Business Ethics and Social Responsibility: PortionPac Case Study

This case study examines PortionPac, a company focused on portion control products, and its approach to business ethics and social responsibility. The analysis explores the company's commitment to ethical practices, employee well-being, and environmental sustainability. It addresses the company's values, the importance of a socio-economic model, and the role of social audits in ensuring ethical operations. The study highlights PortionPac's alignment with sustainable environment principles and its focus on creating a people-friendly and planet-friendly organization. It also emphasizes the significance of common sense in making ethical business decisions, particularly in choosing between environmentally friendly and potentially harmful products. The case study underscores PortionPac's dedication to employee welfare, which results in lower employee turnover, and its overall commitment to fostering an ethical and sustainable work environment.

Running head: CASE STUDY PORTIONPAC
Case study PortionPac
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1CASE STUDY PORTIONPAC
1. Problem summary: PortionPac Company engages in production and packaging portion
control products food operators and manufacturers like condiments, jam and jellies,
toppings, dressings and sauces offering packaging to other private label brands. This
company is a large-sized organization in specialities and canned fruits producer having
currently 1700 employees generating annual revenue of $167.1 million. The current
situation is that present chairman, Marvin Klein are planning for people-friendly and
planet-friendly company for the future.
2. In 1964, Syd Weisberg and Marvin Klein came with the concept of international
environment movement. They came with concept that cleaning solutions should not be
toxic as well as caustic and packaging and water were going waste when premixed
cleaning liquids were poured into spray bottles that were disposed away. From this, they
came to the conclusion that business should be ethical while dealing with suppliers,
employees and customers.
3. Q1: As PortionPac is private company, they do not have to answer to stakeholders and
are free to determine their own values. Therefore, it is not important for the company to
value socioeconomic model of social responsibility while making profits, however,
PortionPac worked towards it. They caught up to the vision of long-term profits taking
ethics into consideration. The company followed the triple bottom line principle
differentiating the company with longevity of social responsibility of serving customers
with more green products1.
1 Knudsen, Jette Steen. "The growth of private regulation of labor standards in global supply chains: Mission
impossible for Western small-and medium-sized firms?." Journal of business ethics 117, no. 2 (2013): 387-398.

2CASE STUDY PORTIONPAC
Q2: Social audit is comprehensive report about organizational operations working in
accordance with social issues2. The questions involve: if the company follow procedures
and written policies during hiring or interview? If the company follow procedures and
policies communicated during interview or hiring process? What are the working
conditions in the company after employee recruitment? Does Company have health and
safety policy? Do employees work with inflammable or hazardous chemicals and do they
have adequate training?
Q3: Yes, I agree with the fact of Marvin Klein’s business ethics assessment as a matter of
common sense. This ethics can be used in choosing that whether product is good or bad,
whether it possess harsh chemicals or environment friendly good for people. Using
common sense, companies can go with harsh products to get benefits or conduct ethical
business3.
4. From the above case analysis of PortionPac, it can be concluded that the company was
established on social principles, sustainable environment principles and run on ethics.
The company believes in working for the employees meeting their needs and as a result,
there are fewer turnovers. The company work culture is employee friendly and they are
planning for people-friendly and planet friendly organization.
2 Lund-Thomsen, Peter, and Adam Lindgreen. "Corporate social responsibility in global value chains: Where are we
now and where are we going?." Journal of Business Ethics 123, no. 1 (2014): 11-22.
3 Davis, Ernest. Representations of commonsense knowledge. Morgan Kaufmann, 2014.

3CASE STUDY PORTIONPAC
References
Davis, Ernest. Representations of commonsense knowledge. Morgan Kaufmann, 2014.
Knudsen, Jette Steen. "The growth of private regulation of labor standards in global supply
chains: Mission impossible for Western small-and medium-sized firms?." Journal of business
ethics 117, no. 2 (2013): 387-398.
Lund-Thomsen, Peter, and Adam Lindgreen. "Corporate social responsibility in global value
chains: Where are we now and where are we going?." Journal of Business Ethics 123, no. 1
(2014): 11-22.