Values Rule at Patagonia

Patagonia is a California-based company that makes clothing and gear for outdoor sports like hiking and

climbing. It has been called “The Coolest Company on the Planet” and it has a consistent track record of

being voted one of the best companies to work for. Patagonia employees are among some of the most

passionate and long serving in the industry. In fact, with an annual turnover rate of only 4 percent, so few

people leave the company that job seekers are hard pressed to find any opportunities. However, when

the company does have a position to fill, it goes about selecting candidates very carefully.

Patagonia places its commitment to protect and preserve the environment and its resources over

anything else. This mind set is what drives the company and the people who work there. As Casey

Sheahan, CEO and president of Patagonia, observes, “It is critical that our employees, whether they are

new hires or long standing employees, are totally in line with our philosophy and values.” It is not enough

for an applicant to simply enjoy outdoor activities. Patagonia looks for employees who are fanatical about

protecting the environment and who are passionate about their hobbies and interests. The company looks

carefully at the values, attitudes, and behaviours of potential employees in an effort to bring in new talent

that will help the organization as a whole and be truly representative of the Patagonia brand.

Patagonia uses a hiring process that is a mixture of both traditional and nontraditional approaches.

Résumés are reviewed and sorted, and candidates are screened in-person and over the phone.

However, in order to find an employee who will be the best fit for the organization, candidates also

participate in extensive group interviews. The purpose of this strategy is to learn as much about the

candidate’s background as possible. As Lu Setnika, human resources director at the company, explains,

group interviews provide an opportunity for Patagonia employees to test and assess whether or not a

candidate would be comfortable working within the organization’s value-driven and collaborative culture.

By having a number of informal conversations together, both the company and the candidates take time

to get to know each other. This helps Patagonia maintain a base of employees who are highly engaged

and who identify with the organization on an emotional level.

Patagonia’s mission statement is to build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use

business to inspire and implement solutions to environmental crises, and this mission drives the

company’s corporate strategy. The apparel and gear made by Patagonia employees are secondary to the

company’s commitment to resolving environmental issues. Jill Dumain, Patagonia’s director of

environmental analysis, explains that the return on investments with environmental protocols is actually a

much more efficient way of doing business from a cost standpoint. The company harnesses the strengths

and potential of customers who are aware of the plight of the environment and willing to take action. In

this way, Patagonia promotes and encourages a lifestyle that honours nature, wildlife, and biodiversity.

As illustrated in its Common Threads Initiative Video, Patagonia’s message is very clear: The planet’s

resources are being depleted at a level that cannot be sustained. Urgent change is needed to allow

nature time to heal. With these facts in mind, the company urges customers to think carefully and buy

only what they “deeply need” and not “vaguely want.” Company founder, YvonChinourd, explains that

“We are the first company to ask consumers to take a formal pledge and be partners in the effort to

reduce consumption and keep products out of the landfill or incinerator.” Patagonia’s Common Threads

Pledge states that Patagonia agrees “to build useful things that will last, to repair what breaks and recycle

what comes to the end of its useful life.” Customers who take the pledge agree “to buy only what [they]

need and will last, repair what breaks, reuse (sell or share) what [they] longer need and recycle

everything else.”

Following its belief that recycling is one key factor in sustaining the environment, Patagonia partnered

with eBay to create its Common Threads Initiative Store. This new approach enables and encourages

customers who have taken the Common Threads Pledge to take an active role in the partnership.

Patagonia says it will not receive any of the profits associated with the Common Threads Initiative

Storefront.

Patagonia recognizes and supports employees who engage in projects as environmental activists. In

1993, the company started its Patagonia Employee Internship Program. It provided staff with an

opportunity to leave their jobs for up to four weeks to work for an environmental group they identified with.

Patagonia agreed to provide full pay and benefits to employees during their absence from the company.

More than 850 employees have taken part in the program. Interns have helped to protect sea turtles in

Kenya, pika in Colorado, and sage grouse in Nevada. Employees who participate in the program further

strengthen Patagonia’s mission. Their stories and experiences help to inspire other employees and in the

process work to enrich and strengthen Patagonia’s collaborative culture. In some cases, employees leave

the company to concentrate all of their efforts on preserving the environment. Patagonia applauds

employees who leave the company to devote all of their time in support of environmental initiatives. The

company views these kinds of employee resignations as organizational successes.

On April 20, 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. That began what is now

known as the biggest oil spill in history, with at least 185 million gallons of crude pouring into the Gulf.

Patagonia responded to the disaster by sending seven teams of employees to seven communities in the

Gulf. For one week, employees went door to door and asked residents along the coast in southern

Louisiana towns how the oil spill had impacted them in terms of health, culture, and finances. Information

from the survey helped to create a web-based Oil Spill Crisis Map that the government and wildlife

agencies could use to document the impact of the disaster.

Patagonia’s organizational culture places it in a leading role as a company devoted to the preservation

and protection of the environment. Its unique approach of using and uniting its employees and customers

in pursuit of its mission offers hope and guidance to others who seek to live as citizens of the earth.

