Business ethics has increasingly becoming one of the most contentious issues in todays business society. Due to the globalisation of markets and production processes, an increasing number of Multi-National Companies (MNC) are having to deal with ethical issues in the different counties they are operating in (Dunn and Brooks, 2011). According to Archibong-Anyans (2015), a companys reputation is dependent on its ethical practices which, in turn, helps to define a business model that can flourish over time even in adversity. In todays business environment, however, every company is on a wild race to acquire a greater level of profit by using shortcut means (McFarlin and Sweeny, 2015 pp309). As society wants companies to create better paying jobs and protect the environment, some organisations want to acquire more profit by engaging in activities that are not tolerated by society (Parboteeah and Cullen, 2013). Companies are also facing consumers with a growing desire to buy commodities at a lower price. As a result, most companies are facing the inevitable conflict arising in the concept of business ethics due to differences in the interests of business stake holders, shareholders and consumers (Archibong-Anyans, 2015). One such multinational corporation facing ethical challenges hence the focus of this essay is Nike Inc, a company originally founded in America.Given the above, the following paper is going to examine the ethical challenges facing Nike Inc. and will critically evaluate the approaches the company has taken to tackle these issues. Furthermore, the paper will also make some recommendations in regard to how Nike should develop its approach to managing these ethical challenges and will evaluate the challenges that Nike faces in implementing the identified recommendations. Nike Inc.is a multinational American organisation that is known for its ability todesign, manufacture and sell footwear-based products, gym accessories andsporting goods. Thus, Nike is considered as one of the largest shoe retailersworldwide (Sage, 2008), controlling approximately 36% of shoe market (Locke etal., 2007). With a revenue of $30 billion in 2015 alone, Nike was acknowledged asthe 18th most valuable brand employing over 600,000 workers worldwide. It is,therefore, this which has given Nike the ability to open stores globally (Lockeet al., 2007).Despitethe organisations growing success, Nike has been inundated with criticism sincethe 1990s regarding the unethical treatment of employees overseas and itsimpact on the environment (Wazir, 2001). As well as this, there is evidence tosuggest that Nike has failed to meet consumer/stakeholder needs in relation tocorporate social responsibility; therefore, reducing customer-brand loyalty andconsumer trust. Regardless of the effort put in place to overcome these issues,Nike still faces ethical problems on a daily basis, primarily relating to childlabour, social injustice, uneducated workers, workplace abuse and pooremployment pay levels (Wazir, 2001). Thus, this essay is going to focus onthree ethical issues faced by Nike Inc., its stakeholders, and society ingeneral. Thefirst ethical issue involves the use of sweatshops a factory whereby manual workersare employed at very low wages for long working hours and under very poorconditions (Powell and Zwolinski, 2011). Since 1996, Nike has been critiquedfor manufacturing its products Indonesian, Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese-basedsweatshops. Many workers were found to have been subdued to minimum wage andlong overtime hours; issues which violated laws put in place to protect workers(Greenburg and Knight, 2006). Despite denying such issues, the companycontinued to be subjected to critical exposure for deprived working conditionsand the exploitation of cheap labour. It is only through the establishment ofcampaigns which has led to organisational changes, strategically and ethically,in both the USA and UK (Powell and Skarbek, 2006). Followingthe identification of sweatshop issues in 1996, Nike critically assessed itsfactories in order to detect the horrific conditions in place, and found thatall factories had no drinkable water and had high toxic chemical concentrations above the permitted levels deemed as ethical. By 2001, Nike had been exposedfor its poor treatment of employees who faced poverty, harassment and in somecases, violent intimidation (Wazir, 2001). Further strategic changes to improvethese conditions failed, when employees were found to still be subjected to unsanitaryconditions and excessive working hours; thus, going against an employeesliving needs. In abid to overcome these ethical issues, Nike published a report regarding factorieswhere employees manually manufactured products under horrific conditions (Teather,2005). The