Ben And Jerry's Ethical Dilemmas

What was most compelling to me in this documentary regarding the role of business in society was how Ben and Jerry incorporated their personal values to into their business and were actively involved in society. Ben and Jerry’s Business contributes to charities and is eco-friendly, their whole business strategy is unique and different from most businesses. They were devoted to their community and we're committed to improving the quality of life for all people. Customers are primary stakeholders. A positive impact would be that they would enjoy delicious ice cream and would contribute to a company that stood for social change and so their purchase would go to a good cause. A negative impact is ice cream is high in sugar and saturated fat which
could lead to obesity. Competitors are another primary stakeholder. Ben and Jerry’s Business can positively impact their competitors by giving ice cream good publicity. A negative impact would be that customers would not buy their products and only buy Ben and Jerry’s because of their business strategies, their commitment to better the world and the quality of their ice cream.
To expand their Business Ben and Jerry issued a statewide public stock offering which meant that people of Vermont would be part owners of the company. The stock price was set to as low as $10.50 cents per share and so some families were able to purchase. I think that their strategy was beneficial to the residents of Vermont because most people invested their money into the company because they liked what Ben and Jerry’s company stood for. With the money that they contributed, Ben and Jerry would continue investing in social change. Yes, I believe that Ben and Jerry’s company had a social mission, They focused on the well-being of others by providing careers for employees. The suppliers they used were all locals and were only loyal to them. For example, they only used milk from Vermont in their ice cream. When Ben and Jerry needed new ingredients for their ice cream they sought out another local business bakery in Yakus, New York which only employed recovering addicts and homeless people. Ben and Jerry were also able to grow financially without harming the environment or other
businesses. They were focused on their social mission, which was to use innovative ways to make the world a better place and they followed their mission.
Even after their company was sold to Unilever Ben and Jerry made sure that Unilever would continue their mission to social responsibility and made an agreement that Unilever would pay $ 1.1 million dollars into the Ben and Jerry’s foundation each year. Society played a huge role in supporting Ben and Jerry with their business vision. When they were against something they used their product to communicate with society. Their products were inspired by politics and recent social issues. For example, In 1998 Ben and Jerry protested President Ronald Reagan's military spending. To protest Ben and Jerry launched one percent for peace campaign and also created a new ice cream flavor which was peace
pops. By doing this Ben and Jerry used their packing to promote social change for this campaign, they wanted one percent of the US Defense budget to go to peace and social change through campaigns and activities that promoted peace. Because of these reasons, people become attached to Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Society supported them when they organized charity festivals and contests that brought the communities together and top of that, Ben and Jerry's’ ice cream was good quality that all people of all ages enjoyed. Ben and Jerry’s business was successful because people continuously supported their social mission and for the love of ice cream.