Ethical and social issues: Nike sweatshop labor case has stirred up a big amount of controversy over ethical

business practices. The company put children in hazardous condition for very low subsistence wages violating child labor laws. Nike took advantage of overseas workers and put them in destructive working environments, putting some of them in departments with chemicals which led them to having skin or breathing problems. Conditions for these workers have been a source of heated debate, with allegations made by campaigns of poor conditions, with harassment and abuse. The main concerns expressed by workers relate to their physical working environment.

Nike should be held responsible for what happens in factories: Nike is definitely not only responsible but also accountable for the working conditions of foreign factories that it does not own which it subcontracts with. Nike should have taken the initiative to be responsible of the contractors/employees working in other countries on a global scale.

Nike has responsibility that workers meet living wage: Yes, because minimum wage in some countries is too low and does not provide employees with some basic human needs. WRC propose the factories should instead pay a higher living wage that takes into account the wage required to provide factory employees with enough income to afford housing, energy, nutrition, clothing, health care, education, potable water, child care, transportation, and savings.

Wage guideline of FLA or WRC seem appropriate: Because they address the sweatshops issue. The key purpose of this task force was to develop a workplace code of conduct and a system for monitoring factories to ensure compliance. FLA works to accomplish these goals. FLA workplace code of conduct sets member standards in the following areas: forced labor, child labor, harassment or abuse, non-discrimination, health, and safety, freedom of association, wages and benefits, hours of work, and overtime compensation. WRC asserts that current industry or minimum wage in some countries is too low, they proposed that factories should instead pay a higher living wage that takes into account the wage required to provide factory employees with enough income to afford basic human needs.

Nike is responsibility to monitor its subcontracted factories a legal, economic, social, or philanthropic responsibility: In order Nike to comply with corporate responsibility principles and practices to deliver business returns and become a driver of growth, to build deeper consumer and community connections, and to create positive social and environmental impact in the world.

Nike CSR ten years ago: It began to take steps to rectify the implications; implementation of code CSR through supply chain that would make improvement in working conditions in 52 countries.

Nike will be ten years from now: Nike will have certain corporate responsibility to fulfill to support society.

Things have changed in Nike and the world: Nike has developed a comprehensive system of monitoring and remediation. Spurred by criticisms over working conditions in its contractor factories in Indonesia that began in the late 1980s, the company issued its Code of Conduct to its suppliers around the world, binding them to core standards related to labor, wages, benefits, work environment, safety, and health, and requiring them to submit to regular inspections. Nike is focusing on global consistency, striving to find ways to link performance on this audit with decisions on suppliers and incentive schemes "things are changing for the better" and that the company has made "an astounding turnaround" in the way workers are treated. Workplace measures aside, Nike has also expanded support for social programs that provide education for workers and small business loans for local women.

References

Carroll, Ann Buchholtz . Business & Society: Ethics & Stakeholder Management. Cengage Learning, 2009. Google Book. Web. 23 February 2013.

Ho, Sookhan. Management professor investigates innovative approaches to global labor challenges Rising Above Sweatshops (2004): Web. 23 February 2013.

Innovate for a Better World nikeinc. Web. 23 February 2013.

J. Zaino. Companies Give Back To Their Communities. Information Week, 2001. Web. 23 February 2013.