(Tiểu luận) final reportcorporate social responsibility topic ben jerrys

However, it also led to positive developments, with the way Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s solved their problem by striving to align its operating policies more closely with Ben & Jerry''''s va

HO CHI MINH OPEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY

FINAL REPORT

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY TOPIC: BEN & JERRY'S

INSTRUCTOR: TS Vân Thị Hồng Loan

Lê Thanh Nguyên MSSV: 2154010596 Dương Phạm Huỳnh Như MSSV: 2154010669 Nguyễn Linh Phụng MSSV: 2154010729

HCM City, December 13 2023th

PERFORMANCE TABLE ASSESSMENT

Nguyễn Vũ Hoàng 2154013010 100%

Dương Phạm Huỳnh Như 2154010669 100%

Lê Thanh Nguyên 2154010596 100%

Nguyễn Linh Phụng 2154010729 100%

1 Before selling to Unilever: 8

2 After selling to Unilever: 8

V Strategies and Tactics: 9

1 Before selling to Unilever: 9

2 After selling to Unilever: 10

VI.Groups opinions: 10

VII Practical issues: 11

VIII.Questions of case study: 12

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We would like to extend our sincere appreciation and gratitude to our esteemed lecturer, TS Vân Thị Hồng Loan, for their invaluable guidance, support, and encouragement throughout the duration of the Customer Behavior course Their expertise, passion, and dedication to imparting knowledge have been instrumental in shaping our understanding of the complexities and intricacies of consumer behavior Additionally, we would like to express our gratitude to the school for facilitating our access to this subject, thereby creating a conducive learning environment and demonstrating a willingness to make every effort to ensure that we have the resources and support needed to thrive in the course Thanks to TS Vân Thị Hồng Loan invaluable guidance, we have successfully developed and implemented the report to the best of our abilities Given the constraints of the brief research period, our understanding might still be limited, and as a result, there may be imperfections in the report Therefore, we kindly request your understanding and support in providing us with the opportunity to address these limitations and to gain valuable insights for future reports.

Lastly, but equally importantly, we wholeheartedly wish everyone the fulfillment of your dreams through relentless efforts and perseverance Sincere thanks to all!

Our report about this case study will provide an insightful overview of Ben & Jerry's journey as a values-based business, highlighting its pioneering efforts in addressing stakeholder concerns and embedding social and environmental responsibility into its corporate ethos like set new standards in defining the concept of a concerned and responsive employer by actively recognizing and addressing the central role that businesses play in society This report will delve into the company's unique approach to stakeholder engagement, Ben & Jerry's commitment to its social, product, and economic missions through its dedication to sustainable corporate practices and its determination to seek new and creative ways of addressing these three interrelated components while respecting individuals and communities Furthermore, the report sheds light on Ben & Jerry's distinctive HR policies which contributed to the firm's strong stakeholder relationships, particularly with its employees In this case study, we also explore the challenges the company faced when they merged with a giant company Unilever This transition brought about changes, triggering concerns about the firm's commitment to its original values However, it also led to positive developments, with the way Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s solved their problem by striving to align its operating policies more closely with Ben & Jerry's values-based business model Finally, we will express our opinions about their issue, the way how they solve it and then we will answer five questions of case study in this report.

Ben & Jerry’s ( or Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Holding Incorporated) is an American company that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet It opened its first shop in Vermont in 1981 and went public in 1984 In April 2000, Ben & Jerry’s sold to British multinational food giant Unilever and it has continued to grow under the ownership of Unilever Ben & Jerry’s is also one of the earliest corporate pioneers in the area of values-based business In building Ben & Jerry’s into a global brand, the company’s cofounders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, set new standards in defining the concept of a concerned and responsive employer Then, it codified these values as part of its groundbreaking Social Audit—first commissioned in 1989 Ben & Jerry’s was also the first major corporation to allow an independent social audit of their business operations.

Ben & Jerry’s has continued developing the concept of a business that places its stakeholder concerns at the core of its business model ever since, a stance that is reflected in the firm’s Mission Statement This statement consists of 3 parts: Social Mission, Product Mission and Economic Mission.

