Case Study- CSR Analysis of New Balance New Balance is a privately held company that manufactures athletic shoes and apparel. New Balance has a strong social culture of responsibility and a commitment to creating the best environment for their employees. This is reflected in their mission by “demonstrating responsible leadership, we build global brands that athletes are proud to wear, associates are proud to create, and communities are proud to host” (Veleva, 2010, page 1). New Balance began as a simple shoe support insert, built to help alleviate pain for people who spent all day on their feet, and in later years developed into the athletic shoe that it is today. Sports shoes remained the focus for many years. However there is also a small …show more content…
There were already existing environmental and social initiatives in place; however these programs were not generating any business benefits. The public was unaware of the majority of the programs created to benefit the environment and communities. For example, New Balance began to work with the Maquila Solidarity Network in order to reduce the work week of Chinese suppliers from seventy to sixty hours. Although the leaders were humble people, they agreed to publicize this in an effort to get other companies to follow suit (Veleva, 2010, page 12). New Balance had also put significant time and money into creating “green” products and stores. For example, they strive for zero waste and being conscious of the impacts of both the production process and of the actual products. This environmental awareness and commitment to pursuing sustainable methods for products, facilities and operations do accurately reflect New Balance’s core values. The ethical and environmentally conscious consumer base was growing, and this would only aid in them viewing the company in a positive light. New Balance also had systems in place that significantly reduced their carbon footprint, but did not have a system in place that could accurately measure and report that information, and therefore went …show more content…
Since CSR is concerned with transparency, accountability and performance, it is important for the CSR decision-making structure to be a primary component of the firm's governance activities and to be visible. It should also be accountable throughout the organization, from the board, senior and lower level management, retail staff, and production and operational employees, all supported by a specialized staff. Next there needs to be a CSR business plan created. This plan is going to identify who is responsible for CSR decision making and action. After the structure has been created, New Balance will need to set time bound goals, with appropriate forms of measurement. In order to ensure effective implementation, a firm needs to set measurable targets for the commitments. Once the goals are set, then the various stakeholders of the company need to be engaged. CSR implementation largely rests in the hands of employees and, in some cases, suppliers because they are considered the face of the brand. Involving employees and other various stakeholders in discussions of how CSR commitments are implemented is a way for these stakeholders to develop a sense of ownership of and pride in the firm's CSR activities. In addition to discussions, New Balance will need to design and conduct CSR training. Firms need to train employees directly involved in CSR activities. This is an ongoing commitment, since
An important factor for the successful development of a CSR framework at the corporate level is to ensure that the framework can be easily merged with the daily routines of the store. In the Siemens case that was studied in class, putting the company back in order had to start from the corporate level and with the individual in charge of corporation – the CEO. Therefore, in order to implement CSR at the store, the initiative has to come from the corporate level, however the store here in Nanaimo can assume a key role by developing and testing new CSR practices.
Two decades later, that one store grown into a whole chain of women's apparel stores that overextended from New England to Washington D.C. In the mid 70’s T.J. Maxx was born and grew into what is known today as the TJX Companies, Inc., which is the leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the United States and worldwide. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the way a corporation achieves a balance between its economic, social, and environmental responsibilities in its operations so as to address shareholder and other stakeholder expectations. In general, when firms hold this wider encouraging role on the public by being engaged with stakeholders, a variety of profit can be produced for both company and the stakeholders. A key inclination is the combination of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) into the organization strategy, culture, mission and communications.
21). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) directly corresponds to one’s organizational culture and the voluntary implementation of these beliefs, expectations and values. It goes hand in hand with their organizational reputability, especially if society benefits from them operating in an economic, social and environmentally sustainable manner (Global Affairs Canada, 2016). Two companies that demonstrate this initiative mindset are Tentree and Nike, yet they execute in completely different manners. On the organizational spectrum Tentree falls under the Social Venture category, meaning they are for-profit but also on focus on issues regarding social equity and environmental sustainability. Their social responsibility initiative is to plant ten trees for every item purchased by individuals on their website, or from retail vendors (Tentree, n.d., para. 1). Nike is categorized under being a Social Purpose Business because it achieves its desired social impact as well as continuous profit (Jones, George, & Haddad, 2016, p. 4). Nike’s social responsibility initiative is to transform production development and manufacturing to overall minimize the company 's environmental footprint (Nike,
Their second vision is to create innovative and sustainable products. They apply this vision to their two long term aspirations: eliminating waste and eliminating toxics. Nike feels by achieving sustainable products they will be able to prevent a separation between the coolest athletic products and the environment. They have selected these two goals in the physical sciences because if they can achieve that then objectively they are moving toward sustainability. They are beginning to include the s...
