NIKE, ranked number 126 in 2013 on Fortune’s Top 500 List, up from 136 in 2012, is the world’s leading athletic brand but that doesn’t mean it can just disregard corporate social responsibility. NIKE believes that its success relies on their ability to transition into the sustainable economy and has been working tirelessly to achieve these goals. They have already begun massive restructures in almost every aspect of their company. These changes include bettering the environment, factory work conditions and worker treatment. The company’s CSR strategy revolves around innovation. With goals of creating a more sustainable and green enterprise, NIKE has been innovating for the future. Personally, I believe NIKE’s CSR strategy is very effective because with natural and human resources constrained, innovation, new technology, and new approaches are more than necessary. And, it seems to be working out pretty well for them.
In terms of the environment, NIKE has developed a policy called the “North Star” to define what sustainable products and a sustainable company would look like.2 The North Star addresses sustainability at the very core of NIKE with the goal of creating extraordinary products for athletes within nature’s limits. It looks like this.
The North Star
Healthy Chemistry: Minimize impact of product ingredients.
Climate Stability: Leadership toward climate stability.
Water Stewardship: Borrow water responsibly and return it clean.
Closing the Loop: Allow resources to recover.
Thriving Communities: Enable stakeholders to lead fulfilling lives.
Game Changers: Educate the consumer.2
I believe that the North Star policy is a very smart idea because it targets every category within NIKE from resources to management. By following ...
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...a new Code of Conduct to ensure worker safety.2
• Must comply with legally mandated work hours.
• May use overtime only when each employee is fully compensated.
• Must inform employee at hiring is mandatory overtime is needed.
• Must regularly provide one day off in seven and require no more than 60 hours of work per week on a regular basis.
• Factories are rated on scale of how well they abide by these rules.2
NIKE requires suppliers to pay workers at least minimum wage and benefits, and any addition benefits they may need in contracts or collective bargaining agreements.
I believe that NIKE’s new CSR strategy revolving around innovation is necessary to ensure its future success and other companies should model their strategies around NIKE. As our world endures threats of climate change, high oil prices and population growth it is key to plan for the future.
Since its creation, Nike has proven itself as a popular brand and it has created niches by selling products such as footwear, apparels and various types of sports equipment. This paper will attempt to trace the product development of Nike shoes from its origins in conception and design to the manufacturing and production process located in contract factories in developing countries to advertising and marketing of Nike as a cultural commodity and finally, the retailing of the footwear around the world.
Nike has been under a great deal of pressure to correct the misdoings that have been done regarding production facilities in the East. As Nike is responsible for these plants, their reputation has been tainted with increasing public debate about ethical matters. While Nike still promotes itself as one of the industry leaders in corporate social responsibility, workers in Asia are still forced to work excessively long hours in substandard environments and are not paid enough to meet the basic needs for themselves or their families. They are faced to a life of poverty and are unfortunate subjects to harassment and violent threats if they make any attempt to form unions or tell journalists about labour abuses in their factories. Phil Knight’s speech regarding Nike’s steps to improving human rights in Asian countries was a step in the right direction for Nike, but it would have been much more effective had Nike fully followed through with these initiatives.
Consumers must be aware of the changes that might occur in Nike through media and social awareness
“At NIKE, we are on the offense, always. We play hard, we play to win, but we play by the rules of the game. This Code of Ethics is vitally important. It contains the rules of the game for NIKE, the rules we live by and what we stand for. Please read it. And if you've read it before, read it again. Then take some t...
