...Nike Dilemma: Still waiting for them to "do it"! Another corporate giant having its fare share of controversies over the years is Nike. Nike employs approximately 26,000 people worldwide. In addition, approximately 650,000 workers are employed in Nike contracted factories around the globe. More than 75% of these work in Asia, predominantly in China, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea and Malaysia (Nike 2006). In 1998 Nike came under fire for the sweatshop conditions of the workers in the Nike factories in China and other third world countries. The evidence showed that the workers were regularly subject to physical punishment and sexual abuse and exposed to dangerous chemicals. (Nike Accused of Lying About Asian Factories 1998). Sub standard working facilities, bare minimum wages and risks to health of labourers mark NIKE factories in Asia. The firm was also accused of practicing child labour in Pakistan. So the question now is, why did it happen, and more importantly, has anything been done since to correct it. So why did it happen? Well that is quite clear. The reason why most firms outsource their activities to lesser developed countries is to exploit cheaper labour and production costs. Nike has a brand reputation worldwide, and in-fact is a market leader in the sales of athletic shoes. The constant focus is to formulate ways and strategies to reduce production costs, and one way of that is fewer wages to the workers. The high unemployment levels in the third world countries...
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...Nike Corporation is one of the largest marketers of athletic apparel and sportswear equipment in the world and was founded in Beaverton, Oregon, in 1964 by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman. According to Nike.com (2009) it had record earnings of 19.2 billion dollars and continues to grow at a steady pace. Nike sold its products in a 140 countries and successfully discovered that manufacturing its products was not the only method to successfully produce the results it was looking for but instead marketing and designing its products and contracting the manufacturing out to global factories 600 throughout the country. With the company’s success come painful lessons learned along the way. This paper will describe the legal, cultural, and ethical challenges that Nike Corporation faced as a result of its global business ventures. In addition, it will touch on the roles the host governments played in manufacturing Nike’s products and will summarize the strategic and operational challenges that Nike Managers face in dealing with the interworking of global business. Nike as well as other global companies in the industry has the option to manufacture their products domestically or internationally in either situation there are challenges. If a company chose to the domestic approach it could potentially be more expensive, however, the organization and its manufacturing facility contractors would have to adhere to U.S. labor and safety laws in the areas of wages, code of conduct, working...
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...The Industrial Revolution – the Factory Worker vs. the Plantation Worker: A Discussion of the Labor Conditions The Industrial Revolution was a period of great change in Europe and North America – a period where progress in agriculture, technology, transportation and more allowed the development of human civilization from the previous primarily agricultural based societies. This time period between the 18th to 19th century saw many developments such as canals, roads, steam power, combustion engine, as well as significant strides in manufacturing and factory work. Immense changes occurred in society: affecting daily life and causing significant societal impacts. The objective of this paper is to discuss the significant social effects that the Industrial Revolution (and industrialization, in general) – focusing on the working conditions and dynamic of plantations and factories. In this time period, it is evident that the employer, business owner, and middle class factory owner would benefit from the lower class, general laborer who would be unfairly compensated and be subject to poor conditions, creating a significant gap between the upper/middle and lower classes. The period of the Industrial Revolution was not only a driving force in technology, but economics and society. Industrialization brought a new form of wealth and riches to the people who were able to capitalize on it; this largely being the middle class, and to a smaller extent, the upper class. New opportunities...
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...Shaping of the Modern World 5/8/11 Cruel Labor The Industrial Revolution wasn’t the first instance of cruel human labor in the history of the world, but some may argue that it was the harshest. Flora Tristan says in her piece from the London Journal, “Since I have known the English proletariat I no longer think that slavery is the greatest human misfortune.” (1) Cruel labor is an injustice that originated in ancient civilizations, became worse in the eighteenth century, and unfortunately still exists today. No matter what event you choose to focus on, between the Atlantic Slave Trade, to the London Laboring Classes and its child labor, to the more recent sweatshops that still exist in Asia, the pain and suffering these people had to go through and are still going through is not only inhumane, but also immoral. “The London Laboring Classes” is an excerpt from the London Journal by Flora Tristan. The article is broken down into two parts: Factory Workers and Prostitutes. Tristan wrote this article in order to expose the cruelties suffered by industrial workers, women, and slaves, during the Industrial Revolution. It would be an injustice to Tristan if I paraphrase her shocking description of the life of the factory worker, so I’ll quote her directly. “Most of the workers lack clothing, a bed, furniture, a fire, wholesome food, and often even potatoes! They are shut up twelve to fourteen hours a day in mean rooms where they breathe in, along with foul air, cotton, wool...
