Ben And Jerry's Case Analysis

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Ben & Jerry's Case Study

Company History

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield founded Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream in 1978. Over the years, Ben & Jerry's evolved into a socially-oriented, independent-minded industry leader in the super-premium ice cream market. The company has had a history of donating 7.5% of its pre-tax earnings to societal and community causes. Ben and Jerry further extended their generosity by offering 75,000 shares at $10.50 per share exclusively to Vermont residents, so that they may help those who first supported the company; Ben and Jerry's wanted residents to profit from their venture as well. In addition, steady growth and a widely recognized brand name helped Ben and Jerry's obtain 45 percent of the premium ice-cream market, yet the company stock price remained stagnant at $21 a share for several years.

Key Management

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the founders of Ben and Jerry's, gave the firm a very specific spirit. While the majority of corporate managers were under constant pressure to meet their shareholders' demands, Ben and Jerry were quite the opposite, frowning upon traditional business biases based on short-term interests and large profits. Initially, their quick business growth frightened them, as they both thought about severing ties with the fast growing company. However, what was supposed to be a threat to their ideals turned out to be a way to strengthen their campaign for social change. It was through their social ideals that they introduced "caring capitalism", a philosophy which spread throughout a host of educational, environmental and social events. The founders did not place emphasis on cash, equipment and inventories; the "tangible assets" of the firm. Instead, the...

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... firm can attract qualified management without causing an influx in operational costs (wages), if portions of employee compensation were to be replaced with stock options; adjusting options with company performance. If accomplished in this manner, every employee would be concerned with how well the company was doing financially. I also recommend that Chuck Lacy find non-financial arguments and data which justify the recruitment of top managers in the marketing and production departments. In addition, Ben & Jerry's could counter employee turnover by establishing new techniques in the recruitment and interview processes to detect candidates who do not share values consistent with those of Ben & Jerry's.

Bibliography

Theroux, John. "Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream, Inc.: Keeping the Mission(s) Alive"

Published 06/30/1998, Harvard Business School Publishing.

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