Running header: CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONISBILITY AND LUMBER LIQUIDATORS

Corporate Social Responsibility and Lumber Liquidators

Carlos M Pagan
Bellevue University
Fall 2019
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Introduction

Corporate social responsibility is when a company makes an effort that is geared toward

social and environmental causes (2012). A great example of this would be Ben & Jerry’s the ice

cream company; their goal was to be completely fair-trade by 2013. By ensuring that their

product is fair-trade, Ben & Jerry’s is telling the consumer that they fairly compensated the

farmers and ensured that their suppliers are providing proper work conditions (Blanchard, 2012).

It’s more than just caring about the profits, quality of the products, or public image. It is making

a difference to care for the world and its people.

Lumber Liquidators

Lumber Liquidators is a flooring company that started in Massachusetts back in 1993.

Since then that opened over 400 locations across 47 states (LumberLiquidators.com). While

customers may be getting a deal on the hardwood floors, they may not know where Lumber

Liquidators is sourcing their product from. Reports have shown that Lumber Liquidators sources

some of their wood from China. This would not normally be an issue except for two things; the

wood contained high amounts of formaldehyde (Mohney, 2016), and that the lumber used was

illegal harvested from a habitat for endangered tigers in Russia (AP, 2015). These two separate

issues show that Lumber Liquidators have no sense of Corporate Social Responsibility. Would I

purchase their products? Simple answer is no, the formaldehyde levels make it a danger to me,

and the sourcing makes it a danger to other animals.

Balanced Scorecard

A Balanced Scorecard helps a business translate their efforts into an understandable set of

performance measures (Rahman & Aziati & Hamid & Yusoff & Ramlan & Yusoff, 2007). With
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a goal in mind, it can be difficult to try and keep track of the progress, especially when there are

many steps to accomplishing that goal. The scorecard serves as a strategy map that helps guide

you to arrive to your desirable outcome (Lucco, 2019.). Ben & Jerry’s has what they refer to as a

SEAR Report, this report is their version of a Balanced Scorecard specifically for Corporate

Social Responsibly. In the report, it mentions their core values, their social and environmental

campaigns, animal care programs, fair trade reports, and even environmental impact reports. This

scorecard allows Ben & Jerry’s to properly measure their Corporate Social Responsibility and

the impact that they are having on the people, planet, and profit (2018 SEAR Report; Ben &

Jerry’s).

Corporate Social Responsibility Within the Workplace

Within my own workplace, corporate social responsibility takes the form of two different

offerings our food menu, and our utensils. Our food menu provides guests with options that can

accommodate themselves when it comes to allergies. Along with the food menu, all meat

vendors are visited by the sous chef to ensure that we are sourcing our meat from humane farms,

for instance are chicken is free-range and organic from a farm in Sanger, California called

Mary’s Chicken. Environmentally we try to reduce plastic waste by putting out metal utensils

and recyclable paper straws for our guests.

Conclusion

Corporate Social Responsibility is much more than trying to make a good public image.

It is an effort that a company must put in to make a difference on their impact on the earth. It

could be how they source their materials or how they operate their business, but there is a

significant attempt to try to do better. A great example would be Ben & Jerry’s with the SEAR
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report (2018), and a poor example would be Lumber Liquidators with the sourcing of their

materials (AP, 2015).

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References

2018 SEAR Report: Ben & Jerry's. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.benjerry.com/about-us/sear-

reports/2018-sear-report.

Blanchard, D. (2012). Corporate Social Responsibility in the Supply Chain: Manufacturers are

expected to fully disclose where they source their products, or suffer the PR backlash. Just ask

Apple. Industry Week, 261(5).

Bomey, N. (2016, February 22). CDC: Elevated cancer risk in Lumber Liquidators laminate

flooring. USA Today. Retrieved from

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/02/22/lumber-liquidators-cancer-risk-

cdc/80724770/

Lucco, J. (2019, September 20). A Full Balanced Scorecard Example (Including 6 Templates).

Retrieved from https://www.clearpointstrategy.com/full-exhaustive-balanced-scorecard-

example/.

Lumber Liquidators Flooring Locations in the United States: hardwood, laminate, bamboo, cork

flooring. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.lumberliquidators.com/ll/stores/.

Mohney, G. (2016, February 23). Lumber Liquidators Flooring From China: What You Need to

Know About the CDC's New Report. ABC News. Retrieved from

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/lumber-liquidators-flooring-china-cdcsreport/story?id=37134949

Press, A. (2015, October 22). Flooring Company Pleads Guilty To Environmental Crimes. Daily

Herald. Retrieved from http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20151022/business/310229829/

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Rahman, A., Aziati, A. H. N., Hamid, A., Yusoff, R., Ramian, R., & Yusoff, N. (2007). Using

Balanced Scorecard to Measure and Align Corporate Social Responsibility for Competitive

Advantage.

What is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)? (2012, September 30). Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0NkGtNU_9w.