MMH733 - MBA: Ethical Analysis of FMCG Sector's Sustainable Goals

This MBA report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector's engagement with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report focuses on three key SDGs: eradicating poverty, ensuring food quality, and promoting healthy lives. It examines the strategies employed by FMCG companies to contribute to these goals, including partnerships, stakeholder engagement, and initiatives to improve working conditions and promote healthy lifestyles. The report highlights examples of leading companies, such as Coca-Cola, Cargil, and Levi Strauss & Co., and discusses their approaches to achieving the SDGs. It explores the ethical dimensions of the FMCG sector's actions and concludes by emphasizing the importance of sustainable development for the progress of society. The report also references several academic sources to support its findings.

Running head: MBA
MBA
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

1
MBA
Abstract
The report focuses on the importance of the FMCG sectors and the role it plays in the society.
The focus of the report is on the Sustainable Development Goals that the sectors undertake so
that it can continue its business in the society. The three Sustainable Development Goals that
has been analysed in the report include the eradication of poverty, ensuring the good quality
of food and providing healthy food services to the people residing in the areas of operation.
Strategies adopted by the FMCG sectors regarding fulfilling the strategies are discussed in
the report along with examples of leading companies in the sector.

2
MBA
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Most relevant SDGs for the sector.............................................................................................2
Strategies to contribute towards the implementation of the SDGs............................................3
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
Reference....................................................................................................................................7

3
MBA
Introduction
In the modern world, FMGC sectors play an important role in business industries. As
observed by Le Blanc (2015) the importance of the FMCG sector can be traced back to the
fact that it contributes heavily for the development of a particular society. In this regard, the
corporate social responsibility of the FMCG sector cannot be doubted because it aims to
provide the basic ingredient required for human beings to survive. As such, the Sustainable
Development Goals of the sector need to be analysed so that the effectiveness of the sector
can be determined. Therefore, three such Sustainable Development Goals that are relevant for
the existence of an FMCG sector can be analysed with the purpose of developing the sector.
Most relevant SDGs for the sector
The first Sustainable Development Goal that can be analysed is that of eradicating
poverty. As stated by Barkemeyer et al. (2014) the main aim of an FMCG sector is to
eradicate poverty and ensure that every people residing in the society are blessed with
minimum supply of food. Such poverty-stricken conditions are usually seen in the South
Asian countries and in Africa. Thereby, it is important to undertake certain strategies that can
help in the eradication of poverty in these regions (Carley and Christie 2017). These
strategies can be in the form of partnership with local companies or by assessing the
economic and social needs of the people that are involved in a society. Companies such as
Coca-Cola use the reputation it has in the market to ensure that proper campaigns are set up
so that awareness of poverty and ways to mitigate it can be preached.
The second Sustainable Development Goal that can is relevant for the FMCG is to
ensure that quality of food is checked. According to Charles Jr, Schmidheiny and Watts
(2017), small-scale FMCGs are not particularly well reputed for the quality of food it serves.

4
MBA
On the other hand, most people in the aforementioned regions do not possess the financial
stability to purchase food from reputed organisations. Hence, it is important that these FMCG
companies along with the reputed ones form a collaborative partnership with the farmers. In
this manner, fresh produce can be a guarantee and the health of the people in a society can be
accounted for. Hence, as stated by Weaver et al. (2017) sustainable development in
agriculture can be maintained by undertaking this collaborative practise.
The third Sustainable Development Goal is to ensure that healthy lives are promoted
within the society. According to Liu et al. (2016) is of the opinion that FMCG sections need
to ensure that healthy lives in a society are provided so that people can continue to contribute
for the development of a society. Therefore, strategies such as improving the working
condition within an FMCG sector need to be adopted so that the food served are presented
with quality as well as provide nutrients. In this case, companies like Cargil provide the lead
by example so that palm oil plantations in Indonesia get to promote a healthy lifestyle among
the people in the country. Nursing areas are provided so that the company can promote a
healthy life style.
Strategies to contribute towards the implementation of the SDGs
The strategies that can be used to enhance the contribution of the Sustainable
Development Goals for FMCGs can be analysed based on the availability of resources and
the manner in which the sectors apply itself in the market. For example, leading FMCG
sectors around the world may implement innovative strategies to ensure that the Sustainable
Development Goals undertaken by the company are achieved with special emphasis on the
profits of the company. Small-scale FMCG companies can formulate the strategies based on
the satisfaction of the customers and the development of the company. Hence, strategies for
the three Sustainable Development Goals can be analysed in a deeper context.

