The first characteristic of the ethical concept of utilitarianism is that it focuses on the benefits arguing that if the number which benefited exceeds the number which did not benefit, then such an act would be considered to be morally right. The second characteristic which utilitarianism discusses is the consequence of one's actions, which although at face value, an act could seem beneficial; if the consequences outdo the benefits then the action is wrong. One feature of virtue ethics is that of temperance exercising in that people enjoy pleasure with moderation. The second characteristic is that there are natural urges and convictions which accompany pleasure. Finally, one of the characteristics of deontology is that humans will appreciate anything that has an intrinsic value. The second characteristic of deontology is that humans have innate moral guidelines which they use to define the morality of an action (DesJardins, 2014).
Starbucks has been embroiled in many ethical problems in the years it has been in operation. One such ethical problem Starbucks faced was in 2006 when it was sued by a direct competitor, the owner of a coffee shop in Washington, who accused Starbucks of engaging in practices which he deemed anti-competitive. The owner of the coffee shop, Patricia Stafford, argued that Starbucks was buying out competitors and later closing out the shops which they bought out. The plaintiff offered to pay the leasing amount for any coffee shop which faced an imminent buy out from Starbucks so that the owners would not have to lease out to the giant coffee entity (Reynolds 29).
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The actions of Starbucks could be labeled unethical because by using its market might, the company focused more on itself than the common good of all. Starbucks aimed at maximizing its profits by killing the smaller coffee businesses. The consequences of the company’s action were profits, but it left so many people unemployed and a population without the freedom of choice since one would buy coffee from Starbucks shops only.
Logically, Starbucks should have engaged the competitors in morally right actions which would have included lowering their price for a cup of team. Such an act would have had positive consequences to the company and the consumers in that the company would have enjoyed the economics of scale while the consumers benefit from the reduced prices.
References
DesJardins, J. (2014). An introduction to business ethics . New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Reynolds, J. N. (2015). Examining the Issues. In Sharing Profits (pp. 22-40). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
