Patagonia Case Study free essay sample

Patagonia is a high-end outdoor apparel company founded in 1972 by Yvon Chouinard, a self-described ‘dirtbag’. The company remains private. Has experienced strong growth to date (6% sales growth Y-oY) while maintaining its commitment to sustainability and the environment Industry includes Columbia Sportswear, The North Face (VF Corp. ), and many general retailers Strategy Business Model: Customers: median age of 38 years old, average household income of $160K Products (% revenue): Sportswear (47%), Technical Outerwear (30%), Technical Knits (12%), and Hard Goods (6%). High quality, priced 20% higher than other outdoor apparel. ‘Ironclad Guarantee’ to repair, refund, or replace any product that does not fully satisfy customers Financials: 50%-55% gross margin on goods sold. High environmental and social standards for suppliers, though selectivity also leads to lower product defect rates Sales (% sales): Wholesale (44%), Retail (33%), Catalog + Internet (23%) – fewer distributors than competitors; retail stores and catalog play important role in communicating brand connecting to customers Marketing: environmental / social stance often attracted free media attention; careful conscious effort to not exploit position for monetary gain Culture: strong culture, family-friendly workplace, environmental perks for employees, low employee turnover Questions In spring 2010, Patagonia was in the process of implementing a new, radical environmental initiative called â€Å"Product Lifecycle Initiative† (PLI). We will write a custom essay sample on Patagonia Case Study or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This initiative represented a holistic commitment to lengthen the lifecycle of each product and reduce landfill waste. It constituted Patagonia’s efforts to take responsibility for the products it made, â€Å"from birth to death and then beyond death, back to rebirth. † The initiative consisted of a mutual contract between the company and its customers to â€Å"reduce, repair, reuse, and recycle† the apparel that they consumed. This case invites you to  understand a unique approach to creating and capturing value, assess its sustainability, and evaluate innovative ways to compete. 1. Evaluate Patagonia’s strategy: how does Patagonia create and capture value? Patagonia sells high quality products to outdoor enthusiasts – its products are cutting edge in terms of the materials used (and the value they generate for the customer), as are their manufacturing methods. Patagonia embeds environmental sustainability into its production methods, allowing it to meet its own mission while appealing to customers who share those values. Also see above outline. 2. How important to Patagonia’s strategy is its stated mission: â€Å"Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis†? Each of the three parts of the mission statement guide Patagonia day to day business decisions: Build the best product: high RD spend ($3M annually), focus on innovation, ambassador model for testing and feedback Cause no unnecessary harm: environmentally friendly manufacturing techniques, supplier selectivity and environmental standards, raw materials sourcing (e.g. organic cotton), Footprint Chronicles to analyze impact, energy efficient buildings and recycling processes Use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis: 1% of revenue donated to environmental causes, sharing of sustainability processes with other companies / competitors, grants and other campaigns (see Exhibit 10) 3. What is your assessment of Patagonia’s product lifecycle initiative (Reduce, Repair, Reuse, and Recycle)? Will it be a success? Evaluating PLI hinges on the definition of success: how heavily the company weighs achieving its annual growth targets against achieving its sustainability mission. The innovative program will likely be a success in raising awareness on over-consumption, but Patagonia will need to focus on aggressively growing its customer base (vs. repeat sales to existing customers) in order to achieve targets. Patagonia may also want to find ways to monetize the online swap market they create to supplement some of the potential lost revenue from individuals who buy second hand (membership fee, repair fee, flat fee on each swap, charge other retailers for access, etc. ). In the long-term the second-hand buyers may become future Patagonia customers, who at present cannot afford the high-end new products, creating a new customer acquisition vehicle.

Success In Business Through Ethics †Business Essay

Success In Business Through Ethics – Business Essay Free Online Research Papers Success In Business Through Ethics Business Essay I believe it is imperative to adhere strongly to ethics in order to succeed in both the personal and business aspects of your life. Applying this to my job I am constantly playing by the rules to uphold our company’s clean image. It is rare for a young company to maintain high ethical standards; however so far my company has succeeded. In order to further my company’s growth in this area, we believe knowledge is the key. We are constantly looking for workshops and training sessions to make sure all employees are well versed in the ethics arena of business. We are confident that each employee will withhold strongly to the rules of our company. One of the most important aspects of a company is honesty; one white lie can tarnish a company’s reputation forever. In checking the invoices one month we noticed that a company had paid double what they should have, instead of seeing if they would notice first, which is what most companies would do, we alerted them right away and fixed the problem as soon as possible. This shows that we have been very thorough in maintaining our spotless record. In my personal life I have been told a number of times I have very strong morals. I believe in doing what’s right when nobody is looking and treating others as I would like to be treated. I have found money and credit cards on several occasions and always turn it in to the nearest lost and found. One night surfing after surfing I notice a lady and her young child sopping wet standing in the parking lot. I asked if they needed any help, turns out she had locked her keys in her car. I let her borrow my cell phone and gave them each a dry towel and offered them a ride. The next weekend my board bag with my only set of keys in it was stolen from the beach, and thankfully somebody did the same for me. There is nothing more frustrating than having to deal with a company or person without good ethics. It’s not always easy to uphold strong morals but in the long run I strongly believe it is always worth it. Research Papers on Success In Business Through Ethics - Business EssayAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaTwilight of the UAWMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductPETSTEL analysis of IndiaArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)The Project Managment Office SystemComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayResearch Process Part OneNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This Nice

