Facts Related to the CSR Activities of the Campbell Soup Company - Research Paper Example

?Research Assignment Table of contents Introduction 3 Thesis ment 3 Facts Related to the CSR Activities of the Campbell Soup Company 4 CorporateSocial Responsibilities Issues Faced by Campbell Soup Company 5 Nourishing Consumers 5 Nourishing Neighbors 6 Nourishing Employees 6 Nourishing Planet 6 Rules being Used by Campbell Soup Company 8 Analysis of Issues and Rules 8 Conclusion 8 Introduction The article, titled as ‘Building a Responsible and Sustainable Company: From Nuts to Soup at Campbell Soup’, published by ‘Forbes’ on June 01, 2012, describes about the fourth Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report 2012 of the Campbell Soup Company. In this report, the company’s deep commitment towards environmental protection and conservation of energy through minimizing the resources used in the production of the company’s products have been precisely depicted (Forbes, “Building a Responsible and Sustainable Company: From Nuts to Soup at Campbell Soup”). It is worth mentioning in this regard that the company has taken several precautionary measures relating to environment by identifying and applying production processes imposing a minimum impact on the natural environment (Campbell Soup Company, “Nourishing Our Consumers, Neighbors, Employees, and Our Planet”). In order to combine the company’s efforts in attaining the predetermined objectives towards developing a sustainable environment, the company has established and divided its long term goals and targets into six basic areas which can be identified as water conservation, sustainable agriculture, carbon intensity, waste management, energy, and sustainable packaging. Thesis Statement The discussion conducted henceforth attempts to critically analyze the role of Campbell Soup Company in discharging its Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) with due consideration to its performance over the recent years. Facts Related to the CSR Activities of the Campbell Soup Company In relation to its CSR activities, the primary goal of the company is to reduce the use of water and Green House Gas (GHG) emissions in the process of manufacturing products, i.e. various food products. The other supporting goals include reduction of energy usage upto 35% and augmentation of energy sources up to 40% utilizing the renewable sources of energy. Furthermore, the company aims to recycle 95% of wastes generated due to its global operations thereby reducing the use of water and mitigating carbon footprints upto 20% (Campbell Soup Company, “Nourishing Our Consumers, Neighbors, Employees, and Our Planet”). As per the recent facts, Campbell’s performance during the fiscal year 2011 (i.e. from Aug 1, 20110 to July 31, 2011) and its achievements in the fiscal year 2012 can be identified as listed below: The company has been constructed on 60 acres of a solar field with 10-MW power generating capacity In its largest manufacturing site, 24000 sun tracking panels have been installed to generate at least 15 percent of the electricity needed for its operations The company’s donation to environmental control measures increased in the current fiscal year to $40 million The company has also introduced an innovative initiative titled as ‘The Way We Work’ in order to build safe and socially responsible working environment to ensure integrated results The company has also instigated school support programs by launching Campbell’s Labels for Education with an aim to generate environmental awareness amid the society The company has also declared a charitable commitment of $10 in its home town in New Jersey Corporate Social Responsibilities Issues Faced by Campbell Soup Company With due significance to Campbell’s worldwide operations, the company has been identified to witness four major issues related to its CSR activities. The issues majorly relates with nourishing consumers, neighbors or community members, employees and the planet at large. Nourishing Consumers The company plans to invest significantly towards the enhancement of innovation capabilities in order to deliver healthier food products to its worldwide consumers. With this concern, the company has initiated an agreement with the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) to provide information to those families who are affected by food allergies due to the regular consumptions of packaged food, simultaneously offering a free trial membership to them for at least six months (Campbell Soup Company, “Nourishing Our Consumers, Neighbors, Employees, and Our Planet”). Nourishing Neighbors In order to preserve a co-operative relationship with its neighbors or rather the community members, the company has formed employee’s volunteer groups that assist the local non-profit agencies to make changes at the time of difficulties in the home town. The company’s collaboration with these non-profit organizations is further considered as the true partnership that goes beyond donations and grants. For instance, during 2011, many disasters occurred including tsunami in Japan, flood in Australia and devastating tornado that caused disaster in US. The company made its contribution to all these disasters either in the form cash donations or through products distribution (Campbell Soup Company, “Nourishing Our Consumers, Neighbors, Employees, and Our Planet”). Nourishing Employees The company is commitment to establish nourishing working surroundings for its workers that benefits the workers’ health, living standard and financial positioning. It is in this context that the company has applied Safety Flag Program to identify safety measures at the workplace (Campbell Soup Company, “Nourishing Our Consumers, Neighbors, Employees, and Our Planet”). Nourishing Planet The company is also committed towards the planet at large as has been reflected in its agenda, in which it plans to reduce the use of water and GHG generated from its operations worldwide (Campbell Soup Company, “Report and Data”). Rules being Used by Campbell Soup Company Campbell has also used the Global Reporting Initiative, G 3.1 to reflect genuineness of their transparency to the shareholders. The company has further made use of the G 3.1 framework in order to measure its economic, social and environmental performances over the years. It is worth mentioning that G3.1 is the latest guidelines prescribed by the company for sustainability reporting. It is made of up two parts i.e. the Part1 ‘Reporting Principles and Guidelines’ and Part 2 ‘Standard Disclosure.’ The Part1 includes the guidelines features as how to present the report while Part 2 emphasizes on what should be included in the report (Global Reporting Initiative, “Guidelines”). Analysis of Issues and Rules Campbell, in relation to its CSR activities, aims to promote global wellness and further help to develop sustainable environment honoring the role of community welfare ranging from farm to the family. The CSR initiatives enforced further focuses on the transparency, engagement and accountability of the company considering the various issues related with waste recycling through sustainable agriculture, training employees, community youth programs, childhood obesity through health promotion, . The company by involving in such issues aims to improve its relationship with its customers, employees and various other stakeholders with the sole intention of attaining sustainable growth as well as creating greater business opportunities over the next years (Campbell Soup Company, “Report and Data”). Conclusion The company mainly focuses upon promoting healthy lifestyles and nutritious food products to its customers all around the world. Hence, the company provides due consideration to the in-depth assessment of the needs and problems witnessed by the communities aiming at building an example in the market place. However, in order to preserve its current sustainable position and gradually attain better growth prospects, the company should actively participate in the social activities whenever there is the need making continuous updates in its policies regarding the workers by encouraging them to participate in the community works. With due regards to the current performance of Campbell, it can be affirmed that the company has been applying the common good approach by extensively involving itself in CSR activities. As per the assumptions of the stated approach, the company focuses on the common good of the organization as well as of the community with equal significance. The company takes initiatives to help and improve the society and thereby meeting its social obligations which in turn facilitates it to achieve its business goals in a more sustainable way. The company also recognizes the interest of its employees and the need of the society accordingly in creating better working environment and supplying goods that benefits the customers and community members at large. Therefore, it can be stated that the company’s ultimate goal is to achieve its business objectives by improving the health of its community and ensuring a secured living environment. Furthermore, the Utilitarian approach usually compares actions in terms of consequences or outcomes, i.e. the benefit and the cost incurred to achieve the predetermined goals. The approach primarily endeavors to accomplish the greatest good while causing minimum harm by preventing sufferings. The approach states that entity’s objectives and interests should necessarily be taken into consideration along with the needs of the stakeholders prior to making decisions. In this context, with respect to Campbell, its efforts towards CSR can be highly praised. The company has greatly involved in the social activities creating environmental balance with its sincere efforts with due consideration to the needs and the interests of its stakeholders as guided by the Utilitarian approach. In the similar context, the Rights approach primarily focuses on the aspect of human dignity. The approach efficiently permits an individual to identify his/her legitimate rights along with those enjoyed by others in particular circumstances in relation to their liable duties and obligations in the individual-level as well as in the community-level. In this regard, a greater emphasis is provided to ethical concerns which are believed to not only mitigate the chances of conflicts, but also enhance the efficiency of the CSR initiatives adopted by a particular organization. In relation to the Campbell, it can be apparently identified that the organization deliberately focuses on the interests of the entire community as a whole rather than focusing on individual-level interests. This mitigates the ethical risk in terms that the company could have produce products that would harm the health of its customers at an individual-level but would help the company to earn sufficient profit. Irrespective of engaging in such business activities, Campbell aims at earning profit keeping in the mind the importance of its customers’ health to achieve its overall organizational goals mitigating the harmful consequences at the community-level. The Fairness and Justice Approach state that every individual is either treated equally or unequally with some defensible reason behind each treatment. Based on a similar perspective, the Campbell undertook many environmental and social activities not just to please or benefit its customers, but with the sole intention to produce overall benefit for the society on the whole, without distinguishing between its customers and other individuals. The rationality and the guiding philosophy behind the CSR initiatives considered by the Campbell can be further identified in relation to the Virtue approach. This particular approach states that an individual should select and depend on one’s personal character traits rather than depending on external laws and customs to guide them towards efficient CSR initiatives. In a business scenario, virtue approach states that every member in an organization realizes that business activities are moral and natural means to achieve personal goals. Similarly, Campbell realizes its CSR initiatives as one of the means through which it can be easier for the company to achieve its overall objectives. In this regard, the company directs its efforts not only in economic activities but also in balancing environmental and social requirements playing the role of a good corporate citizen. Works Cited Campbell Soup Company. Nourishing Our Consumers, Neighbors, Employees, and Our Planet, 2011. Web. 3 Aug. 2012. Campbell Soup Company. Report and Data, 2012. Web. 3 Aug. 2012. Forbes. Building a Responsible and Sustainable Company: From Nuts to Soup at Campbell Soup, 2012. Web. 3 Aug. 2012. Global Reporting Initiative. Guidelines, n.d. Web. 3 Aug. 2012. Read More