...Assignment 5: Nike” From Sweatshops to Leadership in Employment Practices” Nia Lawson Diggs Dr. Jack Huddleston Human Resource Management 522 Ethics and Advocacy for HR Pro March 13, 2012 Discern how a more effective ethics programs and a more viable code of conduct could have mitigated the ethical issues faced by Nike Nike leads the world in the manufacturing and distributing of its athletic footwear and accessories. Nike is the brain child of Phil Knight and his former track coach, Bill Bowerman. The duo formed a company that would eventually become the leader in the athletic industry with the sales and manufacturing of athletic wear. The Nike brand is widely recognized by its catch phrase and its logo. Their marketing campaigns specially “just do it” helped it revive its brand image. The swoosh sign is recognizable across most of the world. This alone attributes for Nike's worldwide success. Overall, Nike keeps improving its product which helps to keep the population engaged with its brand. If Nike had a more effective ethics program and viable code of conduct, ethical issues could have been avoided by Nike. In the early 1990s, sports shoe giant Nike became the target of arguably the most intensive and widely publicized of these anticorporate campaigns up to that time (Conaway, 2011). According to Ferrell, ethics programs that provide guidelines outlining board responsibilities encourage compliance encourage compliance at the highest...
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...Perspectives: Nike Student UoP Ethics 316 June 18, 2012 Week Five Dr. No Instructor Cross-Cultural Perspectives: Nike Nike Corporation grew from a local United States-based footwear distributor to a global marketing giant of athletic footwear, apparel, and equipment. This paper will provide an analysis of the ethical and social responsibility issues Nike must deal with as a global organization. Additionally, the paper will identify Nike’s ethical perspectives and present the exploration of these perspectives across cultures. Ethical and Social Responsibility Issues Nike began globalization through industrializing in countries, such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Cambodia. The contracting by Nike of suppliers within these regions instantly began providing jobs, which at the time was just good enough to these improvised areas. However, by the end of the 90s Nike’s use of offshore manufacturing suppliers brought revelations of the sweatshop working conditions prevalent in these nations. The ethical responsibility issues Nike had as a challenge because of these sweatshop conditions ran the full gamut. For example Vietnam factories were violating the minimum wage and overtime laws, Cambodia was using child labor, and Malaysia even went as far as employing forced labor to ensure manufacturing requirements were met. Nike was quick to...
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...NIKE - ETHICAL ISSUES AND DILEMMAS INTRODUCTION Nike has been dodging accusations of employing people in the developing and under-developed economies, at low wages and poor working conditions for a considerable period of time. Having tried course correction and public relations as a measure to salvage the bad image generated by the sweatshops that Nike is accused of running, Nike has undertaken massive efforts to overcome these hurdles. Herein we will analyze Nike's international business operations with a critical eye over the ethical issues and dilemmas that this organization has faced while manufacturing its goods in foreign lands. PROBLEM AREAS There are a number of areas that are seen as weak points or links in this Nike case. We shall first highlight the problem areas and then dive into the ethical theories that are supposed to govern them. According to the Wikipedia dictionary, ethics is defined as a general term for the science of morality. While this branch of study can be further sub-divided into various categories, we have to remember that what is appropriate in a given situation may not be so among different circumstances and the decision of right or wrong is relative to its surroundings. Elaborated here are the issues and problems that stand out due to their ethical nature as issues or dilemmas faced by Nike and its operations towards its employees and customers as mentioned in the case study: Poor Working Conditions - In Nike factories, the laborers were provided...
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...Global Business Ethics-Nike’s Sweatshops Ann T. Dale MGT/216 Global Business Ethics-Nike’s Sweatshops Nike is a worldwide sports name in wear and equipment. So, why is Nike’s ethics in question? Has greed and publicity become their motto at any costs? Nike spends multimillion dollars a year hiring well-known athletes to advertise their products yet cannot seem to stay out of the media’s eye of their contracting or subcontracting techniques of their products to be built in third world countries. In 1996, Nike has been charged by critics with engaging in a variety of unethical employment practices in countries that exercise little or no control over the conditions of labor or whose governments are corrupt and can be bought off (De George, 2006, chap. 20). In dealing with business issues, a company needs to be aware (what are the issues), articulate (justify and express decisions), and application (reach a decision, train and explain ethics to employees). Ethical behavior has to start at the top of a company and work its way down. Here we will compare ethical perceptions across cultures about the ethical situation, discuss the ethical issues that became evident due to globalization, and discuss the risks and consequences associated with the Nike ethical dilemma. Compare Ethical Perceptions Across Cultures About the Ethical Situation Trevino and Nelson (2007) defines business best stating the “definition of ethics—the principles, norms, and standards of conduct governing...
