Ben and Jerry's Case Study

John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods once said "Business social responsibility should not be coerced; it is a voluntary decision that the entrepreneurial leadership of every company must make on its own." (Mackey, 2005) In today’s society it is increasingly common for businesses to actively identify and become directly involved in the country and the global social issues and needs. It is now common

The expectation that businesses behave responsibly and positively contribute to society all while pursuing their economic goals is one that holds firm through all generations. Stakeholders, both market and nonmarket, expect businesses to be socially responsible. Many companies have responded to this by including this growing expectation as part of their overall business operations. There are companies in existence today whose sole purpose is to socially benefit society alongside businesses who simply combine social benefits with their economic goals as their company mission. These changes in societal expectations and thus company purpose we’ve seen in the business community over time often blurs the line of what it means to be socially

Looking for a drink to warm your holiday season? Well buy Trader Joe’s 100% Organic Hot Cocoa. Trader Joe’s Organic Hot Cocoa is rich in flavor because every ingredient is natural. Trader Joe’s grow their Cocoa beans in beautiful tropical weather. Then our workers take the cocoa beans and smash it, until it is in powder form. Soon after we add our organic sugar syrup and our organic nonfat dry milk altogether, with the cocoa powder. Trader Joe’s don’t add no dangerous chemicals in this process, that is why one sip of Trader Joe’s Organic Hot Cocoa Mix will transport your taste buds to heaven.

Ben & Jerry’s is an ice cream brand that started in Vermont in 1979 by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. Originally started as a small parlour business, it saw steady expansion in its distribution over time. Its acquisition by Unilever in 2000 allowed the brand to undergo worldwide distribution through tapping on the conglomerate’s logistics and distribution expertise. Faced with an ever changing business environment and dynamic consumer preferences, Ben & Jerry’s has adopted unique strategies to boost its competitiveness.

We at Temple Consulting have completed an analysis of Ice-Fili’s current corporate standing using data collected over the past several years. Using tools such as Porter’s Approach and SWOT we have analyzed the internal and external environments and have recommended several strategic plans of action. Current areas for improvement such as marketing initiatives and re-evaluation of distribution channels will increase sales and profitability almost instantly. Long term plans such as lobbying against luxury tax on ice cream, partnerships with franchise vendors, and bringing new products to the market, performing an IPO, and planning more global efforts will help keep Ice-Fili rooted as the

3. Why is Ben & Jerry’s a takeover target? Is there evidence that investors are dissatisfied?

7-Eleven will not help Ben and Jerry’s in the marketing of its products, making Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream one of the many brands carried by the convenience store.

The whole process throughput time of making a dozen of cookies is 26 minutes. It takes washing, mixing and spooning 8 minutes to make a dozen of cookies. And preparation and bake time totally are 10 minutes. The final step of cooling, packing and accepting payment of cookies takes roommate 8 minutes to finish the cycle. Assume the night capacity is 4 hours, so Kristen and roommate have 240 minutes operating time. Since the oven only holds one tray, the second dozen takes an additional 10 minutes to bake. For example, first dozen of cookies take 26 minutes to make, second dozen of cookies take 36 minutes to make and third dozen of cookies take 46 minutes to make. So we can

Ben Cohen,one of the builders of Ben & Jerry’s , proposes that it is unsubstantial for Ben & Jerry’s to merely do a business just like other companies, and it should make philanthropic contribution to society as well. This mind comes to be practical and when it comes to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Ben & Jerry’s become prominent example (Dennis et al, 1998).

Ben and Jerry’s, founded in 1978, is a market leading distributor of super-premium ice creams, frozen yogurts, and sorbets, and has built a reputation on being a socially minded company. They were pioneers in the policy of “caring capitalism” and place heavy importance on the concept of social responsibility, a practice which many companies have since adopted. They have enjoyed long-term success as a result of their progressive methods of doing business and novel ideology regarding how a company should be ran. However, due to increased competitive pressure and declining financial performance, they have now been confronted by the threat of a takeover. Recently four

They hoped that by employing this distribution rationale they could fuel synergy within Quaker’s Beverage Division. Despite Quaker’s efforts distributors resisted this hybrid, and the strategy resulted in being far from successful.

Golden Valley Foods, Inc. is a 127-year-old company that prepares packages and sells canned and frozen foods which include fruits, vegetables, pickles and condiments. Golden Valley has more than 30 processing plants in operations and annual sales of approximately $650 million. Much of Golden Valley’s management staff comes from their parent company with the previous president saying “The influence of our old parent company is still with us. As long as new products look like they will increase the company’s sales volume, they are introduced. Traditionally, there has been little, if any attention paid to

Manny Flavors Cookie Company (MFCC) is a reputable family owned business that has been in operations since 1889. Now in its fourth generation of ownership, MFCC’s sales have flourished and it is important that the business continue to grow to its fullest potential. Despite the success of the company, MFCC is currently experiencing problems on the operating floor. Willie Keepum, Vice President of Operations at the company, wishes to terminate all of the employees because he believes that many of the employees have a negative attitude and have become complacent about the quality of the product. Disregarding the opinions of the mid-level managers, he believes that firing the employees will show the workers who is in charge because there is nothing anyone can do to make the employees motivated to work. The current paper will explain the problems that MFCC face and how these problems may affect the company in its future business endeavors. Then, there will be an explanation of how a change in leadership style can benefit the organization more than terminating any employees. Lastly, alternative solutions will be stated to resolve the problems faced by workers and leaders on the operating floor of MFCC.

Enterprise recourse planning (ERP) is a business software that is a suite of applications intended to organize the business processes starting with planning to the point of shipping and payment. ERP operates in real time providing a shared database that supports the business process. It follows a consistent manner of tracking all aspects of the business across all functions and departments. offering so many levels for different management needs because it has the ability to customize the information as needed. This implementation paper will focus on HERSHEY FOODS CORPORATION by investigating and highlighting the reasons behind the catastrophe that Hershey foods corporation faced when implemented the ERP.

The last alternative would be to continue with what the company has already done and just produce many of the products. This choice would mean waiting in vain for another growth in the product’s life cycle. Ms. Jill could supply and distribute more, making the product very available. In case the other brands lack supplies, the consumers in grocer stores can conveniently choose the Snacks to Go products because of its availability.