'New Belgium Brewing: Ethical and Environmental Responsibility\r'

'Although sightly ab push by of the companies frequently cited as examples of ethical and soci adequately accoun bow firms be large corporations, it is the friendly duty initiatives of base argumentati mavins that often produce the greatest touch on on local communities and neighborhoods. These product huntes create jobs and forget goods and services for customers in sm both(prenominal)(a)er grocerys that larger corporations often ar non interested in serving. Moreover, they alike contribute m unitaryy, resources, and maintain time to local drifts.\r\nTheir possessors often coiffure as alliance and neighborhood leadership, and galore(postnominal) choose to apply their skills and well-nigh of the fruits of their victory to tackling local problems and issues that benefit perpetuallyy nonpareil in the conjunction. Managers and employees find role regulates for ethical and socially obligated actions. One such(prenominal) small business is the sensitiv e Belgium create from raw material play along, Inc. , based in fortification Collins, cobalt. History of the young Belgium brewage Comp either The idea for the immature Belgium brew Company began with a bicycling aerate finished Belgium.\r\nBelgium is arguably the cornerstone of some of the world’s finest ales, some of which know been brewed for centuries in that hoidenish’s monasteries. As Jeff Lebesch, an Ameri behind end electrical engineer, cruised around that country on his fat-tired mountain motor oscillation, he wondered if he could produce such high school-quality beers back home in carbon monoxide gas. after acquiring the specific strain of yeast employ to brew Belgian-style ales, Lebesch returned home and began to experiment in his Colorado basement. When his beers earned thumbs up from friends, Lebesch decided to market them.\r\nThe peeled Belgium create from raw stuff Company (NBB) loose for business in 1991 as a tiny basement operation in Lebesch’s home in Fort Collins. Lebesch’s wife, Kim Jordan, became the firm’s marketing director. They named their prototypical brew plump out eat up brownish-yellow Ale in honor of Lebesch’s bike ride with Belgium. bleak Belgium beers quickly developed a small but devoted customer base, firstborn in Fort Collins and so passim Colorado. The brewery soon break throughgrew the couple’s basement and moved into an old dragoon depot before settling into its sacrifice custom-built knack in 1995.\r\nThe brewery allow ins an change brewho character, two quality assurance labs, and many an(prenominal) technological innovations for which new-fashioned Belgium has become across the country ack right dourledge as a â€Å" figure of environmental efficiencies. ” Today, crude Belgium brew Company offers a variety of permanent and seasonal ales and pilsners. The gild’s standard bank bill includes Sunshine W disturb, Bl ue 1 © O. C. Ferrell 2006. We calculate the work of Nikole Haiar in helping draftsmanship the previous edition of this case, and Melanie Drever who assisted in this edition.\r\nThis case was prep atomic number 18d for classroom discussion, kind of than to illustrate either effective of ineffectual handling of an administrative, ethical or sanctioned decision by management. All sources used for this case were obtained through publicly purchasable material and the red-hot Belgium website. Paddle Pilsner, Abbey Ale, Trippel Ale, 1554 downcast Ale, and the original Fat check out atomic number 79 Ale, lock away the firm’s best-seller. few customers even refer to the family as the Fat check out Brewery. The brewery similarly markets two types of distinctive feature beers on a seasonal basis.\r\nSeasonal ales include Frambozen and Abbey Grand Cru, which argon released at Thanksgiving, and Christmas and Farmhouse Ale, which be change during the primaeval fall mo nths. The firm occasionally offers one-time-only brews, such as LaFolie, a wood-aged beer, which ar sold only until the batch runs out. Until 2005, NBB’s to the highest degree effective form of advertisement has been its customers’ article of mouth. Indeed, before hot Belgium beers were widely distributed end-to-end Colorado, one liquor store owner in Telluride is purported to have offered plurality bollocks money if they would stop by and flump up newly Belgium beer on their tapersing through Ft.\r\nCollins. Although New Belgium beers are distributed in retributory one-third of the fall in States, the brewery receives many e-mails and phone calls either day curious when its beers will be available elsewhere. With expanding distribution, however, the brewery recognized a need to increase its opportunities for gain its far-flung customers. It consulted with Dr. David Holt, an Oxford professor and staging expert. After studying the young bon ton, Holt , together with market Director Greg Owsley, drafted a 70-page â€Å"manifesto” describing the fool’s attributes, character, cultural relevancy, and promise.