Is Puma Inc. an Ethical Company?
Business ethics simply can be defined as the application of business values in the business practice of a company (Seawell 2010, p. 2). For a multinational company, business ethics is one of the critical aspects need to be taken into account in business decision-making processes. Failure to give attention on ethics may bring consequences on company’s reputation (Meyer & Jebe 2010, p. 159). The company is expected not only to pursue its own profits but also contributing to the environmental and social welfare of the community where it operates (Svensson & Wood 2008, p. 308).
Puma Inc. (Puma) is a multinational sporting goods company which designs and develops footwear, apparel and accessories. The Puma and its subsidiaries have operated in more than 50 countries (Puma 2012, p. 156) and employed more than 11,000 people worldwide (Puma 2013). The company’s supply chains are supported by 540 factories (Puma 2012, p. 44), which is mostly in Asia (Puma 2012, p. 43), and its products have been distributed to more than 120 countries (Puma 2013). The company is the seventh ranked athletic apparel company in the world in term of revenue in 2011 (Schulz 2012).
As a multinational company, Puma strive to be the most desirable and sustainable sportlifestyle company in the world (Puma 2012, p. 9) and contributes in creating a more sustainable future for the generations to come (Puma 2012, p. 15). To meet these goals, the company claims that it has referred its business decisions to the four values of PUMAVision (fair, honest, positive and creative), implemented PUMAVision’s programs, which are PUMA.Safe, PUMA.Peace and PUMA.Creative, (Puma 2012, p. 10) and set its own code of ethics as well as its supplier’...
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UA concentrated on the outside-in (market responsive) approach to carry out its strategies. It is reported that it sourced unique synthetic materials and employed on field product development. This enabled it to create the performance apparel segment in the athletic apparel market.
Under Armour has a mission statement that clearly states what they wish to accomplish and how they will do it. “To make all athletes better through passion, design, and the relentless pursuit of innovation”, this is a powerful statement that makes consumers and the competition aware that this organization will strive to help athletes everywhere reach their potential (Mission, 08).
Since the pressure of the NGOs on the company has been growing, Nike developed a concept that promises to improve the monitoring of social and environmental standards for their contractors. According to Nike’s principle “Nike was founded on a handshake” , the company wants to work together and bind their business partners on the Responsibility Concept. Nike presents a symbiotic relationship of all parties based on their stated values of “trust, teamwork, honesty and mutual respect.” SHAPE stands for Safety, Health, Attitude, People and Environment and is combined with the Code of Conduct. The Responsibility Concept has been distributed to the manufactures since 1992. Nike introduced a new version of the Code of Conduct in 1997 which is oriented on the basis of human rights. According to article 23, a person has a right to work, which will remunerate him/her to such a degree that he/she will be able to live humanely.
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 as many brands as there is ants in the world, but the two brands that pop out are adidas and nike. Those two brands have been going head to head for ages to see who is the better brand. It’s been tested, compared, and debated which brand is better. Whether it’s the quality of the materials or the cost of it, the debate is ongoing. Both brands have been fighting for the top ever since they were both created and I don’t blame them it’d be fantastic to be the best brand in the world. When Nike and adidas are contrasted, it becomes clear that the Adidas brand are better for the overall consumer and enhances sport performance than Nike.
manufacturing products overseas, specifically in Bangladesh. The focal point of the article was how Nike was attempting to achieve the lowest possible manufacturing costs while still maintaining worker safety and producing high-quality products. Both consequences and benefits of manufacturing in foreign companies was discussed in the article. In addition to how manufacturing costs affect the financial outlook of the company, the article addressed how having factories in less-developed countries has an impact on public opinion of Nike.
Nike’s positioning in the market has more of a mass appeal compared to their main competitor Adidas who strive to make products for elite athletes. The positioning strategy for Nike is currently working at a satisfactory level as Nikes global annual sales between 2013-2014 was reported as 27.8 billion (Statista, 2014) compared to Adidas’ 19.95 billion (Statista, 2014). The global market for sports apparel is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4% between 2012-2019, Nikes compound annual growth rate during 2010-2012 was 12.3% which is an excellent result as the brand’s growth was larger than the market as well as outgrowing Nike’s closest competitors Adidas, Puma and Asics (Forbes,
Kidder, R, M., (2010), Center for corporate Ethics, Institute for Global Ethics, retrieved on August 08,2010 from www.globalethics.org/ reserve reading from ethics news line
Nowadays, there are so many famous sportswear companies that exist in the market globally, which make people have more product varieties that they can choose. In addition, most of those companies have become very important for its host countries, in terms of supporting their economic development. Yet, the existence of those companies can also possibly bring some problems to the host countries, as well as negatively affect the countries’ people (Pettinger, 2008). In order to explain it better, the existence of Adidas in Indonesia is used in this report to give more information about what makes Adidas becomes a successful company in the world, as well as providing problems that Adidas has in Indonesia.
This project concentrates on the Nike Sports shoe; Nike is one of most significant shoe manufacturing company worldwide. Sportswear manufactured by Nike is known for quality and is most liked brand of athletes. (Daniel, 2011)
The PUMAVision looks forward to a world that is more secure, more serene and more inventive for the ages to come. Through the projects of PUMA.Safe, PUMA.Peace and PUMA.Creative, Puma is giving genuine and viable articulations of their vision. Puma have conducted several projects that addresses their company vision.