Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Submitted By:
Vineet Mishra Ayush Parikh
C037 C043
Prabakaran Nagarajan Ruchita Sen
C039 C049
Jatin Nigam Sharanya Yaradi
C041 C066
Table of Contents
Founded on January 25, 1964, by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, the company was initially
known as Blue Ribbon Sports. Products are marketed using its own brand, as well as Nike
Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan, Air Force 1, Nike Dunk, Foamposite, Nike Skateboarding.
With sponsorships for high-profile athletes and sports teams around the world and with the
iconic slogan "Just Do It" and the Swoosh logo, Nike has an incomparable brand value.[1]
To track sustainable development, Nike has come up with three indices listed below:
ColorDry: Nike has introduced a new process called ColorDry which uses recycled
CO2 that eliminates the use of water and process chemicals in the dyeing process and
also provides consistent color results (See Appendix A: Environment Benefits of
ColorDry)
NIKE Flyknit: Nike has developed this innovative technology and manufacturing
process which helps reduce the footwear waste by upto 80% on an average
compared with traditional production methods
Nike has been working to raise the bar for working conditions across its supply chain. They
have developed their Code of Conduct and Code Leadership standards to assess supplier’s
compliance with their requirement and legal standards.
Nike also aligned itself with community engagement activities more closely with its
businesses and geographies. This embeds planning and performance tracking into the
appropriate business cycles and increases accountability.
Integration with Business Model
We have studied the Sustainability Report of NIKE and classified their CSR activities into
four categories. These activities as described by their report are well imbibed in their business
models. The four categories which are described in the next part of our report are:
Indices used for measuring sustainability of footwear, apparel, materials and contract factory
which are FSI, ASI, MSI, SMSI respectively are developed by NIKE.
An important thing to note is that these indices are central to the business of NIKE and
impacts NIKE’s CSR activities. So, all these activities will overlap when it comes to these
indices but studying and reporting them separately gives us a clear and holistic picture of
NIKE’s CSR activities. In describing these activities, we have taken complete reference of
NIKE’s Sustainability Report and have reported everything at its face value. Critical analysis
is done in the later part of the report.
After analysing the report and the CSR activities done by NIKE, we arrive at a conclusion
that it falls under First and Second Generation of CSR. The sustainable innovations like
Flyknit Technology and ColorDry technology are NIKE’s long term business strategy.
Through the philanthropic initiatives taken like the Girl Effect, it is in the First Generation of
CSR. Though they are working on various measures to reduce their footprint regarding
environmental degradation which makes a strong case for classifying it into Third Generation
of CSR but we believe that it falls less of the significant contributions towards addressing
poverty, inclusion and environmental degradation. Hence, we believe that it activities are not
Third Generation of CSR.
Stakeholder Management
Environmental Degradation & Emissions
Consumer Pressure
Risk Management & Sustainability
Workplace CSR
Labour
One of the initiatives is that NIKE is a participating brand in the Play Fair Freedom of
Association Protocol in Indonesia where training of factory management and workers is
providing the platform for greater engagement in this area.
NIKE believes that lean manufacturing provides an approach that will significantly reduce
excessive working hours. NIKE provides training to contract factory management to engage
employees in problem solving and continuous improvement.
In pilot programs in Indonesia, NIKE worked with factories to improve data quality, and to
study and assess absenteeism, worker engagement and well-being, factory management and
supervisor skills. Many of the factories in NIKE supply base invest in providing support to
their workers through on-site health clinics or financial literacy training.
In FY12, NIKE launched NikeU – an online platform for employee training and development
in areas such as merchandising, retail, leadership and management that will help NIKE
employees build capabilities to execute on our business strategy.
Manager90 is an upward feedback tool that NIKE launched in FY12 to provide managers
with insights from their employees about key strengths and opportunities to improve
according to the four core principles of our manifesto.
NIKE has measured and monitored their contract factory performance on quality and on-time
delivery and costing through Sourcing and Manufacturing Sustainability Index (SMSI).
Ratings for last three years are shown below:
At the end of FY13, 82% of contract factories had grievance systems in place and were in
compliance with NIKE standards. Also 93% of audited contracted factories reported no
incidents of excessive overtime.
NIKE also strives for achieving Diversity and Inclusion in its workforce. (See Appendix C:
Diversity and Inclusion)
Marketplace CSR
Product
NIKE’s aim is to design products that provide superior performance and lower environmental
impact across NIKE, Inc.
