New Belgium Brewery
The purpose of this essay is to examine the New Belgium Brewing Company. This essay will establish if there is a possible conflict between an industry that sells a product that can have a negative impact from its use and the company’s ability to engage in socially responsible activities. The essay will also highlight two perks of New Belgium Brewing that would be beneficial in my work environment. Lastly, this essay will determine five dangers of a company that is solely focused on the “traditional bottom line”.
Revisiting the definition of corporate social responsibility is a must when discussing a possible conflict in relation to a product that can have negative consequences from the use of the product and a company’s ability to engage in socially responsible activities. Corporate social responsibility is “an organization’s obligation to maximize its positive impact on stakeholders and minimize its negative impact” (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015, P. 11). In New Belgium Brewery’s case, the use of alcohol can have negative consequences from the use of its product. But, then, we must ask ourselves how responsible the person consuming the product was.
Creating a product that can have negative consequences from the use of it, such as beer from New Belgium Brewery, does not necessarily mean there is a possible conflict. New Belgium Brewery is doing its due diligence by complying with the “Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act”. This act states that any “wine (containing at least 7 percent alcohol by volume), distilled spirits, and malt beverages” must contain a government warning that reads as such: “(1) According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects. (2) Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems” (“Alcohol Beverage Labeling and Advertising”, 2014). By complying with this act, New Belgium Brewery is not in conflict with its social responsibility.
The reason the responsibility for someone’s actions once consuming a beverage from New Belgium Brewing does not fall on the company is because of its due diligence. Printing this warning prevents the actions a person consuming these beverages may take from falling on the company, therefore negatively impacting its stakeholders, the whole meaning of social responsibility. If New Belgium Brewing did not print this warning, only then would it have to take responsibility for an individual’s actions. Also, one would assume that any person planning on consuming a copious amount of alcohol would take the safety precautions needed to ensure their well-being and others around them.
The first perk I see in New Belgium Brewery that would be an added plus to my work environment is the benefits the industry provides to its employees. Not only do employees receive the “usual paid health and dental insurance” along with “retirement plans”, but employees “get a catered lunch every month to celebrate employees’ birthdays as well as a free message once a year”. To top this all off, employees are able to “bring their children and dogs to work”. The best benefit of all, in my personal opinion, is after five years, employees earn an “all- expenses paid trip to Belgium to “study beer culture””. As positive motivation to give to their outside communities, employees are “reimbursed one hour of paid time off for every two hours of volunteer work they perform” (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015, P. 437).
The second perk that would be beneficial to my work environment is New Belgium Brewery implementing a TBL or Triple Bottom Line. A “traditional bottom line” only measures the success of a business in economic terms. A TBL “incorporates economic, social, and environmental factors”. This means New Belgium Brewing looks at the company’s impact on “profits, people, and the planet” (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015, P. 436).
The “traditional bottom line” many companies solely focus on will lead to the company being affected by dangers that New Belgium Brewery will not be subjected to due to its Triple Bottom Line. By focusing solely on economic profits, a company will succeed in neglecting its responsibility to its investors, even doing them dirty if it means producing a successful bottom line. Another danger is the neglect of employee well-being, satisfaction, and happiness. This can lead to low employee retention. Promoting the tunnel vision on the bottom line will also promote completely ignoring environmental responsibility. In order to maximize profits, it’s often cheaper to ignore the health of the environment, therefore supporting the growth of this bottom line. Reputation can also be negatively affected for a company that is solely focused on that bottom line because, as a repercussion of neglecting its stakeholders and the environment, its reputation will fall. The last danger of focusing in on the bottom line is the quality control of products. The easiest way to maximize profits is to minimize the amount of money it takes to make a product, even if it’s at the price of the quality of a product.
Although New Belgium Brewery makes a product that can have a negative consequence from its use, this negative consequence is exclusively that of the individual. By consuming the alcohol, an individual should have read the warning label provided by New Belgium, which frees New Belgium of any negative consequence from the way the consumer uses (and abuses) this product. What New Belgium Brewing does have responsibility over is the great way it treats its employees with the bountiful benefits it provides, which would be one perk I would like provided in my future career along with the company’s “Triple Bottom Line” mentality. This triple bottom line will save New Belgium from the five dangers this essay discussed. In closure, it’s safe to say New Belgium Brewing has taken all of the right steps to ensure its current and future success.
References
Alcohol Beverage Labeling and Advertising. (2014, December 01). Retrieved August 4, 2016, from Alcohol Beverage Labeling and Advertising
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2013). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning.
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Question 
WK5 – #4 Case Study – New Belgium Brewing
New Belgium Brewery
Answer the following questions related to Case 5 in Business Ethics in a 2-page essay:
• Is there a possible conflict between an industry that sells a product that can have negative consequences from the use of its product and the industry’s ability to engage in socially responsible activities?
• What perks do you see in the New Belgium Brewery that could be an added plus to your work environment? Identify at least two of those perks.
• What are the dangers any company might face if its sole focus is the bottom line? Identify at least five of those dangers.