Nike: Managing Ethical Missteps By: Santino Viselli
Agenda Introduction: Nike Ethical Issue: Video Nike’s Corporate Social Responsibility Nike’s Reponses to Issue Future of Nike Discussion Questions Nike Today
Introduction Nike: Came from the Greek god of Victory Created: Import of Japanese Athletic footwear into the United States Founders: Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman in 1964 Officially became brand in 1978 Yearly Revenue: $23.4 Billion Worldwide leader of athletic goods
Video video
Ethical Issue Mid 1990’s Child Labor Low- non existent pay Poor working conditions Nike: No codes of Conduct for contracting work
As an HR professional working for Nike, how would allegations of this nature affect your decision to work for the company?
Corporate Social Responsibility Evolving since 1991 Environmental Sustainability Audit tools Factory Transparency Philanthropy Corporate Responsibility Committee
Strategy Defensive: “Its not our Fault” Compliance: “We’ll do only what we have to” Managerial: “It’s the business” Strategic: “it gives us a competitive edge” Civil: “We need to make everybody do it
As an HR professional working for Nike, what other suggestions would you feel comfortable making to boost corporate social responsibility?
Nike’s Response Public Relations Campaign Began to visit College Campuses Created a Code of Conduct for for all suppliers Marc Kasky- filed Lawsuit $2 million dollar- Misleading information
Future of Nike Fortune’s magazine 2010 “ The worlds Most Admired Companies” CR magazine, 23rd “Best Corporate Citizens” Continue to push internationally Continue to gain leadership through star athletes Universities and activist continue to pressure
Discussion Questions Why did Nike fail to address corporate social responsibility early on? How would you evaluate Nike’s response to societal and consumer concerns about its contract manufacturing. What are the challenges facing Nike in the future?
Nike today Nike Website
References Boke, D.M., & Khan, F.R. (2009). Story-Branding by Empire Entrepreneurs: Nike, Child Labour, and Pakistan’s Soccer Ball Industry. Journal of Small Business & Entrpreneurship, 22 (1), 9- 25. Ferrell, O.C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L., (2013) Ethical Decision Making and Cases, Business Ethics (9thed) Mason, OH: South- Western Cengage Learning, Pg 495-502. Nisen, M. (2013) How Nike Solved Its Sweatshop Problem, Business Insider Retreived from: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-nike-solved-its-sweatshop-problem-2013-5.