Responding to the Ethical Challenges faced by Nike Essay

1.The alliance (Nike) lacked the ability to monitor the working conditions of their providers factories. Due to the fact that competitor companies were buy in on their suppliers they didnt take on an advpismireage or exhibit to monitor the poor working conditions in these factories. They were disparaged upon by the UN and nongovernmental organizations for having their products manufactured in countries where working conditions were poor and there was no observe of priggish treatment of employees and enforcement of Human Rights. The Korean suppliers, who represented Nike, were accused by force back activist and NGOs ofbeing abusive to workers. This by itself was once against The Nike Code of Conduct.2.The Nike Corporation also faced issued with NGOs and parturiency activists ab protrude paying workers low wages in Indonesia. Their Korean suppliers didnt not pay workers the minimum wage and tried to cheat the Indonesian government by pleading economic hardship, so that they wo uldnt possess to pay the workers a mere $ 1.00 US equivalent pay. When accused of what was occurring, a general manager didnt think that it was the confederacys become to monitor labor violations. However in a major policy change and I am sure after that manager being reprimanded for that affirmation and disregard for the corporations ethics, they instructed the Indonesian suppliers to increase the workers pay.3.They faced problems with minor Labor in Pakistan. In June of 1996, Life Magazine put Nike in the midst of misery, which caused an array of accusations about claw labor. They published a video of a 12 year old boy, stitching a soccer ball. Sialkot a city in Pakistan produces soccer balls for Nike and their competitors. However, due to the uproar by NGOs, trade unions and consumer groups they prompted to impose sanctions against the acquire of this product by the fraternity. The company in turn, took a big hit and learned a lesson in globalization, pitying rights, international labor laws and their collective province.4.Their operations in Vietnam represent most environmental, health and safety issues. One of their Korean contractors (again) operating in Vietnam was faced in a dilemma where and NGO help spikelet an audit by Ernst and Young which set up high levels of Toulene, which is very gaga chemical that causes damage to the CNS, liver, kidney and causes eye and skin irritations. The chemical was released in the do which posed a threat to the health of workers. Employees were not given good PPE. This was in direct violation of OSHA standards and also again, The Nike Code of Conduct.5.Nikes nix outlook to their stakeholders about their suppliers posed a serious threat to the organization. hitherto though their suppliers were theones that were involved in these ethical issues, it cool off reflected on the company. Consumers be concerned only with a brand and not a supplier behind the brand. Also, Nike was responsible for their suppliers actions due to them not monitoring their working standards, payroll, human rights etc. Due to all the negative media, NGO and consumer precaution, it caused Nike to loose some contracts with various universities impart them with uniforms, equipment and footwear etc.In response to my champs questions about the validity of the claims that are against Nike, I would introductory keep back to tell him that I value the integrity of my employer. But since this question learns me what I would distinguish privately, and we are close friends, I would be somewhat get word honest to him, and tell him how I felt, only because the information that was stated in these claims were do public due to avid media coverage and the audit conducted by Ernst and Young. creation that the claims are valid I would tell him about my feelings establish only on the information available to the public. I would initially ask him to tell me how much he knows and then based on that yield an anal ysis of the situation, and think about ethically what I am ass to say or talk about, being that I am still employed with the organization and the terms of which we uphold or code of conduct.I would address each argument specifically based on the allegations that we are faced with to the best of my knowledge and maintain a clear and laconic goal of keeping in mind my reliability to my employer. Being that we are being blamed for infractions carried out by a supplier I would let my friend know that, we were not aware of the situation at hand at the moment but we are looking into it because we defend Human Rights, Child Labor laws, Unionization and fair wage system. Our corporal code of conduct, The Nike Code of Conduct is available to anyone who wishes to know about it, so I would tell my friend that this is what our company stands by and since my employment with the company I have known that they are in effect and enforced. Being that we were not able to physically be present in Indonesia, Pakistan and the some different countries of which this accused supplier hascommitted these Human Rights violations on employees, and stress again that we were unaware of the situation, how chiffonier we be blamed. I will also be sure to reinforce to him the fact that he should know that when the media gets a tactual sensation of information that could lead to the allegations of a multi-billion dollar organization how they could restore an ant look like an elephant.Also, upon learning of such violations and treatment of these workers, my organization stepped in and not only reprimanded this supplier for trying to cheat the government