Timberland to visit Dartmouth Tuck MBA Students

 

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I am in agreement with Milagros. I applaud Timberland's efforts in reporting its CSR activities in such a detailed manner; nevertheless, I believe that it is challenging for the average user to critically analyze the data being reported. As a student who has become accustomed to such reports, I still found it challenging to digest the data and am not confident that I could critically analyze it without exerting an inordinate amount of effort.



Is it possible to extract from this information some data that is more universally understood? I imagine that one could use company annual reports as a template for such presentation.

 

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I would love to hear more about the Green Rating Index and specifically about the process of applying the index to each of the products. I was surprised to see that the rating system won't be comprehensive until 2015. Is that because of adjustments to the index itself? Or maybe because of the difficulty in getting that level of detail throughout the supply chain? My very uninformed perspective is that the supply chain should be more easily knowable for Timberland than that timeframe would imply. Part of what impresses me about Timberland is the honesty and awareness of how far there still is left to go on some of the measures.



I was a little concerned when I saw the cradle to cradle concept applied to a consumer durable good - it feels very much like an unachievable goal - but a closer inspection led me to the focus on VOC reduction and organic cotton, which seems much more realistic. Will the rubber and other raw materials used eventually be added to the product rating index?

 

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In response to the question posted: My impression is that CSR is a necessary but not sufficient aspect in building a successful brand.



I applaud the resources that Timberland has invested in addressing CSR. In looking at all the other Justmeans.com founding companies, Timberland provides the most information. However, I echo the sentiments about accessibility. The reports here are already a filtered-down version of loads of data, but unless it's delivered in a palatable format, the information is unlikely to reach your target audience, let alone interested, less informed consumers. I preferred the Timberland website for an overview of company initiatives in CSR, but even there, it can get overwhelming, only in terms of volume of information. Creating a clear, aligned path to ascending levels of information (single page summary, 2006 CSR Report, Justmeans.com data) might help in deriving more value from your efforts.

 

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I think that this makes sense! Can you talk a little about how your community service efforts and relationship with City Year contribute to Timberland's financial success? Is it due to increased employee morale, public relations, etc? How do you measure this? Thanks!

 

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I posted the following comment about our integration of marketing and CSR efforts on a previous page, but see there are a lot more comments that have come up since doing so. Here is the comment again so folks can see our strategy - hope you'll have feedback here!



I'm excited to see debate unfolding about the value of integrating CSR and marketing efforts. Here at Timberland we see this as an opportunity to both educate and empower our consumers to make responsible purchasing decisions. Ensuring that our marketing claims are backed up by credible CSR programs is essential for consumers to understand and trust our values. One way that we've begun integrating these efforts is through the Earthkeeper network. http://www.earthkeeper.com is a web-based social networking initiative designed to demystify environmental issues by providing meaningful, real and fun ways for consumers to take steps toward reducing their footprint. We also have a page on Facebook, aYouTube brand channel, and a partnership with Changents.com - all of which are linked for the Earthkeeper site. Check it out - let us know what you think!

 

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I think that the press release or an Executive Summary of sorts is exactly the sort of thing that we all seem to agree is necessary - in addition to (not in place of) the more detailed reports that are undoubtedly valuable to certain stakeholder audiences. Whatever sort of document you choose to produce, I think it should list high level updates/achievements - the sort of information that you would be comfortable putting on the Timberland website for the consumer audience.

 

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Brooks%u2019 innovation in biodegradable midsole foam is indeed impressive. We also applaud that this technological development is an open-source resource. To clarify, Timberland is committed to using renewable (in addition to recycled) products in our cradle-to-cradle design principles. In fact, the Green Index incorporates both renewable and recycled materials into our lifecycle analysis and rating.

 

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There have been a lot of questions about our community service hours. One reason you see a decrease in total hours year over year is the result of reduced headcount %u2013 with fewer employees to handle the same amount of work, it's not surprising that our total hours have decreased. However, we have not de-emphasized our priority of community service or the benefit of 40 paid hours per year (which all full time employees are eligible for). Our seasonal service trends are partially related to our two company-sponsored events where most of our offices shut down for company-wide service. These events take place on Earth Day and Serv-a-palooza, held in the fall every year (sometimes spread out between Q3 and Q4 depending on regional activities).

 

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Our design team has made deliberate decisions to incorporate more organic cotton as a result of increasing customer demand. We aim to replace conventional cotton with organic cotton as an opportunity to realize our ethical sourcing and environmental stewardship goals. We believe it's possible to produce garments using organic cotton without passing increased costs onto consumers. For example, Wal-mart's now the largest purchaser of organic cotton in North America and delivering these products at comparable prices to traditionally-sourced cotton products in their stores.

 

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Check out http://bit.ly/182Hu9 for more detailed information about our Green Index. We developed this rating for our own products, but our ability to empower consumers to make responsible purchasing decisions is only fully realized when they can do comparative shopping. That%u2019s why we co-founded a group with 60 brands in the Outdoor Industry Association (called the Eco-working group) to develop a common standard for all companies in our industry to use such labels. We're still in the development stages but are eager to see this group accomplish its goal.