雅思阅读全真模拟题：企业的社会责任 -a new concept of"market"
Maybe Ben & Jerry's and The Body Shop t themlves up for a
fall by appearing to have a monopoly on nuking an honest buck. But their struggles are a lesson on how little we know about the minefield of "ethical" marketing.
The Body Shop, along with the American ice cream maker Ben and Jerry's, was hailed as a new breed of green, or environmentally conscious, business.
Ben and Jerry’s
A Ben & jerry's offers a very sweet benefits package to employees. First, every one of the 700+ Ben & Jerry's workers is entitled to three free pints of ice cream, sorbet or frozen yogurt per day worked. (Some workers even u allotments of their free treats to barter for other goods and rvices in town such as haircuts). Beyond the freebies,personnel receives a 50% discount on the company's frozen goodies, a 40% discount on merchandi and a further 30% break on non-Ben & Jerry's foods at company outlets.
B Workers are further entitled to be paid family leave and may
take advantage of the Employee Stock Purcha Program to purcha company stock (after six months with the organization) at a 15% discount. Beginning in 1998, 316 stock options are awarded to each worker (excluding directors and officers) and stock is also assigned to each employee's 401K plan at the end of the calendar year. The contributions are intended to achieve the company's goal of linked prosperity, i.e. to assure that future prosperity is widely shared by all employees.
C Other benefits include:
Health insurance, including coverage for well baby-care and mammograms
Life insurance (twice the employee's annual salary) Dental insurance
Long-term disability plan paying 60% of salary six months after disability for duration of disability
Short-term disability plan paying 60% of salary for six months Maternity leave with full pay for six weeks after delivery The Body Shop
D History of The Body Shop Anita Roddick started The Body Shop
with a mere ￡4,000 and a dream. With over 1,900 stores in 50 countries. The Body Shop was founded in 1976 in Brighton, England. From her original shop, which offered a line of 25 different lotions, creams, and oils, Roddick became the first successful marketer of body care products that combined natural ingredients with ecologically-benign manufacturing process. Her company's refusal to test products on animals, along with an insistence on nonexploitative
labor practices among suppliers around the world, appealed especially to upscale, mainly middleclass women, who were and have continued to be the company's primary market As sales boomed, even the conrvative financial markets approved of The Body
Shop's impressive profit picture, and a public stock offering in 1984 was successful. An expansion campaign followed. In 1988 the company entered the U.S. market by opening a store in New York City, and by 1997 the company boasted 1,500 stores, including franchis, in 47 countries. Anti- marketing emed to be smart marketing, at least as far as The Body Shop was concerned.
E Part of the cret of The Body Shop’s early success was that it had created a market niche for itlf. The company was not directly competing against the traditional cosmetics companies, which marketed their products as fashion accessories designed to cover up flaws and make women look more like the
fashion models who appeared in their lavish ads. Instead, The
Body Shop offered a line of products that promid benefits other than appearance—healthier skin, for instance—rather than simply a better-looking complexion. The company is known for pioneering the natural-ingredient cosmetic market and establishing social responsibility as an integral part of company operations. The Bo
dy Shop is known for its ethical stances, such as its monetary donations to the communities in which it operates, and its business partnerships with developing countries. In 1988 Roddick opened her first store in the United States, and by that time—through various social initiatives such as the "Stop the Bum" campaign to save the Brazilian rainforest (the source of many of the company's natural ingredients，and strong support of employee volunteerism——The Body Shop name had become synonymous with social activism and global prervation worldwide. The company had also become immenly profitable.
