Nike- Ethical Issues
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 in factories that produce Nike products has been one big issue plaguing the company for years. Nike outsources their labor to countries that are in need of economic growth. They are able to obtain the labor at a cheap, and some may say, unfair rate. This causes workers to be exposed to working conditions that would be far below what we would accept here in the US or any developed country in the world. These workers are faced with long grueling hours, some as long as sixty five hours per week,
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 in factories that produce Nike products has been one big issue plaguing the company for years. Nike outsources their labor to countries that are in need of economic growth. They are able to obtain the labor at a cheap, and some may say, unfair rate. This causes workers to be exposed to working conditions that would be far below what we would accept here in the US or any developed country in the world. These workers are faced with long grueling hours, some as long as sixty five hours per week,
References: Greenhouse, S. (1997). Nike shoe plant in Vietnam is called unsafe for workers. Retrieved on September 6, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/08/business/nike-shoe-plant-in-vietnam-is-called-unsafe-for-workers.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm Wilsey, M. (2000). The Nike controversy. Retrieved on September 7, 2012 from http://www.stanford.edu/class/e297c/trade_environment/wheeling/hnike.html AICPA (2006). The Sabanes-Oakley Act. Retrieved on September 6, 2012, from http://www.soxlaw.com/ Anderson, S. (2006). International regulation on transnational corporations. Retrieved on September 8, 2012 from http://www.policyinnovations.org/ideas/policy_library/data/01311/_res/id=sa_File1/ Flering, P. (2005). Nike press release. Retrieved on September 6 2012 from http://www.ceres.org/press/press-releases/nike-inc.-issues-2004-corporate-responsibility-report-highlighting-stakeholder-engagement-and-new-levels-of-transparency-and-disclosure