Culture of TOMSShoe Wear By: Alesha Nelsen

Contents• Company Startup• Company Overview• Cultural Metaphor• Kennedy and Deal’s Strong Culture • The concepts utilized

• Peter and Waterman’s Approach • Approaches defined and applied

• Questions • Future

TOMS Company Startup • While traveling in Argentina in 2006, TOMS Founder

Blake Mycoskie found children growing up without shoes. • He created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match

every pair of shoes purchased with a new pair of shoes for a child in need. One for One.®

• American footwear company based out of Santa Monica, California.

TOMS Company Overview & Focus• Given over 60 million pairs of shoes to people in need since 2006 in 70 different

countries around the world. • TOMS® Shoes are always given to children through humanitarian organizations

who incorporate shoes into their community development programs. • TOMS launched eyewear in 2011 & has helped restore eyesight to over 400,000

people in 13 countries. • Each pair of sunglasses sold supports community eye care systems and

provides basic eye care training to local teachers & volunteers.• Prevent Bullying partner is focused on training entire school communities –

teachers, students and parents – to create bully free campuses where all students are included.

TOMS Company Overview & Focus• TOMS Roasting Co. launched in 2014 has provided

clean water to over 3500,000 in 6 countries. • Each purchase of TOMS Roasting Co. Coffee, work

with Giving Partners to provide 140 liters of safe water (a one week supply) to a person in need.• As of 2016, TOMS has supported safe birth services for

over 25,000 mothers.• With every bag you purchase, TOMS will help provide

a safe birth for a mother and baby in need.

The Cultural Metaphor • “Each organization has its own way of doing what it

does and its own way of talking about what it is doing.”• When defining culture we think of complicated

patchwork of values, symbols, and behaviors that define culture in various ways for various people. • The book presents two different ways of thinking

about culture• The first approach is having the right kind of culture can

make or break and organization.• The second approach considers culture as something and

organization is.

Deal and Kennedy’s “Strong Cultures” in TOMS

• Deal and Kennedy argue business success can be enhanced through the development of a “strong” culture.• Four key components • Values are the beliefs and visions that members hold for an

organization• Hero's that exemplify the values of the organization• Rites and Ritual ceremonies through which company

celebrate• Communication system which values are instituted and

reinforced

TOMS Corporate Values • Corporate Responsibility • Employee Life• Environment • Responsible Giving• Social Responsibility • Sustainable Business

Values, Beliefs, and Visions • One for One• Through purchases, TOMS helps provide shoes, sight,

water, safe birth and bullying prevention services to people in need.• The “why” of TOMS—using business to improve lives is

bigger than an individual, the shoes sold, or any future products to be launched.

Mission statement: With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a new pair of shoes to a child in need. One for One.

Heroes• Founder Blake Mycoskie• “Inspired by a traditional Argentine shoes and challenged

by the continents poverty and health issues, I created TOMS with a singular mission: To make life more comfortable. TOMS accomplishes this through its unique shoes and my commitment to match every pair purchased with a donated pair to a child in need… no complicated formulas, its simple… you buy a pair of TOMS and I give a pair to a child on your behalf.” His simple idea has grown into a global movement. Before TOMS Mycoskie has always had a entrepreneur mindset and started five businesses before this one. • TOMS favorite stories with Giving Partners

http://www.toms.com/where-we-give

Rites and Ritual • One Day Without Shoes

• Each year this event is held to raise awareness for children’s health and education • This years event will be held on May 12, 2017. • #withoutshoes

• Happy Hour Helping• This happens once a month where members of a charitable organization come in and

engage with employees in some sort of activity. An example is preparing care packages for women in domestic abuse shelters.

• Employee Participation• Assist non-profit partners who are conducting eye exams or distributing shoes in places like

Honduras and Nepal.• Full-timers are invited on a trip after their first year; after their third year; and then every

three years after that.

Communication System • Uses three separate approaches when it comes to

communicating with the public • Traditional Media• Social Media • Events

Peters and Waterman’s Themes for Excellent Organizations in TOMS

• Peter and Waterman were attempting to identify aspects of organizational culture that were prevalent in high performing companies They then identified “themes” that characterized the cultures of these organizations.

1. Bias for action – Excellent organizations react quickly and do not spend excess time planning and analyzing.

Applied – They are constantly changing the way they look at products and add new products it started off as just a shoe company and now they have added coffee to the company to deliver safe water to coffee growing communities, eyewear to be able to give 3 different kinds of eye procedures for those in need, safe birth programs, and bully prevention programs all since they started in 2006. They have to be quick to know what products to buy and models to invest in. They are constantly looking at their company from other perspectives.