Within a health economic framework, discuss and analyse one chronic Essay

Within a health economic framework, discuss and analyse one chronic disease issue and the possible future implications and impact that they may have on the Australian Health Care System - Essay Example The country’s model for chronic disease management aims to ensure delivery of care during the continuum. Disease prevention strategy starts at the primary level in the healthy population, then to secondary prevention and early detection in the at-risk population and ends with disease management once disease is established besides management and tertiary prevention for people with complex chronic diseases. Although strategies may vary from region to region, they are characterized by the aims of improved access, reduced health inequalities and better outcomes for those with chronic diseases through the policies of self-care, continuity and quality of care (Snodden 2010). Chronic disease As defined by the World Health Organisation, a chronic disease is one, which is of permanent nature with residual disability and caused by irreversible pathological changes. 12 chronic diseases identified by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) as having a significant impact on t he country’s health care system (Zwar, et al. 2006) are â€Å"coronary heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, depression, diabetes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, oral diseases, arthritis and osteoporosis.† (Zwar, et al. 2006, 8). As already mentioned, chronic diseases are managed at primary care level by general practitioners and other professionals of primary health care with tie-ups with specialised agencies. The Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) report states that most of the above chronic disease are treated at the primary care level except lung cancer and colorectal cancer (Zwar, et al. 2006). Australia’s health system Australia’s health system is considered one of the best in the world with the country’s universal medical insurance scheme Medicare providing access to health care for all. Because of the robustness of the system, life expectancy has increased, childhood and maternal mortality rate, incidence of cancer and heart disease have reduced. Demographic changes to the population are characterised by the increase in the population of people over 65 years. Their population has been estimated at 2.9 million (13.3%) in 2009 as against 1.1 million (8.3 %) in 1971. In spite of the overall achievement, health status of the indigenous peoples is far below the status of mainstream communities. Thus, Australian health system is under constant challenges due to rise in demand, constrained capacity and insufficient health care professionals and infrastructure as are with any other industries such as banking, transport etc. Rise in demand is due to combination of factors such as higher expectations from the health seekers who are now better informed, increasing burden of diseases arising out of problems affluent living conditions attendant with risk factors, increased life span and people’s ability to use advancements in the medical field. These problems of plenty are responsible for ever increasing burden of chronic diseases that make up 70 % of Australia’s health burden which is expected to increase to 80 % by 2020 (Boyages 2010). Since cancer diseases especially lung cancer and colorectal cancer are not being managed at the primary care level, this paper will choose cancer as one chronic disease that is impacting on the country’s health care system. Cancer epidemiology AIHW reports that in 2007 alone new cancer cases diagnosed were about 108,368, 57 % of which were males. There is a risk for 1 in 3 in males and 1 in 4 in females to be diagnosed with cancer before they the age of 75 years. Most common types of cancer were prostate cancer (19,403 cases0, bowel cancer (14,243 cases), breast cancer (12,670 cases, skin cancer (10,432 cases) and lung cancer

Respond what you agree with and disagree with and why Essay

Respond what you agree with and disagree with and why - Essay Example The wars in Vietnam and Korea produced a whole generation of veteran warriors who suffers from all possible psychological and behavioural disorders. This generated some sort of butterfly effect to their families and communities, who were also involved in dealing with the post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the war. I disagree with Auchincloss statement that after the World War II, the US felt obligated to intervene in the world affairs. I believe that the US wanted to prove that it is greater political and economic power after the World War II, when the rivalry between the Soviet Union and USA started. I am of the opinion that US intervened in all worldwide political matters only to show its growing military power. The only reason why US intervened was to get a head starts before the Soviets. Everything was a competition – who will send the first astronaut in space, who will have the nuclear weapons, who will land on the

