Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Case Analysis

Executive Summary

When the culture and values of an organization are compromised, backlash can occur both internally and externally. The history of Ben & Jerry’s highlights the repercussions that can result from a deviation of values. Ben & Jerry’s is an ice cream company that was created in Burlington, Vermont by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in 1978. The company’s recipe for success stems from its laid back, employee centered environment and from its dedication to supporting local vendors from Vermont for their all-natural ingredients. Ben & Jerry’s was known for its outspoken radical political views, their giving back nature, their family-like attitude and most of all their products. Brand loyalty was easily gained through these cornerstone values and policies. However, Ben & Jerry’s still had their share of problems. Their policy that all their ingredients be natural and come from local suppliers in Vermont proved problematic as competitors started to create more healthy products. Keeping up with these companies was not possible as Ben & Jerry’s did not have sufficient resources nor could they move to producing synthetic products as it was against their core ideology. Insufficiencies also began to arise from not having a business minded approach to running the company; also employees, though an important part of the organization were paid low salaries and with a no layoff policy installed, so not many left resulting in few new hires to expand and enhance the company.

To combat these challenges, Ben & Jerry’s decided to merge with Unilever, a conglomerate that could offer new management and marketing strategies, global presence and new resources and research opportunities. The company hoped this would improve efficiency. However, the backlash from this merger was problematic. Worker morale became very low; employees felt the company was going against the very values they were created upon. Layoffs were imminent and Ben & Jerry’s now had to deal with the discontent of their employees, Vermont suppliers, customers and supporters. How could Ben & Jerry’s maintain their brand image and loyalty while changing their company structures and policies?

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the decision to merge Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever and the backlash that resulted, to provide recommendations of what they should do now, and to determine how this situation affects us as future managers and what we can learn from it. The challenges in this case are due to the merger which broke the psychological contract between the employees and Ben & Jerry’s, the procedural justice of the decision to merge even though it was against the company’s missions, and changing the company’s culture and core ideology. After analyzing this case, we recommend Ben & Jerry’s foster the mentality of relaxed structure in a more efficient