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Ethics in modern business life
Ethics in modern business life
Ethics in modern business life
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Social Responsibility is not new to the human race, it has been there for decades. Businesses were more concerned mainly with their economics results “Today, however, businesses must also reflect on the legal, ethical, moral and social consequences of their decisions” (Anderson, 1989, 15). Organizations worldwide consider the society’s interests by taking responsibilities for their activities on customers, employees, shareholders and the communities. This article will be concentrating on the strengths, limitations and challenges of businesses applying ethics and social responsibilities within their supplier networks. It will cover Nikes productions practices and its corporate social responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is there for organizations to comply with its practices. It’s responsibility is to improve the quality of people’s lives, by following the ethical business conduct, employment practices and health and safety only to name a few. Before, companies were more concerned with how much money they were making but now they need to follow these practices. Auditors monitor Organizations to make sure that they are following the CSR guidelines. However not every organization seem to be inhering to follow such practices and many are under pressure by media, activists, competitors and other organizations such as NGO’s. Nike products are manufactured by more than 800 suppliers in about 51 countries. Including Asia, South America, Australia, Italy, Turkey, Canada and the US. But reports state that the problems were in the Asian factories. According to the article done by (Richard LOCKE, Thomas KOCHAN, Monica ROMIS and Fei OIN). Nike is the world’s largest athletics shoe company. Their main duty is to keep ... ... middle of paper ... ...5% of the workers were Vietnamese mostly young women. The legal working age at the factory was 16 years, but they were willing to accept to change it to 18 because they were well aware of the criticism against Nike and they did not want this problems to continue. This only confirms that the accusations against Nike did not have any impact on the relationships between them and their suppliers. According to (Lynn R. Kahle, David M. Boush, and Mark Phelps) Meetings are held every Month to discuss any issues or improvements needed and about 87% of the employees belong to the union. Meaning that employees have rights and make formal complaints against their employer. Nike exceeded the legal minimum wage of $35 a month to $45, even though the wages are low, the workers get other benefits, such as social security, free health care and one free subsidized meal per day.
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.
In addition, Nike is a worldwide known company and it is among the top empires just as Adidas and Puma. It has more than 900 factories which are located in an estimated 50 countries, they also have more than 660 000 workers which most of them are women. However, although they have a lot of factories around the world, their main manufacture factories are located in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam which are basically countries with the most minimum salaries rate given to the workers. Nike chooses these locations for their production of their merchandise because of the cheap ...
...rible situations for people who do not have the laws like U.S. workers have. Even though NIKE has implemented different methods to improve the companies’ image, there have still been many reports that show there has not been much change at all. At a net worth of 67 billion dollars and expected to grow, loyal customers is what allows this multi billion dollar company to grow in profit, the only way there will be an impact on those working in NIKE sweatshops is if today’s society takes action.
Nike Incorporated is the number one leading sportswear and equipment provider in the world. They manufacture anything from casual clothes to sports equipment, shoes to socks, and basketballs to golf balls. As a result of its massive success, Nike employs nearly 30,000 people worldwide while manufacturing in 700 shops around the globe and has 45 offices outside the United States. Its extensive reach into the global market has Nike producing more exclusive products than any other manufacturer in the world. Nike’s headquarters is located in the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon.
An organization’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) drives them to look out for the different interests of society. Most business corporations undertake responsibility for the impact of their organizational pursuits and various activities on their customers, employees, shareholders, communities and the environment. With the high volume of general competition between different companies and organizations in varied fields, CSR has become a morally imperative commitment, more than one enforced by the law. Most organizations in the modern world willingly try to improve the general well-being of not only their employees, but also their families and the society as a whole.
Many global companies like Nike, Inc. are seen as role models both in the market place as well as in society in large. That is why they are expected to act responsibly in their dealings with humanity and the natural world. Nike benefits from the global sourcing opportunities, therefore areas such as production and logistics have been outsourced to partner companies in low-wage countries like China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. As a result the company is limited nowadays to its core competencies of Design and Marketing.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the set of regulations that an organization makes to protect and increase the society in which it functions. There are three areas of social responsiblity: Organizational stakeholders, the natural environment and general social welfare.
