ETHICAL LEADERSHIP
In the case study, Johnson was able to use the Starbucks community policy in the decision he came up with after the arrests were made. Starbucks has a community policy that allows sits customers to sit in their facilities without having them spend any money in the Starbucks outlets. The decision to close all the Starbucks stores for the training of its employees was in line with the company’s goals and objectives. The company aims at creating a great experience for its customers and foster human spirit among its employees which would be achieved through the unconscious bias training. The handling of the situation by Johnson was able to create a connection between the employees and the customers. Such is because the employees were given further training on how to handle the customers, while the customers were made to feel welcomed and appreciated by the Starbucks Company.
Johnson did not openly acknowledge that his decision was based on ethics and morality but he claimed the decisions were based on the company’s goals and objectives. The apology that was issued by Johnson was able to promote awareness of an ethical issue within the society. The ethical awareness created by the apology was on the issue of being unwelcoming to people of a certain race. The apology was able to create a positive impact in the community since people were assured of continuing welcome at any Starbucks outlet which also created a positive impact on employees and customers since it enhanced their cooperation.
Johnson accepted the responsibility for the incident that happened in the case study and also provided direction the company would undertake to correct the situation. He outlined that the leadership would do an investigation on the case and also train its employees on when to call the authorities. Unfortunately, Johnson does not identify ways in which the employees can cooperate with the customers when it is necessary. He is able to identify his role in fixing the situation. He does this by accepting the responsibility of the situation and undertaking an investigation to understand the situation better so that he could act accordingly.
In his apology, Johnson was able to clarify the company’s values, but he did not clarify his personal values while handling the situation. The follow-up actions demonstrated by Johnson in the case were able to uphold the core values and mission statement of Starbucks Company. In the case, it I not evident that Johnson was able to identify any gap between the stated and actual values. Also, Johnson’s apology allowed the employees to figure out if they had values that were in line with Starbucks’ values. Such is because the employees needed to maintain high values that would allow them to serve Starbucks customers with the utmost respect.
The impact of Johnson’s apology was felt beyond Starbucks since other companies began to implement policies that would make them evade the situation that had faced Starbucks. For instance, General Electric was once sued for discrimination against African American workers. After the case was settled, the company came up with policies that would ensure protection for the rights of Black Americans in their company. The apology issued by Johnson raised the issue of workplace discrimination which mostly targeted the African American workers.