The CEO of Starbucks and the Practice of Ethical Leadership

1. Grather Facts: Two black men were arrested at a Starbucks in Philadelphia after they were caught waiting to meet a business associate.

2. Define Ethical Issue: They asked the two black men to leave and chose to call the police to arrest them when they refused to leave, which was an act of discrimination and racism.

3. Broadly Identify Affected Parties: Consumer, shareholders, executives, store managers & employees, investors

4. The Stakeholders Most Effected: Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson - faces leadership challenges. (Executives)

4.1. Employees: Are impacted by inclusion in the workplace.

4.2. Store Manager: Fired? No longer working in the store.

4.3. Shareholders: The company's stock price will fall in the short term.

5. Identify The Ethical Framework

5.1. Utilitarianism: Focus on delivering the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people—all stakeholders. Managers need to consider not only the impact of decisions on the company’s shareholders and executives, but also the impact of decisions on customers.

5.2. Virtue-based ethic: Virtue-based ethics focuses on individuals making moral decisions. Johnson issued an apology following the incident, saying he took full responsibility for his employees' actions. After apologizing, he traveled to Philadelphia to meet with the two men.

5.3. Stakeholder theory: Starbucks will temporarily close 8,000 stores for unconscious bias training. (The impact of a specific action on all the company's constituencies)

6. Other Ethical Issues: Need to focus on long-term moral responsibilities rather than just short-term interests.

7. Analyze: Does Johnson use Starbucks’ shared values ​​as the cornerstone of his decisions? Does his decision to close all stores for unconscious bias training and create a “third place” environment fit with Starbucks’ long-term goals?

8. Potential Solutions: Conduct unconscious bias training for employees and issue a new "Third Space Use Policy."

9. Best Solution or Suggestion: Help employees clarify whether their personal values ​​​​are consistent with the company? Clearly take responsibility for this incident and promote positive relationships between employees and customers.

10. FINAL Outcomes: Johnson handled this emergency perfectly, in line with the "golden rule" of crisis management: "1. validate concerns 2. show action 3. control the narrative". His handling also set an example for other companies to follow when encountering similar incidents. His leadership ability was demonstrated in this crisis public relations.