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Social responsibility of business topic
Ethical and socially responsible in a business
Ethical and socially responsible in a business
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Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. Case Study Case Summary This case examines issues of asset control for Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc., in light of the outstanding takeover offers by Chartwell Investments, Dreyer‘s Grand, Unilever, and Meadowbrook Lane Capital in January 2000. The case requires a discussion of fundamental firm objectives and the implications of a non-traditional corporate orientation; one needs to review the development of Ben & Jerry's strong social consciousness and the takeover defence mechanisms that maintain management's control on company assets. One is required to estimate the economic cost of its social agenda, and evaluate the implications of takeover defence strategies. Ultimately, we have to take a position on whether Ben & Jerry's should continue to independently pursue its social agenda or accept one of the attractive takeover offers and accept a shift toward greater profit orientation. Company Overview Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc., the Vermont-based manufacturer of ice cream, frozen yoghurt and sorbet, was founded in 1978, with a $12,000 investment ($4,000 of which was borrowed). It soon became popular for its innovative flavours, made from fresh Vermont milk and cream. The company currently distributes ice cream, low fat ice cream, frozen yoghurt, sorbet and novelty products nationwide as well as in selected foreign countries in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, franchised Ben & Jerry's scoop shops, restaurants and other venues. Objective Product: "To make, distribute and sell the finest quality all natural ice cream and related products in a wide variety of innovative flavours made from Vermont dairy products." Economic: "To operate the Company on a sound financial basis of profitable growth, increasing value for our shareholders, and creating career opportunities and financial rewards for our employees.
Over the years, Keebler has acquired several other producers of cookies and crackers (i.e., Bake-Line Products, Inc. – The nation’s leading producer of private-label cookies and crackers in 1993; merger in June 1996 with Sunshine Biscuit Company – now owned by Keebler Foods Corporation).
While Ben & Jerry’s has multiple strengths, it is also worth noting some of the company’s weakness and how they can combat them. Although their commitment to clean resources draws in consumers, it also losing another group of people, those who do not wish to pay extra price the company must charge to offset clean technology choices. Ben & Jerry’s is one of the more expensive ice cream brands located in a local grocery store. This has direct correlation to their lack of an exceptionally large sale
The analysis of the Kellogg’s case is presented in this chapter and will contribute to answer the research question. The case are evaluated and compared to the literature presented in the previous chapters and will support the conclusion of this paper.
Ben and Jerry's began in 1963 when Ben Cohn and Jerry Greenfield met in a New York middle school gym class. While playing together, neither realized what the future would hold in store and ultimately changed their lives forever. By 1977, Ben and Jerry moved to Burlington, Vermont and enrolled in an ice cream making class at Penn State, which required a tuition fee of only five dollars. After their exceptional performance in the class, the two made a $12,000 initial investment on May 5, 1978 to open their first ice cream shop in Burlington. (1)
People are sick, and it is because of Listeria. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream is doing all they can do to help fight the Listeria outbreak before it becomes more blown up than it already is. There has been skeptulations in the media about if Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream is safe to eat or if the consumer will get Listeria. Jeni’s Ice Cream is safe to eat because they have no deaths from their produce. The news and consumers have blown this outbreak up a considerable amount more than it needed to be because they didn’t realize that Jeni’s didn’t have contaminated produce that they could consume. Jeni’s Ice Cream should be doing just as well as it used to because they had a problem, they recognized the problem, then they resolved the problem but people
The corporation I chose to discuss is McDonald’s. McDonald’s is a publicly traded corporation that includes the following domestic companies, McDonald’s, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Boston Market. This paper will discuss the following:
Claire’s Chocolates does not advertise, relying on word of mouth. Their promotional methods, therefore, are based on quality customer service, building customer relationships, high quality products and service delivery (Gronroos, 1994, 4). This creates the experience that makes customers want to talk about their product and this, therefore, creates new customers.
The Walt Disney Company’s organizational culture, or “the basic pattern of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs considered the correct way of thinking about and acting on problems and opportunities facing the organization” (University, 2002, p. 448) is shown in part by their in-depth employee education, their manufacturers’ code of conduct and their environmental commitment.
