The Timberland Company (NYSE: TBL) appointed a former a former Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) executive to the position of Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Mark Newton will fill the position and be responsible for managing the organization’s four areas of focus within CSR: environmental stewardship, global human rights, community engagement and transparency and reporting.
Interestingly, Newton will report to Timberland’s CFO, rather than to the CEO or COO, which is the more typical corporate structure. Timberland’s chain of command suggests the company wants to keep a close eye on how sustainability initiatives affect the bottom line – for better or worse.
Earlier this month Timberland announced it will be acquired by VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC), parent company of the Wrangler brand, for roughly $2 billion. Timberland has been a corporate sustainability leader for many years, and analysts and sustainable investors are watching to see if that changes with the acquisition.
Newton joins Timberland following eight years with Dell, Inc., most recently serving as Executive Director of Global Sustainability, where he was responsible for balancing the company’s growth strategy while minimizing environmental and human resource impacts across the value chain. During his tenure with Dell, he directed global policy development, stakeholder engagements and corporate strategies on environmental and social issues.
Prior to joining Dell, Mark led Environmental Technology programs at Apple and Motorola and was a principal scientist for DEKA Research and Development Corp. He sits on the advisory boards of Clean Production Action and Carbonfund.org.
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With CSR gaining steam within the last decade, creating a plan to be socially responsible is crucial for a company’s success. Timberland is a great example of how companies can approach managing activities related to being socially responsible. With CSR’s importance, companies need to follow the same path as Timberland, or turn to specialists like AngelPoints who are experts in sustainability, philanthropy, and CSR and can help companies have a positive impact on the community.