Crunch (2015) highlighted that General Mills is aware that the consumers are expecting them to be vigilant in ensuring that their supply chain is transparent and conforming to the objectives. The efforts that are being made include advancing sustainable agriculture, respecting human rights and establishing a “zero loss approach” which incorporate the assistance of their staff to identify any waste so that it can be eliminated. The primary focus, he said, was to reduce the negative impact on the environment (Crunch, 2015). Finally, General Mills, in the Global Responsibility Report (2016) acknowledges that protecting human rights is critical to their business. As such, they are members of the AIM Progress, Responsible Sourcing Forum, a body whose mandate is to share best practices in …show more content…
Patagonia has stayed true to this mission which has in turn propelled them to be a very successful brand that socially and environmentally conscious people want to associate with. General Mills has been around the longest of the three companies, over 150 years, and they have also fostered an image as being very active in corporate social responsibility with their health and wellness programs, as well as their strong community outreach. Because their products are produced and sold in six continents and over hundred countries, they have a very large landscape to project these social responsibilities to help them gain an advantage worldwide. Some other similarities between the three companies with regards to gaining a competitive advantage can be seen in their willingness and direct involvement with managing their supply chain partners and relationships. Effectively managing these relationships protects their image with the consumer and makes sure they are meeting their socially responsible
Patagonia was a unique company that features outdoor equipment, clothing and many more things. The company has been in business more than thirty-five years with outstanding sales. Patagonia had their focus on its customers to make a difference in the world. They were also members of several environmental organization. They were a company who was in harmony with nature and reflected the ones founded by climbers and surfers. Patagonia strongly believes employees are to be treated as human beings so they can balance work, play, and family by maintaining a highly casual atmosphere. However, Patagonia was criticize for its unorthodox business practice from the business community. But, the employees are very loyal to the company. Patagonia
The first step in achieving food security is to maximise the use of food already being produced and to minimise its waste. The FAO (2013) estimates that 1.3 billion tonnes
General Mills, Inc (GMI). produces and markets branded consumer foods globally. They also supply branded and unbranded food products to the foodservice and commercial banking industries. It offers ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, ready-to-serve soups, dry dinners, shelf stable and frozen vegetables, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, grains, and fruit and savory snacks; a range of organic products, including soups, granola bars, and cereals; and ice cream and frozen desserts, and grain snacks. According to General Mills Inc. the company retails its products through direct sales personnel, as well as through broker, distribution to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, drug, dollar and discount chains, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, and convenience stores (www.generalmills.com).
The Wal-Mart Corporation is a multi-billion dollar low-cost retail organization, consisting of 6400 stores and 1.8 million sales associates worldwide. Wal-Mart’s influence on the retail world and the enormity of their corporate size is unparalleled. Wal-Mart can easily report sales of $312.4 billion dollars per fiscal quarter and net profits of $3.8 billion dollars. Wal-Mart promises her customers "Always low prices. Always!" and upholds this motto by providing low prices to her customers and high return on investment to her stockholders. One way that Wal-Mart has managed to maintain a competitive edge over other low cost retail giants and provide low prices is by cutting wages and by not offering too many company benefits to their employees. Full-time employee working at Wal-Mart only make $8 an hour, while only 45% of the workers can afford to be covered by health insurance. Wal-Mart also increase part time employees from 20 percent to 40 percent so that they do not have to cover all of their employees for health insurance . Although Wal-Mart may not provide excellent benefits to her employees, it successfully performs as a legitimate business operating in a capitalistic society. Wal-Mart upholds the primary fiduciary duty to satisfy her stockholder and follows free the market libertarianism model, which states that a business should not interfering with the free market. In a free market Wal-Mart has a direct responsibility to her primary stockholders rather than the employees of a company.
...ll have to face economic, social and crisis to adjust themselves to the new food industry. The world is facing a controversy, a battle between the benefits promoted by the GM food advocates and the tangible results. Consumers must know the consequences of GM Food consumption, nevertheless it is not clear if the governments are trying to hide the truth or the customers decided to ignore it.
This occurs through the company Soylent Green’s practice of using human bodies as the product of the company. Although modern day corporations aren't as unethical as Soylent Green, there's still a great amount of injustice that occurs through these huge companies. An article that explains the magnitude of said companies and their unethical business practices is the BBc’s story on “Apple 'failing to protect Chinese factory workers'”. The tech company Apple is by far one of the biggest corporations of the the new millenia, by ingraining itself the pockets of the vast majority of people. This article sheds light on an investigation into the factories used to produced the tech, and the poor treatment of the workers.
