The Ethical Codes Of Nike's Code Of Ethics

Like other large corporations, Nike looked to expand their operations outside North America. Many companies do this because of the law and wage demands of the United States making overseas operations very appealing. Employment laws are scarce and labor is cheap in most third world countries and can be easily become targeted by giant corporations such as Nike.

The ethics of businesses are under more scrutiny than ever before (Bones, 2014). Ethics can be considered as following a code of behaviour agreeable with the context of society and can also be defined as the application of moral and ethical considerations in a business environment (Hurn, 2008). Sport businesses have been targeted a lot more in recent years due to the conditions they place their workers in has become more apparent to the outside world. Nike are one of the world’s leading sports brands but have been faced with many allegations in recent years (Daily Mail, 2011) in regards to the conditions they put their workers in and their ethics and morals have been questioned. This report will critically evaluate the impact ethics has on the business operations of Nike and then analyse the reasons for why ethics impact the sport organisation. Finally, recommendations will be made to improve Nike’s business ethics.

Ethics and ethical behaviors are the essential parts of healthy management. From a management perspective, behaving ethically is an integral part of long-term career success. Wide access to information and more business opportunities than in the past qualifies ethics as a key necessity in business world. Management ethics is the ethical treatment of employees, stockholders, owners and the public by a company in a fair manner. A company should have commendable ethics in place besides striving to make profits. In other words, employees should be treated well, whether they are employed in their hometown, country or overseas. By being respectful of the environment in the community a company demonstrates exceptional ethics. Excellent record keeping also play a pivotal role since this acts as a respectful gesture towards stakeholders and owners. Furthermore, it

Legally the company has done no wrong doing, and the types of environments that these sweatshops are located in are normal within the countries cultures. The main issue in this case is the ethical responsibility of Nike to ensure that the workers work in humane work environments, and are paid wages that they are able to survive on (Vann, n.d.).

When people think about shoes most of them have one superior shoe company come to mind, Nike. This dominant company was founded by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman in 1964. Little do some know this company hasn’t always been on the top of shoe companies. When it first started off it was called Blue Ribbon Sports, but it was later changed to its iconic name Nike in 1973. Matter in fact it was started in the back of a car, and now it’s worth roughly around $15 million dollars. This change didn’t happen overnight. It took a lot of grit from Knight and Bowerman to achieve this elite status, which was obtained through two individuals with great ideas on how to reach it, and the grit to back their ideas up.

Effects of products/services and in relationships with stakeholders. That attention to business ethics is critical during times of fundamental change -- times much like those faced now by businesses, both nonprofit and for-profit. In times of fundamental change, values that were previously taken for granted are now strongly questioned. Many of these values are no longer followed. Consequently, there is no clear moral compass to guide leaders through complex dilemmas about what is right or wrong. Attention to ethics in the workplace sensitizes leaders and staff to how they should act. Perhaps most important, attention to ethics in the workplaces helps ensure that

Nike was established in 1972 by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. These two men were visionaries. The goal for Nike was to carry on Bowerman’s legacy of innovative thinking by helping every athlete reach their goal or by creating lucrative business opportunities that would set the company apart from any competition. This included providing quality work environments for all who were employed by Nike.

Ethics deals with the moral principles and standards that evaluate actions or events of an individual or group. Companies with strong ethics have the ability to influence the success of their business such as their reputation. They can act and evaluate their ethical environment to improve and maintain their short-term and long-term goals. They can scope out the danger signs by developing written code of ethics, impose financial costs, design a quick fix solution to ethical issues and solely focus on the legalities issues or public relations. Having an ethical environment can also improve the morale of the employees and the violations can be detrimental to the company financial portfolio. The written ethic policy is developed

According to virtue ethics, we are encouraged to focus on the mean between extremes, but it is very clear that sweatshops and child labor are extremes. It therefore, directs our thinking towards the impact on those minority that are being exploited by these organizations who are engaged in the acts and these acts must be totally eradicated by taking certain ethical decisions and influences (Tara & Martin, 2006). This study will be using the different ethical frameworks to analyze the key ethical dilemma of Nike Inc.

The company Nike operates in over 50 different companies. This makes them a very large global company. Nike makes all kinds of products including gym shoes, clothing and apparel, equipment and accessories. “In 2004, Nike products were manufactured by more than 800 suppliers, employing over 600,000 workers in 51 countries” (Locke, Kochan, Romis & Qin, 2007, p. 6). Nike came under fire because of their workers that work outside the United States. In other countries, labor laws are unlike those within the United States. Large corporations often exploit the fact that they can pay laborers significantly less outside of the United States. Companies may also provide less than favorable working conditions to its labor force outside of the United States.

For years, Nike has been sourcing from factories that seek to meet the company 's minimum standards for good labor performance. The policy of Nike is to evaluate potential contracted factories before they enter the supply chain. Throughout their business relationship with Nike to assess compliance with high standards of social and environmental performance, including country-related risk for issues including forced labor, human trafficking and slavery Nike (n.d).

Time and time again, there are stories of dishonest companies who take advantage of the fact that they have money, try to create more wealth and subsequently forget their workers well being. Although they have more then enough money, greed takes over and good morals are overlooked. Nike, a popular sports brand, makes billions of dollars a year selling various products. To manufacture them, Nike has created many sweatshops throughout the world. Although they can definitely afford to pay their workers fairly, it has been found that these workers,

Ethics are moral principles or values that govern the conduct of an individual or a group.It is not a burden to bear, but a prudent and effective guide which furthers life and success. Ethics are important not only in business but in academics and society as well because it is an essential part of the foundation on which a civilized society is built.

Another perspective is to analyse based on the amount of good done as compared to the amount of bad. By subcontracting its operations in underdeveloped countries, Nike helps to create job and improve the lives of the employed. Then, we have to consider the poor working conditions, poor wages, and the constant violation of child labour laws. Now, the bad inevitably outweighs the good despite the lack of unit of measurement in the

The Pou Chen factory is located in a place where the minimum wage is far below the national average. It has 10,000 workers who make Converse sneakers. Most of the workers are women, and they earn only 50 cents an hour. The amount that they earn is not even enough to cover their food and very poor housing. In this factory, the women are both physically and verbally abused. Nike’s own investigations have proved these complaints to be true. The company made a statement saying that immediate actions would be taken to deal with the situation. It is interesting to note that, “an internal Nike report, released to the Associated Press after it inquired about the abuse, showed that nearly two-thirds of 168 factories making Converse products worldwide failed to meet Nike’s own standards for contract manufacturers. Twelve are in the most serious category, ranging from illegally long work hours to