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Challenges Nike experienced to achieve global marketing footing
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Business ethics in a global economy
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This paper describes the legal, cultural, and ethical challenges that confronted the global business presented in the Nike sweatshop debate case study. The paper determines the various roles that the Vietnamese government played in this global business operation. This paper summarizes the strategic and operational challenges facing global managers illustrated in the Nike sweatshop case. "Nike: The Sweatshop Debate" Case Study This paper describes the legal, cultural, and ethical challenges that confronted the global business presented in the Nike sweatshop debate case study. It illustrates Nike’s part in the sweatshop scandal and it also takes a look at the ethical issues that surround this touchy subject. This paper determines the various roles that the Vietnamese government played in this global business operation. This paper summarizes the strategic and operational challenges facing global managers illustrated in the Nike sweatshop case. There were many legal, cultural, and ethical challenges that Nike faced when confronted with the sweatshop case. Nike a well known global corporation that was established in 1972 by former University of Oregon track star Phil Knight. Nike is one of the leading marketers of athletic shoes and apparel in the world. The company has $10 billion in annual revenues and sells its products in over 140 countries. Nike is not affiliated with any of its own manufacturing. The company designs and markets its own products but they contract out their manufacturing to a global network of 600 factories located around the world. These manufacturers employ over 550,000 people world wide. The company has been ridiculed for more than a decade with repeated and unrelenting allegations that its... ... middle of paper ... ... References Arnold, D. G., & Hartman, L. P. (2003, 11/14/2003). Business and Society Review [Review of the book Moral imagination and the future of sweatshops]. Business and Society Review, 108, 425-461. Christopoulos, D. (2007). “The problem with sweatshops is that there are not enough of them” . Hamilton Institute Weekly. Retrieved from www.hamiltoninstitute.com/index.php?option=com_content&task Vann, K. (n.d.). Nike From Greek Myth to Sports and Fitness Powerhouse. Retrieved 10/12/2008, from shoes.about.com/od/athleticshoes/a/nike.htm
When looking at the problem of sweatshops in Asia, it is easy to blame the subcontractors themselves for taking advantage of the workers, and that may be the right method to look at it. However, Sukae...
This article is real case of a particular factory in Indonesia which produces shoe, primarily for Reebok. It reveals how one of the world’s most powerful companies is influencing lives and working conditions in one of the poorest countries in the world.
In the beginning, Nike felt no responsibility towards these problems found in their suppliers’ plants, as workers at these factories were not Nike direct employees. However in 1992, Nike’s hands-off approach changed as the Code of Conduct was formed. It is composed for Nike’s suppliers and requires them to manage some environmental issues, basic labor, and health and safety standards. However, even though all the factories seem to comply with Nike’s code of conduct, the reality is that poor working conditions and abused labor rights still exist (Locke
Nisen, Max. "How Nike Solved Its Sweatshop Problem." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 09 May 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Nike should open its factories to inspection by the local labor rights offices. Until it wants to, Nike will probably continue the denial of human rights. Workers in one factory in Formosa, El Salvador are abused frequently and take it because they need the money. They take physical and verbal abuse such as yelling, cursing, and even hitting and shoving. Bathroom visits are monitored and limited. The workers have never even heard of the Nike Code of Conduct. Workers could be fired on the spot if they were suspected to be involved with joining a union or a strike. Pregnancy tests are even given to new workers. If they are found to be positive, they are fired immediately. Nike should educate its workers so they know their legal rights. Nike should not just move its sweatshops out of complaining countries, as this could hurt the country's economy.
