New Balance Case Study 
Case Study 3-3: New Balance
Introduction For “more than 100 years, New Balance has worked to move the world around us because they believe in one simple truth: we were born to move (New Balance, 2014).” New Balance, founded in 1906, steadily grew into a global brand during the 1990’s and now holds the title of the 4th largest athletic footwear manufacturer in the world. As New Balance grew so did the company’s need to focus on corporate citizenship. According to Veleva (2014) “corporate responsibility [is] seen as a way of differentiating a company that “thrives” from a company that just “survives” (p. 5).” When New Balance became global Corporate Citizenship Management Framework (CCFM) was used to evaluate the corporation’s current strengths and weaknesses in corporate social responsibility (CSR). CCFM assesses a company’s CSR using the following four categories: overall governance, community support, operations and products and services.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Overall Governance
The first category in the CCFM evaluation is overall governance. This category is focused on how New Balance’s values, mission, principles and policies support or prevent the company from integrating CSR into its business strategy. New Balance is very strong in this area with a focus on history, values and integrity. A supervisor located at New Balance’s Lawrence, MA factory stated “this is an exceptional company; there is no other company like New Balance, with focus on people and domestic manufacturing (Veleva, 2010, p. 8).” During the economic recession of 2007-2009 New Balance avoided layoffs in its United States manufacturing plants, which shows a strong commitment to social responsibility. In addition New Balance had a strong focus on becoming greener and had initiatives to reduce emissions in its US facilities.
Although New Balance has many strengths in this area, the CCFM report identified that New Balance lacked a clear process for setting up CSR
Introduction For “more than 100 years, New Balance has worked to move the world around us because they believe in one simple truth: we were born to move (New Balance, 2014).” New Balance, founded in 1906, steadily grew into a global brand during the 1990’s and now holds the title of the 4th largest athletic footwear manufacturer in the world. As New Balance grew so did the company’s need to focus on corporate citizenship. According to Veleva (2014) “corporate responsibility [is] seen as a way of differentiating a company that “thrives” from a company that just “survives” (p. 5).” When New Balance became global Corporate Citizenship Management Framework (CCFM) was used to evaluate the corporation’s current strengths and weaknesses in corporate social responsibility (CSR). CCFM assesses a company’s CSR using the following four categories: overall governance, community support, operations and products and services.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Overall Governance
The first category in the CCFM evaluation is overall governance. This category is focused on how New Balance’s values, mission, principles and policies support or prevent the company from integrating CSR into its business strategy. New Balance is very strong in this area with a focus on history, values and integrity. A supervisor located at New Balance’s Lawrence, MA factory stated “this is an exceptional company; there is no other company like New Balance, with focus on people and domestic manufacturing (Veleva, 2010, p. 8).” During the economic recession of 2007-2009 New Balance avoided layoffs in its United States manufacturing plants, which shows a strong commitment to social responsibility. In addition New Balance had a strong focus on becoming greener and had initiatives to reduce emissions in its US facilities.
Although New Balance has many strengths in this area, the CCFM report identified that New Balance lacked a clear process for setting up CSR
References: Allen, F. E. (2011, April 26). The Five Elements of the Best CSR Programs. Retrieved July 6, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/csr/2011/04/26/the-five-elements-of-the-best-csr-programs/ Dow, A. (2012, June 25). New Balance releases first comprehensive Responisble Leadership Report. Retrieved July 6, 2014, from http://www.newbalance.com/press_2012_nb_releases_first_rl_report.html Hohnen, P. (2007). Corporate Social Responsibility: An Implementation Guide for Business. Retrieved July 6, 2014, from http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2007/csr_guide.pdf Intertek. (2011, January). Footwear Materials: PVC. Retrieved July 2, 2014, from https://www.wewear.org/assets/1/7/2011January.pdf Keys, T., Malnight, T. W., & Van Der Graff, K. (2009, December). Making the most of Corporate social responsibility. Retrieved July 6, 2014, from http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/corporate_social_responsibility/making_the_most_of_corporate_social_responsibility New Balance. (2014). Official New Balance Site. Retrieved July 2, 2014, from http://www.newbalance.com/ Veleva, V. R. (2010). New Balance: Developing an Integrated CSR Strategy. Ivey Management Services.