New Belgium Brewing: Social Responsibility as a Competitive Advantage

New Belgium’s focus on environmental responsibilities is a benefit that enhances the profits of the company. The company has been successful while keeping sustainability and environmental responsibility at the forefront of their strategic planning process. In 2012 the company decided to spread its wings by choosing a second home in North Carolina. New Belgium brewery invests in efficient equipment most notably their brew kettle, which heats thin sheets of wort rather than the whole kettle and stores steam and vapor that allows the wort to heat at a quickened pace reducing the amount of primary energy used. The company’s energy conservation efforts do not stop there; their site claims that “the most sustainable watt is the watt never used” (New

New Belgium’s competitive advantage that is most important and the cornerstone of the company’s strategic focus is their social responsibility. Social responsibility is more than a charitable deed or cost savings, it is that way an organization uses innovation to maintain a competitive advantage. Social responsibility should be more than a campaign for publicity, but a strategic focus using innovation (Porter & Kramer, 2006).

New Belgium Brewing Company’s personal commitment to environmental issues has been their philosophy from the start of the company, and they are continuing to standby this

The company, New Belgium Brewery is the idea came in a mind of Jeff Lebesch a bicycling trip through Belgium. Started from a basement brewery in 1991to a proper built brewery nowadays with several branches. It earned a national wide reputation of good beer as well as community and environment stewardship. The sustainability plan that concentrated on saving resources for e.g. Purifying used water for reuse and electricity from natural resources.

1. What environmental issues does the new belgium brewing company work to address? How does NBB taken a strategic approach to addressing these issues? Why do you think the company has taken such a strong stance toward sustainability?

I believe New Belgium’s focus on social responsibility provides key competitive advantage to the company. According to Dave Kemp, New Belgium environmental concern and social responsibility give it a competitive advantage because consumer want to believe and feel good about the product they purchase (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2010). The consumers want to be part of the environmental and social cause. They are equally concern about environmental issues thus supporting the companies that promote sustainable growth. In 2013, New Belgium generated $190 million in revenue (Eng, 2014). Which is a skyrocket number, as it grew 18 percent in 2013 in craft beer market (Khan, 2015). It is clear that the result of growing market comes from encouraging sustainability

“In 1970, people said that The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits, times changed now” (Knowledge@Wharton, 2012). New Belgium Brewing and Anheuser-Bush InBev are both great beer companies which have positive corporate social responsibility. They all believe that social responsibility is the one of the most important mission of the business at this time.

I think Social responsibility has a key role in establishing a company’s business model. When operating a business, a company must contemplate the social responsibility behind their business when making their business model. Where do their responsibilities lie, what fits with their business plan, and how much investment can they really declare to their shareholders, that

New Belgium brewing company is a craft brewery that focuses on more than the just the bottom line. The company actually uses a triple bottom line approach. The company is operated by basic guidelines set forth by its creators. These guidelines are what makes the company so successful today. NBB’s relational advantages are so the source of the company’s most important competitive advantage and the cornerstone of the company’s customer intimacy strategy.

Social responsibility is a construct of appropriate ethical behaviors, where two or more individuals, and corporations strive to provide better outcomes for the benefit of society as a whole. With such a set of meticulous structured frameworks in mind, it is fundamental to achieve a harmonious balance between the ecosystem and the developing economy. However, social responsibility is not always first and foremost on the mind of big name corporate companies – such as General Mills Inc.

Social responsibility is built on a system of ethics, in which decisions and actions must be ethically validated before proceeding. If the action or decision causes harm to society or the environment then it would be considered to be socially irresponsible. Being socially responsible means that people and organization must behave ethically and sensitivity towards, social, cultural, economic, and environmental issues. Striving for social responsibility helps individuals, organization and government to have a positive impact on development, business and society. Often, the ethical implication of decision/action are overlooked for personal gain and the benefits are usually material. This frequently manifest itself in companies that

When a company has such a high degree of focus on environmental responsibility and sustainability in its production process, one might come to the conclusion that these will require a great deal of capital to achieve and maintain. At New Belgium Brewing they prove this theory wrong, as they attempt to lead the way by running their facilities on environmentally friendly energy sources and innovative machinery.

The benefit to business of good Corporate Social Responsibility is difficult to quantify as it varies depending on the nature of the enterprise. Some scholars believe that there is a business justification for CSR. That is, what is good for the environment and society will be good for company profitability. And studies have shown a slightly positive correlation between CSR and financial gain (Steiner and Steiner, 2006). However, as Freidmanism claims, the first responsibility of business is to make enough profit to cover the costs for the future. If this social responsibility is not met, no other responsibilities can be (Hargreaves, 2006). Therefore it is critical that CSR activities are included in strategy formulation and that the level of resources devoted to CSR is determined like any other strategy – through cost/benefit analysis. Corporations will not throw money away…they need to see it

These growth phases tend to face challenges and obstacles. In order to minimize potential problems, organizations are developing a corporate social responsible mindset. A corporate socially responsible company is still focused on being profitable but they want to assist with making the world a better place. This creates a positive image for a company which does have an impact on its bottom line.

Corporate social responsibility has been one the key business buzz words of the 21st century. Consumers' discontent with the corporation has forced it to try and rectify its negative image by associating its name with good deeds. Social responsibility has become one of the corporation's most pressing issues, each company striving to outdo the next with its philanthropic image. People feel that the corporation has done great harm to both the environment and to society and that with all of its wealth and power, it should be leading the fight to save the Earth, to combat poverty and illness and etc. "Corporations are now expected to deliver the good, not just the goods; to pursue