BEN and JERRY'S

A detailed Summary of BEN and JERRY'S

Due to the societal shift in the twentieth century toward material gain and capitalism, there has been an overwhelming emphasis put on monetary accrual and the pursuit of wealth. To generalize, people are no longer satisfied with familial happiness and achieving status through such things as cars and clothes has become the norm. Due to this, the job market has become increasingly more competitive, which in turn has given tremendous power to business. Corporations have all but taken over control of the distribution of assets. Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben and Jerry's writes, "Corporations have been granted the right to become the major depositories and bestowers of wealth in our society." Businesses, whether they want to or not, have a tremendous impact on the economic and social status in the world. The underlying problem with this relatively recent shift is that too often is the case that larger corporations neglect to acknowledge the potential danger they pose to the environment and the society as a whole. Therefore, it is the duty of each and every enterprise to take into account the tremendous power it possesses and act in such a way that is not detrimental to society. Unfortunately, as history teaches us, too many bus

The management in Ben and Jerry's is very people oriented. If run properly, values-led businesses often yield an incredibly motivated workforce. "If people understand that the work they do produces more than just profits, and they're in alignment with the values of the company, there's no end to what they can contribute."(p.165) The management at Ben and Jerry's has always strived to keep the employees happy and emote a real sense to the staff that indeed they are important. "Values-led management aspires to respect employees and seeks to meet their needs as well as the needs of the company."(p.167) Instead of having top level management be distant and authoritative, the management at Ben and Jerry's is very involved with the employees. Their employees are often surveyed, every eighteen months in fact, on how they feel the company is doing, their thoughts on improving products and management, and how happy they are. Because of this, the workforce at Ben and Jerry's remains quite content, and never feels too distant from top level executives. Management in 1985 implemented what they call a five-to-one salary ratio, which limits the top executive salaries to five times the lowest salary. This idea ensured that as the company prospered, so too did everybody working for the company.

When the business began Ben and Jerry sat down and had rather basic goals. Their credo was "If it's not fun, why do it?" They wanted to enjoy themselves while earning a living, and at the same time give something back to the community. As business began to take off, they needed to set down guidelines in order to achieve all three goals. Ben and Jerry execute what is referred to as a values-led business.

Because Ben Cohen and Jery Greenfield believed in themselves and their ideas, their company as become quite successful, accumulating numerous accolades. At the same time, they have not neglected their social duty and have contributed greatly to the society. In 1985, they established the Ben and Jerry's Foundation which is allotted 7.5% of the company's annual pre-tax profits for supporting various community oriented projects. Because of this foundation, they were awarded the Corporate Giving Award form the Council on Economic Priorities in 1988. In '91 held voter registration in their stores and got 1500 more Vermont residents to register. When the Newport Folk festival was in danger due to a lack of a sponsor, Ben and Jerry's took up the reins. They helped to establish a movement to redirect 1% of the U.S. defense budget to fund peace-promoting projects. They received Columbia University's Lawrence A. Wien Prize for corporate Social responsibility. They supported family farme

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Approximate Word count = 1818
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

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