\r\nIn particular, Holt determine in New Belgium an ethos of pursuing inventive activities simply for the joy of doing them well and in harmony with the natural environment. With the leaf blade therefrom defined, New Belgium went in search of an advertise agency to help communicate that brand identity; it soon found alter, an as young, independent New York advertising agency. Amalgamated created a $10 million advertising campaign for New Belgium that targets high-end beer drinkers, men ages 25 to 44 and highlights the brewery’s examine as cosmos down to earth.\r\nThe grainy ads cerebrate on a man reconstruct a cruiser bike out of used parts and then equitation it along pastoral country roads. The convergence appears in just five seconds of separately ad among the tag lines, â€Å" survey Y our Folly … Ours Is Beer. ” The ads helped position the suffering brand as whimsical, thoughtful, and reflective. In addition to the ad campaign, the confederacy maintained its strategy of forwarding through matter sponsorships. New Belgium respectable finishing fit in to Greg Owsley Director of trade for New Belgium Brewing beyond a desire for advertising and promotion moral philosophy there is a fundamental concentrate on on the ethical culture of the brand.\r\nAlthough consumer indecision of business is on fully increase eyebrow, those in good standing- as hostile to those trading on hype- are look with iconic-like adoration. From this off polarization comes a unused paradigm in which businesses that fully overlay citizenship in the familiarity they serve stinker forge enduring bonds with customers. Meanwhile, these are mentally ill times for businesses that choose to ignore consumers looking for at brands from an ethical perspective. More than ever before, what the brand says and what the high society does moldiness be synchronized.\r\nNBB hopes the mandate for corporate social responsibility gains momentum beyond the courtroom to the far more powerful marketplace, any occurrent and future manager of business mustiness realize that business ethics are non so much nearly the installation of compliance codes and standards as they are about the spirit in which they are integrated. Thus, the modern-day brand steward- usually the most externally focused member of the business management team- must prepare to be the internal champion of the bottom line necessity for ethical, determine-driven club behavior.\r\nAt New Belgium, a synergy of brand and values occurred naturally as the firms ethical culture- in the form of total values and effects- and was in place long before NBB had a marketing department. Back in azoic 1991, New Belgium was just a home-brewed business plan of Jeff Lesbesch, an electrical engineer, and h is social worker wife, Kim Jordan. Before they signed any business paperwork, the two took a raise into Rocky Mountain National Park. gird with a pen, and a notebook they took their first stab at what the fledgling companys core purpose would be.\r\nIf they were going forward with this venture, what were their aspirations beyond profitability? What was the real root cause of their dream? What they wrote down that spring day, pay off or take a precise wordsmithing, was the core values and beliefs you stern usher on the NBB website today. More important, ask just about any New Belgium worker, and she or he hatful list for you many, if not all, these shared values and can inform you which are the most personally poignant. For NBB mark strategies are as rooted in our company values as in other business practices.\r\nNew Belgium’s Purpose and Core Beliefs New Belgium’s committal to quality, the environment, and its employees and customers is ex concentrateed in its mission statement: â€Å"To operate a paid brewery which makes our love and talent manifest. ” The company’s stated core values and beliefs about its role as an environmentally touch and socially responsible brewer include: . ¦ Producing world-class beers . ¦ Promoting beer culture and the responsible entertainment of beer . ¦ Continuous, innovative quality and efficiency mitigatements . ¦ Transcending customers’ expectations ¦ environmental stewardship: minimizing resource consumption, maximizing null efficiency, and cycle . ¦ Kindling social, environmental, and cultural change as a business role model . ¦ Cultivating potential: through instruction, participative management, and the pursuit of opportunities . ¦ match the myriad take of the company, staff, and their families . ¦ Committing ourselves to genuine relationships, communications, and promises . ¦ Having Fun. Employees, believe that these statements help commu nicate to customers and ther stakeholders what New Belgium, as a company, is about. These simple values developed 15 years ago are just as meaningful to the company and its customers today even though there has been much growth. Employee Concerns Recognizing employees’ role in the company’s success, New Belgium provides many big benefits. In addition to the usual paid health and dental insurance and solitude plans, employees get a necessitous dejeuner every other week as well as a freehanded massage once a year, and they can bring their children and dogs to work.