NIKE has developed NIKE Footwear Sustainability Index (FSI) and the NIKE Apparel
Sustainability Index (ASI) providing a way for our product creation teams to measure the
environmental profile of each product. A glimpse of percentage of indexed products is shown
below:
By the end of FY13, NIKE succeeded in using the new indices to score 98% of all new,
global, NIKE Brand footwear product (with 63% of those achieving silver or gold ratings)
and 86% of all new, global, NIKE Brand apparel product (with 51% of those achieving
bronze or higher ratings)
Below are some of the statistics about the raw materials used for making products:
88% of NIKE Brand global cotton-containing apparel used at least 5% organic cotton
in FY13, down slightly from 90% in FY11
19% of the polyester used by NIKE Brand in FY13 was recycled polyester
(compared to 16% in FY11), and more than 35% of our global NIKE Brand polyester
apparel contains some recycled content
100% of the leather used by NIKE Brand in footwear is certified according to
the standards of the Leather Working Group, an organization that rates and
classifies tanneries based on environmental standards for leather processing
Manufacturing
The Manufacturing Index (MI) helps determine whether to buy from contract factories.
Also, Sourcing & Manufacturing Sustainability Index (SMSI) helps score factories based
on five parameters (See Appendix D: SMSI Detailed Process).
To improve factory capabilities to manage working conditions and reduce risks, NIKE
with the Fair Labor Association (FLA) played a key role in the development of the
Sustainable Compliance Initiative (SCI) methodology and assessment tool.
When it comes measuring, SMSI measured data shows results and rankings of its factories in
footwear, equipment and apparel segments:
Environmental CSR
Nike has identified areas of greatest impact on environment and set targets and made
commitments for each: Energy, Chemistry, Water and Waste. Through systems analysis, the
company is improving their understanding of the interconnected nature of impacts and bring
those insights into approach to manage them. The section that follows provides an overview
of their aims and commitments as well as how the strategies are executed, measured and
monitored.
1. Climate& Energy
Goal: To deliver carbon reductions across the value chain. Achieve a 20% reduction
in CO2 emissions per unit.
Reduction was accomplished by reducing process heat loss, fostering better
engagement between factories and NIKE’s energy field team. At retail stores, energy
use per square foot is reduced by 8% from FY11 to FY13, largely due to better energy
management systems and through system and control upgrades. Also, by shipping
more products by ocean than air, they reduced fuel consumption and cost.
2. Chemistry
Goal: Minimize the impact of product ingredients throughout the lifecycle.
NIKE helped launched ZDHC coalition and committed itself to the goal of zero
discharge of hazardous chemicals by 2020. Strategic relationship with bluesign®
system partner enabled their manufacturers to bluesign®-certified textile chemical
formulations, including dye systems, detergents and other chemicals used in
manufacturing. It is an easy-to-use, rigorously vetted list of chemical products that
will help them to reduce the environmental impacts of their processes – and therefore
their products.
Nike asked material vendors to commit in writing to green chemistry practices.
Bluesign® tools helped them in achieving
Restricted substance list(RSL) are shared with vendors that
catalogs substances not to be used in NIKE products
Reduce Petroleum derived solvents (PDS) per pair in the products.
Phase out long-chain, per-flourinated chemicals(PFCs) till 2015
3. Water
Goal: Improve water efficiency in apparel materials dyeing and in footwear
manufacturing.
Product creation teams have been made more water–efficient using the NIKE
Materials Sustainability Index (MSI) and preferring materials from water efficient
vendors. Water quality and quantity has been improved and profiling of materials has
seen improvement through Better Cotton Initiative (BCI). Improving metering and
data analysis to reduce leaks; repurposing treated gray water, setting standards for
water-consuming processes such as cleaning; and reduce flow rates are some
initiatives taken. Many factories have developed and implemented mid-sole washing
processes that recycle and extend the life of water through a three-step filtration
process. Using NIKE ColorDry technology eliminates water and process chemicals
from the dyeing process.
4. Waste
Products which are thrown away after their life cycle – makes up 59% of the total
waste in our value chain. Targets to reduce waste from finished goods manufacturing
across NIKE, Inc. and also in shoebox weight per unit.
Through Reuse-A-Shoe program 28 million shoes have been recycled into
NIKE Grind
Nike Grind converted the scrap and recycled shoes to sports surfaces, carpet
underlays and fitness flooring
Flyknit shoes which reduce footwear waste by 80% on average when compared
to typical NIKE running footwear
Redesigned new NIKE Brand box which reduces waste by 3%
Measure
Nike has developed tools, processes and indices to establish metrics which can be used to
measure, track and analyze sustainability-impact. Also, Nike has launched a Smart Data
Initiative to provide data on the company’s overall footprint.
