Nike : Sustainability And Labour Practises

When talking about sustainability numerous people associate it with just protecting the environment. Sustainability is far more than going green, but it is a principle that many companies have adopted and have worked persistently to improve over the last several years. Sustainability is defined as the ability to continue a behavior indeterminately, but it also includes improving human life overall. Sustainable development is broken down into three pillars: economic, social, and environmental (Harich & Bangerter, 2014). Economics is the study of how people use resources, which correlates to the goal of sustainable development by using resources to their full potential (Laszlo, C., & Zhexembayeva, N., 2011, p. 60). Economic sustainable development allows companies to give their customers what they want without overusing mutual resources. Social development combines the social world with the physical realm to provide a good quality of life (Benoit, 2010, p. 7). Social sustainability focuses on the well-being of people and their communities. Environmental development, the most recognizable, includes protecting the environment by reducing pollution, recycling, switching of electronic devices when not in use, etc. All three of these pillars make up what is known as sustainable development. In this paper, I researched a company and their involvement in sustainability and how it applies to the

In the article “Nike Quietly Goes Green” by Reena Jana, Nike realizes that they should keep pursuing their “go green” efforts while making sure their customers are still content with the quality and performance of the shoe. Last year, Nike debuted the Air Jordan XX3 which was made through eco-friendly manufacturing and the company experienced high customer satisfaction and growth in the market. This aligns with the approach that the company creates positive stakeholder externalities while maximizing their profit. In this article, Nike was able to maximize their profit while consumers still benefited by getting high performance shoes. In addition, there were no stakeholders that were negatively harmed such as environmentalists who were against Nike’s

Several features of the firm, which have been fundamental to the company’s financial strength, are also instrumental in the company’s sustainability performance. Among

Nike, Inc. is a world’s leading supplier and a major manufacturer of athletic shoes and sports apparel. It was founded on January 25th, 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Philip Knight and Bill Bowerman. It officially became Nike, Inc. in 1978. Currently their brands include Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan and Nike Skateboarding, while their subsidiaries are Cole Haan, Hurley International, Umbro and Converse. During this stage, the Nike brand has become so strong as to place it in the list of recession-proof consumer branded giants, in the company of Coca-Cola, Gillette and Proctor & Gamble.

The sneaker manufacturer began in 1972 by owners Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman. After their initial meeting at the University of Oregon in 1957, the two formed a lesser known shoe company that eventually evolve to Nike. The company was able to go public in 1980 after one short year of acquiring “50 percent of the U.S. running shoe market” (Parnell, 2008 p. 334). Although Nike has surpassed many of their competitors, such as Adidas, it did not come without controversy. Consequently, their strategic plan of utilizing cheap labor has cost them the reputation of being child labors in violation of human rights for their financial gains.

The next broad category to be examined is the impact of the athletic footwear industry on labour rights. The report is going to examine the labour conditions at the lowest level of the supply chain (manufacturing plants) as well as throughout the supply chain. Labourers at the manufacturing plants form the company’s backbone within the supply chain and should be given equal opportunities and rights. Yet, in reality sweatshop owners have merely exploited them disregarding their basic rights. As per the International Labour Organization standards such rights include the labourers’ right to have a contract, to form unions, to work in suitable working conditions or to have access to education amongst others. It is necessary to acknowledge that there has been a growing awareness towards labour rights as consumers have historically boycotted companies which disregarded such issues.

The company decided to embed sustainability with finance and product teams taking a greater role in the development process. Later, labor practices in factories were emplaced so that potential vulnerabilities from outside competition is detected. The business reorganized to align more closely with the consumer’s ideas. This lead to the Code of Conduct becoming an important part of the innovations and technology Nike would use to cross international borders. While the corporate responsibility committee was formed to manage the supply chain and operational guidelines. The committee set long-term environmental goals, and jointly published the findings of worker surveys with the Global Alliance (Vogel & Garcia, 2012).