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...During the 1800s the Industrial Revolution spread throughout Britain. The use of steam-powered machines, led to a massive increase in the number of factories (particularly in textile factories or mills). Many factory workers were children. They worked long hours and were often treated badly by the supervisors or overseers. Sometimes the children started work as young as four or five years old. A young child could not earn much, but even a few pence would be enough to buy food. lasted from the 18th century to the 19th century As the number of factories grew people from the countryside began to move into the towns looking for better paid work. The wages of a farm worker were very low and there were less jobs working on farms because of the invention and use of new machines such as threshers. Also thousands of new workers were needed to work machines in mills and foundries and the factory owners built houses for them.Cities filled to overflowing and London was particularly bad. At the start of the 19th Century about 1/5 of Britain’s population lived there, but by 1851 half the population of the country had set up home in London. London, like most cities, was not prepared for this great increase in people. People crowded into already crowded houses. Rooms were rented to whole families or perhaps several families. The Industrial Revolution affected many people, some of these people were affect in a positive way and some in a negative way. The new industry needed a lot of working...
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...Arianne Dyball MAIN Geography Miss Green Issue I Will be looking into Exploitation of workers. Wages and Hours? Child Labour? How are employees treated? Safety and exposure to toxins and lack of trade unions and equal rights for disabled e.t.c.? Global issues, how is waste disposed? Are any resources being polluted? Carbon footprints? Primark Evidence found underpaying workers and not paying overtime. Evidence found child labour being used. Evidence found of lack of regard for workers’ rights and lack of safety. Marks and Spencer's Evidence found fair pay for workers. Evidence found of use of child labour early on. Evidence found helping to assist workers to be shown how to how to do job properly. Evidence found changing to more ecofriendly recycled bags. Evidence found helping environment with ‘Plan A’. Evidence of Social Responsibility for Primark. This shows that Primark takes into account all social issues relating to the customers and stake holders. Evidence 1. This is an opinion of a stake holder (Primark’s owner). Primark's code of Conduct Primark’s code of Conduct: • Employment is freely chosen collective bargaining are respected • Working conditions are safe and hygienic • Child labour shall not be used • Living wages are paid • Working hours are not excessive • No discrimination is practised • Regular employment is provided • No harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed. • Freedom of association and the right to A limitation is that...
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...duration of one's life; the hours and days which a person has at his disposal. How we dispose of that time is time management. It's the way we spend our time to organize and execute around our priorities. Remember just because time is intangible doesn't mean that it is not valuable. I want to teach you about the background of time management, the different styles and how to use them, and how it will change your life. Background Time management today is not as it was in the past. It has grown with time. Stephen R. Covey places time management into four generations. He feels it has evolved the same way society has. Each generation grows on the one before it. For example, the agriculture revolution was followed by the industrial revolution, which was then followed by the informational revolution. The first wave or generation is basically notes and checklist. Which really only identifies the demands placed on our time and energy. Calendars and appointment books characterize the second generation. This reflects an attempt to look ahead. The third generation is current time management field. It's the last two generations with the ideas of prioritization, clarifying values, and comparing the worth of...
