Greyston Bakery Case Study
Organization of the report
Description of the case
We don't hire people to bake brownies; we bake brownies to hire people. -- Greyston Bakery's Benefit Corporation Report (2013)
There has been a growing recognition among businesses of all sizes and types that investments in their communities can pay major dividends in terms of corporate good will and increased profitability. As the epigraph above indicates, one company that has been in the vanguard of this movement is Greyston Bakery, based out of Yonkers, New York. To date, Greyston Bakery has leveraged an enlightened approach to human resource management and corporate social responsibility into a thriving business that supports a wide range of community-based support services for those in need. The purpose of this report was to provide a case study of Greyston Bakery based on the company's publicly available information, a case study of the company by Deborah Leifziger (2013) and relevant scholarly and peer-reviewed sources. The report is organized into four main sections, with the first section being used to introduce the report, including its purpose and organization. The second section provides a description of the Greyston Bakery case study, including an assessment of the company's values, motivation, and teamwork, followed by a description of the results of the research in the penultimate section. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings in this case study are presented in the report's conclusion.
Description of the Case
Greyston Bakery (hereinafter alternatively "the company") was founded in 1982 (Mission & History, 2016) by Bernard "Bernie" Tetsugen Glassman, a former aerospace engineer and practicing Zen Buddhist priest (Reed, 2011). From the outset, the overarching mission of the company was to identify opportunities to employ people who would otherwise be unable to secure meaningful employment due to their life circumstances (i.e., disabilities, immigration status, substance abuse problems, a criminal record, homelessness) and the company's sustained profitability was essential to achieving this mission (Leifziger, 2013). The case study reports that the company's newly installed CEO, Mike Brady, was concerned about how best to fulfill this laudable mission and further expand its positive impact on the community. Although Brady possessed the professional credential and experience that were needed for this enterprise, he was also faced with some significant constraints including a factory that was operating at less than full capacity as well as questions concerning whether to diversify the company's existing product line to capitalize on emerging trends in consumer preferences such as gluten-free baked goods (Leifziger, 2013).
In addition, Brady was concerned about identifying optimal sourcing approaches that were congruent with Glassman's vision for the company and his commitment to the PathMaking initiative while reducing its debt (Leifziger, 2013). For instance, according to Leifziger, "One of the core concepts Bernie infused in the company was the concept of PathMaking. Inherent in this concept is that all people are on a path, moving forward with their lives" (p. 1). Finally, despite the organizational culture established by Glassman that placed a high priority on these efforts (Langton, Robbins & Judge, 2016), it remained unclear to Brady how best to promote the Greyston brand. Although the new CEO understood that in order to improve anything, it must first be measured, he did not know yet which metrics were best suited to measure the impact of the company's CSR initiatives (Leifziger, 2013).
Description of Results
Values. Five terminal values that can be discerned from the company's publicly available information, the Leifziger (2013) case study and relevant literature are as follows: (1) family security (taking care of loved ones); (2) freedom (independence, free choice); (3) equality (brotherhood, equal opportunity for all); (4) self-respect (self-esteem); and (5) happiness (contentedness). In fact, each of these terminal values is enhanced by the company's commitment to provide employment opportunities for anyone who wants a job that pays a living wage. For instance, according to Thompson (2012), "Organizations such as Greyston Bakery in New York provide compelling examples of for-profit urban social enterprises that have developed successful businesses while also providing jobs in their respective urban areas to individuals with considerable barriers to employment" (p. 115). Likewise, the company's Web site points out that, "Greyston is a force for personal transformation and community economic renewal. [W]e create jobs and provide integrated programs for individuals and their families to move forward on their path to self-sufficiency" (History & Mission, 2016, para. 2).
These five values are also at the core of the company's stated mission to help marginalized people while creating and sustaining a profitable enterprise. In this regard, Russo (2010) emphasizes that, "Its mission pervades its...
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