Greyston Bakery Case Study Summary

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The case study written by Stanwick and Stanwick, (2016), Greyston Bakery: The Zen of Philanthropy, is an example of a successful social enterprise that has stayed true to its mission, continues to grow, is profitable, and puts the profits back into society. Greyston Bakery, owned by the Greyston Foundation, was established by former aerospace engineer turned Zen Buddhist priest, Bernard Glassman. From its inception, the business’s mission has been to produce a high-quality product, provide a sustainable living, and being committed to community renewal and personal transformation (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2016). Glassman infused into to the business a Buddhist perspective that everything is interconnected and is demonstrated by the Greyston Foundation …show more content…

The strategic focus, decision making process, and actions of Greyston Bakery and the Greyston Foundation suggest a deep belief in Kant’s theory of universal free will. A deontological framework, Kant state that individuals should treat each other how they would want to be treated, not to see individuals as a means to an end, and their actions should be based on that duty in determining what is morally right from wrong (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2016). Glassman stepped down as president of the company in 1997 (Leipziger, 2016). Glassman’s successors have continued operate the business based on the same fundamental social principles the company was founded on. Greyston Bakery produces approximately four million pounds of brownies and cookies annually for customers such as Ben & Jerry’s and Whole Foods and reported $13.4 million dollars in sales in 2015 (Anderson, 2015). In 2012, Mike Brady signed on as CEO and President, being personally passionate about using business to solve social issues, pushed to register the company as a Benefit Corporation (Cox, 2015). A Benefit Corporation or B-Corp is a type of for profit business entity that is held to higher standards of accountability and transparency,

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