Ben & Jerry’s: Corporate Social Responsibility
select a leading CSR organisation and investigate their range of CSR related activities, b) describe how they demonstrate CSR, c) critically evaluate how they have engaged stakeholders in their CSR initiatives, and d) include a minimum of 4 academic journal articles. Overall, your essay will need to demonstrate an understanding of different forms of CSR and should incorporate stakeholder theory.
WriteMYProject
Corporate Social Responsibility has been essential to the growth of a business since
In a world where the Internet has made transfer of information easier and more rapid than ever, still more power resides with stakeholders, who demand further transparency and responsibility from organisations. Large multinational organisations, holding great power and influence, are targets for increasingly many accusations and a constant scrutiny of their actions. Organisations are thus under a continuous pressure of living up to the expectations of society and to maintain their organisational legitimacy (Waddock, 2008), which can be done through not only committing to CSR, but also by making stakeholders aware of this commitment. As Du, Bhattacharya and Sen (2010) emphasise: “the business returns to CSR are contingent on stakeholders’ awareness of a company’s CSR activities” (p. 9). This stresses the importance of framing public relations and CSR messages in a suitable manner, tailored to the relevant stakeholders in the form of both content and context (Du et al., 2010).
Important stakeholders for a company now do not only include employees, customers and shareholders, but also members of the communities in which the company operates, as the company is part of the infrastructure in society and therefore must consider its impact on it (Tench&Yeomans, 2009). As more and more people expect organisations to engage in CSR, it can be beneficial to be socially and sustainably responsible, especially if the stakeholders of the organisation are made aware of this. Even though the concept of CSR is widely used, there is no universally agreed definition, and hence, many definitions of CSR exist. Tench and Yeomans (2009) define CSR as “an organisation’s defined responsibility to its society(ies) and stakeholders” (p.99)
Shareholders and investors are dominant stakeholders and have a high priority for many organisations (Cornelissen, 2011). Dominant stakeholders are powerful and have legitimate claims, for which reason they have a strong influence. Ben & Jerry’s, the Vermont‐based ice cream company, is an acknowledged, enduring leader in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement and a business with an international reach (Edmondson, 2014).
Ben and Jerry were quick to align their actions and their social causes with their brand. They did not simply search for causes haphazardly, but instead focused on causes that were in some way related to ice cream. Their philanthropic activities range from giving away free ice cream to using select scoop shops to bring job training opportunities to the underserved and disenfranchised. One of the impressive characteristics shared by many of Ben & Jerry’s social mission activities is their longevity. Many of their events are long-standing traditions. For example, Free Cone Day dates back to May 5, 1979. Ben and Jerry decided to give away free ice cream in celebration of being in business for an entire year. This is still an annual tradition today, with 871,271 free cones given out worldwide in 2003 (http://www.benjerry.com). Ben & Jerry’s social mission activities definitely extend well beyond ice cream giveaways. In fact, they focus on three main areas: economic and social justice, community, and the environment. Ben & Jerry’s takes a fairly systematic approach of identifying potential projects. They take a look at their core competencies and resources, and try to find ways to do them in a fashion that has a more positive impact on society, while maintaining product quality.
According to Ben & Jerry’s website, the company has three main missions: (1) Product Mission: “make fantastic ice cream, for its own sake;” (2) Economic Mission: “manage [the] [c]ompany for sustainable financial growth;” and (3) Social Mission: “innovate ways to make the world a better place.” (Ben & Jerry’s Values). Decision makers for Ben & Jerry’s have faced, and likely will continue to face, legal and ethical challenges as they attempt to balance all three missions, which often compete with one another in a competitive global market.
During its history, Ben & Jerry’s has taken public stands and protested against Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), proposed oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, alleged damaging of the Great Barrier Reef, allowing consumption of meat and milk from cloned animals, and corporate money …
Assignment status: Already Solved By Our Experts
(USA, AUS, UK & CA PhD. Writers)
Source: Get Help
