Summary and analysis on its overall business strategy
Patagonia was initiated by people who were hooked on climbing mountain and traveling around the world. Their business ideas and concepts were originated from their passion and demand of better equipments. Founders of Patagonia even rotate in business management, some of them traveling around and enjoy climbing while others work hard in the company. Their vision and mission which they emphasized environmental sustainability was steadfast. Unlike other normal companies, they seem to put sustainability ahead of maximizing the profit. At the first glance, it sounds radical or hard to understand that business doesn’t set its first goal as profit. However, the business performances and their achievements on preserving environment make us give a second look on Patagonia. Even when their business was difficult to be lucrative, they didn’t compromise by forgiving the quality or sustainability. Also, Patagonia’s tactics for achieving their goal was multi-dimensional. Not simply donating some portion of their revenue or trying to reducing pollutions, they cared human resources, logistics, raw materials, and customers’ behaviors. These efforts not only realized the vision of Patagonia, but also made Patagonia a brand for representative of eco-friendliness. We can say their vision for sustainability eventually became the core competence of it
Question 1 - When we evaluate Patagonia’s business model, how important is its environmental position to Patagonia’s business model?
At an external level, Patagonia’s goal for achieving sustainability was well fit with the trend. As people have become more interested in environmental issues, some people are willing to pay premiums for products caring for environment. Also, governments encouraged and complimenting the efforts to save environment. Patagonia came to be introduced by government to mass media. The paradox vision for sustainability