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...mitigated the ethical issues faced by Nike There have been numerous issues that have affected the Nike Company since the 1990’s. Nike to save money on the production of their products moved their production to China, when the cost started rising, they decided to move again into other areas of Asian. Many of the ethical issues that faced Nike were Child labor law violations as well as human rights. The Nike Company has been accused of poor working conditions as well as harassing and abusive behaviors to their workers. Nike uses Asian companies that subcontract the work to others, because of this Nike was unable to see what was happening in their plane. Had Nike had a better system of knowing what was going in there production facilities they would have seen what was happening and been able to put a stop to it. Had the Nike company implemented contracts with these companies that stated “Contractors with suppliers must eliminate child labor from all activities as well as the subcontractors that they may use” (What you can do, 2013). In 2007 Nike Company once again was faced with another problem discrimination, This suit was filed by black employees, in which they questioned Nike's managerial practices as against the black community, this lawsuit went into litigation and was settled, however that damage was done and Nike was once again took another hit to their reputation. This could have been avoided if diversity training was given to all managers of the Nike Company. ...
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...Nike What is Ethical Issue ? A problem or situation that requires a person or organization to choose between alternatives that must be as right (ethical) or wrong (unethical). History of Nike: . Start with 2 man trying to make good shoes . In 1964 Phil Knight and University of Oregon Track coach Billy found Blue Ribbon later name as Nike. . Nike Sport good in Japan and US. market. . In 1978 Nike become the world largest seller for Ethical goods. ETHICAL Problems: 1) Role of Government: The role of the government also plays a major role in these challenges that are faced by Nike. As we know that government laws and regulations are differ from country to country and this makes manufacturing of products very difficult challenge for the international companies like Nike. 2) Ethical Responsibility: The management of Nike should understand that why ethical responsibility is needed within the company because it is the organization’s management to make decisions and take actions that will grow and interest of the society and as well the organization. 3) Nike Labor issue in Pakistan: Nike has been accused of using child labour in the production of its soccer balls in Pakistan . GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and WTO (World Trade Organization) member nations, like the United States, against the importation of goods made by Children. Child labor exists in Sialkot both in the export sector and the domestic sector. This fact has been well documented and reported...
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...more viable code of conduct could have mitigated the ethical issues faced by Nike. For several years Nike has been the world's leading manufacturer and distributor in athletic footwear and sports' accessories. It primarily operates in Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, America and Europe. By having a strong brand allows expansion in the market and extended loyal consumer satisfaction. The brand came across hard times in the forms of social allegations that included several cases of human rights abuse and labor violations (Ferrell, Ferrell, and Fraedrich, 2011). These days Nike continues to improve its products. The swoosh sign that Nike uses on its products is recognizable anywhere throughout the world. Nike has faced numerous ethical issues in the past and present day. Nike has been accused of labor and human rights violations. It is said Nike wants to cut cost and find cheap labor to manufacture its products. Nike’s manufacturing plant in Pakistan was documented in a Life Magazine as hiring children to sew soccer balls. Globally, due to legal, ethical and social challenges, Nike face a great number of challenges. Nike has been blamed for producing its good in the third world sweatshops. Due to the availability of the cheap labor in the third world countries, Nike chooses to locate the majority of their production in such countries. Some of the human rights ethical and legal issues faced by the Nike in such countries include the use of child labor in factories...
