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Toms Shoes

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The Business of Saving International Feet

TOMS Shoes

Bergan Crane
John Dabbs
Reynaldo Nunez

Group 3

February 24, 2011
MGT 3371
INTRODUCTION TOMS Shoes
It is often assumed, after the past decade of scandalous CEOs and selfish executives, that the perspective of today’s “businessman” is one who strives to cultivate a small empire of affluence and happiness, private jets and vacation homes. The world is shown each and every day how the malicious business practices of one person can easily translate to the disintegration of the whole corporation. However, in rare instances, a businessman like Blake Mycoskie, the creator of TOMS Shoes, arrives on the scene and what he shows the world is that big business, and a big heart, can go hand in hand.
TOMS Shoes was created in January of 2006 by Blake Mycoskie after an inspirational trip to Argentina gave Mycoskie an idea that was the foundation for both a business, and a charitable cause. That idea is what is now more commonly associated as TOMS motto, “One for One” (http://www.toms.com/our-movement). The TOMS concept is for every pair of shoes purchased from their company, one pair is provided to less fortunate children in locations around the globe. TOMS, headquartered in Santa Monica, California, has tested and excelled at the dual mission business model of being a for-profit company which is centered on giving. Creator and “Chief Shoe Giver”, Blake Mycoskie says of the TOMS company, “Giving is what fuels us.
Giving is our future. It’s the core of our business . . .” (The Giving Report, TOMS.com, 2010).

COMPANY MISSION One For One
The idea for TOMS came to Mycoskie after a visit to Argentina in 2006 where he noticed the simplistic usefulness of the common Argentinean shoe, the espadrille. He also took the note of the large number of children without shoes, who, in

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