Diversity management in the workplace is a strategy to improve diversity and inclusion through policies, procedures, and programs (Cañas & Sondak, 2014). Starbucks is a corporation that sells coffee, tea, and food items within coffeehouses as well as in-store items. This paper will examine Starbucks Corporation’s diversity strategy and offer suggestions to improve the approach to increasing morale, revenue, and production.
Background
In 1971, Starbucks opened its doors as a small coffeehouse in Seattle, Washington (Ruzich, 2008). Howard Schultz purchased Starbucks in 1987 and began expanding his vision of neighborhood coffeehouses across American communities (Starbucks Corporation, 2015a). As of June 28, 2015, there were 22,519 Starbucks stores across the globe (Starbucks Corporation, 2015b). Starbucks stores sell coffee, tea, and food items including sandwiches, pastries, and fruit.
“Our mission to inspire and …show more content…
The conversations started with baristas writing “Race Together” or placing stickers with the same message on coffee cups (2015e). The campaign had its friends as well as its foes. Critics of the campaign accused the Starbucks Corporation of capitalizing on tragedy and did not comprehend the connection between selling coffee and discussing race (Beaubien, 2015). The argument against the Race Together campaign is similar to the contention with Starbucks’ standard advertising promotion; the utilization of language creates a façade of caring when in reality the corporation is yearning for another dollar (Ruzich, 2008). Schultz knew not everyone would receive his Race Together efforts with open arms; nonetheless, he believed the topics of race and diversity were important enough to commence the dialogue and try to make a difference (Beaubien,