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...Nike - Social and Ethical Issues http://www.writework.com/essay/nike-social-and-ethical-issues Nike has become one of those global companies targeted by a broad range of campaigning pressure groups and journalists as a symbolic representation of the business in society. In Nikes case, the issues are those of human rights and conditions for workers in factories in developing countries. In the face of constant accusations, Nike has developed a considered response but the criticism of Nike still continues. Nike produces footwear, clothing, equipment and accessory products for the sports and athletic market. It is the largest seller of such garments in the world. It sells to approximately 19,000 retail accounts in the US, and then in approximately 140 countries around the world. Just about all of its products are manufactured by independent contractors with footwear products in particular being manufactured in developing countries. The company manufactures in China, Taiwan, Korea, and Mexico as well as in the US and in Italy. The Global Alliance report on the factories in Indonesia gave the following workforce profile: 58% of them are young adults between 20 and 24 years old, and 83% are women. Few have work-related skills when they arrive at the factory. Nike has around 700 contract factories, within which around 20% of the workers are creating Nike products. Conditions for these workers have been a source of heated debate, with allegations made by campaigns of poor conditions...
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...Global Organization and Cultural Perspective (Nike) Once an organization, like Nike, becomes a global organization, and the business goes to other countries to gain more profits, it will encounter challenges and ethical issues. Some of the challenges for a global organization are child labor laws, wages, and outsourcing. An example is a Nike sweatshop labor case that stirred up a big controversy over ethical business practices. Because of this issue the organization has to deal with the negative perception, and the organization needed to solve this ethical issue to remain profitable and ethical in the eyes of the consumers and stakeholders. The Nike Corporation is one of those global organizations which brought their business to other countries to provide economic opportunity to the host country, and in turn obtain more profits due to cheap labor cost. The organization outsourced its manufacturing plants to several countries in order to lessen costs and become more efficient in productivity. The outrage and protests that followed were far from what Nike expected; the company was labeled as forcing “children to slave away in hazardous conditions for below-subsistence wages” (Hill, 2009). Because of this issue, a wide protest of globalization and human rights activists accused the Nike organization for taking advantage of the workers overseas and exposing their workers in unsafe working environment. Although Nike was making billions of dollars in profit, however, it has...
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...Introduction This paper is a based on a case study of Nike. The paper will be discussing legal and ethical analysis and how the impact the operational/ ethical issues of the organization, the paper shall also be discussing the contribution factors and how the company’s corporate culture may have helped to minimize the unethical behavior or actually contributed to/caused the unethical behavior. The paper is also going to provide ethical decision factors, which are going to address or going to be considered in resolving the legal/ethical issues identified within this case. And finally the paper is going to provide an action plan for each of the legal/ethical issues along with recommendations that company can take to help prevent these issues in the future. Nike is one of the famous franchises in the world that sells sportswear for all ages. But is mostly famous for their athlete shoes and apparel and Nike is also one of the major manufacturers of sport equipment as well. The slogan for Nike is “Just Do It”. Nike was founded in January 1962 in Oregon, United States by Philip Knight and Bill Bowerman. Nike has somewhere around 700 or more retail outlets spread all over the world, and has approximately 45 offices only outside the United States. And it employs 30,000 people all over the world. Nike had a revenue excess of $16 billion in 2007. Nike’s factories are mostly located in Asian countries like Pakistan, India, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam...
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...Offei MGT/448 Global Business Strategies Case Study Nike: The Sweatshop Debate July 5, 2012 Professor, Marc Mosko Nike, the sweatshop debate Nike Inc. was started by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, who met each other in 1957 Before going into business, Knight became a certified public Accountant (CPA) the original Nike Inc. was founded in 1964 by Phil Knight and his friend Bill Bowerman with a collective investment of 1000 to fund the business tries (Nike repository, 2010) The company began with Bill and Phil being local distributors for the Onitsuka Tiger footwear brand now own by Asics footwear, Bill and Phil did business out of their cars at local track meet and sporting event to athletes in the vicinity of the University of Oregon, the first sport retail store open in California in 1966 as where the company profit began to grow they realized that their financial limits imposed by Onitsuka Tiger would limited their long team profits (Nike repository, 2010) This paper will describe the legal culture ,and ethical challenge that confront the global business as personated on the case study, in addition the paper will determine the various roles that the host government played in global business operation .at the end it will summarize the strategic and operational challenges facing global managers illustration in Nike organization Global business doesn’t come without challenges Nike organization plan to become a global body and that...
