The primary vision of Ben & Jerry’s, which it was known for, was to prioritize the promotion of morality and values integrated within company policies and practices.
(“Our Mission Statement”) One of the major policies that the company implemented motivated by its social mission was the 5-to-1 salary ration which was structured in order to address human resources issues that were related to the distribution of salary and compensation based on the efforts and contributions of the employees.Moreover, the policy was integrated in order to diminish the gap between the members of the organization within the top and lowest levels as a means to acknowledge or recognize the contributions of each employee who works hard to help the organization accomplish its goals and objectives. Although Ben & Jerry’s move to uphold strong values and integrate the concepts of fairness and equality in workplace policies and operations through the implementation of the 5-to-1 salary ration, it has affected the company’s commercial success since it has been executed.It has led to confusion and conflict within the organizational structure of the company which consequently threatened Ben & Jerry’s internal dimensions which was seen to influence the quality of products and services that it may provide for its consumers also affecting the company’s commercial success.
Apparently, Ben & Jerry’s is having trouble in attracting experienced and competent individuals to take positions within the bracket of managerial positions and other higher positions than that since the policy does not compensate them well enough as compared to other organizations. Farnham) For instance, the salary that Ben & Jerry’s offer for managers is below the market rate for the particular position or occupation. The consequence of the 5-to-1 salary ration will both force managers and top-level members of the organization to leave their positions and drive away individuals who will take these kinds of positions.The implication of these consequences is that Ben & Jerry’s will lose highly knowledgeable, skilled, experienced, and competent individuals who will be working for the organization, while at the same time, it will not attract the same kind of individuals to take positions for the organization either.
Ben & Jerry’s will then lose its human capital as assets which propels the organization to accomplish commercial success. Without banking on human resources, it will not be able to compete with other companies losing its ground within the corporate arena.
