Business-Nike the Sweatshop Debate

Business

Business-Nike the Sweatshop Debate

Over the years, Nike has faced controversy over the manufacture of its products. Most of these issues stem from the fact that the shoe company does not strive to maintain and uphold ethicality in its operations. Since Nike only designs and markets its products, it has to contract companies to design its products. These companies are located in different parts of the world and they are expected to uphold the labor laws as stipulated in the respective countries. The controversies surrounding Nike were especially concerned with the welfare of the employees who manufactured the products. Complaints emerged over the years that the factories took advantage of children and people in poor countries. The people were underpaid and they work under terrible conditions. Those who were against the company saw it as a ploy to get cheap labor, which would not be available in America. The factory workers were paid less than the minimum wage and they were forced to work for long hours. In some factories, the social life was affected, as people were not allowed to communicate as they worked. Some of the factories were not well built and managed. They lacked basic things such as ventilation and the people had to work in stuffy air and in a noisy environment. Workers also lacked protective clothing yet they were dealing with hazardous chemicals.

The host governments in the countries where the factories were located were actually responsible for most of the problems. This is because they were responsible for ensuring that the companies established in their land complied with the set standards. The government has the authority to close down or limit the production of any company that is not complying with the established rules and regulations. If it fails to do this, then foreign companies will exploit every available opportunity. Had the countries set and implemented rules concerning child labor, the owners of the factories would have been forced to abide by those rules. The host countries did not seem all concerned about their environment since they allowed the factories to use dangerous chemicals and these chemicals affected the land and the people. Foreign companies cannot be held responsible for every wrong thing that happens in the host country, especially if the particular country has not taken any initiative of ensuring the welfare of its people. The fact that people accepted to work in such conditions and at such wages show that there were no better alternatives. Had the people known a better life, they would have demanded for better working conditions and better pay to equal that of other factories in the country.

Although Nike changed some of its rules and requirements, some factories did not abide by them and they were closed. This was a huge loss to the company since it meant losing a lot of merchandise. The company has to decide where the specific factories should be located. They have to ensure that the factories are located in a country, which is ready to abide by the rules it has set. Although the company has made every effort to clean its image and its name, this has not assured its critics that it has reformed. This means that the company has to make more effort. It continues to make big profits from its sales and it can therefore ensure that the workers get a sizable share of its profits. One of the strategies that Nike has employed is to ensure that it has auditors from reputable company to check the status of the factories making its products yet this has not assured the critics and detractors. Nike had made similar efforts in the past when it contracted a respected public figure to check the status of its factories but the report was met with criticism. Nike faced the problem of ensuring accuracy in its results. The fact that the company used internationally recognized companies to conduct its audits and the critics still found a problem in that shows that there must be another underlying problem.