The Manager and the Monk: A Discourse on Prayer, Profit, and Principles

CHAPTER 5

ACTING ETHICALLY

With an Introduction by Jochen Zeitz

Toward the mid-1990s, as I was concentrating on the financial recovery of our company, my vice president and deputy Martin Gänsler was already urging me to rearrange production and designate someone to be responsible for the environment and social aspects. He suggested adjusting our methods and work systems as we went along, to better take into account environment-related and social factors. PUMA became a pioneer in this area; we called our internal guiding standards “PUMA.Safe.” “Safe” was an abbreviation for “Social Accountability and Fundamental Environmental Standards.”

Early on, we addressed accusations raised against us by nongovernmental organizations. Since 1999, we have ...