO of Starbucks, sponsored a two-page advertisement in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal after the 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The advertisement, a continuation of the theme discussed at the meeting, emphasized the importance of choices individuals make every day and the role and responsibility of for-profit companies.
Addressing partners (employees), shareholders, and customers, Schultz urged companies to blend business success with social impact, focusing on ethical practices, community engagement, and fostering cooperation among people. He advocated that companies should recognize their social responsibilities and lead efforts that bring people together, promote fairness, and address societal issues alongside achieving financial goals.
Schultz compared the American Dream to a reservoir, stating that it is running dry due to cynicism, despair, division, exclusion, fear, and indifference. He suggested that citizens fill the reservoir back up with optimism, possibility, unity, inclusion, compassion, and love. The advertisement aimed to share a message of optimism for the future and was a call to action for individuals to make positive choices every day.
Notably, the advertisement did not contain any explicit advertisements for Starbucks products. This reflects Schultz’s broader vision of balancing purpose with profit, encouraging Starbucks and other corporations to act as conscious citizens, contributing to community wellbeing and ethical business conduct while growing their enterprises.
Schultz's leadership reflects this philosophy, as evident in his initiatives like encouraging employees to write “come together” on coffee cups to inspire political cooperation and his commitment to fair trade coffee, which benefits farmers fairly. His concerns about the direction America is heading and the cloud hanging over the American people were also evident in his speech.
In conclusion, Schultz's message at the 2016 Starbucks Annual Meeting emphasized that for-profit companies have a broader role and responsibility beyond just making money; they must act as responsible citizens who contribute positively to society. This call to action resonates with the current societal climate, encouraging individuals and corporations to make choices that foster unity, fairness, and social responsibility.
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Leadership at Starbucks, as exemplified by Howard Schultz, promotes a philosophy that encourages businesses to merge ethical practices and community engagement with business success in finance. This approach, in turn, aims to foster cooperation and address societal issues while achieving financial goals.
Moreover, Schultz's call to action encourages companies to recognize their social responsibilities and lead efforts in fostering unity, fairness, and social impact alongside pursuing profit in the business world.
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