Lulelemon Change Management

Lululemon

Katie Panousis

C3

Professor Robert Plant

Internal Communications Assignment: Lululemon Athletica

Assigned: January 27, 2014

Due: February 11, 2014

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Founded by Chip Wilson in 1998, Lululemon Athletica officially opened its doors to Vancouver in November 2000. The company makes technical athletic apparel, adopting a culture inspired by runners and yogis. Their employees follow strict guidelines to embody the Lululemon brand, including mandatory yoga and well-being workshops. The Lululemon manifesto includes practical and philosophical tips for positivity and self-improvement. These range from, “Friends are more important that money,” to, “Sweat once a day to regenerate your skin”. The company’s code of business, titled “Conduct and ethics and integrity line”, states:

“Customers will be served without regard to gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, age, pregnancy, religion, veteran status, national origin or any other legally protected status.”

In 2013, Lululemon faced scandals about the quality of their clothing and comments made by company founder Chip Wilson. In mid-April, 17 percent of Lululemon pants were recalled for being too thin. Soon after on Bloomberg TV, Wilson blamed women’s body types for the clothing falling apart.CEO Christine Day announced in June she would be stepping down as soon as a replacement was found. Laurent Potdevin, former president of Toms Shoes, took over as CEO in January 2014.

Key stakeholders

Employees (sales, manufacturing, front-line customer service)

C-suite (both new management and old management working under new CEO/chairman)

Investors/stockholders

Manufacturing partners (affected by Wilson’s comments and clothing quality scandal)

Special interest groups (affiliated with body image/prejudice, based on Wilson’s comments)

Objectives

Ensure all employees and stakeholders are aware of and comfortable with transition to new CEO and spokesperson....