Discussion Questions

1. Explain the difference between “values,” “attitudes,” and “job satisfaction.” How does each pertain to Patagonia and its employees? Give examples.

2. What is the difference between terminal and instrumental values? Which of the terminal andinstrumental values apply to Patagonia’s employees?

3. Patagonia experiences a high level of organizational commitment from their employees, which isdemonstrated by their low annual turnover rate of 4 percent. Describe the three types of organizational commitment and explain how each pertains to Patagonia.

4. Patagonia gives employees paid time off to pursue their environmental passions. From a businessperspective, do you think this is a good idea or not? How do you think it impacts Patagonia as anorganization? Explain.

5. Patagonia has incorporated group interviews into their hiring process as they feel this is a good way “to assess whether or not a candidate would be comfortable working within the organization’s value driven and collaborative culture.” Do you agree with this assessment? Explain.

What are the features, characteristics, and consequences of globalization on business?

Describe PETS analysis for case study zero wage increase again (By Karen Macmillian)

Could you please explain it briefly?

What can you conclude about the price elasticity of demand from each of the following statements? (Is it: perfectly elastic, elastic, unit elastic, inelastic, perfectly inelastic)

a. "The pizza delivery business is very competitive in this town. I'd lose half my customers if I raised the price by as little more than 10%."

b. "I own the only chicken farm in Hong Kong that produces organic free-range eggs. I recently increased my production by 20%, and found that the price that I could sell the eggs at dropped by 10%."

c. My professor has required the use of the Krugman textbook for the class. I have no choice but to buy this book."

d. No matter what the price is, I always spend a total of exactly $100 per month buying coffee beans."

please give me answers with detailed explanations. thank you.

It's managerial economics problem. Please expert solve well.

In 2010 some members of the Pakistan cricket team were accused of conniving
with bookmakers, if not to lose matches, then at least to instigate specific events
in the game. Does efficiency wage theory explain why such scandals are more
likely to arise for relatively low-paid sports people? In this light, what can be done
to reduce corruption in sports?

1. Costs of Reducing Water Pollution

Using the Costs of Reducing Water Pollution table, which of the following explains why the lake should not be made entirely free of pollution?

Multiple Choice

• The marginal social costs of reaching 0 PPM are greater than the marginal social benefits from doing so.

• There would be no benefit in making the lake completely clean.

• The total social cost would exceed the total social benefit of completely cleaning the lake.

• Society cannot clean up the lake.

2.  If relative prices change, then the inflation rate must change. TRUE/False?

3. In economics, a public good

Multiple Choice

• is provided in an optimal amount by the market.

• always causes government failure.

• is any good produced by the government.

• allows free riders to benefit from the good.

7.  The business cycle is the alternating periods of economic growth and contraction. TRUE/FALSE?

Federal Reserve monetary policy strives to bring about full employment and price stability. Explain how the Federal Reserve loosens or tightens monetary policy through open market operations and how this affects the economy. Include in your answer how looser or tighter monetary policy affects the amount of reserves in the banking system and interest rates, and how loose or tight monetary policy is supposed to affect GDP, employment and inflation.(8-12 sentences)

Suppose the world price of steel falls substantially. The demand for labor among steel-producing firms in Pennsylvania will increase/decrease . The demand for labor among automobile-producing firms in Michigan, for which steel is an input, will increase/decrease . The temporary unemployment resulting from such sectoral shifts in the economy is best described as ? unemployment.

Suppose the government wants to reduce this type of unemployment. Which of the following policies would help achieve this goal? Check all that apply.

Extending the number of weeks for which unemployed workers are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits from the government

Improving a widely used job-search website so that it matches workers to job vacancies more effectively

Increasing the benefits offered to unemployed workers through the government's unemployment insurance program

Think of a situation where you have used Decision Analysis and explain what that process was like.

Management at the Macho Burrito Hacienda has completed a study of weekly demand for its super-supremo-dos-nacho-double-grande-mucho-muncho burritos. The study revealed that the demand for the four-pound cheese-stuffed, bacon-smothered, grease-dripping, colossal-sized macho burrito meal (X) is given by the following equation:

                                    Q_X = 1,320 -1,000 P_X + 700 P_T + 7 I + 200 A

where  Q_X           = the number of the four-pound macho burrito meals sold

                        P_X        = the price of the four-pound macho burrito meals

                        P_T            = the price of bacon cheeseburger double-decker tacos

                        I           = per capita income

                        A         = Advertising expenditure                  

            Currently P_X = 5, P_T = 2, I = 40 and A = 20.

1. Calculate the elasticity of demand for burrito meals with respect to the price of burritos, the price of tacos, and per capita income.

(b)       Should the Macho Burrito Hacienda raise the price of its burrito meals to increase Total Revenue? Why or why not?

(c)        Calculate consumer surplus at the Revenue-maximizing price.

(d)       If the cost per burrito is $3 and Macho Burrito Hacienda behaves as a monopolist, how many burrito meals will be sold and at what price?

What do you think will happen to the rate of return on educational investment as the U.S. approaches zero population growth?