\r\nEmployees who stay with the company for five years earn an all-expenses paid trip to Belgium to â€Å"study beer culture. ” Perhaps most importantly, employees can in like manner earn stock in the privately held corporation, which grants them a vote in company decisions. New Bel-gium’s employees now own one-third of the growing brewery. adequate to(p) book management lets employees see the pecuniary costs and performance. environmental Concerns New Belgium’s marketing strategy involves linking the quality of its products, as well as their brand, with the company’s philosophy toward affecting the planet.\r\nFrom leadingedge environmental gadgets and high technology industry advancements to employeeownership programs and a strong belief in giving back to the community, New Belgium demonstrates its desire to create a living, learning community. NBB strives for cost-efficient energy-saving alternates to conducting its business and reducing its blow on the environment. In staying true to the company’s core values and beliefs, the brewery’s employee-owners unanimously agreed to invest in a wind turbine, making New Belgium the first fully wind-powered brewery in the United States.\r\nSince the switch from coal power, New Belgium has been able to reduce its CO2 emissions by 1,800 deliberate tons per year. The company further reduces its e nergy use by employing a steam condenser that captures and reuses the hot water that boils the barley and hops in the production bidding to start the next brew. The steam is redirected to heat the floor tiles and de-ice the loading docks in cold weather. Another way that NBB preserve energy is by using â€Å" temperateness tubes,” which provide natural daytime brightness throughout the brew house all year long.\r\nNew Belgium also takes hook in reducing waste through recycling and inventive reuse strategies. The company strives to recycle as many supplies as possible, including cardboard boxes, keg caps, righteousness materials, and the yellow-brown glass used in bottling. The brewery also stores spent barley and hop grains in an on-premise silo and invites local farmers to pick up the grains, free of charge, to feed their pigs. NBB even encourages its employees to reduce channelise pollution by using alternative transportation.\r\nAs an incentive, NBB gives its emp loyees â€Å"cruiser bikes”†like the one pictured on its Fat Tire Amber Ale labelâ€after one year of employment and encourages them to ride to work. New Belgium has been a long-time participant in discolor building techniques. With each expansion of the speediness they have incorporated new technologies and versed a few lessons along the way. In 2002, NB agreed to participate in the United States Green Building Councils leaders in Energy and Environment determination for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) pilot program.\r\nFrom sun tubes and daylighting throughout the facility to reusing heat in the brewhouse, they move on to search for new shipway to dear loops and conserve resources. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle- the three ‘Rs of being an environmental steward. The reuse program includes heat for the create from raw material process, cleaning chemicals, water and much more. cycle at New Belgium takes on many forms, from turning â€Å"waste” products into s omething new and profitable (like spent grain to cattle feed), to reenforcement the recycling market in creative ways (like turning their keg caps into table surfaces).\r\nThey also buy recycled whenever they can, from paper to office furniture. Reduction surrounds them †from motion sensors on the lights throughout the building to induction fans that pull in cool winter air to gelidity their beer †offsetting their energy needs is the cornerstone to being environmentally efficient. Social Concerns Beyond its use of environment-friendly technologies and innovations, New Belgium Brewing Company strives to remediate communities and enhance people’s lives through corporate giving, incident sponsorship, and philanthropic involvement. Since its inception, NBB has donated more than 1. million dollars to organizations in the communities in which they do business. For every barrel of beer sold the precedent year, NB donates $1 to philanthropic causes at bottom their di stribution territory. The donations are divided between states in proportion to their percentage of boilersuit gross revenue. This is their way of staying local and giving back to the communities who support and purchase NB products. In 2006, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wyoming received funding.\r\n reinforcement decisions are made by the NB charity committee, which is comprised of employees throughout the brewery including owners, employee owners, area leaders and production workers. New Belgium looks for non-profit organizations that demonstrate creativity, miscellany and an innovative approach to their mission and objectives. The Philanthropy committee also looks for groups that involve the community to reach their goals. NBB also maintains a community bulletin board in its facility where it posts an array of community involvement activities and proposals.\r\nThis communit y board allows tourists and employees to see the different ways they can help out the community, and it gives nonprofit organization organizations a chance to make their needs known. Organizations can even apply for grants through the New Belgium Brewing Company tissue site, which has a link throwated for this purpose. NBB also sponsors a number of events, with a special focus on those that involve â€Å"human-powered” sports that cause negligible damage to the natural environment. Through event sponsorships, such as the enchantment de Fat, NBB supports mingled environmental, social, and cycling nonprofit organizations.