Ben And Jerry's

987 Words4 Pages
Recommendations Ben & Jerry’s takeover by Unilever resulted in changes to the business strategy; changes that were needed to address an increasingly competitive economic landscape and recover the market value of the firm. In some cases the new strategy was not aligned with the core values that underlie Ben & Jerry’s strong culture, i.e. the decision to terminate large numbers of employees in order to create operating efficiency in finance, manufacturing, and distribution. However, the alignment of many of the core values on which Ben & Jerry’s culture is based is unclear. The two companies appear to share values related to corporate social responsibility, but employees question whether Ben & Jerry’s previous commitments on issues like product purity and providing a public voice on social issues fit into the new business strategy. The uncertainty is resulting in declines in both morale and employee commitment. Yola Carlough’s strategy as head of Social Mission should be two pronged. First, she must begin a process of realigning aspects of the culture that are in conflict with the current business strategy. This must include addressing core values that are in conflict with the new strategy as well as building a new vision that embraces core values essential to the strategy, like operational efficiency. Second, she must maintain and enhance the aspects of the organization’s culture that are already aligned with the current business strategy. This will involve implementing systems that foster communication about the vision, empower employees to act based on core values, and motivate employees by celebrating successes related to the vision. The two-part strategy is outlined below as “Re-aligning Vision” and “Empowering Action.” Re-Aligning Vision: One of the first acts of the external board was to develop a “Statement of Values” to provide guidance
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