Michelin's Green Gold Bahia Program: Leaving With Grace

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Susan Winterberg and Shalene Gupta

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Synopsis: In 2015, the top management of French tire-maker Michelin, was evaluating Michelin's approach to divesting its rubber plantations ten years after incorporating a novel strategy. In 2004, Michelin had a Brazilian rubber challenge. Its Bah a plantation had been hit with the South American Leaf Blight fungus, the same fungus that destroyed Henry Ford's dreams of industrializing rubber production, and the plantation's productivity had dropped. Bah a had to go. That much was clear. But how to do it? From the Michelin headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, the rubber plantations of Bah a Brazil seemed half a world away. Still, Michelin, then led by douard Michelin, great-grandson of Michelin's founder, was founded with a deep belief in the importance of treating its employees and the environment fairly. Michelin embarked on an ambitious plan to divest the plantation while practicing corporate social accountability. However, in doing so, it had to understand the needs of its plantation workers, its environmental impact, while also considering its own needs as a business. Now, Michelin had to evaluate how well the company had done with its Bah a program, if there was anything that could be improved in its divestment process, and whether or not the plan, or elements of it, was something Michelin should consider using again in the future.