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Broadening the Social Strategy

Building strong communities through service As the Path of Service program evolved, the Social Enterprise Department also made company- sponsored service days a more integral part of work life at Timberland. Twice a year Timberland employees led service projects around the globe. Two "pillar" service events were established to provide "values-rich" immersions in the community: one in the spring, to coincide with Earth Day, and one in the fall, called Serv-a-palooza. The Earth Day event was focused more on allowing Timberland employees a chance to work with their colleagues on local projects such as cleaning up parks and other environmental activities.

Serv-a-palooza was developed as an annual opportunity to celebrate the company's passion for service—an opportunity to put "values in action" with greater scope and impact. Bolstered by a cadre of employee "service warriors," a more expansive vision for a "day of service" was realized and involved customers, partners, suppliers, families, and friends This event projected a festive atmosphere—with service at the center but fully surrounded by food, family activities, and celebration. Service on Earth Day was particularly effective for the retail stores, which mobilized their customers as well as employees in the service activities. These two pillar events were instrumental in helping Timberland employees accumulate 182,000 cumulative service hours between 1992 and 2002. [3]

The environment In the fall of 2000, Timberland's commitment to the environment took a major step forward when the company hired Terry Kellogg to build an environmental program. The company had a strong record of compliance with environmental standards but had not taken its practice too far beyond legal requirements. Meanwhile, several companies both in and out of the industry had already taken steps toward making the environment a key part of business strategy.

His newly formed Environmental Affairs Department went right to work in formulating goals and strategy. When Timberland published its first Corporate Social Responsibility Report at the conclusion of 2001, the report listed eight key steps the company would take to reduce its environmental footprint while supporting its products. At the time, it was already beginning to realize improvements in energy and raw materials used to produce its products, including cost and efficiency improvements.

Global Business Alliance (GBA) As Timberland became increasingly international throughout the 1990s, the company became intent on monitoring and shaping its business practices abroad. With suppliers in a range of developing and developed countries around the world, however, this was never a simple or easy practice, and Jeff often acknowledged the difficulty inherent in upholding global labor standards.

In the mid-1990s, under the direction of the Social Enterprise Department, Timberland drafted its first official code of conduct. Beyond overseeing the periodic review of Timberland's code of conduct, the GBA focused on monitoring global labor standards, which included setting up and conducting audits of all Timberland's major business partners abroad.



Integrating Values into Operations

In the summer of 2001, Timberland hired Carolyn Casey to lead the Social Enterprise group which was made its own four-person division within the Marketing Division. One of Casey's objectives in running the Social Enterprise group was to integrate, as much as possible, throughout the organization. According to a human resources manager, the Social Enterprise team members "are all very defined in their role. They all network very heavily in the building, so they know who their stakeholders are. And they just find ways to maximize." Social Enterprise referred to itself as a "support organization," a "think tank," or a "good virus."

As a result of this integration, the Social Enterprise, Global Business Alliance, and Environmental Affairs groups became part of the long-range planning process. This meant that during the annual budget process company managers would develop a separate long-range plan (LRP) dedicated to its commerce and justice goals.


Date: 2015-01-29; view: 6087


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