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...Running head: Trade Secrets Name Course Tutor Date Introduction Economic espionage occurs when an individual knowingly shares sensitive information that may lead to financial loss or loss of a comparative advantage of the owner. Trade secrets are a form of information, formula, procedures, techniques, or prototypes that the owner has taken reasonable efforts to protect. Trade secrets have an independent economic value regardless the form they are. Economic espionage is commercially motivated. A company, individual, or government uses illegal tactics to gain commercially valuable information about a competitor. Most economic espionage involves an employee in a company bribed by a competitor to share sensitive information. The increased use of the computer and the Internet makes computer hacking another common economic espionage. In extreme cases, a competitor may hire a gang to break into the rivals premises to steal or destroy information. Trade secrets There are many methods used to gather information about rivals. Some of the methods are legal, whereas others are not. A rival may use information available in the newspaper, company reports, patent applications, and the Internet to collect intelligence regarding the activities and plans of a company. The use of unethical methods to achieve competitive advantage is on the increase. Since 1985, economic espionage on American companies has increased by 260%. In most of the cases, the aim of the espionage is to...
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...B.U.G. Inc. Paper LAW/421 May 9, 2013 B.U.G. Inc. Paper BUG Inc. is one of the largest manufacturers within confines of the United States that produces and sells electronic recording devices that are heavily used by law enforcement agencies, i.e., police, FBI, etc. to intercept and record sounds and voices. These products that are manufactured by BUG are highly dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands. These electronic devices have the ability to tap into telephone wires, cell phone transmissions, and even intercept sound waves and voices through the walls of any room in any house or open areas. BUG wants to expand its product internationally, but is hesitant to pursue because of possible detriments that it may have in regards to the different types of legal protections, civil liabilities, torts, and down to its privacy, security, infringement issues, and email contract validity. BUG Inc. hired a group of specialists to define these problem areas and discuss the importance of why it should be taken care of. Bug, Inc. should have several protections for its intellectual property. The protections include trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights, and patents. The Uniform Trade Secret act and common law protect the secret processes, formulas, methods, procedures, and lists that provide Bug, Inc. with economic advantage. This protection lasts for the life of the entity or owner. For example, customer lists with contact information, buying patterns, and credit histories involving...
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...parents' income. There are many causes of child labor. However, a closer look into those causes can help end the exploitation around the world. Businesses or corporations around the world are one of the major causes. Due to their influence and money driven attitudes, many factories are placed strategically in poor areas. This is to attract cheap labor and millions of children end up working for them. Another cause is the lack of protection from governments. Many developing nations and some industrial countries fail to provide millions of children proper education. Poverty may be the biggest cause of child labor. Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries. Child labour was employed to varying extents through most of history, but entered public dispute with the advent of universal schooling, with changes in working conditions during the industrial revolution, and with the emergence of the concepts of workers' and children's rights. In a developing...
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...We have come a long way from the days of Feudalism where Lords were land (fief) owners and the vassals were the common folk who provided a service to the Lord for use of the land, whether it is to serve in the military or other forms as requested. This was the way of life in medieval times, up until the 15th century (Hirst, 2012). From here, the transition began from Feudalism to the early stage Capitalism, where the ordinary people broke away from the Feudal system and owned property and the means of production as well as the resources to make and maintain wealth (Dictionary.com, 2012). England in the 1800’s was hard in comparison to today. The life expectancy for a man aged 20 in 1850 was 60.1 years compared to 76.7 in 2004 (Geoff Canyon's Appeal to Authority, 2009). This was mainly due to the living conditions and especially those in the poor area of East London, where animals not only shared the often over crowed living area with humans but also the human waste that was thrown onto the streets. Often those who lived in the bottom apartments lived close to if not in the stench, more so than those who lived multiple stories above the streets. With the pollution of human waste in the streets and the polluted River Thames from the sewage of the West End, no matter where you lived in the East End, you still had to walk through the rising filth. These living conditions were the main reason for the various outbreaks of diseases, sores and premature deaths during the 1800’s...
