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The role of ethics in our global society
Case study - identifying ethical issues in business
Case study - identifying ethical issues in business
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Ethics in this point of time is very important, mostly in business organizations. As globalization in earth is a real and growing matter, mainly organizations need to be aware and have the knowledge of the ethical values. People have the right to be well treated meaning that they should get well paid (get the minimum wedge), be over the minimum age working age allowance, essentially this two aspects are one of the most important ones. Companies need to be strong enough to overcome the temptation of the countries that offer this kind of unethical working ethics, a lot of times people don’t realize immoral behavior and some times companies take advantage of the economical problems that countries can have. What is ethics? Ethics is the moral principals by witch people conduct themselves personally socially and professionally. “The perceived conflict between the traditional corporate objective of profit maximization and the overall desire for increased social welfare.” (Georgades, 2013) Although ethically responsible business practices are generally desired, opinions about what these practices are and how they should be encouraged are diverse, but the complexity of the current business environment complicates the development and implementation of resolutions to ethical issues towards the industry, and this is what is happening with Nike.
Nike has been one of the biggest sport companies in the whole world, this makes this company really powerful, and they have been gaining more power over the years. But this doesn’t mean that this company is perfect, like everyone and everything in the world, Nike has a lack of commitment with some really important ethical issues like the social or children responsibilities. Nike has created a code of business conduct & ethics called “inside the lines” this was a very significant agreement between Bill Bowemand and Phil
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.
Nike’s sweatshop manufacturing practices which can be seen through media have shown people that this company goes under the good guys images, these images which are displayed in their commercials show people that their employees are treated well and their happy in their working environment.
Ethics in business is a highly important concept, as it can affect a company’s profits, salaries paid to employees and CEOs, and public opinion, among many other aspects of a business. Ethics can be enforced by company policies and guidelines, set a precedent when a company is faced with an important decision, and are also evolving thanks to new technology and situations that arise due to technology usage. Businesses have a duty to maintain their ethical responsibilities and also to help their employees enforce these responsibilities in and out of the workplace. However, ethics and the foundation for them are not always black and white. There are many different ethical theories, however Utilitarianism, Kant’s Deontological ethics, and Virtue ethics are three of the most well known theories in existence. Each theory is distinct in that it has a different quality used to determine ethicality and allows for a person to choose which system of ethics works best with both the situation and his or her personal ethical preferences.
Materialistic things consume today’s society, whether it is cars, clothing, or jewelry, in a sense we rely on these objects for our happiness. Companies such as Nike, Gap, and Toms, have all had major success do to their loyal customers, who seek the name brand logo of their company. These companies have continued to grow tremendously, making billions of dollars; the companies strive to find ways to outsourcing its manufacturing, in hopes of making more and more profit. Profit is not the only thing that rises, many questions and investigations have occurred, exposing the poor ethical choices these businesses have made. Nike, one of the most well- known and profitable companies have experienced this heavy scrutiny first hand. Throughout this essay the reader will gain a better understanding of Nike’s poor ethical business decisions and what actions they took in order to repair their image.
Nike has always been a company that's been questioned ethically. People have heard about the stories of the sweatshops in Southeast Asia exploiting adolescent employees for unreasonably small amounts of money. This had blemished Nike’s reputation several years ago, but since then, it has strived to become a truly respectable company. Located on Nike's website you can find Phil Knight's credo about ethics. It is as follows:
Ethics is a social, religious, or civil code of behavior considered appropriate, especially that of a specific group, profession, or individual. Business ethics is the analyzation of moral and social accountability in reference to procedures and the making of decisions in a company (Merriam, 2015). While every individual has their own value system in regards to ethics, there is a type
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.
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).
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...
Nike has suffered attacks from a number of agencies and organizations throughout the world that claim that the workers who manufacture Nike shoes are denied the basic essentials of living—a fair wage and decent benefits. All that occurs while several sport megastars are reaping in multimillion dollar contracts to promote Nike shoes. Over the years, Nike formulated tactics to deal with the problems of working conditions and compensation in subcontractors. It hired a strong consultant (Andrew Young), commissioned an independent audit of its subcontractors, and spelled out initiatives to improve those working conditions. Still, Nike’s critics were not satisfied. They protested on university campuses and accused Nike of continuing to hide the conditions of workers.
Business ethics are the core fundamentals of a business and are extremely important for organizations smooth and successful operation. It can have either positive impact by operating ethically or negative impact if they are caught up in any unethical situation or dilemma. Ethics has been defined as “study and philosophy of human conduct with an emphasis in determining the right and wrong” (Ferrell et.al, 2010). This case study will analyze Coca Cola for the ethical dilemmas they were involved in Belgium, and how the company responded to the issues.
Ethics are moral principles or values that govern the conduct of an individual or a group.It is not a burden to bear, but a prudent and effective guide which furthers life and success. Ethics are important not only in business but in academics and society as well because it is an essential part of the foundation on which a civilized society is built.
Ethics in the workplace is a very important thing to have. Without a sense of ethicality in the workplace there are many things that could go wrong. You could even end up losing a job because of a lack of ethics, or other consequences could be felt due to a lack of caring or morality. The workplace is a place that you should show respect and dignity, and a deeper sense of ethics is very important in order to uphold these senses of morality. Workplace ethics, which include such things as behavior, integrity, commitment, teamwork, and other things, are important, if not required, in most workplaces and can help to improve performance and morale for workers and employers.
Ethics is the study of right or wrong and the morality of the choices that individuals make. That basicly means the set of morals or responsibility that a person, group, or field have. Ethics can also be classified as code of morals. In business there are ethics that portray to business. These are called business ethics, business ethics just happen to be the application of ethics, morals, into the business field. Some examples of business ethics are obeying all rules and regulations even when nobody 's looking, which is pretty self explanatory, you shouldn’t be breaking rules. Even if it is as simple as washing your hands after you use the restroom or straight up lying to your customers, they are the ones making you money so if they find out
Ethics is simply doing the right thing. In the business situation ethics are the moral concept of a firm getting through it organizational duties ethically.