This paper critically analyzes Nike company sustainability strategy. Every investor or a group of investors wishes to see the business profitable at the current time as well as having good prospects for future (Werbach, 2009). For this reason, business sustainability strategy is very important. A strategy is a plan that guides the company or a business firm towards a certain direction or set goals. Thus, sustainability strategy is an action plan that a company set in order to maintain the plan toward the achievement of company’s goals in future. Sustainability strategy puts into consideration aspects such as the source of raw materials, competition, human resource development, and sustainability, and the general business environment. Thus, in evaluating a business’ sustainability, it is important to consider the business planning in this direction (Heslin and Ochoa 2008)
First, we want Nike to play a role in effecting positive, systemic change in working conditions within our industries. If our efforts lead to a workplace oasis -- one solitary and shining example in a desert of poor conditions -- then we’ve not succeeded. Even if that single shining example were to exist (and we’re not claiming it does), we’ve learned that positive changes won’t last unless the landscape changes. Our challenge is to work with the industry and our contract manufacturers to collectively address these systemic non-compliance issues that our data so highlight. This is one of the key reasons we made the decision to disclose our supply base; we believe this could encourage other companies to do the same. Our belief is that in disclosing, the industry will find ways to better share knowledge and learnings. This, in turn, will facilitate the building of further partnership approaches that are built on best practice and gradually lead us to standard codes, standard approaches to monitoring, standard reporting and standard parameters for transparency. It’s our belief that for market forces to enable responsible competitiveness, consumers must be able to reward brands and suppliers using fact-based information. Compliance efforts need to be optimized, made affordable and demonstrate real return if better working conditions are to become widespread. Disclosure of our supply chain is done in an effort to jump-start disclosure and collaboration throughout the industry and support efforts towards that final goal of market forces, providing the tipping point for the mainstreaming of best practice.
The corporation should invest more money in research and innovation since this is what has helped them to make a product that rivals their competitors. At the same time, it is imperative for them to improve their machinery for cheap labor costs which will help the company increase its production allowing it to meet the demand in the market. By improving production leading to lower costs of making shoes, apparel, and equipment, Nike will achieve higher demand assuming a quality product is maintained in that process. They will stand a better chance of competing in the industry (Hill, 2009). The organization is already in a better position for meeting the demand, customer taste, and needs. The company should improve quality by focusing on developing lightweight products that are more durable compared to those offered by the competitors. Also, Nike can keep up their success by continuing to reinvent and improve their items and continue to meet the current demand by using new technology. It can also use the Internet to communicate with consumers (Hill, 2009). By developing new technology, Nike will allow the customers to suggest and design their shoes online. To achieve this goal, it is fundamental to enhance areas such as their website to make it more user-friendly. Finally, the company should pay attention to small startup organizations that enter the
Many global companies like Nike, Inc. are seen as role models both in the market place as well as in society in large. That is why they are expected to act responsibly in their dealings with humanity and the natural world. Nike benefits from the global sourcing opportunities, therefore areas such as production and logistics have been outsourced to partner companies in low-wage countries like China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. As a result the company is limited nowadays to its core competencies of Design and Marketing.
For the past twenty-five years, we have seen one of the most popular brand sayings become a part of our daily life. Nike started its “Just Do It” campaign in 1988 with the simple commercial advertisement of an 80-year-old man, Walt Stack, who runs seventeen miles each morning. This campaign is said to be one of the simplest slogans, but yet one of the most effective ones. While athletic apparel companies are struggling to captivate the attention of potential buyers, Nike has influenced the minds of its consumers with three simple words. As a consumer, we are persuaded though this campaign by several high-profile athletes throughout the years such as, Ken Griffey Jr. and Michael Jordan in the 90’s to Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters in the 2000’s. After too many celebrity scandals, Nike decided to campaign their “Just Do It” ads with everyday athletes. The media has interpreted the ‘Just Do It’ ads in many different forms, but mainly contributing a negative connotation with the athletes Nike selects and their irresponsible behavior. Ethically, this advertisement has been provided a confidence boost to a younger generation. Whether it was bad or good, this has been the outcome from this campaign.
