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Case: Governance and Sustainability at Nike

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Case: Governance and Sustainability at Nike
This case was about the struggles with sustainability with in Nike as well as the fashion industry. Greenpeace came out and slandered Nike, Adidas, Puma, and several other fashion designers for pollution resulting in the manufacturing process of their products. There are several chemicals used in the process of manufacturing clothing and shoes. Several chemicals are also used in the Dying process. Although these facility are 3rd parties and these locations are not used by Nike it has fallen on them along with their competitors to reduce pollution with in the manufacturing process.
At Nike the key decision makers are Hannah Jones and Eric Sprunk who have to present their findings to Nike’s CEO Matt Parker for final buy off. Eric and Hannah realize they must come up with a unified solution to these difficult questions issues. What should be the timeline for reduction of chemicals along with what is the expected reduction? This is an extremely important matter, Nike is fully aware of the scarcity of water along with the implications of hazardous materials in the water which several of the chemicals are unable to be removed during the water treatment process. A commitment to Greenpeace was made to remove all toxins in the water by 2020, it seems as though this commitment has been much more difficult to attain than originally expected. The question is does Nike change their goal and what could be the negative implications from Greenpeace? Due to the significant costs associated with research and making changes, can the additional money come from the consumer, will the consumer be willing to pay more for a product that does not product hazardous chemicals in fresh water? They know it cannot negatively impact the stock holders, it cannot come from the manufacturing process, and those margins are already razor

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