Theories of the Formation of Romantic Relationships Essay Example for Free

Theories of the Formation of Romantic Relationships Essay The sociobiological explanation is an evolutionary theory perceiving relationship formation as a form of ‘survival efficiency’, with a difference between genders. Davis (1990) performed a content analysis of personal advertisements, finding that men look for health and attractiveness, while offering wealth and resources. Females look for resources and status, while offering beauty and youth, supporting the idea of evolutionary-based gender differences in relationship formation. However, although relevant to the EEA (Environment of Evolutionary Adaptiveness), the model doesn’t suit modern environment. Many women now have resources of their own and do not need to rely on the resources of men. This casts doubts on the suitability of this explanation in modern days as its applicability, has over the years gradually decreased. The sociobiological explanation is reductionist, seeing relationship as a means of reproduction, therefore disregarding other reasons for being in romantic relationships, like companionship. It can be argued that theories of relationship formation are deterministic, as relationships are seen as having a lack of free will – that is, determined by factors beyond personal control. For example, the rewards and needs satisfaction theory sees relationship formation an unconscious process based on learned associations. The reinforcement and needs satisfaction explanation is a behaviourist explanation, perceiving conditioning as an explanation for relationship formation. People may directly reward us (operant conditioning) by meeting our psychological needs for friendship, love and sex. Their provision of such needs is reinforcing, and therefore we like them more and want to be around them. As a result we are more likely to form a relationship. Also, people may be indirectly rewarded (classical conditioning), where they become associated with the pleasant circumstances and so again the likeliness for forming a relationship increases. Argyle (1994) outlined several motivational systems underpinning social behaviour, and explained how forming relationships satisfies social needs on several levels. * Biological needs, like collective eating. * Dependency, being comforted * Affiliation, a sense of belonging * Dominance, making decisions for others * Sex, flirting * Aggression, letting off steam * Self-esteem, being respected by others Many non-western cultures feature relationships without regard for receiving rewards or prioritising selfish needs. Therefore the rewards –needs satisfaction theory cannot account for cultural differences and thus can be seen as culturally biased. The rewards –needs satisfaction theory of relationship formation cannot account for gender differences. Women often focus more on the needs of others, and males and females tend to find different things rewarding, suggesting that the explanation is gender biased.

Napster :: essays research papers

(1) English 11 Words: 1302 12/ 20/ 00 Napster : Right or Wrong ? "As an artist, there are so many ways that we can be taken advantage of. To have yet one more way to stip an artist of making an honest living is just to much. That's why I sued." ( Levy, 51 ) - Andre Young ( Dr. Dre) Rapper/Producer There are many ways that an artist can be stripped of making an honest living, Napster, one of the many 'Mp3' services online, is the latest. An Mp3 ( short for ISO-MPEG Audio Layer 3 ) is a digital compression of a music or video file so it's easier to send to one another over the internet ( Levy, 51 ). Napster is an online music source where you can search for a song and download it absolutely free, with just one click from your fingertips. The Napster program, created by 19 year-old college drop out Shawn Fanning, is the fastest growing site in history. It recently passed the 25 million mark in less than a year since it was released (Greenfeld, 62 ). His program allows you to download copyright music, and that's why he is being sued by a number of corporations. Napster is being sued by RIAA ( the Recording Industry Association of America ), record companies ( BMG, the holder of lables like: Arista, Bad Boy, RCA, LaFace ), and artists ( Rock band Metallica and Rapper/Producer Dr.Dre). "I'm down for a parallel business even if it's parasitic. Napster is the new radio. It's the most exciting thing since rap, disco and the Beatles." said rapper Chuck D, and it did it is ( Levy, 51 ). Napster is like a radio. You can listen to music and preview it for free. Some artists are actually for Napster like Chuck D. , Neil Young, and rock group Limp Bizkit, who headlined a free tour sponsored by Napster along with Cypress Hill. Napster is like a new radio. It's been said that people use Napster because they feel so (2) ripped off that compact disc prices are so high. They would rather just download the whole album online, then burn it on to a cd spending only three dollars for a burned cd instead of the seventeen dollars spent for buying the actual album. The generalized public that use Napster are young ( teenagers and college

