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  • November 2002 (Revised May 2006)
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Forest Stewardship Council

By: James E. Austin and Ezequiel Reficco
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:29
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Abstract

In just a few years the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) made impressive progress toward its mission of promoting "environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests." By 2001, 25.5 million hectares of forests in 66 countries had been certified as meeting FSC's standards for sustainable forestry. With members in 59 countries, the FSC had managed to bring forestry's mainstream close to its viewpoint, with 80% of the industry recognizing the need for third-party certification. However, by mid-2002, the formula that had brought success to the organization as a small start-up was proving inadequate to sustain the healthy growth of a global, mature, multistakeholder organization. Its management and staff were finding themselves lacking critical skills to take the organization to the next level. Some of its governing structures were paralyzing it. Serious imbalances between supply and demand of certified wood were threatening to break the organization. Moreover, competing certification schemes backed by powerful business groups were moving swiftly to capitalize on those imbalances and displace FSC as the global standard of choice for certification. Finally, the organization also suffered from a chronic financial weakness. In that context, Heiko Liedeker, FSC's executive director, is compelled to rethink the organization.

Keywords

Finance; Corporate Governance; Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Competitive Strategy

Citation

Austin, James E., and Ezequiel Reficco. "Forest Stewardship Council." Harvard Business School Case 303-047, November 2002. (Revised May 2006.)
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About The Author

James E. Austin

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  • Responsible Leadership and Transformative Cross-sector Partnering By: James E. Austin, M. H. Jaén, E. Reficco and A. Vernis
  • Key Success Factors in Environmental Entrepreneurship: The Case of Wilderness Safaris By: James E. Austin, Megan Epler Woods and Herman B. Leonard
  • Generating Social Entrepreneurship Knowledge: International Research Collaboration on a Hemispheric Level By: James E. Austin, Gabriel Berger, Rosa Amelia González, Roberto Gutiérrez, Iván D. Lobo and Alfred Vernis
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