Dilemw~ ..
~ec1s1on
Dilemma: Breaking the ice Decision:
Brief
When Unilever, one of the world's largest consumer products companies, Turn to page 145 to find out
made a bid to buy Ben & Jerry's, the trendy ice cream maker, Ben and Jerry what Ben and Jerry, and Niall
turned down the offer. The companies were too different, they said. Social FitzGerald said about the
responsibility and creative management were the hallmarks of their proposed merger.
business philosophy. Unilever was a major multinational with a
traditional corporate culture, whose main goal was to make a profit. This,
they felt, could never mix with their concept of 'linked prosperity', where
the community also profits from business success. The then CEO of
Unilever, Niall FitzGerald, felt that if they could get together and talk, they CEO profile
would find common ground. They could then build on that personal
relationship and finally make a corporate alliance, which would benefit
everyone in spite of what appeared to be corporate culture differences.
Task 1 Unilever was created in 1930. It is now on
Work in groups. Read the profiles of the world's largest consumer product
and make a list of the similarities companies with sales in excess of $5(
billion, and operates in 88 countries aroum
between the people involved and Jerry Greenfield and he:; · :o t Cl ._,.
the globe.
their companies. born in Brooklyn , l~e\l~· .-.')t K:i :..i i ~·•.>;'
Niall ~itzGerald, the CEO until 2004, wa
They met in junior high schod and _;elT\'
born m 1945 in Ireland. He was a child 0
remembers that he and Ben were two of
the '~Os, 'with hair down my back, drawn tc
Task 2 the wildest students in their school. th e hippy culture of make love not war,' h e
They founded their ice cream co~Pat?-Y
Using your list, think of five in 1978 in a renovated gas statton m ' rem~~bers. At University College Dublin
things Niall FitzGerald could say he J~med the Communist Party. 'I'm ,
Burlington, Vermont, with a _$12,000
to Ben and Jerry in order to pracucal left-winger,' he says. 'I was taugh1
investment ($4,000 of which was
that to chan~e the world, you must get to the
break the ice. How do you think borrowed). top and do 1t from within.'
Ben and Jerry would respond in Ben and Jerry have been recognis_ed for
As
. . head of Unilever South Af:nc~ · he
each case? fostering their company's comm1°'.1ent
ms1sted, against opposition, on
to social responsibility by the Council on
unsegregated facilities. Not only aware of
Economic Priorities, as they donate 7i5
the d~bate on corporate social responsibility
Task 3 per cent of their pre-tax profits to non-
but smcerely engaged in it as well h
profit organisations through the Ben & beh· d u -1 , , e was
What concessions or Jerry's Foundation.
. m m ever s funding of hospitals in
compromises do you think Ben V1emam and schools in Ghana and many
Ben and Jerry are active members of the
other parts of the developing world.
and Jerry would ask for? How do Social Venture Network and Businesses
you think Niall FitzGerald would for Social Responsibility. They also serve
respond? Is it possible for two on the board of Oxfam America.
companies with seemingly
different cultures to merge and
work together, if the CEOs have a
lot in common?
Write it up
Write a memo from Niall
FitzGerald to the staff of Unilever
informing them of the decision,
and why it was taken. (See Style
guide, page 24.)
14 Unit 1
