Tyson Food Crisis Management: Social Responsibility, Risk Mitigation, And SWOT Analysis

Social Responsibility

The core aim of this report is based on strategic management relating to the Tyson food company. This company produces or processes a wide variety of meat such as pork, chicken and beef. Tyson Food Company is based in America and is organized using financial skills and reports. Therefore, in order to base our understanding in this report, we need to define strategic management in connection to Tyson Food Company. Strategic management is a subject matter that involves the implementation together with formulation of main objectives and initiative undertaken by management of a given a given company. This management works on behalf of the real possessor of the company by considering resources and assessing external and internal forces that compete with the company. In this report, we will discuss various topics and subtopics such as social responsibility, corporate maleficence, crime litigation and court ruling. Still, on risk analysis moving forward, the report will cover aspects such as plans to mitigate risks and avoid future crisis, internal risks, strategic risk, external risk, financial charts and SWOT analysis. Finally, the climax of this report will be drawing conclusion and recommendations on the same. The aim of this report is to make sure Tyson Food Company continue providing these essential services worldwide and improve areas of weakness. This report will be highly valuable to the company strategic management and future plans.

In the first section, we discuss social responsibility of Tyson foods, corporate maleficence, crime, litigation and court ruling, new laws or regulation.

Tyson has a wide range of corporate social responsibilities. This responsibilities has been appreciated by the entire community due to many benefits associated to. Such social responsibilities include the following.

1. Helping the world by feeding the hungry.
2. Supporting all the community in food supply.
3. Allocating charitable donations to the community.
4. Chipping in where drought seasons kicks in and helping in resolving various natural disasters.

In the course of accomplishing these social responsibilities, Tyson has faced many challenges that had resulted to many corporate maleficence.

From strategic point of view, corporate maleficence refers to a harmful act committed this result to compromise of quality of products thus making them maleficent (Macaulay, T. (2016)). . Tyson Food Company has faced various crimes drawing back from year 2000 to 2016. These crimes have been presented to the court of law and litigations and court ruling.

There were various crimes committed between years 2000 to year 2016.

1. In the year 2000, Tyson Food Company was accused of discriminatory hiring practices on various workers such as minority and women in its poultry plants, forest and miss.
2. In the year 2001, Tyson under-processed chicken products shipment to importing countries.
3. In year 2003, there was possible food poisoning due to some salmonella and campylobacter that were tested on chicken products.
4. Later on in year 2003, Tyson had reduced wages on workers and also risked the loss medical treatment of the employees and their families(McClellan, J. (2013)). There was rise in health care coverage rates, Tyson froze pension benefits for their current employees and removed benefits to new recruited workers.
5. Tyson was accused of egregious cruelty to animals in the slaughterhouse.
6. Tyson was accused of violation of clean water act at poultry plants.
7. Tyson was accused of violation of workers safety regulations that caused death verdict to some workers.
8. In 2016, Tyson was accused of abuse of chicken by killing them at Tyson foods chicken breeding facilities in Virginia.

There were various court rulings that were given by court on these crimes.

1. Tyson paid $230000 to settle discriminatory hiring practices done to minorities and the women in poultry plants.
2. Tyson recalled $ 2.3 million of chicken products in 2001 due to under-processing.
3. In 2003, Tyson pleaded guilty in Kansa federal court to violation of the federal clean water act and agreed to pay $7.5 million to cater for the damage(Valentine, S., Godkin, L., & Mandabach, K. (2014)).
4. Several poultry companies agreed to pay $ 7.5 million to settle the alleged allegations of phosphorous and nitrogen tested in chicken products.
5. Federal court ruled that Tyson was highly responsible of pollution at various plants. There court asked Tyson to pay the damage amounting to $5.7 million.

Since then, there are new laws and regulations spelt out to control production, distribution, processing and standard of the worker working conditions.

There are several laws and regulations concerning food production by Tyson

1. From labor and human right, Tyson is required to practice fair labor measures to employees
2. On practice safety and quality, Tyson need to provide customers with trusted food product.
3. Animal well-being is another regulation which asserts that there should be proper handling of animals used in food processing.
4. On environment, health and safety, Tyson is required to conduct safe business in clean environment by adhering to clean water act and clean air act.

The second part of this report is to discuss the risk analysis moving forward, plans to mitigate risks and to avoid future crisis. These risks include internal risk, strategic risk and external risk. Financial report and SWOT analysis are among items on this part.

There are various risks that face most of food processing industries. This implies that working safety measures need to be put in place so as to mitigate losses and damages associated to these risks.

Plans to mitigate risks and avoid future crisis.

1. Internal risk.

Corporate Maleficence

In the internal risk, this particular part checks on the inner issues concerning the production and processing of the food products. The plan to mitigate this is where Tyson has applied food safety measures in production and processing. Tyson tests their products before they are supplied to the consumers. The standards of the products are first ascertained by food processing act before they can be consumed. This avoid future food poisoning and other health hazard complications associated to such products.

