Some of you might have read the news item yesterday and today that Timberland has been bought by VF (company selling branded lifestyle apparel including jeanswear, outdoor products, etc.).
When I read the news I immediately wondered about what this would mean for the CSR / Sustainability activities of Timberland now and in the future.
Will Jeff Swartz and his team have the freedom to do what they have done so effectively over the past years in terms of CSR and Sustainability best practice.
This is what Jeff Schwartz had to say in the last tweet I saw:
My view
Time will tell of course but I must say I certainly hope that Jeff is right and that the scale of the organisational effort is what is important to make an impact and not necessarily the ownership here in Timberlands case. But I hope we will hear more details about this from Timberland and VF during the next few weeks. Timberland after all has been great in communicating CSR / Sustainability efforts and best practice.
Here are some another interesting news stories on this announcement as it evolves further:
Your view
What is your view on this breaking news? Are you worried as well or do you see this as a good development?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8467007.stm