Veja

In 2005, Sebastien Kopp and Francois-Ghislain Morillion settled in Brazil and founded the first ethical sneaker company in the world, Veja. These sneakers were made from wild latex sourced from the Amazon River area to mitigate rubber tree deforestation, from Brazilian organic cotton to enhance biodiversity and from vegetable-tanned leather to prevent water pollution. Kopp and Morillion had a passion for sneakers and they knew if they were ever going to start a business, it would be in the sneaker industry. When they decided to start the Veja sneaker company, their mission was to create good-looking shoes that had a positive impact on both the planet and society, as opposed to the negative impacts that characterized the big sneaker manufacturers. Veja was built with three main values to their product: using ecological inputs, using fair trade cotton and latex and respecting workers’ dignity. After traveling the world trying to develop ideas on how to pursue a business venture, Kopp and Morillion decided to settle and start their business in Brazil. They were able to start their business by acquiring a bank loan. Currently, Veja is trying to expand their market beyond sneakers by selling items such as bags, wallets, and computer cases. In the future, Kopp and Morillion would like to open their own flagship store.

From an external environment standpoint, Veja does experience factors beyond their control that can influence their choice of direction and action, organizational structure, and internal processes (87). An example of this was a caterpillar attack in Brazil that affected the cotton that Veja uses for their sneakers. Farmers had to spray a pesticide to protect their harvest and as a result, 12 tons of “infected” organic and ethical cotton had to be used to make the shoes’ lining instead. Since production is low, Veja did not need many pairs of shoelaces and could not afford to create the laces from organic cotton. Veja also found their...