Monitor
Nike monitors and reports the progress effectively and continues to develop and test tools that
help to identify the key actions each function and assess their progress toward integrating
sustainability into the way they operate.
The below figure show the progress achieved on the environment sustainability targets.
Community CSR
NIKE’s aim is to catalyse human potential by creating community and business impact
through a portfolio of innovative partnerships, advocacy and movement-making initiatives
NIKE says that they contribute 1.5 % of pre-tax income contributed annually. The exact
contribution is shown below.
NIKE identifies that physical inactivity has reached epidemic levels that threaten social and
economic prosperity for individuals, companies and nations around the world.
Raise Awareness: more than 100 organizations have officially aligned under
Designed to Move, adopting a common language to collectively advocate for urgent
change.
Create Active schools
Reshape youth sports
Aligning to Deliver Early Positive Experiences in Sports
Employee empowerment
Other initiatives by NIKE for community include the NIKE N7 Fund that provides grants in
support of sports and physical activity programs for youth.
Philanthropy by NIKE is The Girl Effect which includes initiatives like launching Ni
Nyampinga brand radio show, opening of Girl Hub Ethiopia and magazine in Rwanda to
connect girls and inspire them to reach their full potential. Ensuring girls were included in
commitments made at the London Family Planning Summit in 2012, where over $4 billion
was pledged to tackle the unmet family planning needs of 120 million girls and women by
2020.
NIKE has done lot of community investment globally. A brief can be seen below:
Stakeholder Mapping
1) Stakeholder 1: Factory Workers, Trade Unions, Employees
They form the dependent Stakeholders with legitimacy and urgency. They can’t force
the company to bring about a change.
2) Stakeholder 2: Shareholders
Shareholders possess all three attributes: power, legitimacy and urgency.
Hence, they are the Definitive Stakeholders
6) Stakeholder 6: Suppliers
Suppliers possess only urgency. They can’t afford to strain relations with such a big
company as Nike. They are the Demanding Stakeholders.
Critical Analysis
Approximately half of Nike's product line is manufactured by independent contractors in
foreign markets - including Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Mexico and
Haiti.
Origins of allegations against Nike can been seen in the Op-ed article by Bob Herbert in New
York Times published in June 1996 criticizing the sweatshops of Nike and oppression of the
laborers.(DeTienne et al., 2005)
Since then, Nike has been under the scrutiny for outsourcing labor to developing countries to
exploit labor and thereby exponentially increase its revenues. Nike’s sweatshops are known
for its safety hazards, inadequate wages and long working hours.
Campaigns have been taken up by many activists, political leaders, prominent sportspersons,
universities, as well as several anti-sweatshop groups to protest against Nike.[1]
The company was ranked 2nd in the Global Exchange’s Top Ten Corporate Criminals 2013
list. [3] In comparison, Adidas, Nike’s chief rival, is a constant ranker in top 10 in The Global
100 Index for CSR, the index objectively calculates and assesses the corporate sustainability.
(Rank 8th in 2014, 17th in 2013). Nike is not even featured in the top 100. [4]
About 70% of the world’s high-quality soccer balls are produced in Sialkot, Pakistan and a
wide range of subcontractors and specialist input suppliers employ children. And Nike having
its production units in Pakistan was accused of use of child labour for its soccer balls. In its
1996 issue, Life magazine showed a photo of a 12 year old stitching a Nike soccer ball in its
article on child labour in Pakistan. This image had a devastating effect on Nike as a brand.
Although Nike took action to curb reduce it, they continue to give their production contracts
to companies that operate in areas where it is difficult to monitor and regulate labor practices.
(Locke, 2002)
Nike does not adhere to the local minimum wage laws, pays inadequate wages and forces
overtime in Vietnam, China, Haiti, Indonesia.
At many plants, employees are forced to work 65 hours per week, well over the legal
maximum hours. Also, overtime wages are sometimes not paid. In addition, many plant
workers are paid less than the local laws dictate concerning minimum wage. Vietnam
workers were paid $1.60 per day, even though the cost of eating was approximately $2.10 per
day.
In Malaysia, major worker rights violations at one of its Malaysian contract factories,
including squalid living conditions, garnisheed wages and withheld passports of foreign
workers.[5][6]
Nike in response acknowledged the problems in its report which included the falsification of
factory documents such as payroll records, lack of effective grievance systems for disgruntled
workers and hiring practices that did not ensure minimum age standards were met.
Recently, in April 2014, about 30,000 workers at the Yue Yuen factory complex in Jiangxi
province, southern China for the issue of historic underpayments for social security and
housing fund contributions. Workers at the plant Yue Yuen – earn as little as $1.67 an hour
making shoes that can sell for up to 100 times as much in the US.[7][8]
Sweatshops in Vietnam have caused liver, kidney brain damage in many workers. Also,
workers suffer from exhaustion, heat, fumes and poor nutrition.
One plant in China operated with I77x the legal limit of carcinogens in the factory air. Over
75% of the workers at this plant suffered from respiratory disease. In addition, many workers
have complained of dangerous job functions that have resulted in severed fingers and maimed
limbs.[5]
In the countries that Nike works in, human trafficking is on a major scale" of foreign
workers at the factory.
There have been many reports of sexual harassment of female workers by male supervisors.
In a report published by researchers from the Global Alliance for Workers and Communities
in Indonesia, female workers in one factory told that they were forced to trade sexual
favours to gain employment. Nearly 30% said they had witnessed or experienced abuse. [9]
Supports military dictatorships that crush labor unions and worker protest
In 2013, 650,000 workers that are the backbone of Cambodia's multi-billion dollar garment
industry and are key labor for Nike were demanding a doubling of the minimum wage to
$160 a month, or about $8 a day. The Cambodian police retaliated by using violence and
force against striking garment workers at some of their suppliers.
Nike kept its silence and did not condemn the issue. But, Puma came forward and released a
statement against the actions of the Cambodian police. Nike’s silence demonstrates a genuine
disinterest for human rights.[10][11]
In Uzbekistan, Nike collaborated with Daewoo International, the largest processor of forced
labor cotton. Uzbek human rights activists, political leaders, and prominent
dissidents released an open letter calling on Nike to cut ties with Daewoo. The campaign
spurred Nike into action and the company has now finally cut all its ties with Daewoo.
Though it has officially ended its partnership, the time taken for Nike to arrive on this
decision certainly raises doubts about its genuine interest to end forced labor. [12][13]
In 1998, a California resident, Marc Kasky sued Nike for unfair and deceptive practices as
Nike made a number of "false statements and/or material omissions of fact" concerning
the working conditions under which Nike products are manufactured.
This court case was a huge blow to Nike’s reputation. Later, Nike and Kasky agreed to settle
the case with an out-of-court settlement for $1.5 million. The settlement involved investments
by Nike to strengthen workplace monitoring and factory worker programmes. [14][15][16]
Greenpeace’s latest report titled ‘Dirty Laundry’ focuses on the high levels of industrial
pollutants being released into China’s major rivers like the Yangtze and the Pearl and
commercial ties between a number of international brands such as Nike with two Chinese
manufacturers responsible for releases of those hazardous chemicals. Greenpeace has also
launched the challenge ‘Detox’ Campaign, calling Nike, to take the initiative and use their
influence on its supply chain. [17]
As discussed, Nike flouted labor and human rights in several countries. At first, Nike
managers refused to accept any responsibility for the various labor and environmental/health
problems found at their suppliers’ plants.
But, there was severe criticism and pressures from organizations such as IBLF, Global
Exchange. Media also played an important part in the Nike campaign by reaching to a wider
audience and thereby gaining legitimacy. The campaign attracted world-wide attention and
resulted in Nike initiating and expanding CSR measures apart from the initial adoption of
codes of conduct. These measures included devoting staff within the company to the
problem, engaging external expertise and joining CSR initiatives such as Business for Social
Responsibility, the Fair Labor Association(Nike is a founding member) and the Vietnamese
Business Link Initiative.
It has also insisted that all footwear suppliers adopt US Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) standards for indoor air quality. (Segerlund, 2010)
Apart from the initiatives mentioned in its recent CSR report, it has also expanded its
independent Monitoring, raised Minimum Age Requirements - Independent of local laws,
launched Environment, Health and Safety Standards ("EHSMS") to ensure continuous
improvement of conditions at Nike factories, Jobs + Education Program, Micro-Enterprise
Loan Program, Rising Tides Program.[6]
In its first country-specific supply chain report, focusing on China for its Beijing Olympics,
Nike detailed the efforts it has been making to get suppliers to comply with its code of
conduct and with Chinese law, including a program to monitor Olympics-related suppliers.[18]
Millennium Development Goals Analysis
With the help of the Nike’s CSR Report and our critical analysis, we have mapped the following
MDGs and Nike’s impact.
