Business Ethics Management (Research Paper Sample)

Abstract
Ethical management practices, corporate responsibility, and sustainability present the current growing trend towards ensuring corporate accountability. A corporation is considered as an amalgamation of desirable values and practices relayed to the stakeholders and expressed on the company products. If efficiently utilized, the programs not only benefit the company but also benefits society in its entirety. The programs ensure success through a positive community, customer and employee relations. This research bases its analysis on Del Monte and Jack Daniel’s brands of the food and beverages industry. The two brands come from diverse backgrounds which affect their values and methods of production. An analysis of the two companies proves that it is indeed necessary to incorporate corporate values and practices throughout a company’s operations. The move gives the company a sense of direction hence the inevitable realization of company goals. Implications and recommendations on the best course of action are further highlighted in the paper. The paper contains 3120 words.
Introduction
The food and beverages industry is characterized by several supply chains; from the farm produce, to the production to market product distribution. Throughout the chain, a unified code of conduct is adopted thus defining the organization. It is against this background that businesses are run using several tried and tested practices meant to instill a brand image among consumers. The practices define the corporate culture which defines the organization to the regulators and especially customers. This paper seeks to analyze how businesses in the food and beverages industry adopt and instill their values in their supply chains. Without proper implementation of company values and practices, businesses tend to lose a sense of direction in their operations. Moreover, the company products tend to diminish in value thereby lowering sale volumes.
Ethics, responsibility, and sustainability (ERS) programs are initiatives taken by the company to determine its relationship with the; environment, regulators, customers, and among employees. This report draws its ERS comparison from Jack Daniel’s and Del Monte brands. The two are leading food industry players dealing with alcoholic beverages and fruits and vegetables as their domain respectively. Furthermore, the companies have been in operation for some of the longest time. The companies provide a perfect benchmark for applying ethics in a business. A side-by-side comparison of the company philosophies, sustainability, and values helps evaluate the correct management practices in running a successful corporation.
Business Case
Del Monte is a multinational company specializing in the production and distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables. Its secondary products include their world-known fruit juices and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables as well as desserts and snacks. The company either grows its products directly or subcontracts independent producers to a joint business venture (Del Monte, 2020). Del Monte's vertically integrated production makes it possible for the company to directly impact its supply chain. The Brown-Forman company on the other hand deals in wine and spirits and has notable brands such as Jack Daniel’s and Old Forester. This research focuses more on the most prominent of the brands, the Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 brand (Brown-Forman, 2020). Qualitative analysis of the company's ethics, responsibility, and sustainability (ERS) programs is mainly used in this research with a reference derived from company reports and third-party commentaries.
The programs are what define an organization's goals, therefore giving the stakeholders a clear-cut path to achieving the goals. For an organization to operate effectively, the company's values should be well ingrained into the employees' daily operations (Fabbi M, 2010). The awareness of company policies and values is passed down by the management through an effective communication strategy. If the stakeholders are not aware of the company values, they do not uphold them along the supply chain making the company lose a sense of direction.
Analysis
Del Monte's business practices demand creativity, excellence, and passion among its employees, giving the company access to a competent workforce. The company also operates with the philosophies of trust to build a good working environment while also tasking the workforce to take due diligence in operating with care. The organization practices the Edward Freeman’s stakeholder theory in regards to its management style (Gomes R., C 2006). The decision making process is stakeholder based, whereby input from stakeholders is considered in the course of production.
Del Monte’s predominant business ethic is built around integrity, whereby decision-making is at all times made based on what is right, and not only what is considered lawful. The company thus operates using the consequential theory, basing its practices on values most acceptable to the society (Kamm F. M., 2007). The consequential theory has influenced the company into incorporating environmentally friendly practices in its operations for the betterment of society. Reduction of the company's Greenhouse gas emissions has been on the decline as a strategy for environmental conservation.
Del Monte operates on values that positively affect the majority of its consumers. For instance, a wrong decision would be that which would negatively affect most of the consumers. The theory of consequentialism is meant to portray the USA's core values and practices, making the company relate well with its stakeholders. Through proactive programs like the Integrity first program, the company instills and follows up on integrity within its ranks (Del Monte, 2020). The company also has a strong stance against corruption, its officials are trained to decline the culture of accepting kickbacks and soliciting bribes in the line of duty. Moreover, the company adopts a transparent tendering process and reporting to avoid corruption. The Del Monte Company also prides itself as a source of quality and nutritious foods, a reputation the brand maintains through quality products.
Due to its sheer size, Del Monte is faced with the ever-present challenge of consolidating and making its data more transparent to the company. The company has several multinational franchises which make it difficult to access all the company information for real-time decision making. Data, therefore, becomes scattered and mostly unorganized, accounting for company losses. The Del Monte Company rises above this challenge through the assistance of Locus' sustainability software (Connel R, 2016). The software enables the company to reliably and conveniently assess trends in its operations. Furthermore, the software provides a platform for monitoring the utilization of the company's resources. The software thus solves the internal problem of transparency in data collection. The company is also faced with the challenge of quality compliance with third-party growers (Brown-Forman, 2020). The varied climatic conditions, as well as production techniques, make it difficult for the company to maintain product quality control through its supply chain. The company however devised a vendor approval program to overcome the quality control challenge (Del Monte, 2020). The program provides for regular audits of the sub-contracted to ascertain compliance to company standards. Additionally, a universal quality assurance model is adopted throughout the supply chain to ensure products are treated to the same conditions. The move ensures consistency to product quality, hence maintaining the brand association with quality.
Civil society is increasingly becoming aware of the effect of environmental degradation on climate change. For this reason, companies are made to comply to clean production practices. The Del Monte Company has been taken to task in eliminating its greenhouse gas emissions while also adopting "green" packaging of its products. Compliance with the environmental regulations however sets a financial challenge to the company since its adoption is costly (Adda G., et al, 2020). Cutting the company's emissions also increases the cost of waste management thereby causing a high production cost. Environmental preservation is however a necessary action plan. The company has adopted the use of recyclable packaging materials in place of plastics and paper-based materials (Del Monte, 2020). Moreover, the company has adopted efficient production techniques through innovations to cut down its greenhouse emissions. The company has also faced several human rights violation complaints from its subcontracted producers. For instance, sub-contracted producers in Kenya have sighted poor working conditions, meager wages, and lack of upward mobility as some of the challenges locals face. The company however overcomes this challenge by respecting fundamental human rights and freedoms. Strict adherence to human rights enables the company to treat its diversified supply chain with respect and dignity.
Jack Daniel's brand on the other hand operates with the value of promoting alcohol responsibility, environmental sustainability, good employee relations, and community involvement. The company utilizes Carroll's Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) theory in its operations. According to Carrol, et al (2020), organizations have been in a historical quest to improve various sectors of the society or stakeholder group. Jack Daniel’s takes it as a social responsibility to sensitize its clientele about safe drinking practices. Promoting a culture of alcohol responsibility becomes the company's best-known corporate...