5
MBA
The first Sustainable Development Goal that is the eradication of poverty can be
attained by involving the stakeholders of a company. As stated by Pearce (2014) the interests
and involvement of the stakeholders of a company can help in achieving the mission of a
particular company. Large multinational companies as Coca-Cola can create prosperity in the
business while trying to open new business markets. Therefore, the company can undertake
the future demand of the society in the eradication of poverty by undertaking social
programmes. Coca-Cola with the support of Oxfam has commissioned to conduct a campaign
called Poverty Footprint Studies so that the impact of the poverty can be accessed. The
improved policies as well as practises can help in enhancing the economic and social
condition of the people residing in poverty-stricken society.
At the same time, predictable procurement contracts can help in managing the
collaboration with the markets so that suppliers can develop alternative method to ensure that
livelihood can be obtained. As observed by Sachs (2015) the suppliers are the main
stakeholders of an FMCG organisation and it is important that the interest of the suppliers be
kept at bay by the organisations. Another example can be provided with the contribution
made by the company Gift with a cause. The company is known to provide support to the
families in the developing countries so that poverty can be eradicated. Such gestures can help
in the development of a society by being in collaboration with the retail markets and non-
profit organisations.
The second Sustainable Development Goal is to achieve food security and to promote
an improved nutrition. The strategic approach to attain this particular goal can be the
collaboration with the farmers. As observed by Clark et al. (2016) the farmers produce the
natural and fresh ingredients that can ensure the quality of the food. Although the use of
pesticides in the food can be considered harmful, the final product can offer a sense of
security for the FMCG while purchasing the products from the farmers. This can also provide

6
MBA
the farmers with the empowerment to remain an important stakeholder for the companies.
Companies such as Cargil undertake such strategy as the company has its branches in India,
which is an agricultural rich country.
At the same time, continuing with the commitment to join the Scaling up Nutrition
Business Network can help in the collaboration with the farmers. Diageo, an FMCG company
located in Africa have been with a partnership with non-profit organisations located in
Ethiopia so that initiatives for its Meta Beer brewery can be maintained. As predicted by
Wheeler and Beatley (2014) such initiatives can help farmers to earn income and work
towards the development of the lifestyle. Indirectly, such initiatives can help in the
eradication of poverty in the regions and therefore, problems related to healthy food as well
as poor people can be solved. Therefore, following the example of such companies can help
in attaining the Sustainable Development Goal set up by the FMCGs.
The third Sustainable Development Goal that needs to be addressed is the healthy
lives of the people and the promotion of well being. According to Bendell (2017), in order to
do this, the initial stage is to set up a proper and hygienic working condition. Most of the
FMCG companies are rumoured to have an unclean environment wherein the reduction of
wastes need to be maintained. Hence, maintaining a healthy employee status across the value
chain can help in improving the condition in the workplace. At the same time, it is also
necessary that the FMCG companies collaborate with World Health Organisations so that a
diet chart along with a balanced diet can be obtained. This can help customers to adopt a
much healthier life style and ensure that promotion of personal hygiene is made among the
people in the society.
The leading companies in this case include Levi Strauss & Co. The company is
mainly known for manufacturing jeans but at the same time is an important vendor for

7
MBA
integrating well with the workers. The fact that the vendors promote the manufacturing of the
company can be considered as a beneficiary for the betterment of a society. At the same time
investment made on the vendors need to be done properly so that the companies does not
suffer from loss (Welford 2016). Cargil provides health care facilities for people residing in
Indonesia working in the palm oil plantations. The company provides knowledge about basic
amenities in life that require education so that people can lead a better life. The site of the
business centres offers nursing areas to the women and because of this, the health in
Indonesia have improved to 2400 healthy women employees.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis of the three relevant Sustainable Development Goal, strategies
can be developed so that the FMCG companies can utilise the goals and ensure that the
society in which it works promote the mission that are set by the sector. Hence, strategies for
the implementation of the goals can be discussed in detail. Therefore, it can be concluded that
the Sustainable Development Goals undertaken by the FMCG companies can help in the
proper progress of a society.

8
MBA
Reference
Barkemeyer, R., Holt, D., Preuss, L. and Tsang, S., 2014. What happened to the
‘development’in sustainable development? Business guidelines two decades after
Brundtland. sustainable development, 22(1), pp.15-32.
Bendell, J., 2017. Terms for endearment: Business, NGOs and sustainable development.
Routledge.
Carley, M. and Christie, I., 2017. Managing sustainable development. Routledge.
Charles Jr, O.H., Schmidheiny, S. and Watts, P., 2017. Walking the talk: The business case
for sustainable development. Routledge.
Clark, W.C., Tomich, T.P., Van Noordwijk, M., Guston, D., Catacutan, D., Dickson, N.M.
and McNie, E., 2016. Boundary work for sustainable development: Natural resource
management at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(17), pp.4615-4622.
Le Blanc, D., 2015. Towards integration at last? The sustainable development goals as a
network of targets. Sustainable Development, 23(3), pp.176-187.
Liu, L., Oza, S., Hogan, D., Chu, Y., Perin, J., Zhu, J., Lawn, J.E., Cousens, S., Mathers, C.
and Black, R.E., 2016. Global, regional, and national causes of under-5 mortality in 2000–15:
an updated systematic analysis with implications for the Sustainable Development Goals. The
Lancet, 388(10063), pp.3027-3035.
Pearce, D., 2014. Blueprint 3: Measuring sustainable development. Routledge.
Sachs, J.D., 2015. The age of sustainable development. Columbia University Press.

9
MBA
Weaver, P., Jansen, L., Van Grootveld, G., Van Spiegel, E. and Vergragt, P.,
2017. Sustainable technology development. Routledge.
Welford, R., 2016. Corporate environmental management 3: Towards sustainable
development. Routledge.
Wheeler, S.M. and Beatley, T. eds., 2014. Sustainable urban development reader. Routledge.