Patagonia Another Way of Doing Business

“Let every individual and institution now think and act as a responsible trustee of Earth, seeking choices in ecology, economics and ethics that will provide a sustainable future.”

The athletic apparel industry has shown a large increase in popularity. Global sales of sport clothing have increased from 146.1 billion US dollars in 2007 to 162 billion US dollars in 2012(Global Participative Sport as Consumption). Particularly in the United States, sales of sport apparel have increased by 7% from 2013 to 2014 (Wingus). There has been a large trend in healthy living, as “activewear accounted for $33.7 billion in sales and made up 16 percent of the apparel market” (Wingus). The industry is booming, as sportswear, specifically yoga pants, has transformed into people’s daily apparel. (Refer to Appendix Table 1) Huffington post noted, “people are wearing trendy workout clothes all day, every

Robert Swan once said “the greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” Two companies that understand this concept are Patagonia and Nike. How they address these issues regarding sustainable business practice vary, however. Both have made it their mission to deliver excellence and make the best quality products within their industries, Patagonia focussing more on outdoor active wear, while Nike is more sports oriented. Part of this process has been developing products from sustainable sources. Patagonia, for example, actively took a stand against chemical intensive cotton in 1994, and has since switched to less harmful means of organic cotton within all their cotton-based products. They are even going the extra

Many firms are learning that being environmentally friendly and sustainable has numerous benefits. (O.C Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015). This could enable them to increase goodwill from various stakeholders and also save money in the long term. This will mean that they are being more efficient and less wasteful of resources, which will enable them to be more competitive by satisfying stakeholders. The CEO of

Patagonia determines how its possible ventures will be both business practical and environmentally friendly by turning their company into a eco friendly environment. It clearly states this in their mission statement. “ Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis” Their main focus is going “green” to help the environment but also using business as a

Embrace new technologies to improve efficiency, maintain environmental stewardship through green practices and sustainable operations, support continuous improvement of the business processes, develop employees’ capability, and provide excellent customer services.” (Hillsborough County, 2015)

A stakeholder is a party that has an interest in a company. It may affect by the business or organization actions. Typically, the prime stakeholders are customers and employees. Patagonia is eco-friendly clothes are gaining the support of consumers and non-governmental organizations in the U.S. Since the company is a certified B Corp, they provide workers with certain benefits, the community and the environment. Patagonia outdoor clothing and gear retailer is well known for sustainability. They protect the environment and inspire social change. The company overall environmental and social performance is measured and independently verified a third party. Patagonia believes that full of practice transparency will be the ones in the future rewarded

Last night’s plenary speaker, Tensie Whelan, former President of the Rainforest Alliance, discussed the issues of sustainability and the natural environment. Currently the Earth’s ecological footprint is 1.6 planets. Whelan and Rainforest Alliance have sought to transform land-use practices, business practices, and consumer behavior through their use of a frog seal on certified goods. The standards set by them have made social responsibility profitable by reaching out to millions of consumers through responsible businesses.

Patagonia’s value proposition is based on embedding environmental sustainability in every business decision it makes. Its core strategy is differentiation by focusing on durability and quality of products whilst minimising its carbon footprint and use of synthetic ingredients (what). The business model revolves around developing innovative technologies and influencing competitors and suppliers alike to adopt environmentally-friendly processes (how). Commitment to these causes while maintaining quality has allowed it to develop a loyal customer base amongst high income groups and athletes (who) and significantly increase customer’s willingness to pay.

The North Face has a marketing strategy that enables the company to focus on the athlete, the potential of the athlete, and the athlete using The North Face gear for performance. In comparison, Patagonia focuses on the clothing in which they produce and sell, rather than the company's model. Patagonia places emphasis on fabric technology in their marketing efforts and mainly depicts the clothing on company websites and catalogs. Therefore, this is an area in which both Patagonia and The North Face can improve in order to increase product communication towards target consumers. Both Patagonia and The North Face have exceptional product technologies, which they can use to market their brand and inspire consumers to explore the possibilities of their products. However, The North Face invests

In 1993, Patagonia was the first company to make plastic soda bottles into fleece, as well as other materials. As many other brands are following in their footsteps, this new technology is a new way to make an Eco-friendly material and that is durable and well made. Patagonia has changed how people view recycling. They are focused on reducing the amount of pollution in the environment. They needed 20,000 barrels of oil to make raw materials, but as they started recycling plastic bottles there was no need for that. Now, there is space in the landfills by keeping millions of bottles out, which eliminates harmful air emissions, making the environment a better place. While Patagonia strives for environmental improvements and to make their products, sustainable, there are now expanding to other fabrics. It has been over

While Patagonia is a good role model, I think there are many other companies that are environmentally friendly. For example, Ikea has around 700,000 solar panels to power its facilities. They also purchase “close to 50 per cent of [their] wood from sustainable fosters” (Viles, Aaron) along with many other things. Ikeas goal is to be able to return as much energy back into the power grid as it consumes. (Howard,

PepsiCo is one of the world’s leading food and beverage companies with products being sold in over two hundred countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo began in 1965 when Pepsi-Cola merged with Frito-Lay and now distributes twenty-two brands of products that include Pepsi, Lays, Tropicana and Quaker. This paper will provide information about PepsiCo’s dedication to environmental, human and talent sustainability while increasing revenue by reducing essential production costs such as water use and packaging materials.

The objective of this enterprise is to support non-profit environmental or organizations by providing a funding award of up to $150,000. ‘A Greener Tomorrow’ is an outcome of Emirates’ commitment to achieve sustainability and environmental conservation. Through ‘A Greener Tomorrow’, Emirates is able to support organizations that work at the grassroots level in engaging with communities to conserve their environment. Emirates are pleased with the positive impact that the winners of ‘A Greener Tomorrow’ have had on their communities and they look forward to following their progress into the

A key issue facing management was balancing the company’s desire for environmentalism with its existence as a for-profit business. The idea of running a for-profit business implies operating at the lowest cost, growing as rapidly as financially feasible, and maximizing returns to financial stockholders ( I think it should be stockholder since it is financial return). A commitment to the environment can raise costs and hurt margins because environmentally-friendly policies are not the most financially savvy. This issue is important because Patagonia’s entire brand and