BEN & JERRY’S IN ISRAEL: A BOARD PITTED AGAINST THE
PARENT CASE STUDY SOLUTION
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SYNOPSIS
In January 2024, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Holdings Inc. (Ben & Jerry’s), a subsidiary of Unilever PLC
(Unilever), was facing several critical decisions. It had been over a year since the company had been sued
by its independent board about the company’s decision to sell its Israeli business to a long-time licensee in
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that country. That situation was resolved with the court ruling against the independent board. However,
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guiding principles had to be developed to prepare for similar situations in the future. Specifically, the Ben
& Jerry’s management team had to work with its independent board to help avoid such incidents from
reoccurring. Ben & Jerry’s also had to achieve a balance among the perspectives and demands from various
stakeholders, which were sometimes in conflict with each other.
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OBJECTIVES
• Appreciate the importance of a unique business model in a company’s success. Specifically, understand
how an organization can satisfy multiple stakeholders while earning profits.
• Recognize the importance of core values and purpose in shaping a company’s strategy and
performance, and the necessity of the company’s core values and purpose to evolve with a changing
environment.
• Recommend a strategy for an organization with various stakeholders, with potentially differing
perspectives that can place competing demands on the company.
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
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ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
1. What were critical success factors for Ben & Jerry’s before and after the Unilever acquisition?
2. What role have core values and purpose played in the success of Ben & Jerry’s? What was the
independent board’s role in the continued implementation of core values and purpose?
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
,3. How should Ben & Jerry’s structure future decisions about social activities and decide which to support
or undertake? What guidelines could the company provide its independent board to avoid future issues
like the one in Israel?
4. How can Ben & Jerry’s balance conflicting perspectives and demands from stakeholders? If a balance
cannot be achieved, which stakeholders should the company prioritize?
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ANALYSIS
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1. What were critical success factors for Ben & Jerry’s before and after the Unilever acquisition?
Pre-acquisition Critical Success Factors
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The success of Ben & Jerry’s in building the brand is indisputable. As noted in the case by long-time board
tio
member Pierre Ferrari, Unilever was a giant global organization with many successful consumer brands but
was still hoping to learn from Ben & Jerry’s how to successfully build and manage a premium brand.2 The
key point is that brand building success was driven by a confluence of the following factors:
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• With regard to timing, Ben & Jerry’s was an early mover into the US super premium ice cream sector.
•
So
In terms of the product, Ben & Jerry’s offered very different flavours from those of competitors.3
Students can learn more about the Ben & Jerry’s flavours by viewing the three YouTube videos
provided (see Supplemental Materials) and also by doing their own online research.
•
•
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
,4. How can Ben & Jerry’s balance conflicting perspectives and demands from stakeholders? If a
balance cannot be achieved, which stakeholders should the company prioritize?
The direct confrontation and lawsuit between the independent board and Unilever over the sale of Israeli operations
is an anomaly or aberration in an otherwise smooth relationship. Unilever has been continuously pursuing an
environmental, social, and governance agenda. The divergence between the social agenda of Unilever and that of
Ben & Jerry’s is relatively small.17 In fact, the disagreement regarding Israel business operations occurred more
than two decades after Unilever’s acquisition, which confirms that there was a long period of agreement in the
organization before this issue. However, the strong public disagreement and consequent lawsuit over Israel
operations was a direct confrontation, which Ben & Jerry’s should prevent from occurring in the future.
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The Case Solution Starts From page 6
, EXHIBIT -1: STAKEHOLDER VALUE CREATION BY BEN & JERRY’S
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The Case Solution Starts From page 6
PARENT CASE STUDY SOLUTION
e
pl
m
Sa
SYNOPSIS
In January 2024, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Holdings Inc. (Ben & Jerry’s), a subsidiary of Unilever PLC
(Unilever), was facing several critical decisions. It had been over a year since the company had been sued
by its independent board about the company’s decision to sell its Israeli business to a long-time licensee in
n
that country. That situation was resolved with the court ruling against the independent board. However,
tio
guiding principles had to be developed to prepare for similar situations in the future. Specifically, the Ben
& Jerry’s management team had to work with its independent board to help avoid such incidents from
reoccurring. Ben & Jerry’s also had to achieve a balance among the perspectives and demands from various
stakeholders, which were sometimes in conflict with each other.
lu
So
OBJECTIVES
• Appreciate the importance of a unique business model in a company’s success. Specifically, understand
how an organization can satisfy multiple stakeholders while earning profits.
• Recognize the importance of core values and purpose in shaping a company’s strategy and
performance, and the necessity of the company’s core values and purpose to evolve with a changing
environment.
• Recommend a strategy for an organization with various stakeholders, with potentially differing
perspectives that can place competing demands on the company.
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
, e
pl
m
Sa
n
tio
lu
So
ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
1. What were critical success factors for Ben & Jerry’s before and after the Unilever acquisition?
2. What role have core values and purpose played in the success of Ben & Jerry’s? What was the
independent board’s role in the continued implementation of core values and purpose?
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
,3. How should Ben & Jerry’s structure future decisions about social activities and decide which to support
or undertake? What guidelines could the company provide its independent board to avoid future issues
like the one in Israel?
4. How can Ben & Jerry’s balance conflicting perspectives and demands from stakeholders? If a balance
cannot be achieved, which stakeholders should the company prioritize?
e
pl
ANALYSIS
m
Sa
1. What were critical success factors for Ben & Jerry’s before and after the Unilever acquisition?
Pre-acquisition Critical Success Factors
n
The success of Ben & Jerry’s in building the brand is indisputable. As noted in the case by long-time board
tio
member Pierre Ferrari, Unilever was a giant global organization with many successful consumer brands but
was still hoping to learn from Ben & Jerry’s how to successfully build and manage a premium brand.2 The
key point is that brand building success was driven by a confluence of the following factors:
lu
• With regard to timing, Ben & Jerry’s was an early mover into the US super premium ice cream sector.
•
So
In terms of the product, Ben & Jerry’s offered very different flavours from those of competitors.3
Students can learn more about the Ben & Jerry’s flavours by viewing the three YouTube videos
provided (see Supplemental Materials) and also by doing their own online research.
•
•
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
,4. How can Ben & Jerry’s balance conflicting perspectives and demands from stakeholders? If a
balance cannot be achieved, which stakeholders should the company prioritize?
The direct confrontation and lawsuit between the independent board and Unilever over the sale of Israeli operations
is an anomaly or aberration in an otherwise smooth relationship. Unilever has been continuously pursuing an
environmental, social, and governance agenda. The divergence between the social agenda of Unilever and that of
Ben & Jerry’s is relatively small.17 In fact, the disagreement regarding Israel business operations occurred more
than two decades after Unilever’s acquisition, which confirms that there was a long period of agreement in the
organization before this issue. However, the strong public disagreement and consequent lawsuit over Israel
operations was a direct confrontation, which Ben & Jerry’s should prevent from occurring in the future.
e
pl
m
Sa
n
tio
lu
So
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
, EXHIBIT -1: STAKEHOLDER VALUE CREATION BY BEN & JERRY’S
e
pl
m
Sa
n
tio
lu
So
The Case Solution Starts From page 6
