Introduction

Since the 1970s, corporations have addressed business ethics in various ways, including the introduction of compliance programs and managers, the addition of board-level ethics committees, the development of codes of conduct, the preparation and dissemination of values statements, the hiring of corporate social responsibility managers and training programs of all kinds.
As the events of the past few years in the United States have demonstrated, these efforts, unfortunately, have not prevented certain U.S.-based corporations from engaging in unethical behaviors that lead to larger corporate scandals. This analysis will clearly demonstrate that General Mills is not one of those corrupt corporate entities.
The pandemic of our current global economic discontent can be found in the continuing examples of questionable behavior not just by individual employees but also corporate executives. This malfeasance has given rise to critical questions of how corporate ethics efforts can be improved and can address the underlying causes of misconduct, as well as the growing demands for proactive, socially responsible, and sustainable business practices.
This paper will discuss the efforts General Mills have gone through to remain the corporate model for ethical business practices while maintaining internal, self regulation to ensure they continue to earn the trust of the consumer.

General Mills Background

General Mills history started in 1866 when Cadwallader Wasburn created the first flour mill on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. After his father and his uncle entered the flour business in 1869, Wasburn created a partnership with Josh Crosby to create the Wasburn-Crosby company. A dramatic flour explosion in 1878 forced Wasburn to revamp the whole company by opening state of the art flour mills that are more secure. “By the 1960s, they