MAS Holdings: Leveraging Corporate Responsibility

The case details the development and implementation of corporate social responsibility programmes at MAS Holdings, a Sri Lankan manufacturer supplying undergarments and active wear to companies like Victoria's Secret, Marks and Spencer, Gap, Adidas and Nike. MAS Holdings finds itself caught between its own desire to be a socially responsible and sustainable organisation (a desire shared by its customers), and the practical reality that customers tend to buy from the lowest cost producer. This prompts the company to explore the option of using its corporate responsibility programmes to build a brand under the name 'MAS Go Beyond'. Several alternative approaches considered by MAS serve as the decision focus for the case in seeking to respond to the key question: 'How can doing good be converted in to doing good business?'

The purpose of the case is to discuss the use of corporate responsibility programmes in building a brand. It also allows for a discussion of ingredient branding in a B2B context and brand building by emerging market firms that are small and resource strapped.