report identified that Asian factories were subjected to the worstcases of physical and verbal abuse, and that many of the employees worked morethan 60 hours per week. For those refusing to do so, they were punished (Teather,2005). While self-publishing this report reduced the branding image for Nike,it also increased the organisations transparency with its customers. Subsequentto changes put in place, Nike has failed to prevent the physical and mentalabuse to its employees in the workplace (Daily Mail, 2011). Unfortunately, supervisorsand important stakeholders failed to prevent these issues from occurring andaided in the unethical treatment of workers worldwide; thus, the organisation didlittle strategically to fix this (Beder, 2002). Interestingly, Nike placed themajority of the blame to suppliers and factory owners overseas, and to helpremove the use of sweatshops, the company introduced the Just Dont Do Itcampaign (Chu, 2017). Nikes strategic plan, therefore, now focuses on theethical treatment of employees worldwide. Whatshould be noted is that most multinational companies source cheap labourremotely, in developing countries, as a way of reducing costs (Noorbakhsh etal., 1999). By doing so, an organisation has the ability to gain an increasedlevel of profit while maintaining business operation. However, in order toensure that sourcing goods overseas is beneficial for both the organisation andits consumers, ethical labour rules should be emphasised at all times. Forexample, as sweatshops commonly subject employees to a hazardous environment,where many are involved in child labour, brands like Nike must ensure toprevent this for profitable gain. It isclear to see from the above that Nike was involved in poor decision-making.Choosing cheap labour and manufacturing costs over ethical standards, hasproved to have a negative impact on the band and its consumers. The criticismhas also prevented the organisation from achieving global success, due to thenature of unethical choices (Noorbakhsh et al., 1999). Nikes decision tocontinue its business with these countries not only enforced the unfairtreatment of employees but led to the prolonged outsourcing of cheap labour.Thus, by not strategically changing its ways, Nike faces the risk of losingsales and supply chain relationships, and should focus on implementing employeecontracts with a bill of rights; thereby, obligating Nike to treat employeesfairly (Teather, 2005).Thesecond ethical issue, similar to the use of sweatshops, involves child labour. Inbusiness, the minimum working age is depicted as 18 within the footwearindustry. With more than 600,000 employees worldwide, there is evidence tosuggest that Nike has broken several laws in relation to working age (Boggan,2001). Away from the footwear industry, Nike produces sporting goods andmanufactures sporting accessories worldwide for famous teams. In particular, Nikeis known for their production of soccer balls in Pakistan, which are thendistributed overseas for use in a vast array of sports (Boggan, 2001).Followingissues with sweatshops, the organisation was furtherly criticised for usingemployees lower than the ethical legal age. In some cases, children as young as4 or 5 years old were found working in poor conditions for long periods oftime. Interestingly, Pakistan has laws in place to prevent child labour andslavery all of which are against this unethical act from taking place however, the government has done little to overcome this issue nationally(Boggan, 2001). As child labour is considered as inhumane and illegal, Nike wasnegatively impacted in terms of its brand loyalty and consumer trust, and whilethe organisation acknowledged this issue, CSR-related ethics were not met.Moreover,as Nike is characterised by focusing overseas manufacturing in developingcountries, due to cheap labour, undemocratic governments and a lack in humanrights appeal, the brand has been able to improve its profit margin by reducingits costs. However, by using children as the primary workforce, it interfereswith the childs education and health, and increases poverty for the oldergeneration (Wazir, 2001). Despite these issues for children, Nike has claimed thatchildren are paid a lower wage due to laws in Vietnam, which allows for atraining wage less than minimum pay. By doing so, training can be given formanual labour in replace of education, and can deny a child their most basichuman rights (Wazir, 2001).Inline with Article 4 of the Ethical Trading Initiative (2016), no child shouldbe used in labour nor should any child be recruited for labour purposes. Aswell as this, companies, such as Nike, should work to contribute to preventionpolicies allowing for children to attend school until legal age. Lastly,children under 18 should not be employed