Nike's labour practices were the subject of high profile public demonstrations in the 1990s, and CEO Mark Parker said the company still had a lot of work to do in that region. The case scenario also illustrates how making the sustainable key segment of the design process led Nike to develop further advanced and high-performing commodities, such as the breakthrough running shoe called the Flyknit, which was pervasively worn out in 2012 Olympics.
Subsequent protests in late 1990s over dangerous working conditions, low wage rates, excessive overtime, restrictions on worker organizing, and negative environmental impacts; Nike began shifting from a reactive to a proactive mode. In its sustainability practices, significant changes were made by Nike during the 15 years covered in this instance, including transferring its Corporate Responsibility team substantially farther upstream in the organization, where it could have a better impact on conclusions by supplying input early in the process. The company also developed those of its independent contract manufacturers and multiple indexes that quantified its sustainability practices. The indexes had metrics for quantifying the important impacts of product waste, water, chemistry, work, and energy. Nike's critics said many labor issues had not been solved, but Nike made progress in that place through cooperation with governments, NGOs and labor unions, and through management compliance trainings. If a contract factory did not score high enough on the business's sustainability and labour evaluations scales, Nike would impose sanctions on the factory or even drop it from the supply chain. These actions took Nike off the top of the majority of activists' goal lists.
PUBLICATION DATE: August 13, 2013 PRODUCT #: IB106-HCB-ENG
Nike Sustainability and Labor Practices 20082013 Case Study Solution
This is just an excerpt. This case is about LEADERSHIP & MANAGING PEOPLE
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