Team 9
Case 1: Patagonia
Patagonia is a maker of outdoor equipment for surfing, skiing, snowboarding, climbing, and Trail Running. The company has a great track record of respect for its employees as well as the environment. It started as a company which made tools for the outdoor sports, but it soon used the same business model to transition into an apparel company.
The founder, Yvon Chouinard had a vision for the company. One of the pillars was to make the work “enjoyable on a daily basis.” The company is so focused on its employees that they have a mantra to “let my people go surfing.” Employees also have a lot of benefits from profit sharing, to free yoga, to on-site child care to name a few. Also, the company donates 1% of its sales to environmental charities.
What does this all mean? The company receives an average of 900 resumes per job opening, so they always have top talent to select from. The excellent benefits help keep the attrition rate extremely low. According to the textbook “good people are both rare and inimitable, and therefore create a resource that is valuable for creating a competitive advantage.”(Ch1:p12). Keeping these good people means that the company can further its competitive advantage. The research evidence suggests that the “the firms that valued OB had a 19 percent higher survival rate than the firms that did not value OB.” Keeping attrition rate low means that the company doesn’t have to spend the extra time and money looking-for and training new employees.
1.1 Which checklist ingredients would you value most as an employee? Which would you value least? Do some suggestions seem debatable?
The checklist ingredients mostly valuable for employees are evaluating the pay offered by the company, including employees in the company’s bonus plans, and allowing for flextime and telecommuting. These activities will result in positive individual outcomes.
The least valuable checklist ingredient is conducting a job...