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...NIKE From Sweatshops to Leadership HRM 522 June 12, 2011 Global businesses can sometimes be difficult due to the different cultures. Not all cultures carry the same value, law and ethical standard. Nike is an international brand that has many retail accounts in over 160 countries. Being an international company can cause business ethical and legal issues. Integrity is important and sometimes a challenge when a corporation must respond to criticism or hold back on certain company details. Nike dealt with criticism from right activist, media, and face labor rights violations. However, over a period of time and after making some important adjustments; Nike is working on improving its company image. Nike used traditional advertising methods to broadcast its product. Nike public relations tactics dealt with the wage policy, visiting campuses on universities, personal letters, corporate responsibility and using celebrities as spoke person for its product. Nike launch campaigns regarding child labor, low and non- existent wages. Nike believes that the U.S dollars were meaningless because the cost of living was different in other countries. Nike held press conferences for newspaper staff at colleges. These were ways for Nike to make proactive efforts to address the concerns of activists protesting against their products. Nike made a few mistakes in handling the negative publicity. Three...
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...Nike and the Negative Controversy with Sweatshops ABSTRACT The following will discuss the ethical and social issues in the Nike, Inc. and Sweatshops case. It will also discuss why Nike should be held responsible for what happens in factories that it does not own, and whether Nike has a responsibility to ensure that factory workers receive a “living wage”. It will also discuss if the wage guidelines of FLA or WRC seem most appropriate. Finally it will discuss if it is ethical for Nike to pay endorsers millions while its factory employees receive a few dollars a day. There are a number of ethical issues that surround the Nike, Inc. and Sweatshop case study. The most important ethical issue is the accusation of their products being made by children in foreign countries receiving a low wage for a day’s work. Ethically Nike should not tolerate underage child labor and should have taken all necessary action to make sure it is not happening. In 2001, Nike came around and says they should have handled the accusations regarding the sweatshop issue better and should have been monitoring their subcontractors closer to make sure this issue was not happening. They wanted to ensure their business was still successful in the years to come, and took the steps necessary in order to regain the public’s confidence again. A social issue regarding the case is when Nike refused to make the personalized shoes for Peretti when he requested the...
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...Ethical Case Analysis: Nike Introduction Nike was established in 1972 by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. These two men were visionaries. The goal for Nike was to carry on Bowerman’s legacy of innovative thinking by helping every athlete reach their goal or by creating lucrative business opportunities that would set the company apart from any competition. This included providing quality work environments for all who were employed by Nike. However, Nike has long been eluding allegations of employing people in the developing and under-developed economies, at low wages and poor working conditions for a long time. Nike tried many different measures of correcting its image as well many public relations measures to help salvage the image the public had of them after images of Nike employees working in sweatshops were released. In this essay, we will look at Nike’s international business operations and analyze the ethical issues and dilemmas they are faced with as a result of manufacturing their goods on foreign soil. Areas of Concern Some areas of concern for Nike include poor working conditions, low wages, child labor, as well as health concerns in the factories. These are all areas of concern where ethics is involved. Ethics is the generic term for the science of our morals. The executives at Nike have been accused of many ethical dilemmas. For example, poor working conditions...
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...NIKE CASE STUDY This post is a based on a case study of Nike. The article will be discussing legal and ethical analysis and how the impact the operational/ ethical issues of the organization, the paper shall also be discussing the contribution factors and how the company’s corporate culture may have helped to minimize the unethical behavior or actually contributed to/caused the unethical behavior. The paper is also going to provide ethical decision factors, which are going to address or going to be considered in resolving the legal/ethical issues identified within this case. And finally the paper is going to provide an action plan for each of the legal/ethical issues along with recommendations that company can take to help prevent these issues in the future. Nike is one of the famous franchises in the world that sells sportswear for all ages. But is mostly famous for their athlete shoes and apparel and Nike is also one of the major manufacturers of sport equipment as well. The slogan for Nike is “Just Do It”. Nike was founded in January 1962 in Oregon, United States by Philip Knight and Bill Bowerman. Nike has somewhere around 700 or more retail outlets spread all over the world, and has approximately 45 offices only outside the United States. And it employs 30,000 people all over the world. Nike had a revenue excess of $16 billion in 2007. Nike’s factories are mostly located in Asian countries like Pakistan, India, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam...
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