Category Archives: Ethics

These posts will be added to our Student Work menu item. This category should be used for submitting posts for our Week B Assignment.

ethics writing assignment

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Jaydon Brizan

11/4/2023

Prof. Buckley

Mar 100-B050

 

For this assignment I have chosen the company Nike. I picked Nike because I personally like the brand and always wore it. Nike ethically seems to have good morals and practices from the research I did. Nike is very big on equal opportunity and non-discrimination against any race, religion, or sex or anything else that may define you. They also believe in zero tolerance for harassment and any report would result in a timely mannered investigation and corrective action if violation is committed. Nike also believes in providing safe and healthy work environments and believes all of Nike should follow health laws and regulations. As far as their social responsibility goes Nike believes they are not only driven to do by law but also what’s expected of a leader. Nikes corporate social responsibility and sustainability program says that their company’s core belief that “sports can change the world for the better.” Nike leverages the unifying power of sports to promote its CSR agenda in three key areas: diversity and inclusion, community investment, and environmental sustainability. Nike has done good things like since 2021 had sustainability goals, with the aim of reducing carbon emissions and creating long lasting products that have a minimal impact on the environment. First came the sneakers and swimwear crafted from recycled waste plastics. They have focused heavily on creating, maintaining and exceeding ethical business practices among communities where their factories for production are located.  Nike has donated as well in addition to the investment from NIKE, Inc., Jordan Brand and Michael Jordan donated $100 million during the next 10 years. 

As far as recommendations go, I don’t really have any. Nike seems to have their goal, and everything set out. Nike in my opinion really values their employees, love to give back, and how the business conducts itself. They also seem to also care about the environment but still care about their products’ quality and high performance. Seeing how big Nike is feeling that they definitely do as much as they can from what I have seen. I believe any more practices would just be extra. Nike has shown efforts in many areas.

Ethics Discussion, Starbucks

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Ephrem Davis

Prof. Buckley

MAR 100

3 November 2023

          Starbucks has been a huge name for coffee, and a chain that the average college student turns their head to first, for barista jobs–or for a pre lecture latte. Though it’s common knowledge that it is a powerhouse, and household name for coffee, upon visiting their website you are immediately met with their value proposition: “Committed to Transparency, People, Planet, and Coffee.” Following this is a long list of credentials illustrating an endless number of ways the company has engaged with activism, and highlighting their humanitarian efforts. The franchise boasts their all-around participation in modern movements, fighting child labor, combating hunger, and even their very own “Starbucks Foundation” that partakes in extensive community outreach across disaster-stricken communities. With all this in mind: it is undeniable that they value their corporate social responsibility. With stores across the globe and endless resources, I would expect nothing else from the world’s leading brand in coffee-yet in recent news we have seen conflicting morals between the company and its consumers led by upset members of “Starbucks Workers United” following political remarks from the union–and a court case from the big franchise. 

          Within the past few weeks, a dizzying array of media has emerged following the devastating recent war in the Middle East, and it seems this conflict has already reached our local business-scape with consumers leaving no rock unturned in the debate of big company ethics and political commentary regarding current events. Just the other day, I saw a post on instagram spreading news that many union workers and consumers were boycotting companies like McDonalds, CocaCola, Pepsi, and Starbucks. Each of these companies had been involved in the commentary, making remarks on their standing in the conflict, and revealing moral principles that did not align with their employees and a large number of their consumers. After gaining this newfound insight, I was surprised that a company so closely aligned with activism and peace would involve themselves in such a controversial discussion. A feeling I’m sure most fellow consumers felt when multiple law-suits came to light, following a tweet made by the SWU that stated “Free Palestine” and the company’s reaction: detesting remarks that were made by the union due to the use of the “Starbucks” brand in the discussion, stating they don’t align with terrorists.  Due to our current social climate, it’s obvious this statement would ruffle feathers and overall: their brand image has taken hits from both sides, evident in the company’s abrupt decision to take this to court.

