Report on Ben & Jerry and Nike

read the following essay and write a conclusion with no longer than 500 words with recommendations along the conclusion. Introduction It is believed by some that businesses exhibiting strong CSR, Corporate Governance and Ethical behaviour can be distracted from performing to their full potential. Milton Friedman was a pioneer of this Capitalistic approach, he wrote: “There is one and only one social responsibility of business – to use it resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game”(Friedman, 1970). Over the years the responsibility of businesses has been scrutinised and argued by many. In contrast, Ed Freeman believes that competition and profit making are secondary characteristics that arise when people are creating value within a free society (Freeman, 1984). This modern approach advocates effective CSR, Corporate Governance and Ethical behaviour will assist businesses in creating value for its customers. Many companies have modified their Mission Statements to suggest that value creation is integral to their operations. An example of a leading company with a strong focus on creating value for stakeholders is Coca Cola, “To refresh the world…To inspire moments of optimism…To create value” (Coca Cola, 2015). This report will focus on two established companies, Nike and Ben & Jerry’s (B&J’s), assessing their efforts to exhibit effective CSR, Corporate Governance and Ethical behaviour. The two companies operate in very different industries. Nike was first founded in 1964; it is one of the world's largest suppliers of athletic shoes and apparel. Nike’s mission statement is "To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world." (Nike, 2015). B&J’s operate within the food industry; Unilever acquired the Fair-trade Ice cream brand in 2000. Their social mission promotes a strong ethos of value creation, “…initiating innovative ways to improve the quality of life locally, nationally and internationally.” (Unilever, 2015). Included in this report is a scorecard and scoring system to analyse both companies in terms of three value areas: Business Ethics, CSR & Sustainability and Governance. Each value area encompasses three indicators (Appendix 1). Extensive research has been done on a total of 9 value indicators to justify the scores awarded; the report details company practises and case studies that helped us achieve the appropriate scores. In addition, established ethical scoring systems such as TheGoodShoppingGuide.com and Oxfam’s Behind the Brand initiative helped us to target our research and decide on what indicators are important in the eyes of a consumer. To decide on the appropriate scores we first applied a Qualitative scoring method, we needed to determine what category our companies fell into, for example: World Class, Industry Leadership, Continuous Improvement, Compliance and Below Compliance. After achieving the Qualitative score we were then able to assign a respective quantitative score, for example: 80-100 is achieved for World Class practises (See Appendix???). Relevant colours help the aesthetical aspect of our tool. Gold is used to symbolise World Class practises, respectively Red is used to suggest areas of Below Compliance. The Nike swoosh and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream will be included the boxes that correspond to each of the companies practises and degree of focus. Ethics Business ethics are actions and activities that revolve around what is morally right or wrong Human rights are the things which people are entitled to simply because they are human. (United for Human Rights). Nike has received criticism due to their unethical behavior. The company experiences weak labor policies. The sweat Shop scandal by Nike has diminished it public image influencing its performance. It appeared as though Nike were changing through creating the fair labour association. This ‘fuses business and human rights to maintain fair workplaces including minimum age of labor and company monitoring’. However, Nike still face scrutiny today including workers claiming mistreatment. (The Borgen Project, 2014). Nike have also been accused of using children to provide labor. According to the international standards of labor, child labor is a violation of human rights. Red (Below compliance) Ben & Jerry’s, have proven to be a leader in business ethics. It enhances product quality with regards to environmental sustainability while making profit. Ben and Jerry’s are long time advocates for human rights. Ben and Jerry set up the Ben and Jerry’s Foundation with its main belief being ‘lasting change occurs when people come together to work for the common principles of human rights’ (Ben & Jerry’s Foundation: About Us). Ben and Jerry’s also acted as advocates for the 2014 Human Rights Awards. (Global Exchange Human Rights Awards, 2014) Silver (industry leadership).The two companies have contrasted advocacy of Human Rights. Gender equality is when individuals of all sexes have the same rights and opportunities. (Gender Equality Division, Department of Justice and Equality.) Nike have been involved in gender equality through the Nike foundation (Nike Community Impact).Nike doesn’t advocate equal treatment of their workers since they provide contracts instead of managing their activities themselves. However Nike has made allegations that women and children are being mistreated by being exposed to harsh working conditions and substandard wages. The Nike foundation has been assisting women in multiple areas including leadership and education. (Global Giving Matters, 2006). Bronze (continuous improvement). For Ben & Jerry, Gender equality is enhanced by the management through their advocacy for equal job distribution. Ben and Jerry’s have been supporting gender equality for over 35 years. They have particularly supported gender equality through campaigning for marriage equality (Ben & Jerry’s Proudly Supports Marriage Equality for All). They have campaigned for this through marching during pride month. (Ben & Jerry’s Equality for All is our Pride and Joy). Ben and Jerry’s have also supported gender equality through ensuring all employees are paid equally. The pay level is only determined through job position. For example entry level employees earn around $15.97. (Ben & Jerry’s Inclusiveness: It’s About the Way We Work Together). Gold (world class) CSR and Sustainability Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is described as, “the economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic expectations placed on organisations by society...” (Crane & Matten, 2010). Sustainability includes, “the long-term maintenance of systems according to environment, economic and social consideration” (Crane & Matten, 2010). The level