Essay: Ben & Jerry's Corporate Social Responsibility Practices

This essay examines Ben & Jerry's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, exploring their commitment to social and economic justice, environmental sustainability, and community involvement. It analyzes how the company demonstrates CSR through product missions, economic goals, and social objectives, while also addressing the ethical and legal challenges they face. The essay highlights Ben & Jerry's stakeholder engagement, discussing how they communicate CSR efforts to consumers, employees, and the wider community. It also assesses the company's CSR reporting, its impact on employee motivation, and its overall contribution to ethical business practices. The analysis includes examples of the company's long-standing traditions and their approach to balancing multiple missions in a competitive global market. The essay utilizes academic journal articles to support its findings and evaluates the effectiveness of Ben & Jerry's CSR activities. The importance of CSR communication, motivation, and its impact on the organization is highlighted.

Running Head: ESSAY
ESSAY:
BEN & JERRY’S CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

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The modern business environment where the internet has introduced more rapid and easy
transfer of information, Corporate Social Responsibility has been essential to the growth of a
business. The power of an organization resides in the hands of the stakeholders as they make
demands for more responsibility and transparency. Murray (2014) opined because of their great
influence and power big multinational organizations are increasingly being targeted for constant
scrutiny of the actions that they take and also other accusations. There is an ever-increasing
pressure on these organizations to maintain the organization legitimacy and meet the society's
expectations. In order to meet these objectives making commitments to CSR isn't the only
requirement, but also made aware of these commitments to the stakeholders is also important.
Various researchers and their studies have explained that the returns of the business to CSR are
unpredictable on the awareness of the stakeholders about the CSR activities of an organization
(Carroll, 1991). This helps put more stress on the messages of CSR and the importance of public
relations framing that is tailored to those stakeholders who are relevant in both context and
content. The present essay is going to study the importance and challenges of CSR activities
along with its application and functions within Ben & Jerry’s ice cream company to understand
how does it affects an organization.
Nowadays, in an organization, just the shareholders, consumers and employees are not
the only important stakeholders but they also include the people belonging to the communities in
which the organization does their operations (Tench and Yeomans, 2009). The company must
consider its impact on society as it is a part of the infrastructure belonging in it. This can have
benefits of being sustainably and socially responsible, more specifically if the stakeholders of the
company are made aware of these facts since a vast majority of people expect companies to be
engaged in CSR (Byrd et al. 2017). There is not a single definition of CSR that is universally
agreed upon even when the CSR is a widely used concept. Many researchers have gone on to
provide the definition of CSR as the defined responsibilities of an organization to its stakeholders
and societies. Investors and shareholders are stakeholders who are dominant with having a higher
priority for many of the organizations (Du et al. 2010). With having claims that are legitimate,
stakeholders who are dominant have more power and hence they age a strong influence on the
business. Ben and Jerry's is an ice cream company based in Vermont who is an enduring leader
who is acknowledged in the movement of the Cultural Social Responsibility (CSR) and with a
business that has a reach at international level (Edmondson, 2014).

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Ben and Jerry's were fast when it came to aligning their social causes and their actions
with their brand. Instead of simply searching for causes haphazardly, they focused on the causes
those were directly or indirectly related to ice cream. Their activities were philanthropic that
ranged from the distribution of free ice creams to the use of particular scoop shops in order to
provide job training opportunities to the disenfranchised and the undeserved. The characteristics
of longevity shared by Ben and Jerry's were one of the most impressive social mission activity as
most of their events are long-standing traditions. For example, free cone day is a tradition that
dates back to the year 1979 and is still going on with the company giving out 871,271 cones
worldwide in the year 2003 (Murray, 2014).
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Company has socially significant actives that extend way
beyond their giveaway of ice cream. The company focuses on three basic areas, these are social
and economic justice, environment and the community. Ben & Jerry's have developed quite a
systematic method of their identification of potential projects. They look at the resources and
core competencies they have and they find out a way to carry them out while making a positive
impact over the society along with maintaining the quality of their products.
This ice cream company has three basic missions they focus towards:
Product mission: Making wonderful ice creams for the sake of the company and its popularity.
Economic mission: Managing the company to ensure financial growth that will be sustainable or
profitable in the long run.
Social mission: They also stress significant importance on coming up with creative methods to
make society better.
All these missions of objectives of the ice cream company run in various directions and
are hard to fulfil or reach at the same time. In their attempt to balance all these three missions,
the decision makers of the ice cream company have often faced and might also face in future,
various ethical and legal challenges (Byrd et al. 2017). This is because the missions are
competitive of each other in a global market filled with competition.
In the past, the company has taken various public stands along with protesting against the
growth hormone called Recombinant Bovine or rBGH, it was proposed to start the drilling of oil
in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Mann and Byun, 2017). Other social missions include
alleging the damaging caused to the Great Barrier Reef, incorporating money from corporates

