Stakeholder Analysis

Y’all have probably been hearing about the unionization efforts happening at multiple Starbucks franchises around the country (Links to an external site.).  As a company that has prided itself on its employee benefits (Links to an external site.) and values/culture (Links to an external site.), top management seemed somewhat taken aback by these employee pushbacks that began in the year or two before the first vote for unionization occurred in a Starbucks in Buffalo, NY (Links to an external site.). Many media pundits and business analysts believe that Starbucks’ founder Howard Schultz was reinstated as interim CEO (Links to an external site.) in March 2022 primarily to deal with the apparent disgruntlement of Starbucks’ workers.

With the help of the articles linked below (as well as any others you want to use), you are to undertake a Stakeholder Analysis of Starbucks’ current situation that will lead you to offer recommendations as to how Howard Schultz should respond:

To do so a, please address (~8-10 pages) the following questions:  1) Who are Starbucks’ 5 most important stakeholders (explain why you included these five and excluded others) in this current situation, and what are their stakes?  2) What attributes (power, legitimacy, urgency) do these various stakeholders hold in this situation? How might relationships among the various stakeholders affect these attributes?  3) What economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities does Starbucks have to these various stakeholders in this situation, and why? 4) What specific actions (involve, collaborate, monitor or defend) should Starbucks take with each stakeholder group?  Be specific, and fully explain how the action you recommend for each stakeholder will help to solve the current situation.

https://fortune.com/2022/08/15/howard-schultz-union-trust-workers-starbucks-employment-leadership-aron-solomon/ (Links to an external site.)

https://time.com/6174931/jaz-brisack-2/ (Links to an external site.)

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/09/starbucks-ceo-howard-schultz-has-history-of-opposing-unions.html (Links to an external site.)

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/starbucks-loses-regional-argument-on-unionization-before-nlrb.aspx (Links to an external site.)

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/28/business/college-workers-starbucks-amazon-unions.html (Links to an external site.)

https://news.yahoo.com/starbucks-caffeinated-anti-union-efforts-120418579.html (Links to an external site.)

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jul/04/new-york-starbucks-closed-union-drive (Links to an external site.)

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/04/starbucks-anti-union-tactics (Links to an external site.)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/starbucks-hit-by-higher-costs-for-wages-and-supplies-but-u-s-consumer-demand-is-strong-11659472768?page=1 (Links to an external site.)

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/starbucks-has-a-problem-labor-experts-173502483.html (Links to an external site.)

https://prospect.org/labor/how-faux-progressive-starbucks-is-fighting-unionization/?s=09 (Links to an external site.)

https://fortune.com/2022/08/15/howard-schultz-union-trust-workers-starbucks-employment-leadership-aron-solomon/ (Links to an external site.)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/starbucks-alleges-federal-labor-officials-improperly-handled-union-elections-11660578183?page=1 (Links to an external site.)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/starbucks-sees-labor-bias-at-the-nlrb-national-labor-relations-board-union-legal-complaint-11660682323?page=1 (Links to an external site.)

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/23/starbucks-informs-workers-at-two-stores-of-closures-union-claims-retaliation.html (Links to an external site.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/02/unions-ceos-workers-together/ (Links to an external site.)

https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2022/starbucks-names-laxman-narasimhan-as-next-chief-executive-officer/ (Links to an external site.)

For ideas about how you might organize or structure your analysis, feel free to check out these exemplary stakeholder analysis submissions from previous semesters: