The Hershey Company: Building a Platform to Communicate the Pairing of CSR and Business Processes
By Vicki Wray, Author, Communicating Social Impact
In 2014, The Hershey Company, on the heels of important strategic realignments, recognized it was the right time to restructure its corporate social responsibility model. Known for deep social commitments dating to its founder, Milton S. Hershey, and, more recently, growing leadership in areas of sustainable operations, such as ethical sourcing practices, the company has been working to better integrate its CSR and business processes. It also needed a means to communicate more clearly why their pairing matters to the company and its stakeholders.
The company’s re-envisioning process, undertaken with the support of Framework LLC and other partners, resulted in a dynamic, authentic model that defines both how and why Hershey challenges itself to live its principles—Shared Goodness: Good Business. Better Life. Bright Future.
“Good Business” is appropriately managing company assets and upholding shareholder interests, while operating in a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable manner. This allows Hershey to foster a “Better Life” by focusing on, investing in, and positively impacting its communities, employees, and other stakeholders. It also creates a “Bright Future” through nutrition and school feeding programs to support education and help unlock the potential of underserved children.
The commitment to those positive impacts, in turn, protects the company’s reputation, increases the quality of its processes and products, and provides employees with engagement opportunities that deepen purpose, teamwork, and skills. This means that strong business performance both enables and is fueled by the company’s CSR operations.
About Communicating Social Impact
This case study is taken from Communicating Social Impact, the report of a 12-company research working group convened by The Conference Board that examined how leading organizations have effectively integrated promising communications practices into their corporate social responsibility and social impact work. Available free, the report is one of a range of publications on social impact measurement that The Conference Board has published in the past 12 months. The other publications, including Framing Social Impact Measurement, are available to members here.
About the author:
Vicki Wray
Author
Communicating Social Impact
Vicki Wray is a communications consultant, helping leaders at all levels of an organization engage employees and drive change in support of business goals. She brings over 20 years of employee communications experience to bear on such challenges as executive communications, strategic organizational communications, crisis communications, CSR communications, and large-scale change initiatives, including mergers, acquisitions, and restructurings, in addition to annual reports. You can contact Vicki at [email protected].