Although there is no formal definition for the term, individuals have tried to define sustainability according to their function or area of study. The term “sustainability,” once an obscure ecological concept, has now been adopted by many in the business world to connote the principles of social and environmental responsibility (Joseph Fiksel, Jonathan Low and Jim Thomas). Further, sustainability can be seen through the eyes of business as a way to create value. More likely than not, the term sustainability can be linked to the ability of decreasing costs, wastes and inefficiencies. According to the vice president of General Electric,

Phil Knight and his track coach Bill Bowerman founded Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964. The company started as being a distributor of Onituska Tiger athletic shoes which were imported from Japan. In 1971 they broke away from Onituska and created their own of shoes. The company was renamed, Nike. It became the largest worldwide seller of athletic shoes. They branched out and created various products lines; shoes, clothing, sporting goods and digital devices. They used celebrities to promote their products. The first athlete to wear and promote their show was runner Steve Prefontaine. Their now well know swoosh was first seen in the 1972 US Track and Field Trials. Every basketball player in high school wanted a pair of Michael Jordan’s,

The clothing and shoe giant Nike has managed to turn its image around. Nike Has not fully achirvrd its goal in bringing factories into line,but there's no denying that the company executed one of the greatest image was being wuestion in regards to unethical desicions of using swaet_shops.In 1996 that would change thayt,by Nike estbalishing a department tasked with improving the lives off factory workers.the,in 1997 more allegations emereged and college students around the nUnited states began protesting the company.In 1998 Nike faces weak demand and nrelenting criticism.it has lay of workers,and begins to realizes it needs to change.the real shift would begin in1999 when Nike begun to create the Fair labor asscoation.also in 2005Nike publishes

Neoliberalism is an economic philosophy drawn from the ideas of classical liberalism from Adam Smith. Neoliberalist policies rely on the ideas that markets are s the best decision-makers of resource allocation and trade across borders is optimized when there are few restrictions as possible. (Lu) Supporters of neoliberalism say that it gives worker freedoms and choices to work in more places for higher wages. It leads to freedom and harmony in the world by linking people together, along with giving economic and political freedom, and that poverty is due to the lack of a free market. (Friedman) Critics on the other side, say that globalization can’t be put in place successfully without some level of regulation. (Pearlstein) Critics have also

Sustainability from a strategic business perspective is the potential for the long-term well-being of the natural environment, including all biological entities, as mutually beneficial interactions among nature and individuals, organizations, and business strategies. (O.C Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015). Business sustainably is often defined as managing the triple bottom line – a process by which companies manage their financial, social and environmental risks, obligations and opportunities. These three impacts are sometimes referred to as profits, people and planet. (Business sustainability definition from financial times lexicon, no date). This essay will discuss the idea of sustainability being an important element within a businesses and its core strategies and the importance of it within different businesses. Secondly, this study will look at how different stakeholders are affected and influenced by sustainability as this could be seen as a catalyst to improving the environment as a whole and. Then this study will look at how businesses not focusing

This case was about the struggles with sustainability with in Nike as well as the fashion industry. Greenpeace came out and slandered Nike, Adidas, Puma, and several other fashion designers for pollution resulting in the manufacturing process of their products. There are several chemicals used in the process of manufacturing clothing and shoes. Several chemicals are also used in the Dying process. Although these facility are 3rd parties and these locations are not used by Nike it has fallen on them along with their competitors to reduce pollution with in the manufacturing process.

Nike has a very sophisticated sustainability strategy. The strategy is based on company’s prospects for future, to ensure that the company remains profitable and reputable, taking into consideration the social responsibility of the company (NIKE 2013). For instance, the strategy is supposed to ensure that the company gains a stable supply for the raw materials for the product manufacturing that will ensure stable supply of the products in the market at favorable prices. The strategy also targets make the company responsive to environmental concerns, aiming at reducing environmental pollution through emissions to the atmosphere (Charter, 2001). The strategy outlines the company

NIKE, Inc. is a multinational corporation, found in 1965 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. It is headquartered at Beaverton, Oregon, US. Nike works to design, develop, manufacture, market and sell apparel, footwear, equipment, accessories and services. BRS was renamed Nike in 1971.