Business operations that are ecological, fair, and successful

We want to engage in sustainable business while making fair and environmentally-friendly products for you, our customers. In order to do this, we have integrated sustainability holistically throughout the company strategy, anchoring it into the “normal” workday of all employees.

Understanding the Economy of the Common Good

The success of most of our current global economic systems is too often based on social exploitation and destruction of the environment. Our position is clear: The private sector has a significant impact on the ecological, social and economic conditions in which we all live. In order to ensure the long-term preservation of our planet and to eliminate social inequality, we need to change how we think about the economy. We need a authoritative model for corporate activity that takes on responsibility for both society and the environment throughout the supply chain.

As an outdoor supplier, we have a very close relationship with nature. VAUDE “lives” from people enjoying the great outdoors. We see ourselves as a company that is responsible for actively contributing to the protection and preservation of nature.

»We want to be a sustainable company through and through. We are coming a little closer to this vision every year.«

Antje von Dewitz, CEO

We see entrepreneurship as a contribution to the public good. This means that we would like to use our actions to make a positive contribution to making the world a better place, for both people and nature. The Economy for the Common Good captures this understanding precisely. It measures business success not only in financial terms, but also by its contribution to the public good. Human dignity, solidarity, ecological sustainability, social justice and democratic co-determination and transparency are also included. This is why VAUDE became a pioneer company in the Economy for the Common Good with an audited Common Good Balance – more at VAUDE Economy for the Common Good Balance.

Our sustainability approach is based on the United Nation’s guiding principles for sustainable development. We are therefore closely examing the goals for sustainable development adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in the fall of 2015. We understand these goals to be a comprehensive call to action and that companies will play an important role in achieving them. We take our responsibility seriously and understand sustainable development goals as an enriching perspective for the further development and assessment of our business activities.

More at "VAUDE and the sustainable development goals".

Sustainable development goals of the united nations

We have received numerous awards for our understanding of entrepreneurship over the last years. More about our awards here

Ambitious Corporate Vision and Corporate Strategy

VAUDE’s corporate vision expresses the company’s ambitious strategic alignment:

»As Europe’s most sustainable outdoor outfitter, we are contributing to making the world a better place, so that tomorrow’s generation can enjoy nature with a clear conscience. We are leading the way globally and setting sustainability standards around the world.«

Antje von Dewitz, CEO

Our corporate vision is implemented through a multi-level, strategic approach. This is based on the company’s mission statement, which defines VAUDE’s roots, values and motivation – more at "Corporate Philosophy".

In order to implement our vision, we have developed a consistently sustainable corporate strategy that is aligned with the common good; it is designed and managed by the executive level and is integrated into the day-to-day business in all areas of the company. Our interdisciplinary Sustainability Team coordinates all sustainability activities and measures – more at "CSR Team".

Our vision is based on a holistic approach. Sustainability aspects are fully integrated into the corporate strategy. Therefore we do not have separate sustainability strategies that run parallel to our economic strategies.

Want to find out more about our corporate strategy?

The following elements form the VAUDE corporate strategy:

VAUDE’s ambitious view of the future is expressed in its Corporate Vision with the goal of serving as a compass and source of inspiration for its employees.
The mission statement describes the path to achieving our vision.
Ten strategies define the foundational long-term strategic orientation both internally and externally and provide guidance.
The Corporate Goals are derived from our strategic approaches; they describe what VAUDE would like to accomplish in the mid-term – more at "Our Goals".
Division Goals, Department Goals, Team Goals and Employee Goals are derived from the Corporate Goals. This means that each employee pursues and implements specific sustainability goals as a part of their job.

VAUDE’s executive board reviews the corporate strategy annually in a top-down and bottom-up process and continues to develop it.

Our goals are defined with specific target figures and timeframes. We regularly examine the extent to which we’ve reached our sustainability goals and/or analyze possible difficulties. These results form the foundation we use to continue to develop and improve.
Sustainability goals and target figures are largely derived from the requirements and key figures of external sustainability standards such as the GRI, EMAS, FWF etc. We use these to measure and direct our sustainability goals. This procedure ensures the materiality of our goal setting— more at "Our Goals".

Systematically embedding the strategy in the VAUDE Ecosystem

Sustainability has many aspects and challenges, especially for companies with a global supply chain. The VAUDE Ecosystem defines how we systematically embed all sustainability activities and measures of our business activities at the company heaquarters in Tettnang and throughout the entire product life cycle. The criteria for completeness and materiality underlie the defined action fields of the VAUDE Ecosystem. This helps us guarantee that all materiality aspects and issues regarding social and ecological responsibility at the company headquarters and in the entire supply chain are identified and addressed – more at "The VAUDE Ecosystem".

Next page

GRI:

102-14