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...The Industrial Revolution The term Industrial Revolution refers to the social and economic changes that led to the transition from an agricultural and commercial society to a modern industrial one. This revolution relied on machinery instead of basic tools. This happened in Great Britain in the middle of the 18th century until the middle of the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution spread to other parts of Europe as well as other parts of the world. The period of explorations from the 14th to the 16th centuries helped in laying the foundations for the Industrial Revolution. Because of the explorations and subsequently colonialism, gold and silver from the New World flooded Europe. Prices of commodities rose, industries bloomed and a money-based economy fully developed. The expansion of trade and the economy based on money led to the creation of financial and lending institutions. Thus, the necessary factors for the emergence of an Industrial Revolution had already been established in the 15thcentury. The term Industrial revolution does not imply that changes happened only in the industry. In fact, the rise in the number of factories, the economic changes and the new inventions in science all had a great impact in the lives of the people in Europe and even the whole world. THE RISE OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN GREAT BRITAIN From the 18th to the 19th centuries, Great Britain was the leading force in industry. It had large deposits of coal and iron. Because...
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...Why Nations Fail In this essay, I am reviewing a book entitled Why Nations Fail written by Daron Acemoglu, and James Robinson. The book was written in 2012, and the authors mention the ongoing Arab Spring as they were putting together their ideas in writing. This coincidence makes me wonder if these authors were also impacted by the information revolution or the information outburst as Nye (2013) often chooses to call. In fact, the authors did not mention the term ‘information revolution’ in the book; they simply state that Egyptians are on the street not because they are poor, as many scholars and political analysts suggest, but because power has resided in the hands of a few elites, and these elites have used political power to amass personal wealth at the expense of the bigger mass. But why the Egyptian revolution took place at this particular time, instead of a decade ago, for example? As far as I understand political theories, the answer lies behind globalization and information revolution which opened a new gate to information. That is, since billions of people around the globe are capable of reaching the internet (about 1.7 million according to Nye), many are able to read online news, or even watch them live as they are being broadcasted. Thus, it is possible to associate the Egyptian revolution or the Arab Spring to globalization and information revolution. Acemoglu et al, (2012) also indicate that Egypt’s ex-president, Hosni Mubarak gathered a huge amount of...
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...Child Laborer during Industrial Revolution in United States During the Industrial Revolution kids were very harshly treated for no apparent reason. This is a story about a young fellow named William Spruce and his horrifying experiences about working in the factories and fields during the industrial Revolution. Now William started working in the factories around the time he was ten years old. There were girls and boys of all ages working, some as young as four. He would work ten to fourteen hours and on some days. On certain days, he would work as long as eighteen hours with a one-hour break period. William would work so hard and would only get half as much or even a fraction of the pay than the adults would receive. Every morning William would come to work as early as six in the morning. There were days he would wake up earlier too. Consequences included heavier workload if he was late. One day, William arrived late to the factory due to family illness; when he arrived to the factory practically out of breath from running, he only turned out being less than five minutes late. That didn’t seem to matter when he stepped through the factory door since an overseer came by and tied a very heavy weight around his neck. He made him walk up and down the factory aisles so the other children who were working can take an “example” out of him. William was humiliated; he had to do this for up to an hour on his bare feet while inhaling the toxic factory...
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...Inteligencia de Negocios – Actividad Ética Transversal Protección jurídica a los programas de ordenador Para entender la protección jurídica de los programas de computadora en México, hay que tener una visión global y un punto de comparación. El tener una idea general nos dará una perspectiva más enfocada a conocer la aplicación de las leyes en México y cómo se diferencia con el resto del mundo. La protección de los programas de computadora, se puede dar de dos formas: ya sea por patente o por derechos de autor (modelo idóneo según los tratados internacionales). Las implicaciones sobre la posibilidad de patentar programas son muy importantes, ya que la patente no solamente protege la expresión de la idea, sino que, además, protege la propia idea tal y como se describe en las reivindicaciones de la propia patente. Esta protección puede ir desde cubrir solamente la copia textual hasta, en algunos casos, proteger más allá de los elementos literales de manera que se considera infracción algo que sea sustancialmente similar al original. El alcance de la protección jurídica es determinante para los desarrolladores. Copiando tal vez no el código textual, pero teniendo los diagramas y el saber cómo funciona, pueden hacerlo sin infringir la ley. Entre mayor sea la protección, mejor se pueden cuidar las ideas y por lo tanto habrá menos ideas de ese tipo de programas. Conforme al sistema legal mexicano, el derecho patrimonial de reproducción de un programa de ordenador no va más allá...
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