Literature Review & Theory

Marguerite J. Breckheimer

University Of North Dakota

COMM 451: Risk and Crisis Communication Dr. B

October 27, 2023

Article #1: Racial Bias Training at Starbucks

This article focused on the racial bias training put on by Starbucks after this crisis. The article

begins by giving a brief background of Starbucks as a company. The article emphasizes the

companies core beliefs such as their cafes being a place for “conversation and community

bonding” (Management Case Studies with Solutions - ICMR India, n.d.). The article also touched

on the previous training culture at Starbucks which included training on things such as espresso

beverage quality. The racial bias training was conducted on May 29, 2018, a little over a month

after the incident. The program was held at over 8,000 Starbucks locations and 175,000

Starbucks employees participated. The training program was four hours long and included videos

that were followed by “group discussions, focus group discussions, comments of opinion leaders,

and team activities” (Management Case Studies with Solutions - ICMR India, n.d.). The article

mentioned how employees had mixed responses about the training. Some gave positive feedback

and others saw no point in the training.

Article #2: Starbucks, Racism, and the Anthropological Imagination

scandals when it comes to social injustice issues. The article begins by addressing the viewpoint

of critics when it comes to the racial bias training held by Starbucks. According to this article,

“critics have argued that these practices do not address systematic racism, historical struggle, and

oppression” (Arciniega, 2018). However, the article goes on to say that it can be argued that

“managing diversity by addressing inclusion in the workplace helps improve brand image,

promote employee engagement, and drive creativity and innovation (Arciniega, 2018).

Immediately following the incident, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson made a public apology and

announced his plans to make inclusion more prominent. The important part of this is that he took

action by closing down all stores that day. Starbucks also hired prominent experts in racial

discrimination so that their training would have effective outcomes.

Article #3: From anxious Spaces to Harmonious Relations? Interracial Marketplace

Interactions Through the Lens of Consumer Psychology

This article talks about the significance of race and consumer interactions in the marketplace. As

this crisis deals with racism and social injustices in the marketplace, I thought this article would

help inform myself and others of the role race plays in consumer interactions. The article begins

with a brief paragraph explaining how interracial interactions are “at the core of many consumer

experiences across commercial, health, and social settings” (Grier et al., 2021). In other words,

interracial interactions play a vital role in the marketplace, and it is important that companies

take a deeper look into the significance of them. The article explains that “both research and

practice demonstrate how interactions between individuals who are members of different racial
groups can significantly influence consumer experience” (Grier et al., 2021). The Starbucks

scenario shows how influential interracial interactions can be. The article explains how prejudice

is the main cause of racism and needs to be looked into deeper. This Starbucks incident is a

prime example of why prejudice in the marketplace needs to be researched. If companies looked

into the significance of these interactions, crises like these could be prevented.

Article #4: $16.7 Million To Save One Reputation: How Starbucks Responded Amidst a Racial

Sensitivity Crisis

This article studies the way Starbucks handled this racial sensitivity crisis in detail. It begins with

a brief overview of the crisis and then moves into a SWOT analysis of the company. Some of the

strengths listed in the article include revenue growth, and the growing popularity of the

company. Weaknesses included neglecting customer experiences, and racial bias within the

company. Threats include companies such as Dunkin Donuts, The Coffee Bean, and fast food

restaurants. The article also mentions how protests and boycotts against Starbucks stand as a

threat to the company. Finally, when it comes to opportunities, the article mentions things like

inclusive campaigns and expanding into developing markets. Next, the article discusses the PR

tactics Starbucks used in this crisis such as the store closure, public apologies, and policy

changes as well as the media's response and reactions to these tactics. Lastly, the article discusses

what Starbucks could have done to better handle this crisis. The article says, “Starbucks did a

good job in the reactive and recovery phases of the crisis, however, their efforts fell short” (Avila

et al., 2019). According to the article, Starbucks did not act timely enough on the situation and

should’ve responded promptly during the reactive phase. The article also stresses how Starbucks
should have worked with the Philadelphia Police Department in order to create correlating

responses between the two. It is also stressed how crucial of a role social media played in making

this PR crisis worse. The video of the incident caused the situation to blow up quickly and ruin

Starbucks reputation within minutes.

