Ben and Jerry Corporate Culture Essay

Ben and Jerry’s corporate culture is one that focuses on the environment, its products, and people. The corporate culture of â€Å"Doing Good by Doing Good† and â€Å"Peace, Love and Ice cream† establish the guideposts for how employees behave in the business. Ben and Jerry’s hold a deep respect for people both inside and outside the company. Ben believes that â€Å"Businesses have a responsibility to give back to the community,† while Jerry believes that â€Å"If it’s not fun, why do it? † Both Ben and Jerry have had a profound effect on establishing the values of the company. Ben and Jerry’s philosophy of having fun has permeated the corporate culture and the ice cream flavors that are being sold in the marketplace today. Flavors such as Karmel Sutra, Imagine Whirled Peace, and Magic Brownie are popular flavors today while Cherry Garcia named after Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead was one of the first fun flavors. Ben and Jerry’s encountered recent controversy when it named a new flavor after a Saturday Night Live character, Schweddy Balls. The company’s bold position on having fun and being brave has been controversial, but it has not hurt the company’s profitability. Ben and Jerry’s strives to have a positive impact on the environment. The company has a philosophy of producing food in a way that is not wasteful or harmful to the environment. Some of the ways Ben and Jerry’s is trying to help the economy and use safe food methods is by using family farms in rural communities to produce their ice cream products. While this helps keeps the environment clean and cut down on waste, it also helps family farms prosper. The company realizes that the economic wealth of the country is wide and they want to produce ice cream in a way that provides prosperity to farmer while ensuring corporate profitability. In addition, they want to be able to provide ice cream to everyone no matter how much or how little money they might have. Ben and Jerry’s has their own foundation that awards 1. 8 million dollars annually to organizations in the country. Some of the different programs that Ben and Jerry’s supports are The Grassroots Organization for Social Change Program, The National Movement Building Grant Program, The Vermont Capacity Building Grant Program, The Vermont Community Action Teams Grant Programs, and The Employee Matching Gift Program. Ben and Jerry’s also gives back to its customers. Each year they show thanks to all of their loyal customers by giving them a â€Å"Free Cone Day† once a year. Free Cone Day is when every customer who comes into a Ben and Jerry’s that day will get a free ice cream cone. Ben and Jerry’s corporate culture has been successful by aligning its values to people, product and the environment. The corporate culture of Ben and Jerry’s has given the company a unique brand that has proven to be profitability amid some controversial ice cream flavors. Ben and Jerry’s value corporate responsibility by doing the good and having fun at the same time.