This is “Case: Accounting for Sustainability: How Does Timberland Do It and Why?”, chapter 11 from the book Sustainable Business Cases (v. 1.0). For details on it (including licensing), click here.

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Chapter 11 Case: Accounting for Sustainability: How Does Timberland Do It and Why?

Sustainability reporting is about being radically transparent. That means talking about the bad just as much as the good…we want to be transparent and get feedback from others on how we’re doing, or how we could be doing better. And our hope is to have a dialogue on how we can scale good solutions for our industry and then even broader beyond that.

Betsy Blaisdell, Timberland manager of environmental stewardship

Introduction

Learning Objectives

  1. Discuss Timberland’s approach to sustainability.
  2. Understand how corporate social responsibility relates to sustainability.
  3. Discuss what it means to be a leader in sustainability and sustainability reporting and what the challenges and benefits of leadership can involve.

The purpose of this case is to introduce students to the current state of sustainability reporting in business. Timberland provides a leading example of the different ways that sustainability reporting can be performed. The case also discusses what sustainability means to Timberland and how sustainability reporting supports its environmental and social goals and progress.