Bed Bath and Beyond CSR
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Corporate Social Responsibility Project: Bed Bath and Beyond
Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBBY) is a chain of retail stores in the USA, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Canada. The entity deals in goods primarily for the bedroom, bathroom and the kitchen. The business trades in a wide variety of products including towels, duvets, shower curtains and coffee brewers. The company also ships its products to overseas destinations (Bed, Bath and Beyond, 2015). In 2014 alone, BBBY made sales worth $11.5 Billion. The chain began with a single store opened by Leonard Feinstein and Warren Eisenberg in Springfield in 1971. After 10 years, they had 18 stores in the USA. Bed, Bath and Beyond is considered among the successful business entities operating within the Americas (Bed, Bath and Beyond, 2015). Worth noting is the fact that the American retail store has no connection with the New Zealand company also named “Bed, Bath and Beyond” (Bed, Bath and Beyond, 2015).
Sustainability
BBBY has a clear report regarding its CSR program on environmental sustainability. The report stipulates the activities it engaged in and the projects it initiated. The advancement of these projects is ascertained by comparing the progress with the initial years (BBY, 2011). The guiding principle of BBBY’s sustainability program is the fact that our country relies on foreign oil that is harmful to the environment and the invention of sustainable energy sources is long overdue. The retail sector has a key role to play in the mitigation of environmental degradation.
The company has introduced reusable bags to minimize the effects on the environment due to non- reusable bags. Part of the revenue collected from the sale of reusable bags (a dollar for each bag) goes to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (Bed, Bath and Beyond, 2015). In 2012 alone, BBBY donated $600,000 to the conservation organization (Hodgkins, 2013). The company also contributes to small local conservation movements. Within the organization, the management has come up with a set of regulations aimed at minimizing natural resource wastage and conserving the environment. They include minimizing the use of paper, recycling paper, decreasing electricity usage and increasing the efficiency of HVAC systems in the stores.
BBBY is conscious about environmentally non- friendly sources of energy such as coal and oil. It is in this regard that the company has installed solar panels to serve 40% of its offices and stores (Hodgkins, 2013). The cumulative solar energy used in BBBY’s offices in a year, saves about 30,000 barrels of crude oil and prevents the emission of 1.8 million tons of Carbon Dioxide (Hodgkins, 2013). According to the Solar Energy Industries Association ranking, BBBY features in the top 20 companies that effectively utilize solar energy.
Community engagement
As a general company rule, all the branch managers at BBBY are allowed to join forces with the local community to support local events such as sports. The company has also partnered with some charitable organizations as a means of giving back to society.
The association with Good360 ensures that the company donates products to people in need, on a weekly basis (Hodgkins, 2013). Good360 is a charitable organization that provides basic commodities to people in need. Through this partnership, Good360 connects BBBY to other small groups or households that are in need of donations (Hodgkins, 2013). This partnership saves BBBY time and increases efficiency.
Once the people in need are identified, local managers can make direct donations to them. The donations are made in the USA, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico. The most common recipients include the homeless, people ensnared in natural disasters, those in transitional housing crisis and youth in low- income areas (Hodgkins, 2013). In 2013, the fair value of products donated to charity stood at $156 million. In addition, a subsidiary business called Buy Baby joined the partnership to increase the amount of donations further.
In 2004, BBBY entered into an association with Healthywoman.org (Hodgkins, 2013). The organization is an online platform that provides women with health tips. It has a question- answer section where readers can interact and relate to the issues. Some of the issues that the online platform addresses include healthy lifestyle, menopause, breast cancer and cervical cancer (BBB, 2015). Since BBBY is partly an online shop, it provides publicity for the organization in question. The company advertises the organization on its online platform by providing a link that many online buyers can follow.
The company has also partnered with Head Injury Association. The organization runs a support program for head injury victims and their families. It offers clinical, vocational, educational and recreational support (BBB, 2015). The company takes part in the organization’s annual fund raisings. In 2013, BBBY was on a mission to appreciate our armed forces and their families for their service to the nation (Hodgkins, 2013). The one- time offer encompassed active officers, retired officers and veterans. The company gave a 30% discount on all its products.
The company has also created a rubberized walkway the covers 10500 square feet. The aim of this move is to encourage healthy living through walking. The walkway makes use of recycled material, thereby reducing environmental degradation (BBB, 2015). The project has diverted 198,000 tons of passenger tire tubing into something useful. If the project was not available, there would 198,000 tons of waste tires lying at the dump sites.
Diversity and Inclusion
The company values diversity in its workforce. Since the company spreads from Canada to Puerto Rico, a diverse workforce is eminent. The company believes in offering growth opportunities to all its employees irrespective of their background (BBY Careers EOD, 2015). To support this move, BBBY has a statement on its website addressing its complete commitment to equal opportunity and diversity.
Employment is based on purely work- related qualifications. The recruitment process involves hiring, training, promoting and compensation (BBY Careers EOD, 2015). During any of these steps, the company does not discriminate on grounds of sex, sexuality, religious beliefs, age, citizenship status, or disability (BBY Careers EOD, 2015). The company has a strict policy regarding harassment, unlawful discrimination and intimidation at the work place. The company has policies to ensure a comfortable workplace for all people irrespective of their background (BBY Careers EOD, 2015).
Conclusion
The company has an impressive CSR plan regarding sustainability, the community and diversity. The company’s generous contribution to programs that do not earn it revenue is a leaf that many upcoming businesses can borrow. The company spends a lot of money giving back to the community through CSR whose budget outruns the promotion budget sometimes (BBY, 2011). However, the company needs to improve its volunteering programs. Throughout the report, nowhere does it show that employees volunteered to a social cause. Offering monetary donations is good, but volunteering could motivate many people to replicate the act. If the CEO leads a team of employees to a public cleaning exercise, the society will be motivated to join.
References
Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBBY), 2015, Retrieved from <http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com> 18, November, 2015
BBY 2011, Corporate Social Responsibility Report, Retrieved from, <https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/_assets/global/pdf/CorporateResponsibilityReport2011.pdf> 18, November, 2015
BBY Careers EOD, 2015, Commitment to Equal Opportunity and Diversity, Retrieved from, <http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/static/CareersEOD> 18, November, 2015
BBB, 2015, Corporate Responsibility, Retrieved from: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/static/CorporateResponsibilityReport> 18, November, 2015
Hodgkins, D. (2013). Bed Bath & Beyond Corporate Social Responsibility, Retrieved from, <http://smf.business.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/818/2014/09/BBBY-Social-Responsibility.pdf> 18, November, 2015