1). As a company, Starbucks is an excellent example of how to be a corporation that is socially responsible. Based on Starbucks' responsibility report they are making many efforts to be more socially and environmentally conscious by stating goals for numerous issues. The corporation has taken social responsibility to a global level. Domestically, Starbucks has implemented foundations; many of these foundations are helping people in dire situations.
In addition to charity foundations, the company initiates several service projects and strives to make the worldwide community a better place. The coffee they purchase is Fair Trade certified, helping the suppliers, local communities and countries that it purchases from. A major goal of Starbucks is to ethically source 100% of its coffee by 2015. According to the 2012 Responsibility Report, 93% of its coffee sold was ethically sourced. Approximately 90% of this was done through Coffee and Farmer Equity (CAFE) practices. CAFE is a "comprehensive coffee-buying program that ensures coffee quality while promoting social, economic and environmental standards " which was developed through collaboration with Conservation International, a non-profit organization dedicated to environmental sustainability (Starbucks, 2012).
A concept of corporate sustainability is sustainable development; this is described as "development that met the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs " (Wilson, 2003, p.2). As mentioned previously, Starbucks has invested a lot of time and money into their projects outside of their coffee shops. The organization has a program that funds farmers to start coffee businesses. This fund allows farmers to own their own business, which in turn creates jobs and opportunities in their countries. The goal of the program is to invest in farmers and their communities by increasing farmer loans to $20 million by 2015.
