Berkeley MBA Students Help Make 50 Million Daily Meals More Sustainable



September 12,2006


Berkeley CA - Following field trips to feedlots and slaughter houses, six Berkeley MBA students shared their insights on the beef supply chain with senior executives of McDonald's, making recommendations that could result in cleaner streams, safer cattle feed, and improved working conditions for laborers.

Full-time MBA students Renu Bhatt, Jennifer Feldman, Eric Potts, and Kirsten Tobey, all MBA 06, Francois Perrot, MBA fall 05, and David Kwok, MBA 06, from the Evening & Weekend program, advised the company as part of the McDonald's Research Fellows Program in Corporate Social Responsibility, a partnership between the Haas School's Center for Responsible Business (CRB) and McDonald's Corporation. Their efforts culminated with a report and presentation to McDonald's senior management in April 2006.

McDonald's featured the students' recommendations as a special "Fork to Farm" report in the company's newly issued 2006 Worldwide Corporate Responsibility Report. The report also featured a response from Catherine E. Adams, McDonald's corporate vice president of worldwide quality, food safety and nutrition, who noted, "We take the recommendations in the CSR Fellows' report seriously and pledge to look into each one." McDonald's produced a video podcast, "Open Doors: The McDonald's You Don't Know", documenting the McDonald's Fellows experiences. (Requires Windows Media Player)


The students spent three months interviewing stakeholder groups, such as suppliers, non-governmental organizations, and trade organizations, and making on-site visits. The resulting recommendations include implementing preferred purchasing partnerships with suppliers that prevent runoff pollution and meeting certain standards for the care and feeding of cattle. These would build upon on existing McDonald's efforts such as its supplier code of conduct for labor and its animal welfare audits.

"It was extraordinary to work closely with such a highly visible multinational corporation to help it tackle a key business challenge," says Berkeley MBA graduate Potts. "This was the pinnacle of the experiential learning that Haas encourages and that CRB offers."

CRB Executive Director Kellie McElhaney also played a key role with McDonald's this past year, facilitating a roundtable discussion among the company's top executives on corporate responsibility. The Haas School's partnership with McDonald's is underway again this year, as McElhaney continues to work in an advisory capacity and four full-time MBA students will be selected as fellows for the spring semester. The Haas School is the only business school to offer the McDonald's Research Fellows Program.

"There may well be no better place for MBA students to learn firsthand the power and challenges of a large multinational corporation and its ability to have profound positive social impact while managing financial profit," says McElhaney.