Ben n Jerry's Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ben n Jerry's - Essay Example The decision by Cohen and Greenfield not to always adhere to traditional investor-relations practices such as strategic planning raises concerns on just how committed the company is at giving the best returns to investors. The company’s lack of a strategic plan is demonstrated in the interview with Cohen when he portrayed his ignorance of the company’s future plans with regards to earnings and spending (Schill et al. 4). The basing of Ben and Jerry’s corporate operating decisions on the company’s community welfare interests sends a strong message concerning the importance of the company’s social obligations over the other obligations (5). Moreover, the willingness of the company’s management to make decisions that favor social gains at the expense of profitability also confirms the company’s preference for satisfying its social responsibilities over maximizing returns for shareholders (6). 2. Even though the case of Ben and Jerry’s Homemade demonstrates the difficulty in embracing corporate social responsibility (CSR) while working to maximize share holder value, it is possible to balance the two if the company finds a way of benefiting from its CSR obligations. Given that corporate investors expect profitable returns within a certain period of time for every dollar they invest in a business, organizational leaders need to evaluate every program that they invest in so as to determine the potential value of the investment not only to the shareholders but to the organization as a whole. In order to satisfy social obligations while maximizing shareholder returns, an organization should focus on investing in social programs that have the potential of increasing the overall performance of the company improving its market share and profitability, and therefore increasing investors’ return on investments. For instance, an organization could take advantage of