With Social Mission, the Company wants to operate in a way that actively recognizes the central role that business plays in society by initiating innovative ways to improve the quality of life locally, nationally, and internationally.

In Product Mission, Ben & Jerry’s wants to make, distribute and sell the finest quality all natural ice cream and euphoric concoctions with a continued commitment to incorporating wholesome, natural ingredients and promoting business practices that respect the Earth and the Environment.

Finally is the Economic Mission, the Company wants to operate on a sustainable financial basis of profitable growth, increasing value for our stakeholders and expanding opportunities for development and career growth for our employees.

II.Case Study Summarize:

Underlying the mission of Ben & Jerry’s is the determination to seek new and creative ways of addressing all three parts, while holding a deep respect for individuals inside and outside the company and for the communities of which they are a part For example: The issue of executive pay with no employee can earn more than 7 times the salary of the lowest paid worker [7:1] Furthermore, The firm’s benefits include an onsite day-care center and its no-layoff policy ensured the commitment and loyalty of one of the firm’s key stakeholder groups especially its employees With that Ben & Jerry’s became more successful and began to attract the attention of other firms People began to worry about the situation that Ben & Jerry’s could be merged or be bought by another company In order not to let other companies do so The Vermont state government passed legislation “allowing a company’s directors to reject a bid if they deem it to be not in the best interests of employees, suppliers, and the economy of the state and this law also known as the “ Ben & Jerry’s Law”.

In spite of this legislation, Ben & Jerry’s board agreed to a $326m takeover by the corporate giant Unilever in August 2000 After the trade, they received some criticism about changing the original CSR values but through their strategies and tactics, soon they gradually returned.

1 Before selling to Unilever:

Ben & Jerry’s was very famous because they implemented CSR very well as they committed in their statement They were successful in social mission and product mission but in economic mission they got some problems because they were too focused on social mission that they were not capable of taking For that, businesses gradually became unsustainable, but despite that, they still did not reduce the implementation of CSR strategies, leading to no longer having enough funds to maintain the company and they had to sell and merge with Unilever to solve this problem.

2 After selling to Unilever:

After selling to Unulever, the issue of Ben & Jerry's continued that the firm’s cult status was tarnished by the takeover It’s no longer as favored as before in spite of Unilever’s management giving assurances that Ben & Jerry’s unique approach to business would be maintained This is clearly shown through the fact that Business Ethics dropped Ben & Jerry’s out of its list of 100 Best Corporate Citizens in 2001 because of its unfavorable evaluation of Unilever and the new parent company or the top-to-bottom compensation ratio jumped from 7:1 to an average of 16:1 in 1999, 2000, and 2001.

Although they reaffirmed a strong activist message, there is still suspicion that things have changed and people believed the firm’s commitment to its co-founders' original values is not as strong as it once was.

There are many stakeholders that are related to Ben & Jerry's in this case like Communities (Community Outreach, Philanthropic Giving, Environmental Awareness, Global Awareness), Employees, Customers, Suppliers, Investors, Government and Society Like any other companies, it’s very hard to control the benefits of many stakeholders at the same time and Ben & Jerry’s is not the exception Here are some related controversial issues: Employees expected that the original commitment would still be fulfilled The employee’s salary, the no-layoff policy and working environment must be kept as what was originally committed Communities desired that Ben & Jerry’s still bring long-term sustainable values to the community as originally committed Societies didn’t want Ben & Jerry's to sell to Unilever because of its bad impression on the society that will affect the Ben & Jerry’s itself But the Board of Manager on the other hand, decided to merge Ben & Jerry’s into Unilever despite the objection of all stakeholders.

V.Strategies and Tactics:

1 Before selling to Unilever:

Because of implementing many CSR strategies that made the company become unsustainable, Ben & Jerry’s board decided to sell the company to Unilever to solve their economic problem But after solving this problem, other problems were waiting for Ben & Jerry’s when they merged with Unilever.