Phil Knight started his shoe company by selling shoes from the back of his car. As he became more successful in 1972 he branded the name Nike. In the 1980’s Nike Corporation quickly grew and established itself as a world leader in manufacturing and distributing athletic footwear and sports' attire. The Nike manufacturing model has followed is to outsource its manufacturing to developing nations in the Asia Pacific, Africa, South and Latin Americas; where labor is inexpensive. It quickly became known for its iconic “swoosh” and “Just do it” advertisements and products. Its highly successful advertising campaigns and brand developed its strong market share and consumer base. But, the road has not always been easy for Nike; in the late 1990’s they went through some challenging times when their brand become synonymous with slave wages and child labor abuses. During this period, Nike learned that it paramount that the company understands its stakeholders’ opinions and ensures their values are congruent with their stakeholders. Nike learned that their stakeholders were concerned with more than buying low cost products; their customers were also concerned with ethical and fair treatment of their workers. Because Nike was unwilling to face the ethical treatment of its employees, the company lost its loyal customers and damaged its reputation. Nike has bounced back since the late 1990’s and revived its reputation by focusing on its internal shortfalls and attacking its issues head on. Nike nearly collapsed from its missteps in the late 1990’s. They have learned from their mistakes and taken steps to quickly identify ethical issues before they become a crisis through ethics audits. This paper is based on the case study of Nike: From Sweatsh...
There are multiple definitions of CSR, The World business Council for Sustainable Development defines it as “the continuing commitment by business to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the community and society at large”. Whereas McWilliams and Siegel (2000) give a definition that is more suitable for football clubs, “CSR represents a set of actions that appear to further some social good, extend beyond the explicit pecuniary interests of the firm, and are not required by law”. Another definition that was developed by Turker (2009) socially responsible organisations are those “that aim to affect stakeholders positively and that go beyond its economic interest”. The definitions by Turker and McWilliams and Siegel are more appropriate for understanding CSR in the football industry, in which organisations that don't operate in the conventional way. Smith and Westerbeek state that there are seven unique features of sports that gives it a high power and influence in societies “mass media distribution and communication power, youth appeal, positive health impacts, social nitration, sustainability awareness, cultural understanding and integration, and immediate gratification benefits (Smith and Westerbeek, 2007). Thi...
With the increased monitoring and enforcement of labour practices; Nike being in the public spotlight and subject to negative publicity on their subcontracted factories is forced to readjust the working conditions of their cross ocean factory workers to abide with proper regulations. This has caused Nike to modify their factory standards and employee working conditions by; limiting the maximum hours worked a week, implementing proper ventilation systems to filter out toxic fumes, increase worker access to protective equipment, and increase the capacity of medical facilities and medical staff for their workers.
They underlie their opinion by a deontological approach which supports the equal treatment towards others as a response of our behaviour. In order to fulfil the dignity of workers in Nike supply chain, the company established code of conduct in 1992 and their amendments in 1997 and 1998. These ethical values were included recommendations for minimum wages, maximum working hours of 60 hours per week, minimum age for workers of 16 years old and 18 years old to work in a hazardous environment, prohibition on forced labor and minimum safety and environmental standards. However, some reports of sweatshop misconducts are still continued. For example, in 2011, there was a report of sweatshop abuse in Indonesia, where employees were still getting harsh treatment from their supervisors. This condition was also backed up by military power and lacked of monitoring from Nike. The use of regime power could also be seen in Russia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand and
Nike is a multinational corporation with a brand that is recognizable worldwide. For the following paper I will conduct be conducting a social media audit, and evaluating the social media strategies currently being used by Nike. Nike is American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development and worldwide marketing and selling of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and services. It is one of the world's largest suppliers of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment. As of 2012, it employed more than 44,000 people worldwide. The brand alone is valued at $10.7 billion, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses. The company was founded on January 25, 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, and officially became Nike, Inc. on May 30, 1978. (Wikipedia, 2013)
Nike is the number one innovator in the world in athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories. This worldwide company operates in an extremely different organizational structure than other companies, such as Reebok and Adidas. Nike operates tremendous marketing strategies and develops inventive designs to inspire athletes around the world. This company is one of the largest suppliers in the world in athletic footwear and apparel, main producer of sports equipment, and making Nike the most valuable brand among sports companies. The task for Nike is to join diversity and inclusion to encourage ideas and innovation. Around the world, this company is a popular brand.