Timberland: From Boot Maker to Earth Keeper by Griffin Haines

1. Jeffrey Swartz chose an exit strategy that was ethically driven, not for his
own personal benefit - financial or otherwise. He left the company
immediately after the buyout rather than negotiating a sweet (financial) deal
that would benefit and prepare only him for life after Timberland.
Throughout this article, Timberlands former CEO Jeffrey Swartz displays
many examples of ethical behavior. Ethical behavior is seen making morally
good decisions by a company. Another example of ethical behavior promoted
by Jeffrey Swartz is through his production method. A vast majority of
Timberlands boots are now equipped with Green Rubber soles, which are
made nearly from 50% of recycled materials. This method is socially
responsible rather than using the cheapest method at the cost of the
environment. Timberland also prides itself on its Community Service given
by its own employees. Each year Timberland gives its employees 40 paid
hours to volunteer in their community and sponsors events associated with
Earth Day and Serv-a-palooza. This behavior instilled by Swarts creates
greater social awareness and social goodness.
2. Timberlands Boot, Brand, and Belief strategy is Timberlands way of
sticking to its roots that have been developed over the years and keeping its
message true. The Boot portion is Timberlands roots of the Abington Shoe
Company, which was purchased by Jeffreys grandfather in 1955. The
company specialized in very tough boots and only branched out to
shoemaking in 1979. The Brand portion represents how Timberland became
the company it is to this day. When Jeffreys father took over Timberland in
1986, he internationally added clothing, accessories, and womens and
childrens shoes to the product lineup. When Jeffrey assumed the post of CEO
in 1998, he reinvented the family company by introducing the belief in social
justice, environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
With these three aspects, the company will always have a high moral
standing.
3. Every manner of the companys conduct and reasoning behind their decision
making is to a promote a higher ground for which all other retailers,
consumers, conglomerates, and business managers are encouraged to act
upon. One social responsibility strategy used by Timberland is Community
Development. Everything Timberland has done throughout its existence from
sponsoring Earth Day events to using recycled plastic bottles to create parts
of their shoe has created a better environment to both live in and work in.
4. There are many ways to gain a competitive advantage as a company as big as
Timberland. Over the years Timberland has used its passion for
Environmental Sustainability to gain a large competitive advantage over its
competition in different ways. One way to gain this advantage is by learning
from competition and your customers. Many of Timberlands competitors
such as Nike and Adidas are constantly being scrutinized for the poor
conditions in their offshore factories. Timberland improved the living
conditions around its offshore factories by planting over 1 million trees over

the last 10 years, which has improved the land, water, and air quality around
its factories. Timberland developed a competitive edge without associating
itself with the current fad. Environmental sustainability is a long-term
commitment to which they bought fully into. Timberland became a greener
company, and more and more consumers are noticing that and are buying
Timberland products because of how well they are treating the earth
compared to their competitors. Also, a better work environment = increased
worker productivity.
5. Yes, their strategy has been successful not only to the company and its longterm viability but to the entire retail sector. Companies now understand that
they must create, grow, and develop ethically in order to realize long-term
success. More and more consumers everyday are starting to support
companies who have a cautious approach of what they do to our
environment. Operating tongue in cheek proves to be an unsuccessful
strategy in both the long and short term. VF Corporation own 28 different
companies from North Face to Vans, all top brands in their competitive field.
Timberland managed to amass 20% of all of VFs revenue in the most recent
quarter.
6. Timberland is no stranger to offshore factories. With more than 300 factories
in 38 different countries, Timberland exposes itself to a fair amount of
environmental uncertainty. However, by spreading their resources in so
many developing countries leaves them in a less risky position as each
country possesses its own political, environmental, and financial risk
position. Timberland avoided putting all of their eggs in one basket. Also,
Timberland is spreading the risk from pollution and erosion as a by-product
of their productions to more than one country.
7. VF Corporation is an American clothing corporation that sells jean wear,
underwear, and work wear. VF Corporation owns Wrangler Jeans, Fruit of
Loom, North Face, and 25 more clothing brands that produced over $11
Billion in revenue in 2013. On VF Corporations website, they claim that they
are committed to operating a business that ensures that future generations
can live with cleaner water and air, healthier forests and oceans, and a stable
climate. They actively lead their associates into an environmentally and
socially responsible direction and claim to innovate to deliver sustainable
products and to be a good corporate citizen. If what VF Corporation says is
true, then I believe that Timberlands integration into VF will help the
corporation as a whole improve its socially responsible image and will
continue to implement its Earthkeeping strategy. It has been 3 years since
Timberlands transition into VF and it still uses its Earthkeeping strategy to
this day. Over the last couple of years, Timberland has received many
accolades for its social and environmental responsibility such as its No. 2
Rank on Climate Counts list of companies making aggressive strides to fight
climate change and No. 1 rank for Outside Magazines Best Places to Work
list.