Purdue Farms Mission
Part 1
Background
Purdue Farms Mission
Meeting and exceeding customers’ expectations by the provision of poultry products. The mission is the provision of solutions to customers and consumers with useful to them and the company. For more than eighty years, the company has been known for the uncompromising quality of the poultry products. Heritage, experience, leadership. That’s the Perdue difference.
Why Purdue Farms would be Interested in Corporate Social Responsibility
Perdue should get involved in Corporate Social Responsibility, whereby companies ensure that their products and production methods are not harmful. When Purdue uses antibiotics in the chicken, it doesn’t consider the overall health damage the drugs are likely to cause on the consumers’ health. The company needs to uphold Corporate Social Responsibility by producing products that are not harmful to the customer’s health (Ring et al., pp 42).
Who Decides Whether to Eliminate Antibiotic Usage
Perdue company management is in charge of eliminating the antibiotic. They will need to discuss the pros and cons of its use. After which they will decide on the gradual process of eliminating it, which will not cause significant disruption in the production process. When the management agrees on the procedure to follow, they can then inform their consumers about the changes they are about to make (Hoffman, pp 40)
Considerations to be Made Before Deciding on Antibiotic Usage
The considerations that need to be addressed are the new cost of production and the effect of the market changes. Alternatives for antibiotics are using natural methods of keeping away pests and diseases, and they are costly. An increase in the cost of production will conversely lead to a rise in the products’ price.
Part 2
Analysis
The Organizations Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
It applies to the factors within the company that is likely to cause its growth or make it stagnate. Strengths within the company are the areas where it does well and helps support its growth. Weaknesses are the points that need improvement to avoid losses to the Perdue company. Opportunities are the factors that the business can pursue to experience growth. Threats are external factors that can negatively affect the business.
Strengths
They include the availability of a broad market for the products. A large market has ensured that none of the produce goes to waste. It has also helped the business to continue expanding to meet the market demands
The availability of cheap labor from the high school students from the neighboring school has helped cut down labor costs. These students work for a few hours, but they manage to do lots of work in a short period of working (Dobbs pp 39). It has helped the country to cut down costs.
Modern poultry farm tools have helped to make the work easier. The feeding trays and the water troughs make it easier to measure the feed needed for the poultry. The electricity supply helps them keep warm and at a constant temperature.
Weaknesses
The weakness includes the use of antibiotics in poultry, which is used to reduce the risk of diseases. It is also necessary for improving their lifetime. The antibiotics have some harmful effects when consumed by humans through poultry products. There have been complaints from the consumers regarding the poultry products containing antibiotics. The government plans to control the use of antibiotics in farming, which might reduce the yields. Low yields will translate to low profits for the company.
Opportunities
The company has managed to get suppliers who will supply the feed at low prices. It will help in the reduction of production costs and maximize profits. The electricity supplier has come up with a plan for giving discounts on companies that consume a lot of power. The company will enjoy this benefit, which will help reduce production costs.
Threats
Several poultry farms are cropping up in the area. They might saturate the market, eventually leading to a drop in the price of the poultry products. The government is also planning to regulate poultry businesses, which might cause a reduction in the products.
Porter’s Five Forces using Dobb’s article for guidance
The five forces serve in helping to understand the strategies that are to be applied in a company. Porter’s forces include influential buyers and suppliers, new entrants to the business, substitutes in the market, and entry of new competitors. Understanding these five market forces makes a business to make decisions regarding the market. Purdue suppliers have always been reliable, giving the company reasonable offers (Dobbs pp 37). The company is surrounded by a large market that consumes its products. Before doing the changes, they will need to create awareness about the transition to their customers. Doing a campaign on the reasons they are avoiding the use of antibiotics will make the buyers receptive of the new products. Entrants into poultry farming will cause an increase in competition. Perdue needs to address the methods they will require to ensure they are not pushed out of the market by competitors. The substitutes for poultry products are fish products that come with more nutrients (Dobbs pp 40). When the dairy products become expensive, the buyers might choose to buy the alternatives
Part 3
Recommendations
Three Specific Recommendations How Purdue Farms Should Proceed
Purdue needs to research organic ways of rearing chicken that will not require the use of antibiotics. There are available methods though they are much more costly than antibiotics (Farms, Perdue pp 30). They can engage the agricultural officers in the area who can help to advise them on the most profitable method of keeping poultry naturally.
The company will need to talk to its consumers about the possible increase in the price of goods since they are changing the production method (Hoffman pp 43). The consumers need to be explained that the company will be transitioning from the use of antibiotics to a safer way of keeping the birds. They will need to understand the company is considering the changes in the general health benefits of the consumers.
Transitioning from the use of antibiotics will take time to facilitate. The company needs to come up with a plan of making the shifts in phases. It will help to avoid the business from coming to a halt as they switch the production lines.
Explain Whether Purdue Farms has Moral or Societal Obligation to Eliminate Antibiotics
Purdue has societal obligations to eliminate the use of antibiotics. The antibiotics injected into the birds cause various diseases to the consumers within society. The company needs to take care of the community members by producing goods that are not harmful to them. It should embrace the natural methods of rearing the poultry and focus on educating the masses on the disadvantages of feeding on chicken that had taken antibiotics (Hoffman pp 40). Educating the people on the reasons to take the naturally reared chicken will help convince the customers to buy healthier poultry feeds even if they are more costly.
Works Cited
Hoffman, A. (2015). Perdue Farms Inc.: Antibiotic use in hatcheries. HBS No. W94C18. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing
- Dobbs, M. (2014). Guidelines for applying Porter’s five forces framework: A set of industry analysis templates. Competitiveness Review, 24(1), 32-45.
Farms, Perdue. “Perdue Farms At A Glance.” (2017).
Ring, Lawrence J., Mark H. Johnson, and Gary Shaw. “Perdue Farms, Incorporated.” Darden Business Publishing Cases (2017).