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into politics and working for the allowance of milk and meat consumption derived from animals
that are cloned. The company has also been associated with the film named Citizen Cool and it's
making that talks about how ordinary people have the power to significantly change and impact
their society. Ben & Jerry's have also donated a large about of ice cream that set the Guinness
World Record in making the largest sundae. They have also joined hands with Dave Matthews
Band as well as SaveOurEnvironmet to help to fight against global warming (Waddock, 2008).
They provided ice cream for free to the individuals who protested in the movement of Occupy
Wall Street. In their products, the company strictly uses coffee, chocolate and vanilla from Fair
Trade for making their ice creams and also the labelling of genetically modified organism.
The goodwill that Ben and Jerry's have created by environmental and social efforts
through their non-profit giving, is hard to quantify. The companies put emphasis on its
involvement in various Corporate Social Responsibility activities that focus on the consistency
and scope of the company's commitment to their missions. They also put emphasis on CSR fit
and motivation. Ben & Jerry's good reputation and its significant involvement in CSR activities,
increases the effectiveness of the CSR it gets associated with (Lager, 1994). Due to their lack of
motive behind these activities, their involvement in CSR is seen as totally philanthropic and
genuine.
The BJ’s have been showing support for the CSR activities as in the reports of CSR can
be distinguished in different groups. As shown in the reports it is very much evident that they
have been thriving for better materials for incorporating within their products. The raw materials
they have been using for packaging, even how they can help the communities in which they are
doing their business and mostly the impact of their business on the climate as well as the
environment (Murray, 2014). They have been using eco-friendly materials for their products and
also for the packaging. The business operations and procedures of BJ’s have meant to ensure that
they can reduce the impact on the environment, as a result, the use of CSR is needed. BJ’s have
been well known for their ethics and values so it's logical for them to actively connect to society
and engage in various social activities (Waddock, 2008). The same has also been mentioned in
the CSR report. As stated by co-founder Ben Cohen that it is the responsibility of the business to
look after the communities from which they are earning their bread and butter. On the other note,
another co-founder Jerry stated that if someone is not having fun in what they are doing then

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there is no point in carrying forward. Thus the company has been following this same logic and
has been involved in community services and various social activities.
It can be seen that they have a clear vision of what they need to do in order to get the
attention of the stakeholders. As stated by Tench and Yeomans (2009), the employees need to
have clear communication if they are facing any kind of issues and also the involvement of the
organization. Proper communication helps in avoiding any kinds of misunderstandings and helps
in the smooth functioning within the organization. It also helps in maintaining the working
condition in the organization. The commitment of the organization can be forecasted through the
CSR reports by focusing on the points of motivation, commitment, involvement as well as the
impact between the organization and the cause.
BJ’s believers in ethical business and has been leading their business with values
(Murray, 2014). They have committed themselves to do business in an ethical, environmentally
sustainable and social way. An organization with ethically correct morals also encourages the
employees to be loyal and honest, this helps to nurture the idea of an ideal working environment
where employees cooperate with each other and work as a team rather than trying to pull each
other down (Lee and Jay, 2015). The employees are the supporting structure of the organization
and a stable structure ensures the growth and prosperity of the organization. This keeps them at
an advantage while they are preparing the CSR report as a result stakeholders can follow the
activities BJ's doing for the communities and that they are not just a form of a marketing stunt.
According to Byrd et al. (2017), they have gained the stature for being an expert as an
organization who has long connectivity with the reports of CSR. The CSR report reminds the
readers of the general durability with the engagement with CSR. They have been serving ice
cream for decades but as stated by the co-founders the main idea of the business was to provide
uniquely flavoured ice creams and see the euphoria on the faces of the customers. As a result,
they have developed and came up a long way and the company has gone through some massive
changes in the past. But all along the time, they have gained love and appreciation from their
customers. The customers of BJ’s have been a constant support to them and helped them to be
where they are in the present days. Another example that shows the durability of the organization
is that they have been given back to the community for more than 30 years and still they are
socially very much active and taking care of the community (Min and You, 2015). Another

