 |
Do you want to participate? |
| Seeking |
| Offering |
|
Timberland to visit Dartmouth Tuck MBA Students
 |
|
Description:
On April 8, 2009 Timberland's CSR team will visit Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. We look forward to giving these future leaders an overview of our CSR strategy and will dialogue with them on Just Means before and after the visit.
For our other Just Means stakeholders, feel free to join this discussion online!
Please note: this event is primarily designed for Dartmouth Tuck MBA students. Timberland often receives requests to visit student groups and reviews them on a quarterly basis. Unfortunately we are not able to accommodate all requests. If your school is interested, please let us know by emailing us at csrinfo@timberland.com.
Welcome Dartmouth Tuck MBA students! We're interested in your comments about our CSR programs and hope you will visit our Report pages (accessible from our Just Means homepage) to review and comment on our Q4 and year end 2008 performance in the following categories:
- Q4 2008 Dashboard
- Q4 2008 Energy Data
- Q4 2008 Product Data
- Q4 2008 Workplace Data
- Q4 2008 Service Data
- Q4 2008 Factory List
We're also interested in your feedback - here's a specific question to kick off our dialogue: What role do you think CSR plays in building a brand?
Add Your Comment|
1000 |
 |
Recent Comment
Beth Holzman | Posted: 13 July 2009
Hi Tuck students,
I just wanted to let you know that a lot of your comments were incorporated into our new "cover note" for our quarterly performance disclosure (highlighted on the front page of http://www.timberland.justmeans.com and the 800 people who subscribe to our CSR mailing list). With your help, we are now pulling out key points about our performance in addition to publishing the detailed dashboards.
Thanks again for your feedback - please continue to keep it coming!
Beth Holzman | Posted: 14 April 2009
Hello again Tuck MBA students! I heard you had a great visit with Gordon Peterson, Timberland's Vice President of CSR last week. Please excuse my delay in responding to your great questions and comments - I'm at a conference right now in San Francisco and was busy launching our new Climate Strategy report (it can be downloaded on our Just Means home page http://www.timberland.justmeans.com right now). I have not forgotten about you and am excited by this dialogue. Even though the class visit is finished, it would be great to continue our conversations.
More soon from this busy CSR Manager!
Beth Holzman, Timberland Company
Meredith Giersch | Posted: 8 April 2009
Like my peers, I would like to commend Timberline on its dedication to full transparency in reporting metrics to assess success in achieving important goals in sustainability. One of my concerns is on the marketing side of the coin. I%u2019m concerned about the ROI of these efforts. What connection does the average consumer have to Timberline%u2019s accomplishments in CSR? And where is the link to increased sales? Does the company have a new target in the marketplace that would be have the significant impact on sales like the hip hop Timberline trend?
Ashleigh Snelson | Posted: 8 April 2009
I was introduced to Timberland's Green Rating system during our Business and Society Conference where one of your analysts, Pete Girard was a guest. Pete spoke about the strides Timberland is taking to understand the full supply chain and its impact. I'm wondering how much of this has been quantified in 1) cost savings to the organization and 2) in revenue potential as a result of offering such an index.
Also, it seems Timberland is one of pioneers in the footwear industry working on reducing the impact of its supply chain. Do you think your transparency and sharing of best practices with competitors is an opportunity or a threat?
Marvena Edmond | Posted: 8 April 2009
I believe that CSR is playing an increasingly more important role in building a brand. Timberland has been recognized as a thought leader in this space. After reading the reports, it is clear that the company is dedicated to priortizing programs/strategies that are deemed socially responsibe, but I find it tough to actually interpret the results.
Is it possible to include a glossary of the metrics used for the average user who may want to be more informed?
I look forward to attending the event on campus.
Anne Thompson | Posted: 8 April 2009
On a similar note, I'm wondering what happens to those employed by the "high risk" factories after Timberland ceases engaging them in business relationships? Is there any way of tracking the net effect of Timberland's decision to work primarily with low risk operations?
Anne Thompson | Posted: 8 April 2009
I agree with Papri and Miagros on this issue. In addition, I'm wondering if external auditing coupled with internal reporting would add an element of transparency and remove some of the inherent bias in self reporting.
Michelle Mejia | Posted: 8 April 2009
I've been familiar with Timberland's commitment to sustainability for many years. However, I wonder if there have been specific tradeoffs that have been made (whether profitability, shifting consumer targets, etc.) that the company has had to make to maintain its high level of commitment to CSR and how has this impacted relationships with key stakeholders.
Additionally, in the past we have seen that companies that are making positive steps in terms of their CR efforts (e.g. Starbucks) have often been the target of activist campaigns. Is this a concern for Timberland?
Matt DeLellis | Posted: 8 April 2009
This is an interesting comment...the "why". It sparks internal conflict for me...would I want to know the "why" so I can find companies with similar values? Does this open up the company for judgement / comparison apart from tangible changes they are implementing...and does that judgement take away from the good they are doing? If the "why" was purely profit (I don't think that is the case for Timberland), would we want to hear that?
Papri Bhattacharya | Posted: 8 April 2009
I really appreciate the concise top level information Timberland has provided regarding the four pillars on this site. In addition to the "What", "How", and "Focus Areas" that are listed for each of these, I believe that visitors to the site would also benefit from seeing "Why" Timberland has identified each pillar as central to its CSR strategy. Understanding the importance of CSR efforts to Timberland in energy, products, workplace, and service can be very helpful in gauging the level of commitment that Timberland has for these pillars vis a vis other companies that engage in similar activities.
