Patagonia Inc.A Passion for the Planet

“Most people want to do good things, but don’t. At Patagonia, it’s an essential part of your life”

-Yvon Chouinard-

Overview Patagonia

²Patagonia Inc., is seller of outdoor clothing and equipment that has a reputation as an enlightened employer and champion of the environment

²1,275 employees, 39 stores in 7 country.

²Mission Statement : Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.

²Have ambitious goals that trust their employees to do the right thing, and give them tools and time they need to do it

Question 1What role, if any, does McGregor’s Theory Y play at Patagonia? Explain

Theory X vs Theory Y

Ø Most people dislike work and want to avoid it

Ø People require close direction

Ø People want to avoid responsibility and have little ambition

Ø Work is a natural activity

Ø People can be self-directed if they are committed to the objective

Ø Rewards help commitment

Ø Most employees accept and seek responsibility

Ø Employees have imagination, ingenuity and creativity

Question 1What role, if any, does McGregor’s Theory Y play at Patagonia? Explain

Work is a natural activity• Patagonia is the company that stress continuous improvement and

being way better competition but also make people feel comfortable

• Patagonia offers an on-site day-care center at its headquarters and full medical benefits to all employees, including part-timers

People can be self-directed if they are committed to the objective• “Most people want to do good things, but don’t. At Patagonia, it’s

essential part of your life”• Patagonia Inc, a seller of outdoor clothing and equipment that has

a reputation as an enlightened employer and champion of the environment

Question 1What role, if any, does McGregor’s Theory Y play at Patagonia? Explain

Rewards help commitment• The company raised salaries only to adjust for the cost of living,

and everybody gets an annual bonus based on profits, but, overall, Patagonia pays at, or just slightly above, the market rate

• Patagonia held a program that allows employees to take off up to two months

Most employees accept and seek responsibilityThey are meritocracies with ambitious goals that trust their employees to do the right thing and give them the tools and timethey need to do it

Employees have imagination, ingenuity and creativityPatagonia’s culture makes it a magnet for a talented people

Question 2How does Patagonia build human and Social Capital

Human Capital the productive potential of an individual’s knowledge and actions

Fact:Patagonia pays 50% of Lisa Myers’ college expenses as she pursues a wildlife biology, saying “It’s easy to go to work when you get paid to do what you love to do”

Social Capital productive potential resulting from strong relationships, goodwill, trust, and cooperative effort

Fact:• Patagonia offers an on-site day-

care center at its headquarters and full medical benefits to employees, including partimers

• Patagonia allows employees to take off up to two months at full pay and work for environmental groups

Question 3How does this case bring the profile of the 21st-century manager life

Primary Role Past Managers Future ManagersCultural Orientation Monocultural,

monolingualMulticultural, multi-

lingual

Source of influence Formal authority Technical knowledge and interpersonal skill

View of people Potential problem Primary resource; human capital

Decision-making style Limited input for individual decisions

Broad-based input for joint decisions

Ethical considerations Afterthought Forethought

Primary Role Future Managers Patagonia Role

Cultural Orientation Multicultural, multi-lingual

Multicultural

Source of influence Technical knowledge and interpersonal skill

We can easily appliesd from Patagonia’s experiance : to think outside the box, sametimes you need to get out of the cubicle.

View of people Primary resource; human capital

• One – site day care center at headquarters• Medical benefit.• Patagonia provide a program that allows

employee to take off up to two month at full pay and work for environmental group.

• Patagonia also pays 50% tuition educational degree.

Decision-making style

Broad-based input for joint decisions

Patagonia trust employee to do the right thing and give them the tools and time they need to do it

Ethical considerations

Forethought Green philosophyTo produce the highest quality products while doing the least possible harm to the environment

Question 4Which of the seven moral principles appear to be in force at Patagonia?

Honesty & Dignity of human life

Patagonia Inc has a reputation as an enlightened employer and champion of environment, and they committed to translate their values to a set of guide in every decision and centerpiece of a management practice.

To enlight their employer, they see employer as a human that have dignity in life such as manager try to motivate employees with kind words and generous benefits. They also trust their employees to do the right thing – and give them the tools and time they need to do it.

While to commit as champion of environment, they donate 1% of revenues to environmental groups. The company also pays 50% of her college expenses as she pursues a wildlife biology degree. They said that : “It’s easy to go to work when you get paid to do what you love to do”

However, the most significant rewards aren’t monetary. One popular perk is a program that allows employess to take off up to two months at full pay and work for environmental groups.

Question 4Which of the seven moral principles appear to be in force at Patagonia?

Fairness

It’s reflected by giving on site day care center at its headquarters and full medical benefits to all employees, including part timers. The company recently raised salaries to adjust for the cost of living and everybody gets an annual bonus based on profits. But overall, Patagonia pays at or just slighlty above the market rate.

Question 5What appeals (or does not appeal) to you about working at Patagonia?

Trust employee to do the right thing

Take off two up to two months at full pay and work for environmental group

Green company that’s driven by values

Full medical benefits

Question 5What appeals (or does not appeal) to you about working at Patagonia?

… the best collaboration team

Yvon Chouinard• Yvon Chouinard (a founder of

patagonia) became a role model at 21 st century manager.

Patagonia Magic

He introduced a new idea such as :Green filosophy.Human capital.Sustainable business practices.Continuous improvement.