SHORT CASE SUMMARY Nike, Inc. (503-671-6453, www.nike.com) is the worlds #1 athletic shoe and apparel seller. Nike currently employs 20,700 employees, with total sales of $8.78 billion. Nike and the athletic shoe industry have evolved into one of the most competitive market in recent years. But, analysts believe that athletic shoe sales will slow down over the next few years. The slowdown will come with the change in consumer trends. For instance, the younger market is beginning to buy more casual shoes and work boots. Another reason for the slowdown is that people are buying more medium priced athletic shoes and not going for the high price brand name shoes. As a result, this is bringing Nike a lot more competition to surpass. In order for Nike to remain on top of the athletic shoe industry they must establish an exceptional global strategy. If Nike penetrates the global market successfully than this will give the company an overall competitive advantage. Nike doesn't only sell athletic shoes, but a wide variety of sporting goods and clothing. They also design, develop, and market high quality active sports apparel, equipment, and accessory products. Their huge lines of products are designed for just about every sport in existence. Their products are made for men, women, and children of all ages. Nike has 20,000 retail accounts throughout the U. S. using independent distributors and also has contracts with 110 other countries. The company also has agreements with Internet companies and subsidiaries. Nike, Inc. has many retail outlets around the world, including their famous outlet "NIKETOWN" located in major cities. "NIKETOWN" gives customers the experience to become more educated on the company's goals and objectives for their products. The store educates its customer while at same time entertaining them too. This store gives customers a chance to become more brand loyal to Nike, Inc. Over the years Nike has gained an enormous amount of consumer awareness that they have eliminated the company name from all other products. The "swoosh" logo is automatically associated with the company name by just about anyone in the world. The meaning for Nike has lived up to the company's expectations. Nike means "the goddess of victory," which is exactly what the company has had since its creation. HISTORY A competitive runner, Ph...
Nike’s goal is to remain unique and different from others in terms of the items offered on the market. Arguably, Nike belongs to a monopolistically competitive market as there only a few organizations with the ability to regulate the amount charged for their product which means they cannot make their prices high as this is likely to make customers move on to other available choices (Nike, Inc., 2012). However, Nike can find a balance between the prices to charge for their products and remaining competitive with other companies in the industry. Nike has formed a distinction between the appearance and performance of their footwear and that of their competitors. Although products are differentiated from other companies, they still influence each other because they are items of the same
An organization’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) drives them to look out for the different interests of society. Most business corporations undertake responsibility for the impact of their organizational pursuits and various activities on their customers, employees, shareholders, communities and the environment. With the high volume of general competition between different companies and organizations in varied fields, CSR has become a morally imperative commitment, more than one enforced by the law. Most organizations in the modern world willingly try to improve the general well-being of not only their employees, but also their families and the society as a whole.
