One of the ethical problems that Starbucks was faced with was that of a Utilitarianism approach to the coffee market - due to supply and demand Starbucks had to implement a program to keep the coffee market fair; due to the vast number of growing coffee producers the markets became volatile and there had to be an established market created. Starbucks had created something that is referred to as C.A.F.E Practices.
C.A.F.E Practices was a program that established guidelines in for key areas; quality, economic accountability/ transparency, social responsibility and environmental leadership. (Starbucks, 2016) The point was to establish an ethical sourcing system for coffee buyers. It was deemed as a "holistic approach" as it was a sustainable solution to the growing ethical issues within the coffee trade. The program is aimed to produce better practices for farming, better quality of coffee and a better life for the farmers and its employees.
Overall the program seems like a sound idea to ensure production of the following utilitarianism approach to the problem. Create a system that helps farmers, helps the corporation and helps the consumer. This is achieved by starting at a ground level - or so the approach claims. This program created a union of coffee farmers who will yield an ability to retain their livelihood based on the current status of the market. This follows the approach of the greatest good for the greatest number. Produce a system that allows farmers to ensure their economic success while in the same key turn produce a market ability to keep quality coffee prices low for the buyers and provide a quality product to the consumers.
This works in the broad aspect of the total goal of utilitarianism - it produces a positive effect for all parties involved and provides an outcome and is deemed the greatest utility given the source and topic of conversation. By allowing a union or organization to take place within the market it ensure that the farmers produce supporting their economic abilities - keeps people in jobs earning a wage - produces a product for the corporation that then in turn can ensure that demand is met around the world for the love of coffee. Overall the idea is good, however, in my personal opinion it's a bit flawed and one sided - but that's something that I will save for my response posts this week. The idea is good - fits the guideline in some respect based on our topic of conversation and does a good job of hitting the checks and balances that are required to fit the idea and mold of the utilitarian model. )
Instructions
In your second reply, you should identify the notion of the moral good in virtue ethics and compare and discuss that to the account of utilitarianism in Starbucks presented in your fellow student's post. Analyze how these different notions of the moral good lead to different approaches with regard to how to address the problem even if, ultimately, the result turns out to be the same or similar. 200 words.