The Cheesecake Factory brings authenticity to many people around the world. It began from a 1940s newspaper recipe, that later turned into a dream. Accomplished by a woman and her family with desires to succeed in their business. At The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated majority of their employees say it’s a great workplace. It is known for it’s tasty cheesecakes and it’s enticing meals. The Cheesecake Factory is not just an amazing place to dine at for their pastry, but their restaurants cuisine is highly favored.
BR was sold to Delta Foods in 1996 for US $2 billion. At this time, it was one of the largest fast-food chains in the world generating sales of US $6.8 billion. DF purchase of BR brought in a new cultural paradigm. DF is an individualistic, aggressive growth company with brands they believe are strong enough to support entry into new overseas markets without the need for local partnership. The DF strategy is one of direct acquisition and JV’s were not part of their strong suit. DF strategic implementation is based on hiring local managers directly or transferring seasoned managers from their soft drink and snack food divisions. The DF disdain for JVs is clearly reflected by their participation in only those JVs where local partnering was mandatory (e.g. China) to overcome regulatory barriers to entry. JVs had been the predominant strategy for BR which was unlike the DF outlook. Terralumen’s strategy was misaligned and out of sync with the DF strategy. This was unlike the complementarity that existed with BR’s strategy. This misalignment began to affect the JV relationship that had worked well with BR in the initial years. The failure of Terralumen and DF to recognize this fundamental cultural difference between their operational strategy styles i.e. Individualistic and Collectivism leads to their inability to proactively create steps for better alignment in the early period after acquisition, creating uncertainties and difficulties for both corporations. There is a lack of communication and virtually absence of trust between two new partners. DF appeared to be flexing its muscles in the relationship and using a more masculine approach compared to Terralumen’s more feminine approach. Both the corporations are strategically involved in a complex situation where they appear reluctant to address the issues at stake and move ahead together. The DF strategy of
The purpose of this project is to show how financially stable the Kraft Foods Group is and demonstrates what its strengths and weaknesses are. The reader can expect to find out what Kraft Food Group is and about their financial history for the last five years. This business participates in the consumer packaged food and beverage industry. The markets that Kraft Food Group sell to are the United States and Canada. Some brands that are included in this company are Kraft, Maxwell House, Oscar Mayer, Planers, Kool-Aid, Velveeta, Capri Sun, and Philadelphia to name just a few. This company was started in 1903 by James Lewis Kraft. Mr. Kraft used a wagon and horse and started selling cheese to businesses in Chicago, Illinois. In 1909,
When selecting our case, we wanted to choose a company that a majority of our class wouldn’t have heard of before. We were researching possible topics and companies and came across Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation. The company sold a wide variety of products ranging from vacuum-sealed jars of bacon to chewing gum from its inception in 1890. However, Beech-Nut’s most lucrative product was its baby food, which began around the 1930s. At this time, the company was the second largest producer of baby food products in the U.S. The company differentiated itself from competitors by packaging its product in glass jars rather than cans, which were used by most manufacturers. Their baby food line did well, but sales took off with the arrival of the postwar baby boom, where sales nearly doubled between 1948 and 1950. By 1950, Beech-Nut had 48 different types of jarred baby foods that provided more than a quarter of the company’s $70 million of revenue.
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield founded Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream in 1978. Over the years, Ben & Jerry's evolved into a socially-oriented, independent-minded industry leader in the super-premium ice cream market. The company has had a history of donating 7.5% of its pre-tax earnings to societal and community causes. Ben and Jerry further extended their generosity by offering 75,000 shares at $10.50 per share exclusively to Vermont residents, so that they may help those who first supported the company; Ben and Jerry's wanted residents to profit from their venture as well. In addition, steady growth and a widely recognized brand name helped Ben and Jerry's obtain 45 percent of the premium ice-cream market, yet the company stock price remained stagnant at $21 a share for several years.
Staying in touch with their customers would not enable Ben and Jerry to be as successful as they have become if their ice cream was not high quality as well. The second value the company espouses is to use only wholesome, natural ingredients. They began their operation on this premise, utilizing fresh Vermont milk and cream to create their frozen concoctions. During a period of volatility in the dairy market in 1991, the company went so far as to pay a dairy premium totaling a half million dollars to combat Vermont dairy farmers’ losses. This helped protect the family farmers who supplied the milk for Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.
To understand this issue from both sides, it is also important to gain a perspective from the corporate finance world. Understanding that the goal of a corporation is to maximize the profits of its shareholders, H.B. Fuller really did not have a social obligation. If, howe...