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The Ben & Jerry's Company sets forth a clear mission statement
that is outlined with three major principles in mind that outline the
company's values and motivates its employees. Their mission statement
is divided into a product mission, economic mission and social mission
that each further defines the company's outlook on how they should
impact the world. By using clear energizing goals and communicative
goals, the mission statement of Ben & Jerry's provides a motivating
ideal that its employees can strive for. The Ben & Jerry's Company
has a mission statement that motivates its employees to want to produce
a good product.
The Ben & Jerry's mission statement is divided into three
subsections that make it simpler to see what the overall goals are. The
subsections are product, economic and social missions. Each area
addresses energizing goals as well as communicative goals to provide a
clear and motivating mission statement. Energizing goals state the
intent of the company and what goals the organization would like to
achieve.
Under the product mission, it is stated that their goal is "to make,
distribute & sell the finest quality all natural ice cream &
euphoric concoctions". This is the primary mission of Ben & Jerry's
because they are in the business of selling ice cream. It is also the
first line of the first subsection in their mission statement. By
placing this in their official mission statement, they are saying that
this is who we are and this is what we do. Ben & Jerry's is an ice
cream company, so the first line makes sense because it simply states
what the primary goal of the company is--to make ice cream. Along with
this line, there are more lines about serving the Earth and using only
the finest natural ingredients. These statements add a sort of validity
to the business of making ice cream. Employees reading this might feel
like they are doing the world a service by working for Ben &
Jerry's. These sort of statements are designed to make the employees
feel like they are making a better product--better for the people who
eat it and better for the rest of the world too. A portion of people
that work for Ben & Jerry's as well as a portion of their customer
base will place great importance on the company's outlook on nature and
making a natural product. The goals in this first paragraph are clear
organizational goals and will make some of the employees that work
there feel good about working there.
The next portion of their mission statement goes into their economic
mission. The economic mission states that part of their mission is to
expand opportunities for development and growth for their employees.
This is a sort of communicative goal. By making expansion a part of
their economic mission for the purpose of providing opportunity, it
becomes in the interest of all employees to work hard for expansion. By
adding this section into their mission statement, Ben & Jerry's is
communicating to every employee that it is their duty to help expand
the business to create even more opportunity for current and future
employees. Every employ gains from the expansion of Ben & Jerry's
because part of their economic mission is to provide opportunity. Of
course the rest of the economic mission includes increasing revenue for
investors and making profit. Most companies will include profit making
for investors and increasing revenue because stating this in the
mission statement can attract investors.
The final area that is included in their mission statement is the
social mission that Ben & Jerry's has outlined for its
organization. They state that because business plays a vital role in
society that they should initiate ways to improve conditions locally,
nationally and internationally. This paragraph basically outlines how
to be a good citizen or neighbor within the community. A certain
portion of the employee population will feel inspired by this portion
of the mission statement and get increased job satisfaction from
working at Ben & Jerry's. Working in the community and coexisting
with neighbors is good for the company as well as being good for the
employees.
When the whole picture is put together, the values that Ben &
Jerry's is trying to push in their mission statement is clear. Respect
for nature, helping one another and being good neighbors to each other
sums up the Ben & Jerry's mission statement. Their mission
statement is very idyllic, but it is a good ideal that many people
would take to heart. The mission statement of Ben & Jerry's sets
the tone for all employees and creates a positive impression of their
company. The employees of Ben & Jerry's are probably very motivated
to work for a company that has so much social conscientiousness and
basic love for fellow man. It is definitely a 'feel good' kind of
mission statement.
References
http://www.benjerry.com; Accessed 12 Jan. 2003
Module 2 background materials; Accessed 12 Jan. 2003
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