New Balance Csr Case Study
1. Introduction New Balance is the second largest athletic footwear manufacturer in the U.S. and the fourth largest in the world. The company has had a strong focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR) since its inception 100 years ago, although until recently it has not necessarily been adept at making the public aware of its “doing what’s right” culture (Veleva, 2010).
Dr. Veleva’s 2010 case study, “New Balance: Developing an integrated CSR strategy”, examines the company’s history and corporate culture, and describes how in 2006 it started to approach CSR more formally, creating a CSR steering committee. In 2008, the company engaged the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship (BCCCC) to help develop a framework, conduct relevant research, and issue recommendations for the steering committee to use in developing and implementing a comprehensive CSR strategy. Through these efforts, it was found that the company’s various CSR initiatives, although laudable, were not particularly well organized or comprehensively reported to the executive level. Without a consistent message and vision, the sum of the initiatives was perhaps somewhat less than its parts (Veleva, 2010). 2. Strengths and Weaknesses
The case study describes the results of a CSR assessment the company performed using the Corporate Citizenship Management framework (CCMF). The CCMF examines CSR from the viewpoints of overall governance, community support, operations, and products and services (BCCCC, 2013). The assessment identified both strengths and weaknesses in each of these areas.
2.1 Overall Governance
Interviews with employees and executives revealed common themes of corporate pride, strong values, and commitment to their customers and the community, indicating that the company’s vision was well-represented in the corporate culture and broadly understood. However, there was no consistent view of exactly how that commitment should be, or was being, accomplished, indicating
Dr. Veleva’s 2010 case study, “New Balance: Developing an integrated CSR strategy”, examines the company’s history and corporate culture, and describes how in 2006 it started to approach CSR more formally, creating a CSR steering committee. In 2008, the company engaged the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship (BCCCC) to help develop a framework, conduct relevant research, and issue recommendations for the steering committee to use in developing and implementing a comprehensive CSR strategy. Through these efforts, it was found that the company’s various CSR initiatives, although laudable, were not particularly well organized or comprehensively reported to the executive level. Without a consistent message and vision, the sum of the initiatives was perhaps somewhat less than its parts (Veleva, 2010). 2. Strengths and Weaknesses
The case study describes the results of a CSR assessment the company performed using the Corporate Citizenship Management framework (CCMF). The CCMF examines CSR from the viewpoints of overall governance, community support, operations, and products and services (BCCCC, 2013). The assessment identified both strengths and weaknesses in each of these areas.
2.1 Overall Governance
Interviews with employees and executives revealed common themes of corporate pride, strong values, and commitment to their customers and the community, indicating that the company’s vision was well-represented in the corporate culture and broadly understood. However, there was no consistent view of exactly how that commitment should be, or was being, accomplished, indicating
References: Atwood, J. (2005, June 16). The Pontiac Aztek and the Perils of Design by Committee. In Coding Horror. Retrieved from http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2005/06/the-pontiac-aztek-and-the-perils-of-design-by-committee.html Ballinger, J. (2001). Nike 's Voice Looms Large. Social Policy, 32(1), 34-37. BCCCC. (2013). The Corporate Citizenship Assessment Tool. In Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship. http://www.bcccc.net/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageID=1811 EPA. (2013). An Introduction to Indoor Air Quality: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). In United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/iaq/voc.html Veleva, V. (2010). New Balance: Developing an integrated CSR strategy. Harvard Business Publishing [online].