1. Strategic risk.

This risk is associated to strategies used in distribution and marketing mechanism. Tyson has ensured proper distribution of their products both locally and nationally. This also involve shipment and export. This plan avoid future crises of canceled shipments due to under valuing.

1. External risk.

This risk is associated to third parties which mainly comprise the customers and consumers. Tyson has a plan to conduct public surveillance on the product into the market (Schally, J. L. (2014)). This will help to maintain consumers preference and improving on some product if need arise. This will reduce the risk of lack of market in the future.

On this part, we consider a cumulative curve to indicate the final trend on Tyson foods over the years.

The above graph shows a five-year comparison of cumulative total returns for our Class A stock, the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500. 

This analysis deals with the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Strengths.

1. High qualified manpower in their production and processing plants.
2. Adequate markets for their products.
3. Highly dependable breeding industries on animals used in production.

Weaknesses.

1. Inability to maintain some regulations such as clean water acts.
2. Inadequate resources to pay their workers’ wages and pensions.

Opportunity.

1. There are more markets to be reached.
2. Opportunity to set other production plants in other areas outside the Tyson factories to reach more people.

Threats.

1. Poultry and meat processing industries have been affected by weather changes.
2. There was huge shift in the demand supply mechanisms.
3. Unforeseen global political events that included steel tariffs imposed by the former U.S president Bush administration.
4. Reduced export income. This was associated to import sanctions imposed by the Soviet Union prohibiting the import of chicken products from the U.S.
5. The notion that daily and long term consumption of red meat and variety of meat processed in the industries such as sausage, ham and bacon would impose high chances of colon cancer.  This was asserted by the American cancer society in the year 2002 one year after IBP acquisition.  
6. Later on, the agricultural department in the U.S requested the citizen to significantly reduce the consumption of red meat. This was a federal dietary guideline that lowered market of meat products.
7. Competition was still becoming rampant
8. Tyson was prosecuted by violating some environmental laws such as clean water act and clean air act.
9. There were some allegations that Tyson Company violated some security laws regarding the IBP acquisition.
10. Finally, the major scandal that affected Tyson was the allegation of smuggling illegal aliens into the U.S soil who worked at the handful of the company’s poultry plants.

However, despite all the above challenges, Tyson has been operating successfully after changing most of their strategies of the operation (Valentine, S., Godkin, L., & Mandabach, K. (2014)). These strategies include; the processing strategy, distribution strategy, marketing strategy and financial strategy. All these working closely have enabled the company rise again. Following the following conclusion and recommendations, I believe Tyson Company will be able to propel its strategic management so as to continue their great work of feeding the continent.

Conclusion.

In conclusion, I believe Tyson Company has what it takes to feed the globe. If the company embrace these plans to mitigate risks, then Tyson will be able to attract more market every day. They only thing I would suggest to the world organization is to ensure high quality food products in circulation. This will protect the consumers health hazards associated with these products. Strategic management will have a significant change in Tyson food production.

The following recommendations will be in order for Tyson so that more progress is attained in the entire business fraternity.

1. Tyson need to conduct a surveillance survey to request their consumers on food preferences they may opt to consume. This will help them invent new food products that can reduce food shortage in the world.
2. Tyson need enhance safety rules and regulations on food processing to erase the earlier notion of side effects of some food products such as red meat associated with colon cancer.
3. Tyson need to clearly identify new targets markets for value added products.
4. Tyson should concentrate on sales, production and marketing efforts to propel demand from those newly identified markets.
5. Tyson need to use the national distribution systems and the enact customer support system.
6. To conduct continuous research and development and to purely automate manual processes in the processing plant and improve chicken breeding stock.
7. Tyson need to enact patent and trademarks for their products.
8. Finally, Tyson should ensure proper employee and labor relations.

References

Ross, R. B., Pandey, V., & Ross, K. L. (2015). Sustainability and strategy in US agri-food firms. Sage publishers.

Macaulay, T. (2016). Critical infrastructure: understanding its component parts, vulnerabilities, operating risks, and interdependencies. CRC Press.

Harrison, B., & Widjaja, T. W. (2014). The determinants of capital structure: Comparison between before and after financial crisis. Economic Issues. Pearson press.

McClellan, J. (2013). Size matters: Animal size, contributory causation, and ethical vegetarianism. McGraw-Hill Education publication.

Hendrickson, M. K. (2015). Resilience in a concentrated and consolidated food system. Sage publishers.

Vizzier Thaxton, Y., Christensen, K. D., Mench, J. A., Rumley, E. R., Daugherty, C., Feinberg, B., … & Scanes, C. G. (2016). Symposium: Animal welfare challenges for today and tomorrow. London press.

Valentine, S., Godkin, L., & Mandabach, K. (2014). Ethical employment context and ethical decision-making in hospitality organizations located in Mexico and the United States. Pearson press

Schally, J. L. (2014). Agent of Harm and Good Corporate Citizen? The Case of Tyson Foods. Inc. press