in hazardous conditions anenvironment previously identified as being high in toxic levels and abuse;given Nikes employment in overseas sweatshops. Thefinal ethical issue, enforced by Nike Inc., is the organisations effect on theenvironment. As part of corporate social responsibility and meeting the ethicalneeds of stakeholders, it is imperative that organisations adhere tosocietal/environmental requirements. However, Nike was unable to do so in 2015when the company received a poor rating in the Ethical Consumers EnvironmentalReport (Nike, 2017). The report identified that its manufacturing factorieswere responsible for increases in climate, toxic pollution, water use andwaste. However, as no mention was given to agriculture, Nike was unable toprovide reasoning behind why the effects had occurred. Moreover, additionalreports also identified issues in terms of carbon emissions, renewable energyuse and the sourcing of certain materials. While Nike did establish strategiesto overcome these issues, little was done to combat the high toxic levelsoccurring within the workplace and in the environment; thus, preventing theorganisation from achieving CSR-related ethical goals (Nike, 2017).Giventhe above, it is clear to see that Nike has been faced with several ethicalissues over the last two decades all of which have negatively impacted on theorganisation and its ability to meet consumer needs. However, Nike has put inplace several policies/strategies to address these challenges. For example,regarding the organisations effect on the environment, Nike aimed to create aclosed loop system whereby the manufacturing process is focused on usingrecycled consumer waste (Nike, 2017). Following a new relationship with theSustainable Apparel Coalition, Nike introduced eco-friendly materials, such asorganic and recycled cotton, which could be used on their products as a way toreduce both waste and water consumption. Using recycled cotton and polyester,Nike can also reduce the number of off-cuts being produced, thereby furtherlyreducing the level of waste created (Nike, 2017). Thus, by developing newlow-carbon materials, additional waste can be reused as new materials. Nikehas set targets in line with minimising the organisations environmentalfootprint; thereby adhering to ethical policies in place protecting theenvironment. By 2020, the company aims to reduce its environment impact by atleast 10%, increase the use of sustainable material for all products, reach100% renewable energy locally and overseas, eliminate footwear waste duringmanufacturing, adopt new approaches related to water use reduction within thesupply chain and to lower the discharge of hazardous, toxic chemicals (Nike,Inc., 2015). As well as this, by 2025, Nike has also made a public commitmentto reduce its carbon emissions by more than 50% (Nike, Inc., 2015).Despitethese positive changes, Nike has yet to commit to eliminating hazardouschemicals fully from its supply chain, which has now been deemed as major issueethically for the workers exposed on daily basis to them and those wearing theproduct made by Nike. Regardingthe use of sweatshop and child labour overseas, Nike has advocated that theorganisation is working to change the relationships it holds with overseaspartners. As well as this, Nike has recognised that having a green, equitableand empowered workplace is more productive and profitable for the businessitself; thus, the supply chain has been redesigned with this in mind (Nike,2017). Every factory now used by Nike undergoes rigorous testing/evaluation inrelation to Nikes newly implemented Code of Conduct which preventsharassment, workers below the age of 16 and that only a set number of hours canbe worked by each person per week (Corzine and Harverson, 1997). This Code ofConduct also enforces that all employment is voluntary, preventing forcedlabour, and that the workplace is safe and healthy for all. As the minimumstandard for what is expected in each factory, Nike aims to evaluate itsperformance in line with ethical practices on both labour and environmentalimpacts. Therefore, allowing further improvements and investment into aninnovative manufacturing model where employees are the focus (Corzine and Harverson,1997).Furthermore,Nike has also focused on innovating the role of the worker. Having a skilledand valuable workforce appears to be of high importance for the organisation,and ensuring performance is compensated, high productivity can be guaranteed atall times (Nike, 2017). For instance, Nike implemented research programs aimingto provide education, healthcare and financial help to those inside and outsideof the workplace. While this strategy has proven to be beneficial for theorganisation, Nike has yet to only receive a middle Ethical Consumer rating forit