The modern American supermarket has on average 47,000 products, yet our food is coming from enormous assembly lines where the animals and the workers are being abused (Dir. Kenner). In the film Food Inc, directed by Robert Kenner, the documentary showcases the shocking side of food production, from the environmental degradation to the harsh treatment of animals. There are many companies who are criticized in this documentary, such as Perdue, who is known for overcrowding, high-tech breeding and feeding their chickens with antibiotics and Monsanto, the company who patents their seeds and has been known to sue many small farmers. Furthermore, the documentary shines light on how the industry falsely markets its brands with farm images, health claims and too perfect pictures of food. Food Inc reveals the truths about the
Our current system of corporate-dominated, industrial-style farming might not resemble the old-fashioned farms of yore, but the modern method of raising food has been a surprisingly long time in the making. That's one of the astonishing revelations found in Christopher D. Cook's "Diet for a Dead Planet: Big Business and the Coming Food Crisis" (2004, 2006, The New Press), which explores in great detail the often unappealing, yet largely unseen, underbelly of today's food production and processing machine. While some of the material will be familiar to those who've read Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" or Eric Schlosser's "Fast-Food Nation," Cook's work provides many new insights for anyone who's concerned about how and what we eat,
The business world has always been a very risky business. There is a lot to worry about no matter what position a person fulfills; everyone has some level of responsibility. The Gap Incorporated is a multinational specialty retail company (Gap Inc. 2014). The company was created by a Doris and Don Fisher (Joslin et. al. 2010). Don Fisher and his wife was a very wealthy couple, Don was a real estate developer (Joslin et. al. 2010). They decided to open up a clothing store when Don realized how popular jeans were becoming in the fashion industry. Another reason that Don Fisher wanted to open a clothing store is because he has an extremely difficult time finding jeans that fit him properly in department stores (Joslin et. al. 2010). So in the year of 1969 the Fishers opened the very first Gap store in San Francisco, California (Gap Inc. 2014). In this paper I will explore The Gap Incorporated and discuss the company’s ethical culture and behavior past and present. Based on preliminary information, I hypothesize that The Gap Incorporated is an ethical company.
The company’s strongest impact and contribution to sustainability lies in the critical parts of their business which leads to the success and diversity of our associates (customers), food safety, health and nutrition, strong supply chain, environmental factors, and community/stakeholder engagement and impact of the people along with the CSR initiatives.
I chose to look into General Electric for this project because they are an energy supplier and multi-national company. Energy providers have a reputation as a money hungry companies that care about the bottom line more than people and the planet. It is easy for a person to assume that a corporation of GE’s size, money would be its only concern. What I learned was that GE has a public image problem more than a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) problem. The company has been working to make the people of the planet more Earth friendly by creating technology that has higher efficiency with fewer emissions and lower resource demands. GE has a well-established strategy for Corporate Social Responsibility. As a result of CSR the company has reaped profit benefits as well as a perceptibly better company image. It was with great expectation that I chose GE in the hopes to find an area that a global energy supplier would need improvement. I found that GE is within the top-10 of companies that demonstrate CSR. GE shares this distinguishment with other companies such as Patagonia, Nike and General Motors. Besides continuing the course they have started, GE could further add to their repertoire by providing roadmaps for other companies to follow in order to be a business with demonstrable CSR.
The corporate social responsibility is a commitment by a business to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life for employees and their families’ as-well as contributing to the society. Walmart is a well-known company that offers customers the items they want and need at a low cost, with nearly 4,000 stores in the United States. According to the Fortune 500, Walmart was ranked number 1 in 2015. Just like any other superstore Walmart needs to continue the use of social responsibility by recreating a relationship between business and the community especially if they want to dominate the competition in 2016. The use of sustainability, strategic philanthropy, causing market, shared values, stakeholders and global perspective will help readers understand the purpose of social responsibilities in the corporate world.
Sustainability of the supply chain has increasingly become a crucial aspect of corporate responsibility. Apart from being good for business, management of social, economic, and environmental effects of supply chain remains the right thing to do. Constantly changing markets have created complex landscapes that businesses must navigate to build sustainable supply chains. Sustainable supply chains aim at creating social, economic, and environmental value for all stakeholders throughout the supply chain. Building sustainable supply chains not only benefits the stakeholders but also aims at safeguarding business interests. Businesses can easily become sustainable by understanding who they are and working closely with people. Nestle is company that has been at the forefront in advocating for sustainable supply through the ‘creating shared value’ platform. The report makes recommendation on the role of supply chain management in attaining sustainability.
CSR is one of most important parts of every company. Acting as socially responsible is must for winning the race of competition. In this report, in the 1st part I tried to show a brief about CSR, its history and how people respond towards CSR. Then I have chosen Unilever, a famous FMCG company for the analysis. Then I tried to find out the CSR activities of Unilever all over the world, its corporate strategy and the contribution of CSR activities to corporate strategy. In the last part a SWOT analysis and some recommendations are given for more clarifications. I hope that this report will be able to give a clear view about CSR and its contribution to corporate strategy.
The ability to create an action plan that would provide enough “sustainability food for the future” gives off a very powerful message that we must change the way we perceive the world around us. To start viewing the earth as an “island” the natural resources the earth provides are slowly deteriorating right before our eyes. Population growth has exceeded the earth's capacity to sustain the growing demand for food. There have been warnings that seemed like “whispers” but now the earth, our island is speaking “loudly” and now is showing the damage our carelessness has caused. The Political of Sustainable Consumption and Production (PSC) has become more involved in the growing issues surrounding food consumption and production “because of its impact on the environment, individual and public health, social cohesion, and the economy (Reisch L., 2014).