In the business world, the difference between right and wrong is always not clear - particularly when a company is operating in an international and multicultural environment. That's why certain companies sometimes make mistakes in ethical behaviors.
We have discovered that Nestlé is an organization that pursues a defense strategy in response to social challenges. Only when pressured by a boycott did Nestlé respond to Baby Milk Action critics in debates since March 2001.
Nestlé is responsible for responding to its critics even though in the past, prior to the boycott, they refused to speak about its baby products. It is also responsible for solving the problem professionally by convincing the public that the company is sincere in its efforts and informing the public about the advantages of breastfeeding
“Nestlé also supports the promotion of breastfeeding. A little-known fact is that Nestlé is one of the largest private producers of breastfeeding promotional material in the world. Nestlé is also the largest private distributor of the WHO Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes in the world, having distributed tens of thousands of copies to educate both our staff and the health systems we deal with.”
Furthermore, Nestlé is responsible for encouraging breastfeeding even though the selling of Nestlé products still decreases the rate of breastfeeding.
As a profit-making company, Nestlé focuses more on making money and keeping its shareholders happy. It knows the impact of the aggressive marketing of its baby foods, and employs its anti-boycott team and expert advisers to convince the public that the company is doing nothing wrong so they can carry on the business as usual.
Nestlé exploited the less developed countries in marketing its baby foods and attempted to look good by sponsoring the Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival. However, this backfired and resulted in many people becoming more aware of its irresponsible practices.
Nestlé's cowardly policy is shown in its labeling. It uses labels as the medium to talk to mothers. Nestlé claimed that the labels are totally in line with WHO recommendations and national labeling guidelines. When Nestlé developed the present concept of infants formula labels 20 years ago, the WHO and UNICEF were consulted.
However, Greenpeace Thailand stated that Nestlé avoids GE ingredient only in countries where labeling is required but continues to sneak them into countries that do not have adequate labeling legislation. Nestlé takes very seriously its responsibility for marketing infant formula appropriately.
