Each factory has an environmental coordinator that there to take care of, create, and execute environmental practices like waste, recycling, water management, etc. The company also realizes that in order to keep valued employees, they created a “Joy Gang” that comes together to “infuse joy in everything they do”. Their job is to create fun events for the employees to participate in. Committees like this help to boost morale and keep the employees looking forward to coming in to work which in turn lessens the employee turnover rate and the monies that it costs to hire and train new employees. They have also received awards like the Working Mother magazine named the business as one of the best in a hundred for working mothers and in 1988 the Business Ethics magazine awarded the company with the third rank out of a hundred along with the Council on Economic Priorities awarded them the Corporate Giving Award (Nelson, 2006).
One of the co-founders, Ben Cohen had stated during an interview that they did not want to sell the company, but since they went public, there have been many offers to purchase the company. The law required them to sell the company to another company that is offering more than what the stock was being sold at the time. If they did not sell, the shareholders could sue if they turned their offer down. The laws are trying to be rewritten, but of course it is too late for the co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s. Therefore, shareholders are the more in control of a company than even the owners (Dembosky, 2010). In my opinion (after reading this article), it seems that shareholders need to become more corporate responsible than the company itself and tougher laws to protect companies that promote and live the values of ethics and corporate social responsibility.
The business world is taking notice of this company’s views and now that the company has been under new ownership since 2000, Ben & Jerry’s website released the following statement when asked if they were going to still be dedicated to environmental awareness and charitable activities: “Unilever has reaffirmed its commitment to having Ben & Jerry's operate as an independent entity within the Unilever family, with its own board focusing on providing leadership for the company's social mission. Our new CEO, Yves Couette, has expressed his determination to maintain and expand those things about the company that have made it unique. Ben & Jerry’s contributes a minimum of $1.1 million annually through corporate philanthropy that is primarily employee led. Contributions made via the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation in 2001 totaled over $1.4 million. We continue our PartnerShop program, support for farmers who do not use rBGH, sponsorship of events which contribute to community wellbeing, and protection of the environment in all of our activities. We are optimistic that the Unilever connection will help us project this social awareness on to a much larger canvas. (Ben & Jerry's, 2010)”
Ben & Jerry’s is a company (though not perfect) that many other businesses should look up to. The company is talked about and used as an example in many articles, websites, and journals as a company that should be followed by many entrepreneurs. To this day the founders of this wonderful company attend conventions and lectures to teach other companies and future entrepreneurs their values and beliefs of becoming successful businesses along with attending to their own charities.
So far this company has been put into the right hands and the founders are confident that they made the right decision to continue on with the corporate citizenship this company provides along with having them work as a separate entity with their own board members. This would probably help keep the stakeholders happy and the shareholders even happier!
Therefore, I end this paper with a powerful quote from Jerry Greenfield. “There is a spiritual aspect to business, just as there is to the lives of individuals,” Greenfield said. “As you give, you receive. As you help others, you are helped in return. Just because the idea that the good you do is written in the Bible and not in a business textbook doesn’t make it any less valid.” (Nelson, 2006)
Works Cited
Ben & Jerry's. (2012, June). Benjerry.com/activism. Retrieved from Ben & Jerry's: http://www.benjerry.com/
Ben & Jerry's. (2010, March 5). Benjerry/custhelp.com. Retrieved from http://benjerry.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/174/related/1
Ben & Jerry's Foundation, Inc. (2012, July). Retrieved from Ben & Jerry's Foundation: http://www.benandjerrysfoundation.org/home.html
Bilson, J. (2010, March 10). Corporate Social Responsibility at Ben & Jerry's. Retrieved from Corporate Social Responsibility Suite 101: http://suite101.com/article/corporate-social-responsibility-at-ben--jerrys-a211754
Dembosky, A. (2010, March 9). Protecting Companies That Mix Profitability, Values. Retrieved from NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124468487
Kinsman, M. (2004, April 3). Ben & Jerry's real scoop on business. Retrieved from SignOnSanDiego.com: http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040403/news_1b3ben.html
Nelson, E. (2006). Purdue University. Retrieved from Krannert Magazine: Volume 7 Issue 1: http://www.krannert.purdue.edu/konline/spring2006/krannertData/ethics.asp
Wikipedia. (2012, June 08). Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from Corporate Citizenship: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Corporate_citizenship&action=history
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luvseals241 (student)
