Ben and Jerry’s Case Study

The world outside the US, Europe and ANZ relates US dividing line today with Microsoft, Citibank and Google. not much is known about Ben and Jerry, nor is the company taken up for give-and-take in management civilizes in the emerging nations of the world. This is a pity as the history of this company is the stuff of corporate legend and provides a real polar perspective of the image of US companiesBen Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, school companions at Calhoun spirited School in Merrick, Long Island teamed up in 1978 to open an fruitcake cream shop in Burlington, Vermont. Both were twenty-seven years archaic and unlikely entrepreneurs. They had never been to vexation school and had tinkered around with academics and disparate browse opportunities before deciding to make ice cream. Ben had attended tierce different colleges before dropping out and had supported himself with low-end jobs while he freewheeled through with(predicate) life.He learned craft and worked as a craft teacher for three years teaching pottery, stained glass, and film making to disturbed adolescents before he started his small ice cream shop in a converted gas station. Jerry graduated from high school with a moral excellence scholarship but could not get admission to medical school despite trying more than once. In 1977, he along with Ben took a correspondence course in ice cream making from Penn land before opening their parlor.Both Ben and Jerry, products of the counter culture of the sixties were never evoke in creating large businesses and looked upon the venture more as a style of livelihood, which would enable them to live lives of dignity and allow them to work on affectionate causes.They carried with them beliefs and ideologies that were in many ways opposed to the thinking of make orient business corporations. This political orientation with its stress on human values command the strategy and mission of Ben and Jerrys. Among other things, it also led to the formul ation of the 51 remuneration practice, wherein the company decreed that the highest individual employee payout would not be more than 5 times the entry-level salary at base level.The really thought of such an idea in a business environment where similar ratios moved in the region of 901 was revolutionary. It was revelatory of Bens desire to place social commitment above business expediency and was to be a forerunner of the strategy the company would equal in all areas.The ice cream company did well. The business grew to plump a manufacturer of distinctive ice cream products with a geographical reach far beyond Vermont. In barely ten years, it became maven of the largest ice cream producers in the US respected for its unusual business practices and social commitment. The company adopted a number of practices, which were distanced from those of a profit and cost conscious business organization. Most decisions were judgmental and stemmed from ideology and conviction.The ice crea m had large chunks or tidbits of flavoring which broke up the smoothness but provided a chewy and delightful sensation. The products were natural and had no artificial ingredients though some of the chunks did. It was made only in Vermont with topical anesthetic milk. Marketing efforts eschewed traditional methods and market research and media spend did not physical body in the scheme of things. Promotions were through sponsoring of educational events, summer music festivals and the like.The company, in its initial days was targeted by market leaders Haagen Dazs. It took the leader on both in the courts and on the streets with their What is the Doughboy afraid of? campaign and sales soared aft(prenominal) Haagen Dazs came up with an out of court settlement. The continuous social commitment of Ben and Jerrys, its unorganised and informal working atmosphere and its quality and consumer focus remained unaltered as the company grew in size and reputation.In 1988, barely ten years a fter(prenominal) formation, ben and Jerry were named small business persons of the year. Ben Cohen went to the White House in a borrowed adapt to pick up the trophy. By then the company had identified twelve core markets covering two thirds of US superpremium sales and had achieved distribution in each supermarket chain inthese areas.The social commitment of the company was evinced in a number of areas and was exemplified by its 51 employee remuneration policy. It was this commitment which eventually led to a rift between Ben Cohen, the major shareholder and the President, Chico Lager. This is the primeval focus of this case study.