Peters and Waterman’s Themes (Cont.)

2. Close relations to the customer – Excellent organizations gear decisions and actions to the needs of customers.

Applied – They are not just selling to customers they are a movement. They want to have customers not just focused on buying their product but becoming part of the movement. They want to make sure they are not just communicating in a transactional way but creating long term relationships. 3. Autonomy and Entrepreneurship – Excellent organizations encourage employees to take risks in the development of new ideas.

Applied – The key for any organization is to be sustainable. Nonprofit organizations struggle with this in economic down turns and that is why this business incorporates business model with the nonprofit component. This company in innovating constantly with news ideas all the time.

Peters and Waterman’s Themes (Cont.)

4. Productivity through people – Excellent organizations encourage positive and respectful relationships among management and employees.

Applied - They keep an open communication channel with everyone in the company. You can schedule a meeting with anyone so if you have ideas and or are trying to do something big they really care about them they will take a meeting. They have resources that allows employee to develop and be taken care of. 5. Hands-on, Value driven – Excellent organizations have employees and managers who share the same core value of productivity and performance

Applied – TOMS believes they can improve people’s lives through business. They expect that the suppliers who manufacture products will conduct their business in a manner consistent with the unique values and spirit of the company. By implementing their Code, products will be made in environments that protect workers’ rights, ensure workers’ health and safety and respect workers’ dignity. They will work to seek out innovative suppliers that exceed the standards and strive for continuous improvement in identifying positive solutions to environmental and social issues.

Peters and Waterman’s Themes (Cont.)

5. Hands-on, Value driven – Excellent organizations have employees and managers who share the same core value of productivity and performance

Applied - The TOMS family is a diverse team, driven by the idea that they can use business to help improve lives. The close-knit culture lets employees feel at home with one another, making for a supportive, collaborative and authentic atmosphere.6. Stick to the knitting – Excellent organizations stay focused on what they do best and avoid radical diversification

Applied – What this company does best is using their business to help improve the lives of other people and they stick to that. This has helped with the growth of the company and selling new products for different causes but still sticks to the One for One motto.

Peters and Waterman’s Themes (Cont.)

7. Simple form, lean staff – Excellent organizations avoid complex structures and divisions of labor

Applied – This company has manufacturers in China, Argentina, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Shoes are produced in places that they give them.8. Simultaneous loose-tight properties - Excellent organizations exhibit both unity of purpose and the diversity necessary for innovation

Applied - It has over 100 Giving Partners in over 70 countries around the world, focusing on how best to integrate shoes into larger community development programs in health, education and well-being.

How TOMS is Doing Currently• Blake Mycoskie has stepped down as CEO of the company and gave

the reins to Jim Alling. He says “Now instead of running the business day to day, I am focusing more on the marketing and the giving, which are the areas I have the most expertise and passion for.”• TOMS has an annual sale of around $500 million and more than 500

employees, they have donated 70 million pairs of shoes to needy children. • When TOMS started, no one was doing “one for one,” and a lot

people thought they were crazy. Many of Mycoskie’s business colleagues thought they would not make money and it would never be sustainable. Now there are over 100 one-for-one companies. It has created a new way of doing business and a new model.

Questions for TOMS• What is the way you make your business competitive against

other shoe companies other than the One for One motto? Does this company finance its charitable giving through shoe sales or is it a company that is willing to give up profits in order to do good? Or is it a combination of the two? Or neither?

• Will the One of One model be able to keep this company sustainable in the future or do you think too many companies will use this? As smile squared, soapbox, 2 degrees, Warby Parker and many others that use this method of sales.

• What is another business that you believe could benefit from the One for One business model?

• Who are TOMS most important stakeholders, and will you keep them around for the years to come or will you find new people to fill past shoes?

Citations • http://www.toms.com/corporate-responsibility• http://

www.jeremyhouchens.com/research/companies/toms-shoes• https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/53544/• http://www.toms.com/blakes-bio• http://

www.inc.com/women-2/why-flexible-working-hours-actually-makes-employees-more-productive.html• http://

sapinsider.wispubs.com/Assets/Podcasts/2015/December/walking-through-the-rapid-business-warehouse-at-TOMS-Shoes• http://fortune.com/2016/09/08/what-the-founder-of-toms-shoes-i

s-doing-now/