Nike: Managing Ethical Missteps
By: Santino Viselli
Agenda
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Introduction: Nike
Ethical Issue: Video
Nike’s Corporate Social Responsibility
Nike’s Reponses to Issue
Future of Nike
Discussion Questions
Nike Today
Introduction
• Nike: Came from the Greek god of Victory
• Created: Import of Japanese Athletic footwear
into the United States
• Founders: Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman in 1964
– Officially became brand in 1978
• Yearly Revenue: $23.4 Billion
– Worldwide leader of athletic goods
Video
• video
Ethical Issue
• Mid 1990’s
– Child Labor
– Low- non existent pay
– Poor working conditions
Nike:
- No codes of Conduct for contracting work
As an HR professional working for Nike, how
would allegations of this nature affect your
decision to work for the company?
Corporate Social Responsibility
• Evolving since 1991
Environmental Sustainability
Audit tools
Factory Transparency
Philanthropy
Corporate Responsibility Committee
Strategy
Defensive: “Its not our Fault”
Compliance: “We’ll do only what we have to”
Managerial: “It’s the business”
Strategic: “it gives us a competitive edge”
Civil: “We need to make everybody do it
As an HR professional working for Nike, what
other suggestions would you feel comfortable
making to boost corporate social responsibility?
Nike’s Response
• Public Relations Campaign
• Began to visit College Campuses
• Created a Code of Conduct for for all suppliers
Marc Kasky- filed Lawsuit
$2 million dollar- Misleading information
Future of Nike
• Fortune’s magazine 2010 “ The worlds Most
Admired Companies”
• CR magazine, 23rd “Best Corporate Citizens”
• Continue to push internationally
• Continue to gain leadership through star
athletes
• Universities and activist continue to pressure
Discussion Questions
1. Why did Nike fail to address corporate social
responsibility early on?
2. How would you evaluate Nike’s response to
societal and consumer concerns about its
contract manufacturing.
3. What are the challenges facing Nike in the
future?
Nike today
Nike Website
References
• Boke, D.M., & Khan, F.R. (2009). Story-Branding by Empire
Entrepreneurs: Nike, Child Labour, and Pakistan’s Soccer
Ball Industry. Journal of Small Business & Entrpreneurship,
22 (1), 9- 25.
• Ferrell, O.C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L., (2013) Ethical
Decision Making and Cases, Business Ethics (9thed) Mason,
OH: South- Western Cengage Learning, Pg 495-502.
• Nisen, M. (2013) How Nike Solved Its Sweatshop Problem,
Business Insider Retreived from:
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-nike-solved-itssweatshop-problem-2013-5.