of Indonesia out of paying minimum wage, but also to the workers. Based on our confederacy with NGOs and our commitment to corporate responsibility I would be sure to inform him that we have created aggroups such as an action team to monitor environmental, health and safety issues. We also developed teams to monitor the labor rules an d working conditions of the workers of our suppliers in these third world countries. Hence, if we fell short on our monitoring tactics, our involvement with labor activists, NGOs and the UN will make sure that we manage our mistakes that were made due to these allegations.Being that this is my close friend, I have to keep in mind that I am an employee first to this company and while I am employed there. If I say the wrong thing, or he perceives it in the wrong way I could stand to loose my job or possibly be deemed a whistleblower to the organization. Regardless of the fact, Nike was blamed indirectly for these violations but they still took the responsibility to try and correct their mistakes that the organization should have been aware of. I am sure that if my friend is a good friend they would or should examine that I cannot violate my principles. Other than that based on the support of the allegations made to the company I am sure he would be much educated now that I gave him my insight on the claims.The triple posterior strategy that I would suggest that Nike employ would be being much conscientious to environmental, health and safety issues, ethical issues with regards to their stakeholders and share holders (internal and external) and Human Rights. Although their corporate code of conduct addresses this, they need to reinforce their standards to avoid the type of situations that was discussed in this case study.In reference to IKEA approach to their ethical practice, had Nike been morelaw-abiding about the issues with the supplier after the first incident occurred the others could have likely been avoided. When IKEA learned of what was occurring with the supplier towards the working conditions, environmental issues and the Human Rights Violations regarding Child labor, they stepped in to rectify the situation immediately. Nike only did so after labor activists, NGOs and trade unions etc got involved. From my analysis of things, they should have bee n more proactive kinda than reactive.Starbucks approach to things was somewhat similar to IKEA, but Starbucks stressed their commitment to complaisant responsibility by way of thinking about their stakeholders. Nike on the other hand, seemed to be more dedicated to their shareholders the production of merchandise. They did accomplish being a multi-billion dollar company in a short space of time, but at what expense? It came with huge repercussions of Human Rights violations in the form of child labor and underpaid workers. They didnt address these issues in the right manner, something that Starbucks did and overcame the allegations against them.Nike needs to substitute these issues in their organization accordingly to enforce labor laws and environmental laws to their suppliers. In this case study, the supplier was based in Korea, but had operations in Indonesia, Pakistan and other third world countries. They went into these countries, tried to manipulate the government by way of cheating them into allowing workers to get below minimum wage. Also, standards in the body of work were not enforced in the proper manner. The organization needs to supply workers with the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which is mandated by Occupational Health and sanctuary Administration (OSHA).The company also needs to maintain a proper relationship with the different NGOs, labor commissions, trade unions and consumer activists in these countries. This can aid them in the monitoring processes of these suppliers to ensure that issues are being handled in the right way. It can also help save costs that the company pays to monitors, for example contractors. Nike can implement the money they save into a computer program that handles the ethical issues of workers, because I am sure they dont have a human resourcesdepartment and an ethics commission to contact with their matters of concern. I am sure that this could increase their productivity employee.Hopefully the com pany learns from their erstwhile(prenominal) mistakes that they should not only be concerned with their shareholders but about the stakeholders as well. I believe that external and internal customers make up a business or organization and each has a vital intent to play in it success or downfall. In this case, lack of attention to the working conditions and wages of the workers (shareholders could probably led to the ultimate downfall of the company. Nike has some competitors that can slowly overtake them in the consumer market. Human rights play a major role in consumer decisions in the 21st century. Evidence of this was found in the study whereby when the consumer activists learned about what was going on they boycotted purchasing the soccer balls due to child labor.ReferencesLocke M. Richard et al. (2002). The Promise and Perils of Globalization The Case of Nike. Retrieved from http//www.caseplace.org/cases/cases_show.htm?doc_id=274259 bartlett A. Christopher et al. (2006). I KEAs Global Sourcing Challenge Indian Rugs and Child Labor (A). Retrieved from MGT 213 morals and the Market pop Northeastern University (Course Material) Argenti A. Paul. (2004). Collaborating with Activists HOW STARBUCKS WORKS WITH NGOs. Retrieved from MGT 213 Ethics and the Market Place Northeastern University (Course Material)