What are some interesting mission statements or values statements of some of the companies in your industry? What do their statements reveal about them?
Kraft Foods Company
Kraft Foods is truly a company that adheres to corporate social responsibility. Kraft goes beyond Adam Smith’s invisible hand of the free market and takes the social initiative to improve the community and society as a whole. And this has been return in kind by consumers, making Kraft the second largest food company in the world. Over the last 25 years, Kraft has donated $770 million in cash and food and pledging $180 million in the next 3 years. According to a news release, Kraft Foods Foundation invested $10 million in fighting child malnutrition in Indonesia and Bangladesh by teaching locals farming skills, creating micro-enterprises, and providing nutrition education. In addition, Kraft goes beyond a compliance-based ethics coded to an integrity-based ethic codes within all levels of management. Kraft practiced fair hiring, with 43% of women, who earned a salary, in the work force. Furthermore, Kraft is aware of the importance of our environment and taking steps to preserve it. Kraft has reduced its energy usage; water consumption in manufacturing; waste produced; and its carbon footprint by 15%. Kraft Foods goes to show that it is still a profitable business while being socially responsible. http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com
British American Tobacco
“Our goals are to grow our brands and the value of the business, to improve productivity and to embed the principles of corporate responsibility around the Group.”
Core Beliefs
• We believe our businesses should uphold high standards of behaviour and integrity
• We believe that high standards of corporate social responsibility should be promoted
within the tobacco industry
• We believe that universally recognised fundamental human rights should be respected
• We believe the tobacco industry should have a voice in the formation of government
policies affecting it
• We believe in achieving world class standards of environmental performance
When it comes to ethics and corporate social responsibilities, it is hard to think of how they apply to tobacco companies. Millions of people have died from smoking alone. When it comes to British American Tobacco (BAT), this company pledges honesty and integrity within strict standards. On face value it looks good, but when it impedes with profits, that is another story. According to research published in 2006 and posted on PLOS Medicine, “smuggling has been strategically critical to BAT's ongoing efforts to penetrate the Chinese market and to its overall goal to become the leading company within an increasingly global industry.” This illicit trading has generated billions of U.S. dollars in sales, contributing to China’s image as having the world’s worst cigarette smuggling problem. Not to mention, it also contributes to a rise in health problems to millions in China. When it comes social responsibility for tobacco companies, values are mere words on a web page when profit and greed are the only motivators.
http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO725ECW/$FILE/medMD8LACJK.pdf?openelement
http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO725ECW?opendocument&SKN=1
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030228#references
Kraft Foods Company
Community Involvement
“Hunger and malnutrition are the greatest threats to health and well-being around the world. Nearly one in every six people doesn’t get enough to eat. As one of the world’s largest food companies, we’re committed to helping change that by fighting hunger and promoting healthy lifestyles.”
Employee Conduct
“Our global compliance and integrity program helps guide our employees to obey all applicable laws and regulations while conducting business around the world. It also emphasizes how important it is for us to act with integrity and make ethical decisions for our business, our shareholders, our employees and our consumers, because their trust and confidence is critical to our success.”
Sustainability
“Sustainability is about preserving our world -- land, air, water and people. At Kraft Foods, our sustainability journey has put us on a path that is making a real difference.”
Kraft Foods is truly a company that adheres to corporate social responsibility. Kraft goes beyond Adam Smith’s invisible hand of the free market and takes the social initiative to improve the community and society as a whole. And this has been return in kind by consumers, making Kraft the second largest food company in the world. Over the last 25 years, Kraft has donated $770 million in cash and food and pledging $180 million in the next 3 years. According to a news release, Kraft Foods Foundation invested $10 million in fighting child malnutrition in Indonesia and Bangladesh by teaching locals farming skills, creating micro-enterprises, and providing nutrition education. In addition, Kraft goes beyond a compliance-based ethics coded to an integrity-based ethic codes within all levels of management. Kraft practiced fair hiring, with 43% of women, who earned a salary, in the work force. Furthermore, Kraft is aware of the importance of our environment and taking steps to preserve it. Kraft has reduced its energy usage; water consumption in manufacturing; waste produced; and its carbon footprint by 15%. Kraft Foods goes to show that it is still a profitable business while being socially responsible. http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com
British American Tobacco
“Our goals are to grow our brands and the value of the business, to improve productivity and to embed the principles of corporate responsibility around the Group.”
“At British American Tobacco, we are committed to acting responsibly at all times. We take comfort and pride in knowing that we will do the right thing and behave in the right way. What is more, we see this as critical to the sustained high performance of our business in the long
term. It is therefore a key element of our business strategy.”Core Beliefs
• We believe our businesses should uphold high standards of behaviour and integrity
• We believe that high standards of corporate social responsibility should be promoted
within the tobacco industry
• We believe that universally recognised fundamental human rights should be respected
• We believe the tobacco industry should have a voice in the formation of government
policies affecting it
• We believe in achieving world class standards of environmental performance
When it comes to ethics and corporate social responsibilities, it is hard to think of how they apply to tobacco companies. Millions of people have died from smoking alone. When it comes to British American Tobacco (BAT), this company pledges honesty and integrity within strict standards. On face value it looks good, but when it impedes with profits, that is another story. According to research published in 2006 and posted on PLOS Medicine, “smuggling has been strategically critical to BAT's ongoing efforts to penetrate the Chinese market and to its overall goal to become the leading company within an increasingly global industry.” This illicit trading has generated billions of U.S. dollars in sales, contributing to China’s image as having the world’s worst cigarette smuggling problem. Not to mention, it also contributes to a rise in health problems to millions in China. When it comes social responsibility for tobacco companies, values are mere words on a web page when profit and greed are the only motivators.
http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO725ECW/$FILE/medMD8LACJK.pdf?openelement
http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO725ECW?opendocument&SKN=1
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030228#references
I enjoyed you analysis on these two companies' value statements, Liang. It is especially interesting to see how the tobacco company attempts to portray itself as an organization with is concerned with the consumer. Thank you for pointing out how hypocritical the tobacco industry is in regard to CSR. What would have been interesting, however, would have been research on how Kraft is not fully committed to CSR. Any criticism to counter the positive comments of a company, in my mind, are always good.
ReplyDeleteAgain I agree that CSR and tobacco companies don't necessarily go hand in hand but if they are receiving recognition I feel as though they have to be credited.
ReplyDeleteKraft is made to look really good in CSR, I'm also interested to see if it has any faults or if its image is generally positive all of the time.