Research topic 1:

Bata Shoes Company

History:
The T. & A. Bata Shoe Company was established on September
21, 1894, by siblings Tomes, Anna and Antonin Bata – the eighth
generation of Bata family shoemakers – in the rural town of Zlín,
Czechoslovakia. They were innovators from the start, replacing
the traditional one-man workshop with a 10-person (soon to be
50) enterprise.

In the summer of 1895, Tomas was facing financial difficulties. To

overcome these setbacks, he decided to sew shoes from canvas
instead of leather. This type of shoe became very popular and
helped the company grow to 50 employees. The introduction of
mechanized production techniques, including the first steam-
driven shoemaking machines, initiated a period of rapid
modernization that allowed the company to become one of
Europe's first mass producers of shoes.
Progress:
In 1899,
The first Bata store opens in Zlín, Czechoslovakia.
After six months he returned to Zlín and he introduced
mechanized production techniques that allowed the Bata Shoe
Company to become one of the first mass producers of shoes in
Europe. Its first mass product, the "Baťovky," was a leather and
textile shoe for working people that was notable for its simplicity,
style, light weight and affordable price. Its success helped fuel the
company's growth.
In 1914, with the outbreak of World War I, the company
had a significant development due to military orders.
From 1914 to 1918 the number of Bata’s employees
increased ten times. The company opened its own stores
in Zlín, Prague, Liberec, Vienna and Plzen, among other towns. In
the global economic slump that followed World War I, the newly
created country of Czechoslovakia was particularly hard hit. With
its currency devalued by 75%, demand for products dropped,
production was cut back, and unemployment was at an all-time
high. Tomas Bata responded to the crisis by cutting the price of
Bata shoes in half. The company's workers agreed to a temporary
40 percent reduction in wages; in turn, Bata provided food,
clothing, and other necessities at half-price. He also introduced
one of the first profit-sharing initiatives, transforming all
employees into associates with a shared interest in the
company's success (today's equivalent of performance-based
incentives and stock options). In 1932, at the age of 56, Tomas
Bata died in a plane crash during takeoff under bad weather
conditions at Zlín Airport. Control of the company was passed to
his half-brother, Jan Antonin Bata, and his son, Thomas John
Bata. At the time of Tomas’s death, the Bata Company employed
16,560 people, maintained 1,645 shops and 25 enterprises.
Jan Antonin Bata, following the plans laid down by Tomas Bata
before his death, expanded the company more than six times its
original size throughout Czechoslovakia and the world. Plants in
Britain, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Brazil, Kenya, Canada and
the United States followed in the decade. India, Bata agar was
settled near Calcutta and accounted from the late 1930s nearly
7500 Bata men. During World War 2 most Bata factories had
collapsed. Tomáš baťa Jr shifted Canada and where he started
the factory. After WW2, he returned Zlín and repair the factories.
He was passionate because he wanted to make his company an
international brand. In 1951, Bata open first factory in Pakistan in
the name of Bata Pakistan limited. Between 1946 and 1960, 25
new factories were built and 1,700 company shops were opened.
In 1962, the company had production and sales activities in 79
countries. In 1964, Bata moved their headquarters to Toronto,
Ontario, Canada. In 1965 they were moved again, into an ultra-
modern building, the Bata International Centre. In 1979, the Bata
family established the Bata Shoe Museum Foundation to operate
an international center for footwear research.
Production:
North Star (urban shoes)

Weinbrenner (outdoor shoes)
Bubblegummers (children's shoes)

Power (athletic shoes)

Bata Industrials (work & safety)

Toughees (school shoes)

Safari
Sun Drops

Teener (school shoes)

B-First (school shoes)

Patapata (flip flops)

 Marie Claire (women's shoes)

 Tomy Takkies (urban shoes)