Article #5: Social media crisis communication in racially charged crises: Exploring the effects

of social media and image restoration strategies

Though not specifically related to Starbucks, this article discusses how social media plays an

effect in racially charged crises. The article begins by explaining how social media is a “double-

edged sword during times of crisis”. In other words, social media can either greatly aid a

company during a crisis, or make the crisis much worse. It goes on to explain how social media

can be a useful tool to companies during a crisis by standing as a platform to monitor the public's

response and restore their reputation. However, social media can also deeply hinder a company's

reputation and credibility. The article says that crisis managers need to take a deeper look into

the role social media plays among crises and how they can use it to effectively save a company's

reputation.

Concepts & Theories

One concept that I think would apply to this crisis is Boyd’s OODA loop. The OODA loop

stands for observe, orient, decide, and act. The textbook explains that the OODA loop “provides

one option for moving from identification to action for both risks and crises” (Covello, 2017).

The textbook goes on to explain how effective this process is for organizations as it allows them

to act in a timely and organized manner. This process would have been helpful for Starbucks to
properly evaluate the crisis and decide how to act accordingly. During the “observe” stage,

Starbucks should have studied racism within the workplace and the role prejudice plays when it

comes to corporations and customer interactions. Multiple articles I reviewed discussed how

racism in the marketplace has been an ongoing issue for quite some time. Starbucks could have

done research on this to come up with ways to prevent this from happening in the future. Many

of the articles I reviewed mentioned that Starbucks spent too much time in the “decide” stage.

Acting with immediacy in a crisis is crucial to gaining back credibility. Starbucks should have

reacted sooner especially since the crisis blew up on social media and spread extremely fast.

Overall, the OODA loop would have benefited Starbucks by allowing them to act quickly and

effectively.

Another key concept that is discussed in the book and can be applied to this crisis is reputational

risks. Chapter two of the textbook explains that “reputational risks occur when the organization’s

reputation suffers in some way due to actions or lack of action by an organization” (Covello,

2017). Clearly this racial bias crisis aligns with the definition of reputational risks. Starbucks

reputation was immediately hindered following this incident and they received tons of backlash

and negative press. The textbook goes on to explain how important it is for organizations to have

positive reputations as it can “create social approval assets and liabilities” (Covello, 2017). This

chapter also discusses how social media has been reshaping organizational risks. This crisis blew

up on Twitter which caused the story to reach a large amount of people in a short amount of

time. Social media can really make or break a company during a crisis because it is an open

platform where anyone can say anything. Negative press on social media is hard to come back

from and this scenario is a prime example of that.

Management Case Studies with Solutions - ICMR India. (n.d.). Icmrindia.org. Retrieved

October 9, 2023, from https://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Human

%20Resource%20and%20Organization%20Behavior/Racial%20Bias-Excerpts.htm

Arciniega, L. C. (2018). Starbucks, Racism, and the Anthropological Imagination.

Anthropology News, 59(3), e139–e142. https://doi.org/10.1111/an.865

Grier, S. A., Johnson, G. D., & Scott, M. L. (2021). From Anxious Spaces To

Harmonious Relations? Interracial Marketplace Interactions Through The Lens Of

Consumer Psychology. Journal of Consumer Psychology.

https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1278

Avila, M., Parkin, H., & Galoostian, S. (2019). $16.7 Million To Save One Reputation:

How Starbucks Responded Amidst a Racial Sensitivity Crisis. Pepperdine Journal of

Communication Research, 7(1). https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/pjcr/vol7/iss1/4/

Triantafillidou, A., & Yannas, P. (2020). Social media crisis communication in racially

charged crises: Exploring the effects of social media and image restoration strategies.

Computers in Human Behavior, 106, 106269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106269

and public health professionals. Wiley-Ieee Press.