Sara Lee

Businessman Nathan Cummings bought the C.D. Kenny Co., a Baltimore coffee, tea, and sugar wholesaler, in 1939. Cummings soon purchased several grocery firms and later changed the company's name to Consolidated Grocers--1945. The operation went public in 1946 and was renamed Consolidated Foods Corporation in 1954. Two years later CFC bought the Kitchens of Sara Lee, a Chicago bakery founded by Charles Lubin 1951. Introduced in 1949 and named after Lubin's daughter, Sara Lee cheesecake had become his most popular product.

Soon after, CFC began building its international markets with its first European acquisition in 1962. Subsequent to that purchase, it expanded its global presence with the purchases of Douwe Egberts (coffee, tea, and tobacco; the Netherlands; 1978), Nicholas Kiwi (shoe care and pharmaceuticals, Australia, 1984), and Dim (hosiery and underwear, France, 1989). Using one of its most respected brand names to enhance the public's awareness of the company, CFC changed its name to Sara Lee in 1985.1

While cheesecake might have brought the company fame, it's the underwear and hot dogs that bring in more than half of Sara Lee's sales. The company operates five separate business units in the U.S. and abroad, these include: Sara Lee Foods--a major U.S. packaged-meat processor with brands such as Ball Park and Jimmy Dean, Sara Lee Bakery Group--the number two bakery company in the U.S. (behind Interstate Bakeries) and responsible for fresh bread as well as frozen cheesecakes, The Branded Apparel group--which tops in U.S. intimate apparel and hosiery (Hanes L'eggs, Playtex, and Wonderbra), its Coffee & Tea Worldwide group--that creates beverage sales worldwide, while the Household & Body Care group sells Endust furniture cleaner, Kiwi shoe polish, and body care products in non-U.S. markets.

Chicago-based Sara Lee Corporation is a global manufacturer and marketer of high-quality, brand-name products for consumers throughout the world. They have three lines of businesses: Food and Beverage, Branded Apparel, and Household Products. Sara Lee has operations in 58 countries, with products in nearly 200 nations and has 150,400 employees worldwide. Some may wonder how one company, with thousands of employees in numerous locations, makes sure everyone is basing his or her decisions on the corporation's values. These are questions Sara Lee executives and employees debated in the process of creating a program called Global Business Practices.

Introduced in 1997, the program seeks to communicate and reinforce the company's basic values. The Global Business Practices program emphasizes not only compliance with laws, but also values. The program gives employees a framework within which to make decisions. Sara Lee's Global Business Practices is summarized in a document called Global Business Standards written in plain language. This document is distributed to every employee, and has been translated into more than 11 languages.

Sara Lee has a global infrastructure of over 100 Business Practices Officers overseeing the ethics and compliance program in each of the operating divisions and units. They are responsible for making sure every employee receives regular training, a key component of the program. Employees learn from actual case studies about questionable behavior and use the business practices program to agree on a proper course of action. Also, there are more than 50 Business Practices Committees that meet regularly to assess their organization's efforts and review and investigate inquiries, complaints and any allegations of wrongdoing.

Sara Lee's commitment to conducting business with integrity does not end with employees. The Global Standards for Suppliers define Sara Lee's minimum requirements of its suppliers. Sara Lee believes in doing business with those suppliers who embrace and demonstrate high standards of ethical business behavior. Sara Lee expects all suppliers to comply with the law, do the right thing, and communicate concerns about inappropriate business practices promptly to the company. Living up to theses responsibilities is what Sara Lee feels will create continued success for Sara Lee and its valued business partners.

An example of how Sara Lee has effectively implemented this strategy is their launch of one of the first cross-border comprehensive e-Procurement Initiatives in Europe in May, 2001. This is when Sara Lee officially selected ICG Commerce, a leading procurement service provider, to help the company drive cost reduction and improve productivity. ICG Commerce was used to help each Sara Lee Division purchase indirect goods and services better. As a part of the agreement, ICG Commerce was used by Sara Lee's divisions to electronically pool and purchase with other companies across Europe and together, taps common suppliers across multiple countries to secure optimal pricing on indirect and direct goods and services. This initially took place in: the U.K., Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany and Spain.

"Sara Lee is one of the first to deploy such a pan-European exchange and secure cumulative pricing. We view this as a significant step for Sara Lee and the European e-commerce market," said Frank van den Heuvel, Purchasing and Outsourcing Director for Sara Lee Europe. This action allowed Sara Lee European division rapid access to better priced indirect goods to drive immediate, maximum savings, while maintaining supplier relationships in other countries. It also allowed freedom for the divisions to focus on more strategic purchasing and activities by allowing ICG Commerce to manage all their indirect purchasing. This business move was critical to Sara Lee's