Business Ethics
Running Head: NESTLE’S ETHICAL BUSINESS STRUGGLES 1
Nestlé’s Ethical Business Struggles:
How the infant formula boycott affected Nestle
NESTLE’S ETHICAL BUSINESS STRUGGLES 2
Abstract
Nestlé’s marketing tragedy of infant formula in third-world countries in the 1970s caused consumers to boycott the company. As this paper states there are three individuals who were associated with Nestlé’s managing of the boycott. In the 1980s there were other business scandals that involved these three individuals and showed a linkage to Nestle. This paper covers the details of the other business scandals Nestle had a linkage to. There were many organizations that joined the boycott against Nestle, which will be discussed and show how they affected the outcome of the boycott. Nestle had to make many changes to their guidelines and plans on marketing to resolve the boycott. With so much focus on the boycott, Nestlé’s corporate culture and employee relationship were greatly affected. The boycott affected Nestle in many ways, but the major factor is that they are still fighting against the allegations to this day.
NESTLE’S ETHICAL BUSINESS STRUGGLES 3
Nestle is a well-known company, which has seen itself in many business scandals and ethical debates. One of the biggest ethical debates is regarding the boycott of Nestles infant formula. The boycott against Nestles infant formula lasted for seven years (Boyd, 2012). There are many things that could have contributed to this intriguing controversy (Boyd, 2012), but what were they? Three names are brought up when regarding this boycott: Ernest Saunders, Arthur Furer, and Tom Ward. How did these three guys contribute to the boycott? In the 1980’s Nestle was faced with many major business scandals, due to defective culture within their senior management level (Boyd, 2012). A few of the major business scandals to be looked at are: the acquisition of
Nestlé’s Ethical Business Struggles:
How the infant formula boycott affected Nestle
NESTLE’S ETHICAL BUSINESS STRUGGLES 2
Abstract
Nestlé’s marketing tragedy of infant formula in third-world countries in the 1970s caused consumers to boycott the company. As this paper states there are three individuals who were associated with Nestlé’s managing of the boycott. In the 1980s there were other business scandals that involved these three individuals and showed a linkage to Nestle. This paper covers the details of the other business scandals Nestle had a linkage to. There were many organizations that joined the boycott against Nestle, which will be discussed and show how they affected the outcome of the boycott. Nestle had to make many changes to their guidelines and plans on marketing to resolve the boycott. With so much focus on the boycott, Nestlé’s corporate culture and employee relationship were greatly affected. The boycott affected Nestle in many ways, but the major factor is that they are still fighting against the allegations to this day.
NESTLE’S ETHICAL BUSINESS STRUGGLES 3
Nestle is a well-known company, which has seen itself in many business scandals and ethical debates. One of the biggest ethical debates is regarding the boycott of Nestles infant formula. The boycott against Nestles infant formula lasted for seven years (Boyd, 2012). There are many things that could have contributed to this intriguing controversy (Boyd, 2012), but what were they? Three names are brought up when regarding this boycott: Ernest Saunders, Arthur Furer, and Tom Ward. How did these three guys contribute to the boycott? In the 1980’s Nestle was faced with many major business scandals, due to defective culture within their senior management level (Boyd, 2012). A few of the major business scandals to be looked at are: the acquisition of
References: AP. (1987, Jul 01). Resignation at bank leu. New York Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/426566322?accountid=36299 Boyd, C. (2012). The nestle infant formula controversy and a strange web of subsequent business scandals. Journal of Business Ethics, 106(3), 283-293 By, G. P. (1987, Jul 01). Bank leu AG chairman furer will step down. Wall Street Journal. Heer, J. (1991). Nestle´: 125 years 1866–1991. Switzerland: Nestle´. Kochan, N., & Pym, H. (1987). The Guinness affair: Anatomy of a scandal Leventhal, L. (1987, Jun 01). Worth reading: Role of bank leu in recent scandals bank leu - or pandora 's box, by richard evans Vise, D. A. (1987, Jan 17). Bank leu accused of insider trading;guinness admits deal in stockholder letter. The Washington Post (Pre-1997 Fulltext) Wikipedia. (2013). Nestle Boycott. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9_boycott