of product consumption increased drastically in the early 19th century as a result of industrialisation; this was assisted by technological advancements and increased consumer focus (Ebbinghuas et al, 1996). However, this brought negative effects including increased pollution, waste, and the scarcity of natural resources. Consequently, society has become increasingly aware about the importance of sustainability.There is now a huge pressure on corporations and government organisations to prioritise sustainable practices and incorporate it within their business models. Nike has been pressurised to embrace sustainability since it was hit by the global boycott campaigns in the 1990’s (Birch, 2012). This taught Nike the importance of listening to its stakeholders. Improving business transparency can lead to increased consumer trust. Nike’s corrective efforts included developing a stakeholder engagement platform to collaborate & tackle current issues with its stakeholders. Some of the issues addressed are; transparency, CSR strategy, environment, workers, factories and community. Nike uses independent third party contractors to conduct inspections at factories on a regular basis. However, problems still exist within the supply chain (Birch, 2012). In contrast, Ben & Jerry’s incorporated sustainability within their business model when it was first founded. Ben & Jerry’s has also established strong stakeholder relationships. They have created a non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) conversion program, with the objective to eradicate GMO ingredients from their whole supply chain by 2014 (Ben & Jerry’s, 2013). To achieve this they engaged with multi-stakeholder groups including; farmers, seed breeders, brokers, retailers and researchers (Ben & Jerry’s, 2013). B&J’s are among the leaders in sustainability. Over the years B&J’s have formed many programs to tackle triple bottom line issues in sustainability, examples include; living wage policy, continuing support to family dairy farms and fair-trade certified ingredients. The company is also known for engagement in social causes such as the Scoop Shop Community Action Program, supporting a fair and just political system campaign and animal welfare advocates (Ben & Jerry’s, 2013). Both companies are working on reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. B&J’s have invested in energy efficient technology focused on lowering water usage. They also recycle waste into energy for powering their farms (Ben & Jerry’s, 2013). Similarly, Nike is striving to become a company who is responsible for triple bottom line issues e.g. Nike aims to achieve zero discharge of hazardous chemicals though their whole supply chain by 2020 (Birch, 2012). In addition, Nike has enforced labour standards and is focusing on producing innovative sustainable products to increase recyclability (Buhovac et al, 2012). The textile industry is generally associated with water pollution. Pollution can occur during the process of dying fabric. Consequently, this is an area of weakness for Nike. Nike have struggle to police the behaviours of its 1500 suppliers (Birch, S., 2012). Because of this Nike have shifted their focus to sustainable product design, choosing processes that lead to less water pollution. Corporate Governance Corporate governance is the system by which business corporations are directed and controlled (Cowan, 2004). Social accounting is the way by which a business seeks to place a value on the impact on society of its operations. Nike are trying to make their suppliers and contract factories more socially accountable in conjunction to their Code of Conduct. However, monitoring operations at contract factories is costly and requires constant attention. There is now a focus for contractors to deliver social accountability. Bronze (Compliance). B&J’s economic mission involves dealing with both internal and external business parties in a socially responsible manner (Ben and Jerry’s, 2015). B&J have taken actions to voluntarily eliminate production practices that could cause harm for the public e.g. they have built factories in the middle of secluded land to limit harassment harmful to people’s day-to-day lives. They also operate an in-depth recycling programme. Silver (Industry Leadership). A Code of Conduct is defined as “commitments voluntarily made by companies… which put forth standards and principles for the conduct of business activities in the marketplace” (OECD, 2001). In the 1990’s Nike came under heat by protesters for a number of issues concerning human rights. Nike later mandated all contract factories and affiliate brands to sign and enforce a CoC; this has helped to improve the company’s reputation (Bowie, 1990). Nike’s Code of Ethics for employees, ‘Inside the Lines’, defines the standards of conduct expected of their employees (Nike Responsibility Report, 2015). Employees are required to annually verify that they have read and understand these standards. Silver (Continuous Improvement). B&J’s are governed by Unilever’s Code of Business Principles (2015); the document outlines Unilever’s long-term goal of developing sustainable business. Unilever’s pool of suppliers amount to around 19,000 (Unilever Report, 2005). In 2003 Unilever introduced their Business Partner Code outlining expectations for suppliers with respect to health and safety at work, business integrity, labour standards. The Partner Code is engineered to minimise partner transgressions, especially in cases where Unilever are deemed vicariously liable, this could help to decrease their amount in legal fines (Pitt and Groskaufmanis, 1990). Silver (Industry Leadership). Corporate Political Activity is described as “any deliberate firm action intended to influence governmental policy or process” (Getz, 1997). Although Nike comply with all current applicable laws and regulations relating to the reporting requirements of corporate Political Contributions, the company does not disclose its memberships in trade associations unless payments to the associations exceed $100,000 in a year (Political Accountability Report, 2012). In addition Nike’s full political contributions policy is hard to find and inconsistently presented. Blue (Basic Compliance). B&J’s values, beliefs and political activities are often vocalised on its packaging (Cohen, 1998). B&J’s recognises the importance of supporting popular campaigns through marketing. In 2005 to protest proposed oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge B&J’s constructed a 900-pound Baked Alaska. They also campaigned when the U.S. Food & Drug Administration declared that it believed meat and milk from cloned animals was safe to eat (Wall Street Journal, 2008). PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT :)