Case Assignment: TOMS

Use Case Study Format to write this case

In 2006 while traveling in Argentina, TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie saw how much harder life was for children growing up without shoes. Driven by a desire to help, Mycoskie launched TOMS Shoes, a company that would match one-for-one every pair of shoes purchased with a new pair of shoes for a child in need. In the decade since its founding, TOMS Shoes has given over 60 million pairs of shoes to children in need. But the desire to help didn’t just end with shoes.

In 2011, TOMS expanded and launched TOMS Eyewear. They have helped restore sight to over 400,000 people in 13 countries, providing prescription eyeglasses, medical treatment, and/or sight-saving surgeries funded by every purchase of eyewear.

“We were no longer just a shoe company, serving the mission of providing shoes to children in need. We became a One for One company, using our business model to change lives,” said Mycoskie in a blog post. “TOMS Shoes put us on the map, but we are having an incredible impact through TOMS Eyewear and our mission to help restore sight.”

TOMS Roasting Co. began in 2014. With every purchase of coffee from TOMS Roasting Co., they work with Giving Partners to provide 140 liters of safe water to a person in need. That is one week’s supply of water for each coffee purchase. In two years, they have provided over 335,000 weeks of safe water in six countries. By helping create sustainable water systems, TOMS not only allows people to hydrate, but also improves overall health, increases economic productivity, increases job creation, and increases access to education.

In 2015, TOMS Bag Collection was created with the mission to help women safely deliver their babies. TOMS provides training for birth attendants and distributes birth kits. The purchase of just one bag is enough to help provide assistance for a safe birth for both mother and baby.

Always continuing in their philanthropic efforts, TOMS Eyewear participated in World Sight Day on October 13, 2016. While TOMS partners with Sight Giving Partners year-round, they used World Sight Day to call attention to the brand and its mission.

The TOMS website was updated to include facts about eyesight around the world. “285 million people are blind or visually impaired. 80% don’t have to be. And 90% of visually impaired people live in developing countries,” according to the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, 2015. TOMS makes an effort to go to remote communities and provide eye sight services.

“80% of what we learn is through sight. Children who receive corrective lenses have been shown to improve in academic performance and have fewer behavioral problems in school,” according to the American Academy of Optometry, 2015. Eyewear is just one part of TOMS global mission of improving the lives of children.

“One for One.” That’s the TOMS way. “Together we can make a difference.”

Sources: B. Mycoskie, “World Sight Day,” The Huffington Post, October 10, 2013, accessed October 21, 2016, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blake-mycoskie/world-sight-day-2013_b_4073653.html (Links to an external site.); “TOMS Company Overview,” TOMS, accessed October 21, 2016, http://www.toms.com/corporate-responsibility (Links to an external site.); “Unite to Give Sight,” TOMS, accessed October 21, 2016, http://www.toms.com/world-sight-day/ (Links to an external site.).

Case Analysis Question

When a customer purchases from TOMS Roasting Co., their purchase finances one person’s supply of clean drinking water for one week. But ultimately, each purchase will affect the GDP of the country that receives the water in a small way. Explain

1. A Brief Framing of the case (do not repeat the history)
2. Identify Issues and/or Opportunities
3. State Your Assumptions (if any)
4. List alternatives for addressing the Issues/Opportunities and Pros and Cons of each
5. State your Recommendation and Justification

Please label your sections.

6. Support your case analysis with outside research (beyond the textbook) and a Works Cited page with references cited IN the text of your paper.

If the questions were answered in the discussion, then do not include them in the case analysis.

Even if you do not think you need it — run your paper through grammar check anyway.