New Belgium Brewing Company Essay

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New Belgium Brewing Company (NBB) operates as a for-profit company that places its profits alongside the business’s social and environmental endeavors (Walker & Laporte, 2017). Otherwise known as the triple bottom line, this business model allows NBB to care for its employees, consumers, and communities to the same extent that it cares about its profit. Some of the core values listed in the company document include corporate social responsibility, environmental protection, balancing the needs of stakeholders, and “kindling social, environmental and cultural change as a business role model” (Walker & Laporte, 2017). Other major beer companies like Miller and Coors are more interested in the financial bottom line; before craft beers, these companies …show more content…

B Corp certification places emphasis on the latter, stating that businesses should harness their power to make positive changes for society in areas the government and NGOs are unable to (TEDx Talks, 2010). In that sense, the stakeholder approach is more beneficial to society since its foundation lies in shifting business motives from purely financial to include social motives as well. A company that is focusing completely on how to make the most money and returns will, at times, undoubtedly overlook the role of its stakeholders including its employees, consumers, communities, and suppliers. Having a stakeholder business model can also allow the company to succeed in the long run; giving these groups more attention in business decisions can strengthen relations with the company and create favorable views of the company. For shareholders, however, a stakeholder business model like NBB’s might not be favorable compared to a traditional profit-motivated business model. As the name suggests, shareholder capitalism exclusively benefits shareholders, so if shareholders are used to this type of business model there will be more resistance to models that bring stakeholders to the table. That being said, some shareholders might value a company’s stakeholder investments as much as the company’s profits, so in this case, the stakeholder approach would be