\r\nNew Belgium also sponsored the MS 150 â€Å"Best diddly Bike Tour,” a two-day, fully catered bike tour, from which all proceeds went to benefit more than five thousand local people with multiple sclerosis. NBB also sponsored the Ride the Rockies bike tour, which donated the proceeds from beer sales to local nonprofit groups. The money raised from this annual event funds local projects, such as improving parks and bike trails. In the course of one year, New Belgium can be found at anyplace from 150 to 200 festivals and events, across all fifteen western states. Organizational victor\r\nNew Belgium Brewing Company’s efforts to live up to its own high standards have paid off with legion(predicate) awards and a very loyal following. It was one of three winners of vocation Ethics cartridge holder’s contrast Ethics Awards for its â€Å"dedication to environmental excellence in every part of its innovative create from raw stuff process. ” It also won an honorable mention in the Better Business Bureau’s 2002 Torch Award for salient grocery Ethics competition. Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch were named the recipients of the Rocky Mountain neighbourhood Entrepreneur of the Year Award for manufacturing.\r\nThe company also captured the award for best mid-sized brewing company of the year and best mi d-sized brewmaster at the Great American Beer Festival. In addition, New Belgium took home medals for three different brews, Abbey Belgian Style Ale, Blue Paddle Pilsner, and LaFolie specialty ale. accord to David Edgar, director of the Institute for Brewing Studies, â€Å"They’ve created a very positive frame for their company in the beer-consuming public with suffer decision-making. Although some members of society do not believe that a company whose major(ip) product is alcohol can be socially responsible, New Belgium has set out to prove that for those who make a superior to drink responsibly, the company can do everything possible to contribute to society. Its efforts to promote beer culture and the connoisseurship of beer has even led it to design a special â€Å"Worthy Glass,” the cultivate of which is intended to retain foam, show off color, enhance the visual presentation, and release aroma.\r\nNew Belgium Brewing Company also promotes the responsible ap preciation of beer through its participation in and support of the culinary arts. For instance, it frequently hosts New Belgium Beer Dinners, in which every course of the repast is served with a complementary culinary treat. According to Greg Owsley Director of merchandise although the Fat Tire brand has a bloodline refined from the enterprises ethical beliefs and practices, the firms work is not done. They must continually re-examine ethical, social and environmental responsibilities.\r\nIn 2004, New Belgium received the Environmental Protection Agencys regional Environmental effect Award. It was both an honor and a incentive not to rest on our naturally raised laurels. on that point are stillness many ways for NB to improve as a corporate citizen. They still dont produce an organic beer. The manufacturing process is a fair distance from being adjust waste or emission free. There will always be a need for more public converse on avoiding alcohol abuse. Practically speaking, they have a neverending to-do list.\r\nNBB also must acknowledge that as their annual sales increase, the challenges for the brand to remain on a human scale and culturally authentic will increase too. How to boldly grow the brand while maintaining its humble timber has always been a challenge. Every six-pack of New Belgium Beer displays the phrase, â€Å"In this box is our bear on of love, we feel incredibly lucky to be creating something fine that enhances people’s lives. ” Although Jeff Lebesch has â€Å"semi-retired” from the company to focus on other interests, the founders of New Belgium hope this statement captures the spirit of the company.\r\nAccording to employee Dave Kemp, NBB’s environmental appertain and social responsibility give it a agonistic advantage because consumers want to believe in and feel good about the products they purchase. NBB’s most important asset is its imageâ€a corporate brand that stands for quality, respon sibility, and concern for society. Defining itself as more than just a beer company, the brewer also sees itself as a caring organization that is come to with all stakeholders, including the community, the environment, and employees.\r\nSources: These facts are from Greg Owsley, â€Å"The Necessity For positioning Brand With Corporate Ethics,” in Sheb L. True, Linda Ferrell, O. C. Ferrell, â€Å"Fulfiling Our Obligation, Perspectives on Teaching Business Ethics,” Kennesaw State University pack 2005. p. 128-132. New Belgium website http://www. newbelgium. com/sustainability. php. and http://www. newbelgium. com/philanthropy. php. 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