Extra
Credit
Assignment
#2
BUS
ADM
330-001
Organizations
Spring
2016
Read
the
Nike
case
and
answer
the
following
questions
in
2-3
pages
(double
spaced,
12ft).
The
due
date
for
the
assignment
is
Feb
21.
The
columns
of
running
shoes
stretch
8
feet
high
and
20
feet
wide.
How
do
you
decide
which
ones
to
try
on?
Price?
Color?
Nike
hopes
you
narrow
down
your
choices
by
focusing
on
brand.
The
shoe
giant,
headquartered
in
Beaverton,
Oregon,
has
been
a
dominant
force
in
the
shoe
and
athletic
apparel
markets
for
decades.
Scores
of
weekend
warriors
have
looked
to
the
Nike
Air
—
that
lightweight
air
pocket
in
the
heels
of
many
Nike
shoes
—
to
give
them
that
extra
step
or
that
added
bit
of
comfort.
In
the
1990s,
however,
many
of
those
same
weekend
warriors
were
confronted
with
the
reality
of
how
those
shoes
were
made.
That
’
s
when
disclosures
of
sweatshop
conditions
and
labor
abuses
sparked
protests
outside
Nike
stores
and
boycotts
on
many
college
campuses.
In
1998,
founder
and
then-CEO
Phil
Knight
was
forced
to
admit
that
the
“
Nike
product
has
become
synonymous
with
slave
wages,
forced
overtime,
and
arbitrary
abuse.
”
"
Nike
has
worked
hard
to
rebuild
trust
in
its
brand
over
the
past
decade.
Nike
became
the
first
company
in
the
industry
to
post
the
names
and
locations
of
its
700
factories
—
most
located
in
China,
Vietnam,
Indonesia,
and
Thailand
—
on
the
Web
(see
www.nikeresponsibility.com).
It
created
a
code
of
conduct
that
sets
standards
for
wages,
the
number
of
hours
in
a
standard
workweek,
and
the
rules
for
overtime
pay.
It
also
paid
a
network
of
auditors
to
perform
inspections
of
factories,
giving
each
a
grade
between
A
and
D.
Unfortunately,
it
’
s
not
clear
that
those
efforts
are
paying
off.
A
recent
analysis
of
the
inspection
data
by
a
professor
at
MIT
noted
that
despite
“
significant
efforts
and
investments
by
Nike
...
workplace
conditions
in
almost
80%
of
its
suppliers
have
either
remained
the
same
or
worsened
over
time.
”
Almost
one-third
of
the
factories
in
one
audit
earned
D
grades
because
of
multiple
violations,
including
failing
to
pay
the
minimum
wage
and
forcing
employees
to
work
more
than
14
days
in
a
row."
Why
has
it
been
so
difficult
for
Nike
to
improve
the
working
conditions
in
its
factories?
One
reason
is
that
government
regulations
are
weak
in
emerging
economies,
placing
more
pressure
on
companies
to
police
their
factories.
And
many
of
the
facilities
compete
for
Nike
’
s
business,
whereas
higher
employee
salaries
make
their
pricing
less
competitive.
Those
factories
often
find
themselves
working
under
tight
deadlines,
with
power
outages
or
design
adjustments
triggering
work
shift
abuses.
Other
factories
have
learned
to
fool
the
audits
by
keeping
fake
records,
distributing
scripts
for
employees
to
read
if
they
’
re
questioned,
or
shifting
work
to
secret
subcontractors
that
violate
standards.
And
dropping
a
troubled
facility
can
raise
its
own
ethical
issues,
as
it
results
in
the
loss
of
jobs
that
may
be
vital
to
that
local
economy.
For
its
part,
Nike
has
reacted
to
the
limitations
of
its
auditing
strategy
by
helping
convert
factories
to
more
modern
manufacturing
techniques
and
seeking
to
limit
its
own
last-minute
design
adjustments.
Those