Technological advancements due to new innovative and creative ideas have furthered the world and society to levels that would otherwise be unimaginable. Although many problems have been solved, new ones have emerged. In recent times, overseas factories have been a much-debated controversy on the issue of exploitation of workers. The majority of the products we own like our hats, shoes, and shirts are made entirely in a different country. Countries like China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Indonesia have factories filled with employees working long hours for not even half the amount Americans get paid for minimum wage. International factories that produce clothing for well-known brands like Nike and Adidas have earned the name “sweatshops”, due to the conditions and the low wages that workers get paid. The term sweatshops have been popularized through the media as exploiting workers in factories where they are underpaid
In this, I found that students like me play a large role in the anti-sweatshop movement (Pookulangara, Shephard, and Mestres). In that study, the researchers also found that this movement is an important and plays an important role in the amount of student activism. In short, the anti-sweatshop movement is among the more popular movements in student activism. Among the more general population, this issue should matter because Gap, H&M, Walmart, Hanes, J.C. Penney, and Puma (Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights) are some of the biggest fashion brands in the United States, and they’ve been found to exploit their workers (Chamberlain). However, consumers find it okay to buy shoes or other clothing items when companies use sweatshops depending on how strong their personal opinion of such an item is (Georgetown University). In this, I have found it that in order for me to be the most moral that I can be, I should stop buying these
Nike has plenty of critics, but some believe the company has done nothing wrong with the treatment of their workers. William Stepp, from Libertarian Mises Institute, believes that the benefits the workers are given at the factories improve their lives (Nike sweatshops, 2017). William backs his opinion by the fact the workers agreed to the wage and work hours before deciding to take the job (Nike sweatshops, 2017). The workers are supplied with benefits like free physicals, clinic and health services, uniforms, food, transportation, and entertainment; if the other part of the factory work is not as glamorous, the workers still receive better treatment from the factories than other jobs (Nike sweatshops, 2017). In addition, studies were conducted by the Global Alliance for Workers and Communities, and they discovered that 70% of Nike workers in Thailand would rate their supervisors as good, and that 72% thought they were paid fair wages (Nike sweatshops, 2017). If the workers believe they are being treated fairly, and that the factory job is more stable than farm work, is there really a problem. Many factory workers will migrate towards factories because the work is steady than farmland, and they can send money back to their families. The factories supply jobs to people who normally would not be able to find jobs that pay a decent and consistent wage (Nike sweatshops,
Nike will face numerous challenges as it attempts to regain corporate responsibility. The temptation to use low wage, unethical labor practices in order to increase performance will exist not only for Nike, but also its contactors (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2015). Competition in a global environment will present continued pressures on cost-reduction, and often these reductions are accomplished by either lower wages or less hospitable working conditions. Locke (2013) points out that private corporations pledges to increase corporate responsibility can delay appropriate legal and regulatory efforts that would have otherwise improved known issues with unethical or socially irresponsible behavior. Nike will no doubt face pressures to use its
To begin, Nike’s inhumane working conditions can be analyzed through its history. It all started back in the 1970s when they first moved their factories from Oregon to countries like Vietnam, China, South Korea, Indonesia, and Taiwan because these countries have access to cheap labor (Wilsey, Lichtig). According to Matt Wilsey and Scott Lichtig,“These corporations could now reap the benefit of the United States consumer market, while keeping their costs extremely low in offshore
‘For 30 years, the word "sweatshop" has conjured up a very specific image: low-wage Asian workers making branded clothes in crowded, unsafe factories for consumers overseas.’(citation). Today millions of people around the world especially in poor regions such as Africa and Asia are being deprived from their rights by being subjected to work in such a horrible working environments and incredibly long working hours exposing themselves to dirty and harmful atmospheres. Businesses like these are called sweatshops. Sweatshops are businesses especially in clothing industries that make its employees work under harsh and often hazardous conditions and pays them very low wages. “Two Cheers for Sweatshops” Kristof and wudunn (2000) in this article the
These corporations are both large franchise companies and smaller independent companies. One corporation that has been under fire has been Nike. Nike is an American company that was started in 1964 by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman. Originally founded as an apparel outlet in the sports industry, Nike has grown to be one of the biggest sponsors for athletes worldwide. Throughout its many years in production, Nike has proven to be beneficial for the developed world. Nike has offered a resource for athletes as well as an array of cheap athletic wear for all people. However, with cheap production costs come hard labor and poor worker rights for those in developing countries. Nike has been known to say that they have worked very hard to create jobs overseas, but what they fail to mention is the jobs they have created are sweatshops, where the workers are treated in less than acceptable environments. These workers are also being paid little to nothing, which makes it extremely hard for them to provide for themselves let along their
Sweatshops have history and origins. Upon hearing the word “sweatshop,” one may conjure images or thoughts of conditions in an industry with laborers that are worn down and defeated. This is generally true for sweatshops. A sweatshop is defined as a factory or workshop, especially in the clothing industry, where laborers are employed to do manual work at very low wages for long hours and in poor conditions under the standards set by the United States labor departments. Sweatshops have been known to be in just about every wealthy country in the world at one point or another. Dating as far back as late eighteenth century England, sweatshops and forms of cheap labor have been affecting the lives of workers for quite some time. Sweatshops originated and first appeared in Great Britain. Speaking for historical sweatshops, workdays were extremely long, pay was beyond low, and the working conditions were unhealthy and unsafe for the workers. In the late nineteenth century, as masses of Europeans migrated to the United States, the tactics and practices of sweatshops came along with them. Since cheap labor arrived to the United States and spread all over the world, some forms of it have not yet gone away (D’Mello 27). The migrations that have taken place throughout history have contributed to the spread of cheap labor; cheap labor is now a common practice throughout the
If sweatshops are a global problem, what might be a global solution to this problem?
Nike factory in Malaysia violates major rights that affect the rights of workers. For example, one of its contract factories faced problems that they lived in an inconvenient environment, low wages and lack of providing passport to the foreign workers.