Crisis Communication on Racial Issues at Starbucks

On April 17, 2018, Starbucks received reports about the mistreatment of two black men at one of its stores. Starbucks has already investigated the issue and identified the cause of the problem. Undeniably, the issue affected Starbucks’ trust with its loyal customers (Kim, 2016). Starbucks promises to be transparent and open to discussions on racial matters. This organization does not tolerate bias towards race, gender, sexual orientation, or background. Starbucks believes in building meaningful and authentic relationships with community members (Kim, 2016). Regrettably, some staff members maintain prejudiced beliefs. The company is already taking action to address this matter. Besides, Starbucks is looking for ways to deliver better services to its customers. Currently, the company has introduced a training program that encourages managers, supervisors, and employees to discuss systemic racism. This approach will enable the Starbuck staff to challenge their preconceived notions and develop shared meaning to address racial prejudices (Ramasubramanian et al., 2017). The dialogue’s effectiveness will be measured based on the members’ ability and willingness to engage and suspend their beliefs and understand individuals with different perspectives. Starbucks’s management believes that conversation can provide significant insights into oppression, privilege, and power (Ramasubramanian et al., 2017). This strategy will enhance appreciation of other cultures, beliefs, and experiences, leading to actions that will address systemic racism. Although Starbucks’s business model focuses on fairness, accountability, and transparency, some employees may not have well-trained in these principles. The first step to address racism at any of the stores is to introduce constructive conversations that positively influence the staff members’ cognitive abilities and emotions. Starbucks intends to heal racial and ethnic divides, minimize misinformation and prejudice, and promote positive racial relations (Ramasubramanian et al., 2017). The company will host bi-annual training sessions to address racism and privilege. Starbucks will invite members from different racial and ethnic groups in the sessions; the participants will discuss their encounters with racial discrimination in the US. Besides, Starbucks will collect and analyze customers’ feedback on social media platforms (Kim, 2016). Twitter is one of the media that highlighted black men’s mistreatment at Starbucks’ stores. The company appreciates social media technologies for uniting people to address racism. However, Starbucks cautions its customers from focusing on misleading information. Social media can be beneficial or destructive (Kim, 2016). For this, Starbucks advises its customers to be objective on such a sensitive issue to avoid causing further racial tensions and divide, making the dominant cultures uncomfortable, and stimulating outrage among the minorities. Starbucks encourages constructive discussions on its social media pages to improve communication and learning, strengthen racial literacy, support racial harmony, and encourage people to express their identity (Ramasubramanian et al., 2017). After this event, Starbucks encourages the staff and customers to be vocal about injustices at any restaurant. The company will not report or press charges against anyone who records videos and audios or complains about racism (Ramasubramanian et al., 2017). Social media platforms encourage people to keep evidence and challenge their beliefs. Starbucks will join the social media activists in debates about racism and consider the constructive feedback into its business model. Anyone can advocate for racial matters, even if the victim is of a different race. Starbucks supports peaceful mass protests whenever the customers feel betrayed or mistreated. However, Starbucks promises these incidents will never recur. If it happens, the staff members responsible will face disciplinary action. Despite these incidents, Starbucks encourages the customers to be allies and directs the staff to treat them with respect and dignity. 

References

Kim, C.M. (2016). Social media campaigns . Routledge

Ramasubramanian, S., Sousa, A. N., & Gonlin, V. (2017). Facilitated difficult dialogues on racism: A goal-based approach. Journal of Applied Communication Research , 45 (5), 537-556. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2017.1382706