Today we find ourselves in limbo between the need to reduce usage of the world’s dwindling supply of natural resources and a stubborn resistance to change our consumption habits. The continuing scarcity of resources, coupled with an increase in demand for them from a growing population, is the largest challenge facing earth and its people. While many individual citizens, politicians, press sources and businesses are ignoring the current situation, some have recognized the need for a green revolution. Leaders have attempted to enact a cultural change, organizing events and initiatives to garner the attention of those in position to make a change, and people have taken responsibility for their own actions in choosing more sustainable options in their everyday lives. Very small starts have been made in the colossal struggle against the changing climate, mounting environmental problems and expansive social issues, but these will not be sufficient for sustaining out future. Some entity with power must stand up to lead change, and that entity should be business. While business is largely responsible for much of the world’s environmental problems today, the ability of the free market system to create positive change through sustainable business practices is far more powerful than public polic

Denna uppsats har berört hur ett företagsförvärv kan gå till men även hur ett företag med många underliggande varumärken hanterar sin varumärkesportfölj. Som företag kan man öka sin tillväxt och lönsamhet på lite olika sätt, bland annat genom att expandera sin verksamhet. För att expandera kan man till exempel introducera en ny produkt eller nytt varumärke men även att köpa upp ett redan etablerat varumärke. Det var det sista alternativet som Unilever valde när de förvärvade det amerikanska premiumglassföretaget Ben & Jerry’s. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka varför stora företag köper upp mindre och nischade företag. Vi har valt att fokusera på Unilevers uppköp av det amerikanska glassföretaget Ben & Jerry’s och tar även reda på vilka fördelar de båda vann på uppköpet samt hur Unilever hanterar sin varumärkesportfölj. Frågorna som vi har utgått ifrån lyder: Varför köpte det stora företaget Unilever upp det mindre och nischade varumärket Ben & Jerry’s och vilka fördelar fick respektive företag vid sammanslagningen? Hur hanterar ett företag de olika varumärkena? Efter att vi analyserat hur uppköpet mellan Unilever och Ben & Jerry’s gått till, tillsammans med teorierna om ämnet kom vi fram till följande. Det är viktigt att som företag ha en god bild av innehållet i sin varumärkesportfölj. Detta för att optimera samarbetet mellan varumärkena men även för att se vilka segment som saknas. Vid ett förvärv av ett nytt varumärke, i avsikt att komplettera varumärkesportföljen, måste det större företaget behandla det varsamt. Varumärket kan bli framgångsrikt just för att de besitter unik kompetens och får därför inte krossas av storföretagets jakt på lönsamhet. Ännu en slutsats vi kom fram till är att om båda företagen har något att vinna på förvärvet så ökar chansen att det blir lyckat. Det kan handla om att komma över ny kunskap om till exempel kundsegment eller tillgång till nya marknader.

The objective of the thesis is to analyse how stakeholder influence has transformed sustainability work from being primarily risk management into becoming an integral part of business conduct and even business identities of today. To detect this trend I gather theoretical information that elaborate on the meaning and drivers of sustainable business conduct, sustainability as corporate identity, relevant stakeholders and ways of communicating to stakeholders. A case study of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream company is conducted, as an example of a market leader on sustainable business conduct. By demonstrating the extensive sustainability work that Ben & Jerry’s do, I argue that it has had a clear bottom-up influence on the trend for sustainable business conduct. Together with recent regulatory demands as a top-down influence in markets, I argue that there is evidence of a trend where sustainable business conduct and/or sustainability as business identity is becoming the new norm.

The issue that is dealt with in this paper is the concept of values-led business. The idea behind the term is that businesses has a responsibility to the people and the society that make its existence possible and that social problems can not be solved unless business accepts taking on a leadership role which requires that business starts acting in the interests of the common good. This is specifically important since companies today are the main source of influence in people’s everyday life and the area is specifically interesting because of all the business scandals in recent years. (Cohen and Greenfield, 1997). The concept of values-led business arose mainly from the two companies the Body Shop and our chosen company; Ben and Jerry’s. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the concept of values-led business and find out how it is different from the procedures at a non-explicitly values-led organisation. We also aim to find out if there would be any benefits of introducing values-led business into the latter. In this paper we compare an explicitly values-led company, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, with a non explicitly values-led company, SIA Glass on their internal and external performance on the study areas of Marketing, Sourcing, and HRM and Organisational culture. A qualitative research method has been used as method. The collection of primary data was done with the help of interviews done at our companies’ main offices in Sweden. In the case of Ben & Jerry’s, additional secondary sources have been used. Theories used serve the purpose of both a tool of analysis but also of setting the stage of values-led business. Furthermore, the theory has been divided into the four areas of study mentioned above. The first part of the conclusion states that we, throughout the thesis, have given a good overview of what the differences between values-led business and “ordinary” business really are. Also, we found that SIA Glass has the potential of becoming a values-led company as its foundation is not entirely based on financial goals but is to a large extent driven by a will to preserve something good for the local community. In order to develop a val-ues-led thinking a social mission should be formally put down in print and be held equal to the financial and quality missions. SIA Glass potentially has a lot to be gained especially in the marketing area as SIA Glass as it could create further leverage by using more creative marketing methods.

<p>The issue that is dealt with in this paper is the concept of values-led business. The idea behind the term is that businesses has a responsibility to the people and the society that make its existence possible and that social problems can not be solved unless business accepts taking on a leadership role which requires that business starts acting in the interests of the common good. This is specifically important since companies today are the main source of influence in people’s everyday life and the area is specifically interesting because of all the business scandals in recent years. (Cohen and Greenfield, 1997). The concept of values-led business arose mainly from the two companies the Body Shop and our chosen company; Ben and Jerry’s.</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to explore the concept of values-led business and find out how it is different from the procedures at a non-explicitly values-led organisation. We also aim to find out if there would be any benefits of introducing values-led business into the latter.</p><p>In this paper we compare an explicitly values-led company, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, with a non explicitly values-led company, SIA Glass on their internal and external performance on the study areas of Marketing, Sourcing, and HRM and Organisational culture. A qualitative research method has been used as method. The collection of primary data was done with the help of interviews done at our companies’ main offices in Sweden. In the case of Ben & Jerry’s, additional secondary sources have been used. Theories used serve the purpose of both a tool of analysis but also of setting the stage of values-led business. Furthermore, the theory has been divided into the four areas of study mentioned above.</p><p>The first part of the conclusion states that we, throughout the thesis, have given a good overview of what the differences between values-led business and “ordinary” business really are. Also, we found that SIA Glass has the potential of becoming a values-led company as its foundation is not entirely based on financial goals but is to a large extent driven by a will to preserve something good for the local community. In order to develop a val-ues-led thinking a social mission should be formally put down in print and be held equal to the financial and quality missions. SIA Glass potentially has a lot to be gained especially in the marketing area as SIA Glass as it could create further leverage by using more creative marketing methods.</p>