2 After selling to Unilever:

In that situation, Unilever’s managers’ strategy is continuing to reaffirm a strong activist message, while claiming to run Ben & Jerry’s by “leading with progressive values across Unilever” with the firm’s commitment to social justice and progressive political platforms appearing to be as strong as ever This glorious strategy was accomplished through the tactics they tried to create economic opportunities for those who have been denied and advance new models of economic justice that are sustainable and replicable They also strived to minimize their impact on the environment.Then, they seeked and supported nonviolent ways to achieve peace and justice They also believed and supported government resources to be used

productively in meeting human needs Finally, the firm strived to show a deep respect for human beings inside and outside our company and for the communities in which they live.

VI.Groups opinions:

In our point of view, we totally agree with the way that Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever solved the problem Firstly, we agree with not only the way they solved their economic mission but also the company they merged with We believe that Ben & Jerry did not choose a random giant company to sell themselves, they chose Unilever to merge because Unilever at that time still implemented CSR so they hoped that when they merged with Unilever they still kept the commitment towards their stakeholders For that, we consider that Ben & Jerry’s was very wise when they decided to merge with Unilever Ben & Jerry’s at first was known as a good company, no one wanted it to be bought or be merged by other companies On the other hand, Unilever didn’t have a favorable evaluation at that time, causing many stakeholders to believe that Ben & Jerry’s will be affected and Ben & Jerry’s commitment is not as strong as it once was So Unilever’s strategies have helped Ben & Jerry’s continue to carry out the original core value that they committed to by allowing Ben & Jerry’s to retain its broad stakeholder-focused, values-based business model Not only that,

Unilever also improves the image and reputation of CSR through their strategies and tactics.

VII.Practical issues:

We have found out a practical issue that is related to this case study and that is Big C or today also known as GO! or In Vietnam, the first Big C supermarket was established in Dong Nai in 1998 Like any other, Big C has also implemented CSR as a way to compete with other supermarkets even after selling to Central Group and being renamed to “GO!” in 2016 And like Ben & Jerry’s, “GO!” committed that they will keep their value towards the society like before But there are still suspicions that Big C has changed Especially in 2019 when “GO!” announced that it would temporarily stop importing Vietnamese garments and instead of that, supermarkets are filled with foreign goods This has strongly affected the patriotic spirit of Vietnamese people, so there have been many negative reactions calling for a boycott of this supermarket Although representatives of “GO!” committed to retaining 90% of Vietnamese goods, but that cannot appease all the negative reactions of Vietnamese consumers Besides, “GO!” is also entangled in many scandals such as: high discounts for agricultural businesses, selling poor quality food

Until now “GO!” is still operating, but with previous scandals and fierce competition from other supermarkets and shopping malls, this supermarket is no longer as favored as before.

VIII.Questions of case study:

1 What makes one person more or less ethical than another? Where does that component of an individual’s character come from?

The surrounding environment can impact and influence personality and morality The educational environment from school and, more importantly, from each individual's own family will directly affect an individual's perspective What an individual's morality will be will come from his or her family's education The community of surrounding people is also one of the important factors that impact the formation of an individual's morality and character Community groups will have similar personalities to each other and be attracted to people with the same mindset, and community is one of the factors that indirectly impacts an individual.Emotional psychology is often related to a person's character and morality Empathy and the ability to control emotions can play an important role in an individual's moral judgment But after all, It’s about how people perceive issues in their lives and it depends on their moral standards This character comes from the individual’s awareness and knowledge The more they experienced, the more well informed they were.

2 What does it mean for an organization to be ethical? What is the difference between an unethical and an illegal act?

An organization's ethics refers to the set of principles and values that an organization pursues during its operations Organizational ethics not only manifests at the individual level but also applies to the entire organization, including leadership decisions, work environment, customer relations, and community interactions Organizational ethics is often concerned with ensuring that an organization's activities are positive, ethical, and beneficial to both the organization and society Ethics here are also aimed at economic benefits based on basic standards such as honesty, respect, etc.The difference between an unethical practice and an illegal practice lies in their scope Unethical behavior often involves failure to adhere to ethical principles and