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Beginning Tuesday, Starbucks coffee drinkers can get their morning caffeine fix and help create jobs in small businesses across the country. According to CEO Howard Schultz of Starbucks, the company will accept donations for a program that helps raise money and spurs job creation by small businesses, at its almost 6,800 locations across the nation, in addition to its website at www.CreateJobsforUSA.org.

Questions:

1. What is the Opportunity Finance Network? Do you think this a good approach to the downturn in our economy? Discuss.
2. Based on these articles, each job created equal to a salary of $21,000 or are other factors being considered in the multiplier effect mentioned?
3. Do you believe that this campaign is about marketing rather than what the CEO purports? Discuss the pros and cons.
4. Comment on Mr. Schultz’s comment about the importance of a trade off between social contract and traditional profit being needed. Does this indicate that there might be a new profit paradigm emerging in today’s economy? Discuss.
5. Mr. Schultz indicated that Starbucks would probably be spending millions of dollars on the campaign. How would you as their accountant classify these costs?

Sources:
Clifford, C. (2011) Starbucks steps up to the jobs challenge, Oct. 4 (Retrievable online at http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/03/smallbusiness/starbucks_jobs/index.htm?iid=EL)
Clifford, C. (2011) Get your Starbucks, create a job, Nov. 2 (Retrievable online at http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/01/smallbusiness/starbucks_jobs/)