Technologies like ColorDry, FlyKnit used to save water, materials and energy. But,
Nike has done several environmental violations including polluting the Chinese
rivers.
Introducing the Flyknit and ColorDry technology has been substantial to reduce its impact on
the environment and improve its sustainability quotient. As of 2014, it is off the Global
Exchange’s Top Ten Corporate Criminals List proving that it has taken steps in the area of
social responsibility.
But, in comparison to its chief competitor Adidas, it still has a long way to go in promoting
sustainability practices and improving human rights. It has clearly failed to keep pace with
their stakeholders’ expectations and has to work on improving its credibility by being more
responsive to workers and initiate talks with them.
To be successful, Nike has to engage and balance all stakeholders’ interests. The priority
must be to establish the right culture and leadership, making human rights to their core value
for their business decisions.
References
1. Company Report References
Nike Inc. (2013). 2012 NIKE, INC. FY12/13 Sustainable
Business Performance Summary. Retrieved from
http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/report/uploads/files/FY12-
13_NIKE_Inc_CR_Report.pdf
2. Book References
Segerlund, Lisbeth Dr. (2010). Making Corporate Social Responsibility
a Global Concern: Norm Construction in a Globalizing World
4. Website References
1. Nike Inc. (2014). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike,_Inc.
2. About Nike, Inc. (2014). Retrieved from http://nikeinc.com/pages/about-nike-inc
3. Top 10 Corporate Criminals List. (2014). Retrieved from
http://www.globalexchange.org/corporateHRviolators
4. Global 100 Index. (2014). Retrieved from http://global100.org/global-100-index/
5. FACTs and FAQs about Nike’s labor abuses. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www-
personal.umich.edu/~lormand/poli/nike/nikelabor.htm
6. Study of Corporate Social Responsibility. (1999). Retrieved from
http://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/citypoverty/hedge_poverty.
htm
7. Strike spreads at Chinese supplier to Adidas and Nike. (2014). Retrieved from
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/22/strike-spreads-chinese-supplier-
adidas-nike-yeu-yuen-factory-jiangxi-guangdong
8. Worsening China Factory Strike Threatens Adidas, Nike Sneakers. (2014).
Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/worsening-china-factory-
strike-threatens-adidas-nike-sneakers-n87951
9. Abuse rife in Indonesian Nike plants. (2001). Retrieved from
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/feb/23/indonesia.johnaglionby1
10. Cambodia: Walmart, Nike Slammed over Garment Workers Deaths Silence.
(2014). Retrieved from http://m.ibtimes.co.uk/cambodia-walmart-nike-bashed-
silence-over-garment-workers-killings-1431677
11. Cambodia's clothes makers being killed after protesting for a pay rise to make
clothes for Nike, Gap. (2014). Retrieved from
http://www.news.com.au/world/cambodias-clothes-makers-being-killed-after-
protesting-for-a-pay-rise-to-make-clothes-for-nike-gap/story-fndir2ev-
1226797612232
12. Daewoo International: Stop Profiting from Forced Labor & Start Respecting
Workers. (2013). Retrieved from
http://www.cottoncampaign.org/2013/08/09/daewoo-international-stop-profiting-
from-forced-labor-start-respecting-workers/
13. Cotton Crimes Campaign - Latest Action. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.antislavery.org/english/campaigns/cottoncrimes/default.aspx
14. Nike lawsuit (Kasky v Nike, re denial of labour abuses). (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://business-humanrights.org/en/nike-lawsuit-kasky-v-nike-re-denial-of-labour-
abuses-0#c9325
15. NIKE, INC., ET AL., PETITIONERS v. MARC KASKY. (n.d.) Retrieved
from http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/539/654
16. Kasky v. Nike: Just the Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://reclaimdemocracy.org/kasky_nike_justfacts/
17. Should Nike be Applauded for Beating Adidas on the Greenpeace Detox
Challenge? (2011). Retrieved from http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/08/shouold-
nike-be-applauded-beating-adidas-greenpeace-detox-challenge/
18. Nike Sweatshops in China. (n.d.) Retrieved from
http://fashion.lilithezine.com/Nike-Sweatshops-in-China.html
Appendix
Appendix A: Environment Benefits of ColorDry
Appendix B: NIKE’s contract factory labor data