Manufacturing in foreign countries typically means cheaper production costs resulting in higher profit margins. Nike operates manufacturing plants worldwide, with most of their clothes and shoe...
The essay, “The Noble Feat of Nike” by Johan Norberg basically talks about the effects of Nike going into third world countries, particularly Vietnam. Norberg explains how Nike’s factory gains from being in its desired location, Vietnam. Vietnam being a communist country comes to Nike’s advantage, because if they were located elsewhere they would have to pay workers higher wages and use more of their machines. Workers in these countries are provided with an air conditioned building with regular wages, free meal plans, free medical service, and training/education to operate the machinery within the factory. The workers find all of this beneficial and in their own favor because of the fact their earning double to five times the amount in wages than if they were working outdoors on a farm. This great deal, blinds them to notice the meaning behind the company’s location in Vietnam. The Nike factory was rather clever in making their location in that specific area to gain benefits for Western owners. The catch Nike gains from is simple. The owners pay factory workers only a small monthly sum from what they make selling the shoes to customers. Globalists state that the company doesn’t pull this fast one on the Western population because of our advancements compared to the Eastern countries. Western people would protest and strike to demand better wages for their work, but the people in Eastern countries have no choice but to deal with the injustice in order to support their families and educate their children.
Nike’s source is America. It is a multinational company which is engaged for design, development and manufacturing of footwear, equipment, apparel, accessories and services. Nike is also famous for the worldwide marketing and selling of the same products.
The Nike Company is a manufacturing as well as retailer type company. There are 800 worldwide factories for Nike brand and products. It is true that most of the Nike brand apparel is manufactured out of the United States. It’s all happen due to independent contract manufactures those are situated in different 34 countries. Nike is the one of the largest seller of athlete footwear and athlete apparel in the modern world.
A company has an economic obligation. It must earn a favorable return for its stockholders in the restrictions of the law. But, corporate social responsibility means that organizations have also ethical and societal responsibilities that go past their economic responsibilities. CSR needs organizations to develop their documentations of their responsibilities to include other stakeholders such as workers, customers, suppliers, local societies, state governments, international organizations, etc. Ethics could be seen as a fundamental component of individual and group activities at the heart of organizations’ errands.
As a result of modern corporate scandals and rapid development of international business environments, social responsibility (SR) has become a key aspect of corporate competitive contexts. (Brammer, Williams and Zinkin, 2007). Businesses are under increasing pressure to incorporate SR amongst their profit-driven aims and have become increasingly accountable for their social and environmental actions. Increased interest in CSR developed in the mid 1990s as consumers began to lack their former trust in companies due to both environmental and financial scandals and it became noticeable that society was moving towards values incorporating harmony, quality of life and environmental conservation (Carrasco, 2007) Additionally, major corporate failures over the past two decades have resulted in increased demand for stronger, corporate governance (CG) rules. (Sui, Wright & Evans, 2007). Superior CG rules are needed in order to preserve the integrity of corporations, financial institutions and markets and the health and stability of world economies. (OECD Website)
Corporate Social Responsibility is an organisation’s obligation to serve the company’s own interest and the one’s of the society. Moreover, Corporate Social Responsibility has a definition of a concept where the companies integrate social and the environmental concerns into their own business operation and also on a basis of voluntary with their interactions they have with the stakeholders. Corporate Social Resp...
In the current time of growth and progression, individuals should know that how a business not only flourish but sustain itself. Making profit is one of the main targets of every corporates but it must not be the only one. When an individual builds a company in order to do business, they should be well aware of their contribution towards the society as well as their business and employees in it. It is total strategy of all. We should be able to realize every increment contributes of it. One of the major factors that affect a business is how well it participates in Corporate Social Responsibility. According to (Werther & Chandler, 2006) corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to a business practice that involves participating in initiatives that benefits the society. In authenticity, there is a whole lot to argue about it. There are no major guidelines that decides either a business is participating in Corporate Social Responsibility; what might be considered a Business practicing CSR to some, can still not be accepted for it by others. CSR may be restrained a term which his highly flexible. This paper will discuss about Corporate Social Responsibility and its