Abduction Is a Short Story by Shelagh Delaney

Abduction is a short story by Shelagh Delaney, it is a story about misunderstanding the concept of love. However it is also a story about, misunderstanding or not looking for the needs of the ones we love. Abduction is the title, and it refers to the way, that Ann abducts her sixteen year old younger brother from their parents, and brings him to london. Ann is a woman who always new, what she wanted: â€Å"She couldn't get out of Manchester quick enough. Although she'd been born and brought up there it had never been good enough. There was only one place worth living.London. † (p. 1, ll. 24) Ann moved and never looked back, except from the one time, where she came to take her younger brother to live with her in London. There can be many reasons why Ann felt the need to take him away from his home, but all in all she has a very strong need to look after someone, and control their life. Considering the fact, that she is working at a children's hospital, may give the impression, that she would want to have kids on her own, but that is not the case. Already when she was a young woman, she was sterilized.It is a bit of a mystery, because while she loved kids, she did not want any of her own. For her it was more easy to become a mother to her younger brother. Therefore she spoiled him with money, and never gave him have a life of his own. When he gets a girlfriend, who also become pregnant, Ann tells them to get an abortion, and they do what she says. Ann's younger brother's girlfriend points out to him, that there is something wrong between the two siblings: â€Å"She's more like a possessive mother than a sister,† She told him. â€Å"Are you sure you're not really her baby? † (pp, 4. ll, 81).This is said because Ann's behavior is more appropriate for a mother than a sister, because as his sister, she should not take the mothers part in the upbringing. As mentioned before Ann spoils her brother with money. She gives him, what she believes he wan ts, and he is too week to tell her, that what she is doing is wrong. When he graduates from college, (where he had studied media, which he actually despised, but did for his sister sake), Ann provide him with a job, which of course leads to Ann giving him a lot of new and expensive close, he never wanted. After that day, he immediately changed to his belongings from his birth house.Ann's brother married Marianne, the girl who got an abortion, she gets pregnant again, and this time, they keep the child. After Marianne has given birth to their child, Ann transfers her own sense to the child, and spoils it with money, even though the parents tell her to stop. After some years Ann's brother start to drink, and become an alcoholic. Marianne tries to help him, but she decides to divorce him. He moves back to Ann, and they are back were they were before the marriage. This is very satisfying for Ann, because now she can control her brother, the way she like.Again she can spoil him with mone y, and give him the things, she think he wants. He says that he does not want her to spend the money, but she answer him back that it is only money, and that is what they are for. The money she gives him, is her way of expressing her love to the brother. She never think that maybe he wants something totally different, he wants feelings, wants someone to tell him that he exist for a reason. His alcoholism is according to Ann not existing, her brother can simply not have an alcohol problem. It is easy to see, that this is her brothers way of going against his sister.He has the need to do something against his sister, and make her realize, that she can not make him, something he is not. She can not make him wear clothes, he dislike, she can't change him, no matter how big an amount of money she gives him. His life is a mess, he is in a deep alcoholism, even though he loves his child and ex-wife. â€Å"He'd wanted to run away then, run back home to his mother and father. Was it possibl e to start all over again? † (pp, 4. ll, 119) Ann is very controlling, she wants him to stay week, so she drags him back into alcoholism, she thinks that she has all the right answers.That her mother and father was in no condition to raise a child, that she could do it better herself, but all she ever did was doing it the wrong way. Money can not replace true feelings, it can not replace the love between to humans, money can never make a person happy, and it did not make her brother happy, it killed him. Both the picture by Edward Munch, and the text by D. H. Lawrence is about women controlling their men. In the painting, a woman encloses a man with her hair, he is in her power. She has the power to control him. The man in he picture has a very sad look in his eyes, as if he nows that he does not have the power to get out of her grip. In the text a man is describing how his girlfriend is very possessive and wants to control him. â€Å"She had such a lust for possession, a gre ed of self-importance in love†(pp. 6, ll. 7). This painting and the text are both very similar to the themes in the short story. They both surrounds the topic of women being dominant, and wanting to control the men, just like Ann's needs to control her younger brother. Fiction and non-fiction is two very different ways of writing.In fiction you can write anything that comes to you mind, there are no specific rules that inquirer you to do something certain. A fiction story can be very unrealistic, but also very realistic. When looking at the short story Abduction, it is quickly discovered that it is a fiction story. To start with it has a third person narrator. In fiction a narrator can write down the characters thoughts, and him or her, can be very subjective: â€Å"The first time he left his sister's house for the office he felt like a fool togged up in a black cashmere and silk shirts†(pp. 3, ll. 8). Non-fiction on the other hand is submitted rules, in non-fiction you have to stay as objective as possible. Personal thoughts are not to prefer, the writer is telling the story as it happened, him or her is passing on valuable information, and that information has to be unbiased. â€Å"Alfred Adler observed that there was an innate â€Å"drive for power an superiority† that was evidenced in sibling rivalry†(pp. 8, ll. 1) Alfred is observing something, and these observations can be used to conclude something. That would not have been the case, if the text had been fiction.