Cross-Cultural Perspectives
Don Barry

Cross-Cultural Perspectives
Timberland Overview
Originally founded in 1933 as the Abington Shoe Company, in 1952 Nathan Swartz bought into the company located in Abington Massachusetts. Swartz bought out the remaining interest in the company in 1955 and brought his sons into the business. In 1973, the Timberland brand name was introduced and the company officially changed its name to The Timberland Company. Known primarily for the waterproof leather work-boots produced by the injection-molding technology the company developed back in 1960, the company has expanded to produce clothing and shoes for men, women, and children. The company also produces a line of rugged outdoor accessories as well. Timberland started expanding into the international market in 1980 when the line was introduced in Italy (Timberland, 2010). Since then Timberland has experienced periods of rapid growth and periods when the company grew more slowly, depending on the economy and more important, the mild winter weather that lowers the demand for the rugged Timberland shoes and apparel. Today the company operates in more than 90 international countries (Haapaniemi, 1998).

History of Going Global
In 1979 Timberland was approached by a businessman from Italy and asked them about selling Timberland boots in Italy. Jeffrey Swartz, Timberland’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) thought: "Why would you take boots made in New Hampshire - these were work boots, rugged hand-sewn American-looking things - and sell them in Italy, the home of Ferragamo, Botticelli, and all those magnificent brands (Haapaniemi, 1998, Para. 2)?" After some discussions, they determined the businessman was taking the risk so Timberland signed a deal to become the company’s first international distributor. Behind the Italian success, Timberland started doing “adventure exporting,” international distributors would approach the company, and the company would show them the line and ask them if they wanted to buy the shoes to sell. As part of the adventure, the Timberland executives began traveling to the countries meet with distributors and work with them to start selling the Timberland products.
This proved to be a successful arrangement until some of the new distributors had problems and the distributorships failed. Timberland researched the issues behind the failures and determined the distributors were not familiar with cultural, ethical, and economic issues in the countries they were working. The distributors went out of business; however, the consumers in those countries still wanted to buy the products. To solve this problem the company decided to set up company own subsidiaries.

Ethical Perspectives across Cultures involved in the Global Organization
In setting up its own subsidiaries the company had to overcome a number of issues. When it started expanding into Europe Timberland looked for people who had a history of selling shoes in Europe. This approach was not always successful. Some of the perspective candidates tried to direct the company on what should be done, explaining that this is how it was done in that country. Issues also occurred with the currency exchange rates with the rapidly fluctuating strength of the dollar. Many of these countries were also becoming more concerned with environmental issues and wanted new companies coming into the country to be more environmentally friendly. In addition, as Timberland expanded into the overseas markets, the company started expanding the production facilities contracting with third party suppliers to manufacture Timberland products in their factories. Timberland wanted to ensure the social and environmental conditions in those factories were the same as the company owned factories and that the employee’s human rights would be respected.

Ethical Perspectives in the Global Organization
To overcome the difficulties in starting subsidiaries in the European countries, Timberland stopped looking for people with shoe selling experience but did not understand the culture of the area and began looking for candidates that fit with the culture and understood the company’s ethics. Because of this approach, the companies European managers are community-oriented, younger, and more environmentally conscious than other European shoe companies. As CEO Swartz explains; "Although they have accents relative to the American ear, they are Timberland men and women. If you lined up the sales managers of the top shoe brands in say, the U.K. or Germany, you could pick out our person every time” (Haapaniemi, 1998, Para. 9).
To handle the fluctuations in the value of the dollar, the company instituted a foreign currency exchange program to incorporate multiple currencies (Haapaniemi, 1998).
As the company became more concerned with environmental impacts and the effect on the countries where their products were manufactured, Timberland has developed a program they call their “Earthkeepers philosophy” that they use to direct their social and environmental values (Swartz, 2011). In addition Timberland works to help with community service through an effort call its “GREEN Service Standard.” The program supports efforts in the local communities and provides employees with paid volunteer time to assist in the community (Timberland Responsibility, n.d.).
To address the need for a common approach with the company’s manufacturing facilities, Timberland has developed a Code of Conduct. “This is the legal partnership agreement for social and environmental conditions in all of the factories we do business with around the world” (Timberland Responsibility, 1994, Para. 3).

Conclusion
As with most companies, Timberland did not start out with a business plan to include a global marketing strategy when the company was founded. The company did not create a long detailed action plan on how to move into the international markets. The company was approached by an entrepreneur from Italy that wanted to sell Timberland boots in Italy.
When asked about his company, Sidney Swartz explains it this way; “We have a rich New England heritage that inspires the way we make our products and run our business. We make boots, shoes, clothes and gear that are comfortable enough to wear all day and rugged enough for all year” (Swartz, 2010, Para. 1). He further goes on to explain the company’s philosophy; “One part of our history and our future that makes us particularly proud is our commitment to doing the right thing. Whether it's making products with the environment in mind, volunteering in our communities, or having one of the toughest Codes of Conduct around, we care about our colleagues, our community and our planet. HOW we do our business matters” (Swartz, 2010, Para. 2).
Despite a few issues when the company started expanding, the current approach has made the company’s international expansion a success. With a philosophy like this it is easy to see why Timberland continues to be successful both domestically and internationally.

References
Haapaniemi, P. (1998, September 01). Timberland: "you could pick out our people.". Retrieved from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Timberland%3a+%22you+could+pick+out+our+people.%22+(management+of+foreign...-a021200399
Swartz, J. (2011). Timberland Responsibility. Retrieved from http://responsibility.timberland.com/executive-commitment/
Swartz, S. (2010). About Us. Retrieved from http://www.timberland.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=4053695
Timberland Responsibility. (1994). Code of Conduct. Retrieved from http://responsibility.timberland.com/factories/#code-of-conduct
Timberland Responsibility. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://responsibility.timberland.com/service/
Timberland. (2010). About Us : Timeline. Retrieved from http://www.timberland.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=4089424