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instance is that they have been taking milk from a particular farm from the beginning of their
business and continues to do so. They have clear instructions to all the farmers that the cows
need natural growth and they should not be treated with any kinds of growth hormones.
From the discussion, it can be concluded that CSR communication not only helps in
improving commitment and motivation but it also develops the organization on focus and
motivation which can be used as an advantage to calm the sceptical stakeholders. It has been
widely believed that CSR can improve the business of an organization. The effects that CSR has
very much positive attitude and motivating the employees help in the proper functioning of the
whole organization. Employees feel more connected when they are given a chance to put up their
ideas or when they get the support of the organization they are working when they are passing
through some bad patches of time. The uplifting of motivation helps them to focus on their job
(Lee and Jay, 2015). Similarly, an ethically correct environment nurtures loyal employees who
are dedicated to their works and aim to bring more revenue for the organization. Therefore the
organization can rely on human resource and earn more and more profits. It is clearly evident
that the philanthropic motivations provided by CSR are purely for economic purposes. However,
the general reports of CSR down not clearly mention any particular cause that BJ's following but
the text mainly narrates the importance of the company in the field of CSR. However, there are
some arguments that the reports of CSR are mainly concerned about the image of the
organization and the stakeholders are focused on the image of the organization and how they are
progressing within the CSR. But the NGOs are more concerned to see what BJ's is actually doing
for the communities and how they are leaving an impact on society. If the customers are the
primary stakeholders then it is really important to look after the social impact as a different
customer have their contribution in this.

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References
Byrd, J.W., Hickman, K., Baker, C.R. and Cohanier, B., 2017. Corporate social responsibility
reporting in controversial industries.
Carroll, A.B., 1991. The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral
management of organizational stakeholders. Business horizons, 34(4), pp.39-48.
Du, S., Bhattacharya, C.B. and Sen, S., 2010. Maximizing business returns to corporate social
responsibility (CSR): The role of CSR communication. International journal of management
reviews, 12(1), pp.8-19.
Lager, F., 1994. Ben & Jerry's: The inside scoop: How two real guys built a business with a
social conscience and a sense of humor. Crown Business.
Lee, M. and Jay, J., 2015. Strategic responses to hybrid social ventures. California Management
Review, 57(3), pp.126-147.
Mann, M. and Byun, S.E., 2017. To retrench or invest? Turnaround strategies during a
recessionary time. Journal of Business Research, 80, pp.24-34.
Min, G. and You, H.Y., 2015. Active Firms and Active Shareholders: Corporate Political
Activity and Shareholder Proposals.
Murray, J., 2014. Ben & Jerry's Struggles with Corporate Social Responsibility in an
International Context. Ben & Jerry's Struggles with Corporate Social Responsibility in an
International Context (May 29, 2014).
Tench, R. and Yeomans, L., 2009. Exploring public relations. Pearson Education.
Waddock, S., 2008. Building a new institutional infrastructure for corporate
responsibility. Academy of Management perspectives, 22(3), pp.87-108.