Case study Background
Patagonia is a Californian company producing high-quality sportswear. Its corporate culture has its roots in the 1960s Californian counterculture of climbers and surfers with the ethic of radical environmentalism.
Although its CEO, Yvon Chouinard, is dedicated to social change he also insists on disciplined management and sound business practices. As a previous CEO of Patagonia said, “The one thing I’m clear about is that Chouinard demands 10% pretax profit”. For him, it is not a question of social good or business profit, but social good and business profit.
| Task Work in small groups. You are members of the working group which will discuss suggestions for formulating a company mission.
| USEFUL TIPS
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Identify significant factors necessary for you: the products or services you will provide, the kind of people you will need.
Discuss advantages and disadvantages of the suggestions. How will the mission statement keep management focused on preserving (strengthening) the company’s unique competitive niche? Does it reflect Patagonia’s business philosophy?
Choose the best mission to present.
As a member of the working group, write a memo to the CEO of Patagonia informing him of the key mission which came out of the brainstorming. You should indicate why you favour this idea.
UNIT 2 Company Structure
- If you play your cards right … starting up
- Business is to make profit for the company’s shareholders.
- What is your own philosophy of business?
- Listening
- What do you think of Body Shop’s business philosophy?
- Vocabulary
- Match the words with their meanings
- Complete the sentences with the words from a. Change the form of a word if required.
- Reading Developing a Mission Statement
- The Business Vision and Company Mission Statement
- Core values
- Core Purpose
- Visionary Goals
- Case study Background
- Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.
- Starting up
- Vocabulary
- Hierarchy
- Board of Directors
- Responsibilities/functions
- Managers and executives: uk
- Managers and executives: us
- Philips is a major multinational company which has almost 30,000 trademarks registered worldwide.
- Reading
- Look at the photos. Which departments of a company do they represent?
- Listening
- Translate from Russian into English
- Case study Background
- Unit 3 Organization Forms and Company Presentation
- Angry scenes as members reject
- Partnership
- Unit 4 Key Management Skills
- Vocabulary
- For managers, the three key skill types are technical, human and conceptual. Match them to their definitions and examples.
- Listening
- Reading
- Management Skills
- Supplementary discussion: women in management
- The Roddick Phenomenon
- The New Achievers
- Case study Background
- Everything that can be said can be said clearly.
- Starting up
- What other factors are important for communication? Discuss these questions.
- I can stay cool when I am in the middle of a conflict.
- Vocabulary
- Which of the words above have the following meanings?
- Reading
- Hard Sell around the Photocopier
- Grammar
- Case study
- The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.
- Vidal Sassoon, hairstylist
- Starting up
- At the Forefront of Innovation
- Vocabulary
- New Coke for Old
- Ford Edsel: Remember My Name
- Keeping Your Confidence Up
- 1. A four-year contract
- 2. Maximum advertising at the football ground