Ethical Perspectives

ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES ETHICS/316

Ethical Perspectives Cross-Cultural Perspectives A well-known global organization is The Nike Corporation. From the start the company turned to other countries for cheap labor. In the 1950s, Nike first began as Blue Ribbon Sports and was founded by Philip Knight, a middle distance runner from Portland Oregon and Bill Bowerman, a track and field coach at University Of Oregon. They turned to other countries such as Onitsuka, Japan to save money on the cost of labor and production. The organization expanded their line of products by outsourcing to Pakistan and Cambodian countries. In Pakistan and Cambodia the company was criticized for inadequate monitoring and regulation of poor work conditions and the use of child labor. There were accusations of young children stitching the soccer balls that the Nike company produces. Soccer balls have mainly been produced in Sialkot, Pakistan for years in organizations like Nike, and it has been estimated that thousands of children have been hired to stitch the soccer balls. Different cultures have different views on how much responsibility children should have and what they should and shouldnt do. Khan (2010) states that the way childhood is perceived not only differs between countries but also from culture to culture. Childhood experiences vary across countries but also within a single culture and across different

ethnic groups, (Khan 2010). For example, poor and underdeveloped areas such as Sialkot, Pakistan, and Mexican parents see nothing wrong with children working to support their families and being a bread winner. In the United States we have child labor laws (Fair Labor Standard Act) protecting our children from having responsibility at a very young

Ethical Perspectives age. For such struggling families like the ones in Pakistan, having their children work to help the family is a need.

Child labor is an issue that affects the Nike Corporation and its interactions outside of the United States. After the news about what was going on in Pakistan broke there were some serious changes to the way the organization operates. They started abiding by stricter regulations and paying more attention to how their contracted offshore factories produced products and who they hired. Analysis of the ethical and social responsibilities Nike faced with global expansion yields several factors that need consideration. The first is cost. In order to stay competitive in price while not reducing their workforce, Nike like many corporations have chosen to do outsourced some of their manufacturing on a global scale. This gave them cost advantage over their competition and allowed them to expand into emerging markets. While some may see this as unethical because it takes jobs away from manufacturing plants in the US, Nike was acting in the best interests of the company which includes the current employees not even future employees and investors. If a corporation cannot maintain a competitive edge in their markets while expanding the business, growth reduces and jobs are lost. No one wins when the company is no longer competitive in their industry. This can even cause the company to even go bankrupt. The second consideration is the customers. This area of ethical responsibility was severely overlooked. Nike misjudged the impact of not observing to its base market principles when it did not require stringent labor regulation at the offshore production facilities. It is hard enough to excuse moving or producing jobs outside of the US, but when the customer views jobs being taken by young kids, the problem is severely compounded.

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America has demonstrated its willingness to look beyond outsourcing labor, but child labor is a public relations nightmare. Unfortunately Nike did not apply the ethical obligations earlier, and they paid greatly for it later with history.

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References Boje, D. M., & Khan, F. R. (2009). Story-Branding by Empire Entrepreneurs: Nike, Child Labour, and Pakistan's Soccer Ball Industry. Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 22(1), 9-24. Retrieved July 8, 2012, from EBSCOhost. DeTienne, K., & Lewis, L. W. (2005). The Pragmatic and Ethical Barriers to Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: The Nike Case. Journal of Business Ethics, 60(4), 359376. Retrieved July 8, 2012, from EBSCOhost. Khan, A. (2010). Discourses on Childhood: Policy-Making with Regard to Child Labour in the Context of Competing Cultural and Economic Perceptions. History & Anthropology, Retrieved July 8, 2012.