Racial Discrimination and Its Impact on Starbucks Coffee Shop

This study sheds light on the emerging racial bias and its impact on the organizational culture by highlighting Starbucks. It analyzes the background of the racial discrimination issue in Starbucks and proposes solutions to avoid it.

Running head: RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
Topic: Racial discrimination and its impact: A contextual analysis on Starbucks coffee shop
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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To: The HR manager of Starbucks
From: Name of the author
Date: 26th January, 2019
RE: Racial discrimination and its impact: A contextual analysis on Starbucks coffee shop
Introduction
Discrimination in the workplace increases when the victim is being protected depending
on a particular category. In the Equal opportunity Act 2010, depending on the personal
characteristics such as age, gender, religion, race, disability, sexual orientation, national origin
and pregnancy, discrimination in the workplace is highly prohibited (Dalton & Villagran, 2016).
Analyzing the situation in Starbucks, it has been identified that racial discrimination has become
major concern for the authority. The racial discrimination issue has been aroused in Starbucks
after the article, which has been published in a Californian newspaper. Depending on the skin
color racial discrimination has been aroused in the workplace, which has influenced the customer
relationship. The study will shed light on the emerging racial bias and its impact on the
organizational culture by highlighting Starbucks.
State problem
Coffee shop racism has been exposed in Starbucks by the two customers (Romano, 2019).
Due to black skin tone, people face disappointing behavior from the service providers in the
coffee shop, which has created dissatisfaction among the customers. Therefore, it can be said that
in the Starbucks coffee shop racism practices, the Americans racial divisions have been exposed.
In the year 2018, two black men were arrested in Philadelphia (Time.com, 2019). After this
incident large numbers of people have aroused their voice against the racial bias, which have
been faced by them in the stores in Starbucks. Not only the customers, but also the impact of
racial discrimination has been shown on the employees. Due to the racial bias in the workplace,
the working environment as well as the service standard of the employees has got affected
(Theguardian.com, 2019). It cannot be denied that racial discrimination in the workplace brought
huge impact on the behavioral characteristics of individuals which drive the negative culture in
the workplace. On the other hand, depending on racial bias, the diversified working culture in the
workplace gets affected that increases the rate of employee complaint and drive the lower growth
rate. An article published by BBC, where it was mentioned that by helping the minority ethnic
people in America, the economic progression can be introduced (Time.com, 2019). Therefore, it
can be said that, it has become necessary for dealing with the racial bias regarding issues so that
efficiency can be maintained in the workplace.
Proposed solution
Analyzing the background of the racial discrimination issue in Starbucks, it can be said
that, it has become necessary for increasing awareness among employees regarding the different
employee discrimination regulations (Logan, 2016). In order to avoid the racial bias in the coffee
shop, training and development practices needs to be introduced, where the individuals will be
able to understand the importance of diversified working culture. On the other hand, it can also
play an effective role for improving the internal culture in the organization. Hence, depending on

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the situation in Starbucks, it can be assumed that awareness initiative through the training and
development process may help to deal with the situation.
Scope
Due to emerging racial bias in the workplace, it has become a burning topic in the current
situation. In that case, the research topic will be ‘Racial discrimination and its impact: A
contextual analysis on Starbucks coffee shop’.
Research questions
 How the social media played an influential role for exposing the racial discrimination
practices ion Starbucks Coffee shop?
 Why racial discrimination has become common practice in American coffee shops?
 How racial discrimination influence the behavioral characteristics of individuals in the
workplace?
 How the solutions can be implemented for avoiding racial discrimination in the
workplace?
Methods
Research philosophy
Among three types of research philosophy such as positivism, interpretivism and realism,
positivism will be selected. By choosing positivism research philosophy, the causes behind
emerging racial discrimination in the Starbucks coffee shops can be identified. In this research,
interpretivism and realism will not be applicable as management related activities are being
discussed in these philosophies.
Research approach
In order to conduct the research, the deductive research approach will be selected by me.
As the research will be conducted depending on existing models and theories, in that case, the
deductive research approach will be appropriate for conducting the research. Inductive research
approach is being chosen when the researcher developed new models or theories through the
research (Flick, 2015).
Research design
Research design helps to develop a framework, in which the research technique and
various components of the research are being discussed (Mackey& Gass, 2015). Research design
can be classified into three types such as descriptive, explanatory and exploratory. For this
research topic, the descriptive research design will be appropriate. Using the descriptive research
design, it will be easier for me to interpret the topic in detail. Exploratory research design helps
to investigate the relationship between the topic variables and in explanatory research design,
casual effect of the research issues are being identified. Therefore, it can be said that exploratory
and explanatory research designs will not be applicable for research.
Data collection

