Nike's Csr Challenge

Case Study Nike's CSR Challenge

Case Questions

1. In referring to the opening profile and the closing case for this chapter, discuss the challenges regarding corporate social responsibility that companies in the apparel industry face in its supply chains around the world?

In 2005 after reporting on its widespread abusive treatment in factory plans Nike's came back to report on its social and environmental practices. Some of the Challenges that Nike and other apparel industries face in its supply chains around the World are many. Companies like Nike needs to consider people, planet and profit from now on. Nike understood as well as other competitors that seeking good societal relations should be seen as both good to society and good for profitability. The company understands now that the strategic shift for Nike's Management can not only been seen as a close system. Its future depends on the reshaping the signals that are being sent to customers, suppliers, investors, so that the company can also operate in a sustainable way, which is also financially viable.

Just changing rules and regulation at the factory's plants is not enough, companies also have to engage in Leadership and by this I don't mean the traditional Leadership which involved leading people towards goal of the employer. Employees should engage in transcending leadership and get in a dialogue, action to address systemic problems and resolved them, or engage people on collective goals. The only sad thing is that without changes to the financial markets, Nike may find its efforts in vain.

- There have been cases reported abusive treatments in more than a quarter of its South Asian plants. Another report is that 25%-50% of factories in the region restrict access to toilets and drinking water during the workday. The same percentage that was reported also applied to factories denying workers at least one day off of the seven days they already work.

- Nike's CSR Challenge highlighted that difficulty of bring wholesale to change to a company that isn't centralized. Instead the challenge is now to reform the way business is done. Leadership was traditionally seen as guiding your employees towards the goal of the company. What is need is a more open form of leadership that calls for collaboration among mutually dependant parties in order to solve systemic problems.

- The challenges are too reshape the signals being given out by its supply chains group to itself and its competitors. So that the companies can operate in a sustainable and just way, which is also financially viable.

2. Discuss the meaning and implications of the statement by a Nike representative that "consumers are not rewarding us for investments in improved social performance in supply chains."

- The Statement by a Nike representative that "consumers are not rewarding us for investments in improved social performance in supply chain".

It meant that although Nike improved conditions and outcomes for its employees and sub contractor and that they slightly better working conditions to their third world employees and banned the hiring of children, they thought people in general would buy more stuff from them, just because Nike decided to be a bit nicer to employees and cost them money. Apparently Nike is saying it wasn't worth investing money into being more humane because at the end it did not resulted in more shoe sales.

3. What does it mean to have an industry open-systems approach to social responsibility? What parties are involved? Who are the stakeholders?

- To have an industry open-system approach to social responsibility means to understand that the future depends on the way customers, suppliers, investors, regulators, and others relate to it.

- The parties who involved are