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Challenges Nike experienced to achieve global marketing footing
Business ethics in a global economy
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
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.
‘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
...plain that due to fact that multination corporations can only be tried in their home countries, this allowed Nike to get away from prosecution. This, paired along with little help from Nike and its advocates, has allowed Nike to expand its worker abusing production line. It is weird to see such conditions repeat themselves after this being the norm in Britain 150 years ago, but perhaps it is the natural process of economies of scale.
By 2004, all of Nike’s products were manufactured by 830 suppliers. Nike in total employs over 600,000 workers all over 51 countries. However, Nike’s direct employees totaled to only 24,291 people, with majority working in its home country, United States (Nike, 2005, 3-4). Nike has been criticized in regards to underpaying workers in Indonesia and China, child labor in Pakistan, sexual abuse in Vietnam, and particularly the poor working conditions in Mexico (Locke 2010).
Everyone loves his or her new set of Nike apparel. In fact, Nike can be found on the bodies of many athletic team members. Why would such a prosperous and well-known company rely on the exploitation of child slave labor? It all started when CEO Philip Knight came up with a "brilliant idea": put shoe factories in Asia, paying the workers pennies on the dollar, and raking in immense profits. Nike can easily afford to pay workers a fair amount. One can see that this is the antithesis of Nike's philosophy: doing what's fair. Workers in Nike sweatshops are denied human rights, pressured into working long and hard hours, and worst of all can't provide for themselves or their families. It's ironic how an American company, which enjoys the rights given to it by the American government, takes away human rights in other countries.
Nisen, Max. "How Nike Solved Its Sweatshop Problem." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 09 May 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
In June of 1996, Life magazine published a article about Nike’s child labor that was occurring in Pakistan. The article showed a little boy who was surrounded by pieces of Nike sports gear. The articles were shoes and soccer balls. Nike then knew then that they had to make some major changes in the way they were producing their items.
Sweatshops may be viewed by many as unethical, however, they hold lots of valuable potential like providing thousands of people with jobs that pay higher than others offered in their country. Sweatshops also provide economic growth by companies investing in underdeveloped countries by building factories and providing income to people which help the economy expand. Many protesters try to end sweatshops but it will do more harm than good. For example, laying off thousands of people from their jobs would keep the world poverty even lower. Unfortunately, we cannot overlook the fact that some sweatshops do pose a threat to the lives and health of the employees but overall the dangers of working in a sweatshop are the best option many will have as opposed to other more dangerous jobs or no job at all. Sweatshops factories may seem unethical and immoral but it provides more good than people seem to
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 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
In many ways, it seems obvious to me that Nike should be held responsible for working conditions in foreign companies where products for Nike are made. In my opinion a company is not only responsible for itsʼ own employees but also for the employees that produce for them even though theyʼre not in their own company. I think that every part of the supply chain is partially responsible for the entire supply chain. As Nike is the
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
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
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.
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