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As the research topic is based on the human perspectives on racial bias in Starbucks, in
that case both the secondary and primary data will be collected for conducting the research. In
this research, the primary data will be collected by using both the interview and survey methods.
In order to conduct the survey 100 customers will be selected by using the random sampling
method. On the other hand, the interview will be done on 3 managers of Starbucks. In case of
collecting the secondary data, I will use both the online and offline sources. I will use YouTube,
online journal articles, company website and Google. I believe in ‘Minimizing and addressing
implicit bias in the workplace: Be proactive, part one’ and ‘Developing Managers’ Skills for
Countering Racial Color Blindness and Constructively Addressing Racial Micro aggressions in
the Workplace’ I will get information related to my topic in detail. On the other hand, in case of
collecting the offline information, the data will be collected from books and journal.
Data analysis
Data analysis can be done based on qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative data
will be collected through interview session and in case of evaluating the information, transcript
of the answerers will be maintained. Through the quantitative data analysis method, the
information are being converted in numerical forms. Using charts, diagrams and tables, the
quantitative data will be analyzed by me.
Ethical consideration
Maintaining the ethical foundations of Data Protection Act 1983, I will not force the
participants for participating in the research. By maintaining the confidentiality of the
participants, I will collect the information. I will not use company logo in the research paper and
it will only be used for the academic purpose. On the other hand, I will use the secondary
information from journals and articles. None of the information will be copied while conducting
the research. For maintaining its authenticity, articles will be properly in texted.
Time scale
Activities 1st to
3rd
Week
4th to
10th
week
11th to
13th
Week
14th to
17th
Week
18th to
21st
Week
22nd
to 23rd
Week
24th
Week
Selection of the topic 
Data collection from
secondary sources
 
Creating layout 
Literature review   
Analysis and
interpretation of
collected data
  
Findings of the data  
Conclusion of the study 
Formation of draft  
Submission of final work 
Figure: Gantt chart
(Created by author)

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Qualifications
Limitations
Racial bias is a global problem and it has huge impact on social and economic functions.
In order to conduct the entire research 6 months will be provided, which will not be enough for
the author to research on such vast topic within this limited period. In order to conduct the
research, both the qualitative and quantitative research methods will be used. I will collected the
information from both the customers and employees. In that case, it can be assumed that if the
participants will give any bias answer, it will be tough for me to interpret the information in the
research. On the other hand, lack of accessibility due to insufficient budget may create problem
for conducting the research in derail.
Conclusion
In the conclusion, it can be said that racial bias is an important issue, which can drive the
unhealthy organizational culture. Due to racial bias, the famous organization like Starbucks is
dealing with different types of challenging situations, which has indirectly impacted on its brand
reputation. As per my understanding, developing the research on racial bias, it will be easier for
identifying the major causes behind such practices in the workplace. It will be beneficial for
Starbucks for improving its internal policies for developing strong relationship in the workplace.

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Reference list
Dalton, S., & Villagran, M. (2018). Minimizing and addressing implicit bias in the workplace:
Be proactive, part one. College & Research Libraries News, 79(9), 478.
Flick, U. (2015). Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project. Sage.
Lewis, S. (2015). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
approaches. Health promotion practice, 16(4), 473-475.
Logan, N. (2016). The Starbucks Race Together Initiative: Analyzing a public relations
campaign with critical race theory. Public Relations Inquiry, 5(1), 93-113.
Mackey, A., & Gass, S. M. (2015). Second language research: Methodology and design.
Routledge.
Romano, C. S. (2019). Developing Managers’ Skills for Countering Racial Color Blindness and
Constructively Addressing Racial Microaggressions in the Workplace. Career
Development Interventions for Social Justice: Addressing Needs Across the Lifespan in
Educational, Community, and Employment Contexts, 249.
Silverman, D. (Ed.). (2016). Qualitative research. Sage.
Theguardian.com (2019). Retrieved from:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/may/29/starbucks-coffee-shops-racial-bias-
training [Accessed on 25th Jan, 2019]
Time.com (2019). Retrieved from: http://time.com/5294343/starbucks-employees-racial-bias-
training [Accessed on 25th Jan, 2019]