This paper critically analyzes Nike company sustainability strategy. Every investor or a group of investors wishes to see the business profitable at the current time as well as having good prospects for future (Werbach, 2009). For this reason, business sustainability strategy is very important. A strategy is a plan that guides the company or a business firm towards a certain direction or set goals. Thus, sustainability strategy is an action plan that a company set in order to maintain the plan toward the achievement of company’s goals in future. Sustainability strategy puts into consideration aspects such as the source of raw materials, competition, human resource development, and sustainability, and the general business environment. Thus, in evaluating a business’ sustainability, it is important to consider the business planning in this direction (Heslin and Ochoa 2008)
First, we want Nike to play a role in effecting positive, systemic change in working conditions within our industries. If our efforts lead to a workplace oasis -- one solitary and shining example in a desert of poor conditions -- then we’ve not succeeded. Even if that single shining example were to exist (and we’re not claiming it does), we’ve learned that positive changes won’t last unless the landscape changes. Our challenge is to work with the industry and our contract manufacturers to collectively address these systemic non-compliance issues that our data so highlight. This is one of the key reasons we made the decision to disclose our supply base; we believe this could encourage other companies to do the same. Our belief is that in disclosing, the industry will find ways to better share knowledge and learnings. This, in turn, will facilitate the building of further partnership approaches that are built on best practice and gradually lead us to standard codes, standard approaches to monitoring, standard reporting and standard parameters for transparency. It’s our belief that for market forces to enable responsible competitiveness, consumers must be able to reward brands and suppliers using fact-based information. Compliance efforts need to be optimized, made affordable and demonstrate real return if better working conditions are to become widespread. Disclosure of our supply chain is done in an effort to jump-start disclosure and collaboration throughout the industry and support efforts towards that final goal of market forces, providing the tipping point for the mainstreaming of best practice.
Many global companies like Nike, Inc. are seen as role models both in the market place as well as in society in large. That is why they are expected to act responsibly in their dealings with humanity and the natural world. Nike benefits from the global sourcing opportunities, therefore areas such as production and logistics have been outsourced to partner companies in low-wage countries like China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. As a result the company is limited nowadays to its core competencies of Design and Marketing.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is about how companies manage their business processes to produce a positive impact on society. Companies introduce new products in markets, usually after testing concludes that the product is safe for use or consumption. It is nearly impossible for a company to truly know all of the potential risks a brand new product may have, even after thorough testing. However, once a company receives reports that its product may be causing harm to consumers, it is their responsibility to conduct more research and tests to rule-out any possible truth in the reports. This is what a socially responsible company would do, one who is preoccupied not only with their bottom-line, but one that is also worried about its customers.
Earlier research by Bhattacharya and Sen (2004) showed that informing stakeholders is the only way to positively influence the attitude and behaviour of stakeholders regarding the organization and its CSR policies and/or business activities. Positively influence of the attitude and behaviour of stakeholders is also important organisations want to attract highly skilled and qualified workers. This is important because “the success of a business ultimately relies on the type of employees who work there (Blackman, 2006, p. 367)”.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a very familiar term in today’s world. Most of the successful companies try to be ethical and socially responsible toward their stakeholders. Because becoming ethical and socially responsible gains a lot in terms of profit or capturing more market share (Aras and Crowther,2009). This socially responsible approach is paved by the CSR activities of the companies which has a great contribution to their corporate strategy of winning the customers’ mind. In this assignment, the pros and corn of CSR activities of a particular organization a...
Business organizations regularly run into demands from various stakeholders groups when conducting day-to-day business. These demands are generated from employees, customers, suppliers, community groups, governments, and shareholders. Thus, according to Goodpaster, any person or group of people that can shape or can be shaped by attainment of the objectives by an organization is considered a stakeholder. Most business organizations recognize and understand their responsibilities to these groups and endeavor to honor and fulfill them. These responsibilities are often communicated to the public by a statement of principles or beliefs. For many business organizations, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an essential and integral part of their business. Thus, this paper discusses the two CSR views: the classical view and the stakeholder view. Furthermore, I believe that the stakeholder view has brought ethical concerns to the forefront of businesses, and an argument shall be made that businesses would improve both socially and economically if CSR, guided by God’s love, was integrated into their strategic planning.
In reviewing the case of New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. it is clear that there are a few major problems that the company is facing. First of all, New Balance falls behind its other major competitors, Nike, Adidas and Reebok, in the area of marketing. Unlike its competitors, New Balance does not undertake celebrity endorsements. This puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to brand building. This also causes the company to lose out somewhat on gaining awareness on a global scale as it lacks endorsements in major sporting events. Most global brand names generate strong brand recognition through celebrity endorsements in sporting events that would give them the needed momentum to carry their brand name further into the global market.