Question

Patagonia

Patagonia sells rugged clothing and gear to mountain climbers, skiers, and other extreme-sport enthusiasts. The company is also well known for its environmental stands and its commitment to product quality. Patagonia has never owned a fabric mill or a sewing shop. Instead, to make a ski jacket, for example, it buys fabric from a mill, and zippers and facings from other manufacturers, and then hires a sewing shop to complete the garment. To meet its own environmental standards and ensure product quality, it works closely with each partner to make sure the jacket meets its rigid standards.

As a result of these standards, Patagonia does as much business as it can with as few partners as possible and chooses its relationships carefully. The first thing the company looks for in a partner is the quality of its work. It doesn’t look for the lowest-cost provider, who might sew one day for a warehouse store such as Costco and try to sew the next day for Patagonia. Contractors that sew on the lowest-cost basis, the company reasons, wouldn’t hire sewing operators of the skill required or welcome Patagonia’s oversight of its working conditions and environmental standards. What Patagonia looks for, more than anything, is a good fit between itself and the companies it partners with. It sees its partners as an extension of its own business, and wants partners that convey Patagonia’s own sense of product quality, business ethics, and environmental and social concern.

Once a relationship is established, Patagonia doesn’t leave adherence to its principles to chance. Its production department monitors its partners on a consistent basis. The objective is for both sides to prosper and win. In fact, in describing the company’s relationship with its partners, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard says, “We become like friends, family—mutually selfish business partners; what’s good for them is good for us.”

Build-A-Bear Workshop

A similar set of beliefs and actions describe Build-A-Bear Workshop. Build-A-Bear lets its customers, who are usually children, design and build their own stuffed animals, in a sort of Santa’s workshop setting. Like Patagonia, Build-A-Bear is a very socially conscious organization, and looks for partners that reflect its values. Affirming this point, Maxine Clark, the company’s founder, said, “The most successful corporate partnerships are forged between like-minded companies with similar cultures that have come together for a common goal, where both sides benefit from the relationship.”

Also similar to Patagonia, Build-A-Bear thinks of its partners as good friends. Reflecting on her experiences in this area, Clark said, “I tend to think of partners as good business friends—companies and people who would do everything they could to help us succeed and for whom I would do the same.” In a book she wrote about founding and building Build-A-Bear into a successful company, Clark attributes having good partners to careful selection. She also likens business partnership to a marriage, which has many benefits but also takes hard work: “Good business partnerships are like successful marriages. To work, they require compatibility, trust and cooperation. Both parties need to be invested in one another’s well-being and strive for a common goal.”

Both Patagonia and Build-A-Bear make extensive use of partnerships and are leaders in their respective industries.

Questions for Critical Thinking

1. 1. To what extent do you believe that Patagonia and Build-A-BearWorkshop’s ethical cultures drive their views on partnering?

2. 2. Assume you were assigned the task of writing a code of conduct for Patagonia. Write the portion of the code of conduct that deals with business partnership relationships.

3. 3. What similarities do you see between the partnership philosophies of Patagonia and Build-A-Bear Workshop?

4. 4. Spend some time studying Patagonia by looking at the company’s website and its Facebook page, and via other Internet searches. Describe Patagonia’s general approach to business ethics, social responsibility, and environmental concerns. What, if anything, can start-ups learn from Patagonia’s philosophies and its experiences?

Answer 1

1. Patagonia and Build-A-Bear workshops, both the organizations view their partners as their own company and make sure that they carry and leave the same legacy as that of theirs. A parent company will be able to operate successfully when all its partners or stakeholders all think alike. They should not be working for profit but instead be working for a common cause and working towards a common goal. They make sure that their partners are ethically aligned towards the goal of the parent organization which makes both the choose their partners carefully.

2. Code of Conduct for companies partnering with Patagonia will be rolled out as follows:

1. Companies partnering with the parent organization are expected to experience utmost professionalism and honesty.
2. They are expected to be principally aligned towards a common goal.
3. They are not expected to serve multiple clients and thereby compromise on quality.
4. They are expected to have the same sense of ownership as that of the parent company.

3. The partnership philosophies of both Patagonia and Build-A-Bear workshops mainly lies on the concept of visualizing partners as friends. The partners are expected to contribute to the success of the parent company and vice versa. There is a win-win strategy amidst both the clients and the partners.

4. Patagonia’s general approach to business ethics, social responsibility, and environmental concerns are executed as follows:

1. The organization's main focus is on Recycle, Reduce, Reuse and Repair.
2. The organization contributes to the environment by promoting organic outdoor clothing and organic sportswear through ethical business practices.
3. They also use organic raw materials like organic cotton for manufacturing products in order to contribute to the environment.
4. They also make sure that they make their employees work in fair working conditions.
5. The organization exercises corporate social responsibility by either donating 1% of their overall sales or 10% of their overall company profit to various organizations involved in environment conservation.

All start up's should first decide on their operating principles in order to determine their mode of operations. Not all organizations in the market are ethically and environmentally compliant. They loose out when they choose to make out of the bound profits. This is where the organization's vision, mission and goals come in and drive the company. Hence start ups should learn to focus on a common purpose which will help them to be a socially responsible organization.