Timberland Case Study Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Timberland Case Study - Research Paper Example It is for this reason that the CEO of the company recommends the creation of a model that brings an era whereby â€Å"under the model, creating commercial value and social value, commerce and justice were â€Å"inextricably linked†Ã¢â‚¬  (Austin, Leonard, and Quinn, 2004, p. 1). Reading through the case study, it could be noticed that there is the likelihood that there could arise a subsequent problem that has to do with the implementation of the designed model. This problem is projected in the face of having to satisfy the stake of all stakeholders to accepting the innovative business model as the most suitable for the present needs of the company. Identified "stakeholders" The running of any public interest organization such as Timberland can never be complete in the absence of a well regulated and coordinated effort among some key players, commonly referred to as stakeholders (Maremont, 1993). The term ‘stakeholders’ is used to refer to these players because with their roles in the organizations, they could be said to be people who can legitimately claim stakes in the successful running of given organizations. In other words, the roles of each stakeholder are so important that eliminating the functions of one of them could cause the doom of the company involved. A critical review of the case in which Timberland finds itself brings out who the company’s stakeholders are and the roles played in the successful story of the company over the years. Employees, consumers, customers, partners, the community and the investment community all come together to act as stakeholders of Timberland (Austin, Leonard, and Quinn, 2004, p. 11). Employees of the company act as the engine of production, whose tasks include the need to ensure that there is an adequate supply margin to the demand chain on the company (Esposito, 2001). Customers and consumers are the financial lifeline to the company, whose purchases account for the company’s reven ues. Partners and the investing community also play important roles in fueling the company with fiscal resources though they come in as beneficiaries in the long run. The community, on the other hand, is an important stakeholder in the social justice phenomenon; as the community ought to benefit exclusively from the company without any thought of reciprocate in return. Important Target Groups Still on the commerce and justice vision of the company, there are some key target groups that ought to be considered in the rendering of the innovative business model of the company. Apart from the stakeholders who have been mentioned earlier as employees, consumers, customers, partners, the community and the investment community, suppliers and the government are two other important target groups. The justification in considering suppliers as important target group comes from one major factor and that is, Timberland as a company does a lot of outsourcing in the procurement and acquisition of r aw materials for its operations. This, therefore, means that for a lot of times that the company will be in the quest to go into production in order to meet demand from customers and consumers, the company would have to fall on its suppliers (Ducharme, 2002). It is for this reason that the role of suppliers as important target group cannot be underestimated. With government, not much needs to be said to justify its role as an important target