Text: Better Business s1

Video Title: Patagonia: Ethics and Social Responsibility

Length: 4:01

Classroom Application: Instructors will find this video helpful in the study of business ethics. Recent news events such as the Enron and Columbia/HCA scandals demonstrate the need for greater ethical instruction. Providing students with such knowledge can help them to appreciate and better understand the role of ethics in the marketplace and the growing societal demand for increased corporate social responsibility.

Synopsis

Patagonia believes that individuals can be inspired to make an impact on the environment by working in a positive ethical culture. The culture at Patagonia can best be described as consensus based. All employees and members of management are brought together to enact a change within the company. Patagonia strives to limit the negative environmental impacts of their company as much as possible by applying the best practices concept to their everyday activities. The company maintains a website that chronicles the environmental impacts of their products and discusses the areas in which they strive to improve. This maintains a transparency to their consumers about the company’s efforts to improve the environment.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the mission of Patagonia? List some of their core values mentioned in the video.

Patagonia’s mission is to build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and inspire and implement solutions for the environmental crisis. Some of the core values mentioned in the video are social responsibility, peaceful environmental activism, environmental responsibility, personal respect, transparency, honesty, commitment to community, commitment to customers, and commitment to the planet.

2. How does Patagonia reinforce its corporate core values with employees?

Patagonia reinforces its core values first through its hiring process. The company often hires employees for their peaceful environmental activism. Next, Patagonia keeps its core values alive by asking employees to participate in a new hire orientation. Afterwards, values are instilled through regular meetings, offsite meetings, getting outdoors and through talks with the founder, Yvon Chouinard.

3. Discuss some of the socially responsible programs Patagonia has founded.

Several socially responsible programs are mentioned in the video. Patagonia has been at the forefront of major green movements and led the campaign to see businesses take more responsibility for their actions. Some of their programs include the Freedom to Roam Campaign, One Percent for the Planet Program, and their new web journal, The Footprint Chronicles. The Freedom to Roam Campaign highlights big species that migrate and roam within the United States and pushes to open up natural roaming paths. The Footprint Chronicles provide full transparency of how Patagonia makes its products. The web site shows examples of both good and bad environmental products.

Quiz

1. Based on information presented in the video, how do you think Patagonia founder, Yvon Chouinard, would define ethics?

a. obeying the law

b. doing the right thing as long as it doesn’t interfere with profits

c. taking initiatives to direct and encourage social responsibility

d. amoral core values are the best

Answer: c

Explanation: Patagonia does more than just operate in ways that are socially responsible. They take a proactive, leadership role as they attempt to encourage other organizations to operate responsibly as well. It is a progressive company that takes initiative without being told to do so.

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2. All of the following are personal ethical values reinforced by Patagonia’s operations EXCEPT ______.

a. honesty

b. respect

c. community consciousness

d. personal maximization

Answer: d

Explanation: Patagonia believes social and environmental responsibility creates a better society, which is a way value comes back to Patagonia and its employees. Employees are encouraged to pursue peaceful activism. Furthermore, the company provides good benefits and treats its employees with honesty and respect.

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3. In what way do the personal ethics of Patagonia’s employees impact the company workplace?

a. Employee’s personal ethics have no impact at all.

b. Patagonia’s culture is a consensus based, collective consciousness.

c. Management makes all decisions and controls the company’s ethical direction.

d. Employees do what is required of them and no more.

Answer: b

Explanation: If leaders of Patagonia want to move the company in a new ethical direction, employees must actively be brought along in the process. The culture is consensus based. It is believed that a happy employee begets a happy customer begets a happy management team begets a happy shareholder group.

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4. All of the following are elements of Patagonia’s mission statement EXCEPT______.

a. increasing shareholder wealth

b. building quality products

c. causing no environmental harm

d. inspiring social responsibility

Answer: a

Explanation: The Patagonia mission statement includes no mention of shareholder wealth or profits. In fact, one of the company’s primary values is that environment takes precedence over profit.

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5. Patagonia is successful as a socially responsible corporate leader primarily because ______.

a. they have a good mission statement and nice logo

b. they have good management and communication

c. their own policies and decisions are consistent with their environmental mission

d. they sell green products and use green distributors

Answer: c

Explanation: Patagonia is successful as a socially responsible corporate leader because their internal operational policies are consistent with their environmental mission. In other words, they walk the walk. The company believes in total transparency as represented by the recent addition of a web journal called The Footprint Chronicles. Both good and bad examples of their products are shown on the page.

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