Cheap Labor Essay

The trade policies in NorthAmerica are quite liberal when compared to the other areas of operation such as LatinAmerica and Europe.

Nike started to open up manufacturing factories in countries like Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam. Due to the wants of Nike to increase their revenue they tried to outsource the labor of their products since labor work in the US is very high and expensive. This was a bad idea due to that Indonesia pays their workers extremely low wages. Pakistan doesn’t have an age limit for them to be able to legally to work so many children in Pakistan were making

“Women sewing NBA jerseys make 24 cents per garment – an item that will eventually sell for $140 or more”(Brandon Gaille). Our most popular American sports uniforms are mainly produced by Nike, who possess a market cap of $ 90 billion. The question, therefore, becomes, why do immigrant workers from developing countries migrate to the United States to work for brand-name companies, when they don’t receive equitable wages and perform in inhumane working conditions? In,”Who Makes the Clothes We Wear”, Jesse Jackson discusses these conditions and unjust treatment of immigrants. Jackson highlights the extreme manual labor hours, inequitable pay, and rash mistreatment of immigrant workers inside name brand sweatshops. He also provides nationwide examples of unjust labor environments in order to think about the disturbing ethics behind name brand clothing production. When examining why workers endure such horrific environments, it is clear that most originate from developing countries. Due to immigrants attempt to obtain a better quality of life, receive any type of wage that they can acquire in the United States, and their constant struggle with the language barrier which affects job opportunities and daily interactions; immigrant workers endure the mistreatment of name brand companies because they seek the American Dream.

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

Since its creation, Nike has proven itself as a popular brand and it has created niches by selling products such as footwear, apparels and various types of sports equipment. This paper will attempt to trace the product development of Nike shoes from its origins in conception and design to the manufacturing and production process located in contract factories in developing countries to advertising and marketing of Nike as a cultural commodity and finally, the retailing of the footwear around the world.

The elimination of import tariffs on Vietnamese Footwear will not only benefit Nike, but the American economic interest as well. “The United States is the world’s largest footwear market valued at $71.7

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the vast range of goods produced overseas and the often horrifying conditions under which workers labored to produce them. College students, activists, and certain scholars were quick to condemn “Sweatshops” and the multinational companies (MNC’s) that used them. However, this initial moral condemnation was based more on a natural sense of horror than moral reasoning, and critics often demonstrated a lack of sensitivity to both the underlying economic conditions that gave rise to the sweatshop phenomenon and to the beneficial consequences of sweatshops for both their employees and the broader economies in which they functioned. As a result, many economists quickly leapt to the

Nike is a worldwide global corporation that has its shoes manufactured on a contract basis in places like Asia, China, and Vietnam. Although it does not actually own any of the manufacturing locations, it has long been accused of having its products manufactured in facilities that exploit workers. Although Nike admits some wrongdoing in the manufacturing facilities of its contractors, it claims to have started a commitment to improve working conditions in those facilities.

Labor costs in the United States are much higher than in many parts of the world. Consequently, the costs of production for labor-intensive manufacturing can be significantly reduced by moving factories overseas mainly to third world countries this is a common practice of Nike who outsource there manufacturing to other companies in countries such as Thailand and Indonesia.[ ]

When Nike was founded technological advancement in communication was still very primitive. Nike will outsource shoe production with Japanese companies until the oil crisis of 1970 and the new labor which consequences lead to an increase in production cost. As a

The athletic footwear industry includes all producers of shoes designed in an athletic style or for an athletic use. We define the active footwear industry as an industry that manufactures shoes for active lifestyles. The primary focus of this analysis is on the United States market as it represents roughly 32% of the overall footwear market (PRWeb,

According to Ian Maitland’s The Great Non-Debate over International Sweatshops, there is a large misconception that sweatshops set up by large corporations are a negative force on developing countries and its citizens. This perception is derived from journalists’ claims that corporations underpay their outsourced workers in order to maximize company profit. Additionally, another claim made by these journalists is that the wages received by these workers are below the necessary “living wages” needed in order to survive with dignity. Maitland refutes these claims by focusing on reports of labor conditions at Nike’s Indonesian plant. The majority of these personal accounts present a more favorable perspective of corporations using international suppliers.

Apparel and shoe manufacturers continued to offload the more costly yet easily replicated part so their business models to concentrate on brand building, marketing, sales and attaining greater distribution channels globally. These are the pressures all apparel and shoe manufacturers face, and it is particularly challenging in the athletic show industry (Kynge, 2009). Adidas, Converse, Nike and Reebok have been outsourcing production of their shoes for in some cases nearly three decades. Nike was one of the leaders in this strategy, seeing to create a more efficient supply chain and also drop the labor and union costs of manufacturing in the U.S. (Boje, Khan, 2009). Adidas, Converse and Reebok have all followed Nike's lead, with Adidas benefitting from the fall-out generated when investigate reports showed Nike using child labor throughout Pakistan and Vietnam (Boje, Khan, 2009). All four of these companies share a common prioritization of manufacturing operations, yet none of them with the exception of Nike has a comprehensive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program in place to ensure ethical compliance to global standards of outsourcing in their industry (Nike Investor Relations, 2012). The intent of this analysis is to compare and contrast the four companies mentioned and their outsourcing practices. Their reasons for choosing to outsource are very much the same; the industry is shrinking

Nike is one of the most popular and successful footwear brands, and there are many manufacturing factories in different countries. In this case, it talks about Nike’s international labor practice between1980s to 1990s. At the beginning of the case, it mentions Nike started to attract teenagers’ attentions in 1970s, besides that, Nike’s revenue reached the first highest peak in 1980s by increasing not only the footwear styles but also the celebrity endorsements. With growing the global market of Nike, more and more independent factories were built in different countries, especially in some lower labor cost cities. Saving cost strategies of Nike are undeniable effective and can increase the revenue rapidly. The major strategy is to outsource all manufacturing for shaving the cost so that the marketing would have an enough capital to build unique and positive social media. For example, since the labor cost in U.S. is generally higher than most Asian countries, companies will try to set up or contract with some independent manufacturing in Asia. It can save the cost and help the company’s revenue, but Nike did not treat international labors fairly and well. There are many evidences from the case can reveal Nike’s poor labor practices, and the negative image of Nike’s international labor practice finally influenced the whole footwear market and even Media.

Nike business model has always been contracting underdeveloped countries, mainly in Asia, to produce its athletic shoes at a much lower cost as compared to its competitors. As it is simple to manufacture an athletic shoe, Nike’s contractors are often able to capitalize on the abundance of unskilled and low-wage workers in their home country to cut down on production costs.