BUS-9700

Case 2 - Burt’s Bees: Balancing Growth and Sustainability

1. Burt’s Bees: Sustainability Journey:

Although, to some extent, sustainability was embedded in Burt’s Bees culture, but officially the
company started its sustainability journey in 2006 with the launch of their Environmentally
Conscious Organization Bringing Ecologically Empowered Solutions (ECOBEES) program.
With the launch of this program, Burt’s Bees began to standardize the process of collecting data
(energy consumption, water use etc.) to evaluate its sustainability performance and future goals.

The company published its first Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report in 2008 wherein
they disclosed their new business model named The Greater Good. The model placed all the
stakeholders (customers, vendors, government, etc.) at the center and the company’s three
elements - environmental responsibility, social responsibility and product stewardship -interacted
with each other and with the stakeholders. “The Greater Good” defined the company’s
sustainability goals for the year 2020 to be a zero waste, zero carbon company, operating on
100% renewable energy in LEED certified buildings, along with 100% employee engagement
and utilizing 100% natural products and fully post-consumer recycled (PCR)/biodegradable
packaging. The 2020 goals set by Burt’s Bees are very stringent and challenging to achieve.
However, if achieved, the company can undoubtedly become a global leader in the personal care
product industry.

In my opinion, achieving a zero carbon emissions standard is the most challenging goal because
the whole supply chain will have to be revisited to ensure that there are no GHG emissions.
Based on the magnitude of the company’s supply chain network and as supply chain
management is the backbone of this industry, this daunting task will require significant
investment in R&D to calculate the factors such as the product’s life cycle assessment etc.

2. “The Greater Good” Business Model:

Per Burt’s Bees CEO, John Replogle, Burt’s Bees model is unique and not replicable. But, in my
opinion, the distinctive feature of their “The Greater Good” model is the position of their
stakeholders. In their model, the company places the stakeholders at the center and strive to
create value for them by assuming product stewardship, being natural, environment friendly and
socially effective. This is opposite to the traditional business models where only the shareholders
are a center of attraction for the companies and all the decision-making revolves around only one
fact, which is to create value for them.

In a nutshell, if the other companies can adjust their business model and position their
stakeholders in the center with the motive of creating value for them, they can also prove to be
equally effective in their respective industries.