The primary focus of this case is on the central issue of the appropriateness of the strategic initiatives of the Stride Rite Corporation within the context of the company's effort to build a reputation as a socially responsible company. Several specific questions are addressed in this case analysis as a part of the general discussion of the central issue. Where relevant to the discussion of the central issue, industry characteristics and success factors, competitive forces, SWOT analysis, and financial imperatives are addressed.
The Stride Rite Corporation over the 20-year period from 1971 through 1991 built a reputation as a socially responsible corporation (Stone, 1992, pp. 94-104). Stride Rite, therefore, was in the vanguard of corporate social responsibility in the United States. The first specific question addressed in this case analysis is the deservedness of the company's reputation as a socially responsible organization. A business organization is "an artificial and legal creation that provides a benefit to society," and which through societal permission to exist creates benefits for its stockholders (Luthans, Hodgetts, & Thompson, 1990, p. 3). When society permits a business organization to be formed, it also permits the organization to gain access to and to use specific societal resources. Most certainly, society as a whole expects to gain from the existence of the business organization; however, in return for this expected societal gain, the owners of the business organization are also offered the opportunity to profit. For many critics of the concept of a social responsibility for business organizations, this trade-off is sufficient. Society, however, has a right to expect long-term gains as well as short-term gains, and society has a right to be the primary beneficiary of the use of its resources. In these latter contexts, the concept of the simple trade-off between minimal and undefined societal benefits, on...