          As a long time consumer and frequent customer at Starbucks, I would recommend the company shifts its focus on how they maneuver during these sensitive times, as well as tend to their relationship with its worker union. Though it’s fair and legal for the company to reveal its political standing regarding the war, It is apparent that this conflict in ethics clashes with both sides of the controversy, and the best thing to do would be to remove themselves in a quiet fashion going forward, avoiding these sensitive topics. When your company holds such a strong, engaged, and public ethical presence: it is worth the time and attention required to keep out controversial, and political topics like war. When the conflict subsides, the company may want to focus on their  promotional aspects, repairing these lost consumer relationships, though in the end: It remains and will most likely continue to be a leading brand due to its convenience and air-tight already standing promotional strategies. 

 

                                                                             Glossary

 

Starbucks.com

           https://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/reporting-hub/

 

DoorDash and ESG

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For the purpose of this assignment, I opted to look at a company I use so often I almost forgot it is a company versus some extension of my life: DoorDash. I will admit, although I try to be fairly conscious as a consumer, I have not looked into DoorDash’s ESG efforts previously. I found out they are more thoughtful in their approach than I expected, and as a user of their services I am very pleased to know that!

DoorDash has an entire section of their website dedicated to their ESG efforts (Impact), which they break down into four broad areas: The future of work, empowering merchants, broadening food access, and environmental sustainability (the other three links in this section cover an introduction to their ESG efforts, a page describing how they measure results, and a page with links to an advocacy network they created in support of “policies that drive economic opportunity and empower local communities” – on this page they also have a link to register to vote). Separately, under their governance documents link on their website for investors, they have links to their 2021 ESG Report and 2022 ESG Update; the 2021 Report is their first ESG report.

The Future of Work: DoorDash has a clear interest in marketing themselves as a flexible option for employment, and especially as an income stream that is additional revenue or for workers who need more flexibility in their schedules than is usually afforded in fulltime jobs (the highlighted profiles on this page include a veteran struggling with PTSD, a full-time social worker who needs the extra money due to the low pay in that field, and a retiree with some physical impairments from his previous job who needs some extra income to supplement his retirement). To further support that, they offer a number of partnership programs designed to help they workforce with financial education (in partnership with the National Urban League), UnidosUS Caminos, and two Canadian organizations, as well as the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, and they also partner with the International Rescue Committee to provide access to financial resources to immigrant and refugee communities.

Empowering Merchants: DoorDash is clearly invested in growing local economies – for them, if small businesses do well, DoorDash too will prosper – and here they really put their money into action. They have the “DoorDash Accelerator for Local Restaurants”, which provides an intensive 8-week curriculum and a grant of $10,000 to small restaurants (with three or fewer locations and 50 or fewer employees) and proudly states that the “vast majority of participants from previous cohorts were people of color, women, immigrants, and refugees”. DoorDash recently initiated a similar program for business that provide packaged goods. Additionally, they have a Disaster Relief Fund, and a Restaurant Advisory Council to have ongoing open communication with the “independent restaurant community” about their needs.

Broadening Food Access: DoorDash has partnered with local social impact organizations (food banks, etc.) through Project DASH to assist with distributing food to those in need. They have made a number of commitments related to the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, have set the DoorDash app up to accept SNAP and EBT benefits as payment, and have a program (Community Credits) that offers nonprofit organizations the opportunity to apply for DoorDash gift cards to give away to the non-profit’s program participants.

Environmental Sustainability: DoorDash has a number of programs to encourage the use of lower-emissions vehicles for deliveries (EV incentives, Bike Dasher resources and offers, subsidized EV leases in California, and discounts available for e-bikes), and partners with a number of advocacy groups to enhance road safety and infrastructure for bicycles in particular. DoorDash also has several partnerships aimed at supporting local business efforts to use recyclable or compostable packaging.

I think on the whole DoorDash has a fairly robust set of ESG practices and I look forward to seeing what 2023 brings for the company (which I now feel a little better about supporting so very frequently). I would like to see DoorDash offer additional encouragement of sustainable practices from its client restaurants (for example, offering a badge in the app so I can see that a restaurant I am ordering from aims to use mostly local food, or is employee-owned). I would also like more transparency about the fair wages (or not) of Dashers (i.e. the delivery staff specifically and not just the office staff); while there was a great deal about flexibility and financial education on the Future of Work page, there was not much prominently about the wages paid to Dashers and the impact of tipping (which can be so variable) on that.