ethical/unethical activities (Corzine and Harverson, 1997). As well as this,Nike is still lacking in terms brand loyalty and consumer trust, somethingwhich has provided brands like Adidas a competitive advantage. However,continued innovation will prove to be beneficial in this regard. Lastly,relating to sweatshops and child labour, Nike ensures to continually audit allfacilities used in the manufacturing process and publishes all reports forconsumers to see; thus, increasing transparency and trust with the brand. Byacknowledging this issue, Nike has shown its commitment to overcoming thesechallenges and has begun outsourcing to supplier with a higher reputation(Sethi et al., 2011). Giventhe above, there is evidence to suggest that Nike has implemented strategies toovercome the challenges it faces, however, further recommendations canbe given in relation to how the business should develop its approach tomanaging these ethical issues. Firstly, the ethical framework should be implemented in all aspects ofthe organisation and its daily operative activities. It is imperative that Nikeconsiders employee values, principles and moral qualities when making decisionand by doing so, it will ensure performance and quality are maintained [whileallowing for a safe and healthy environment] (Corzine and Harverson, 1997). As themain ethical issue results around employee work condition and their treatment,it is highly important that Nike continues to provide innovative resources forthose working overseas. There are significant opportunities for improvinglabour/employment practices, but requires a strategic reformation in a numberof different areas; something which Nike has yet to complete to date. Followingthrough on this would not only improve consumer trust/loyalty but would benefitthe organisation profitably. Secondly, seeing as Nike has already implemented several changes to itsorganisational plan, it could be suggested that further monitoring of thesupply chain is required on a continual basis (Porteous and Rammohan, 2013). Withthe majority of the issue coming from suppliers overseas, Nike must ensure itworks with its supplier to provide a safe and healthy environment for all. Nikeshould also consider providing training for all in order to improve managerialcapability. Not only would this provide value and support to Nikes workers, itwill help to reduce ethical issues and improve on factory importance. Lastly, Nike should set targets to help improve on the capacity of theirsuppliers, thereby dealing with human resources correctly. By doing so, Nikewill be able to obtain better management and a stronger two-way communicationbetween the organisation and its employees/consumers; thus, helping to addressany concerns they may have (Porteous and Rammohan, 2013).While the above recommendations have the ability to be beneficial for theorganisation, it is important to note that there are several risks/challenges involvedin implementing these strategic changes. For example, if Nike were to reducethe number of audits undertaken for maintaining a healthy work environment,then it is possible the use of sweatshops with poor conditions may arise. Thesehorrific conditions primarily occurred when Nike had a lacking communicativerelationship with its suppliers, thus it imperative that this two-waycommunication is maintained at all times (Sethi et al., 2011).Nikes poor branding image may also prove to be a challenge for the aboverecommendations. With limited focus on reducing hazardous waste, Nike may beexploited for unethical effects on both society and the environment. Thus,furtherly reducing the branding image and consumer trust (Kissinger, 2017). Lastly, one challenge for the recommendations in place is the currentlyworkforce. As noted previously, organisations commonly employee overseas forcheaper labour, however, poor decisions have led to Nike using sweatshops insteadof safe and ethical environments. Therefore, it could be suggested thatmanagerially Nike needs to change. By doing so, ethical supervisors can be putin place to ensure that unethical behaviour is prevented and diminished in allaspects of manufacturing (Bernroider, 2002).In conclusion, for Nike to remain as the prominent global company it is, theorganisation is going to need operate from a utilitarian perspective; whereby negativeeffects are prevented for further positive development. Despite the issuesraised above, there is evidence to suggest that Nike has implemented strategieswhich may prove to be beneficial on a long-term basis, however, there is stillthe issue of poor branding image fuelled by Nikes limited focus on itsenvironmental impacts. In turn, Nike should primarily on a sustainablestrategic management plan that involves both social and environmental aspects. ReferencesBeder, S. (2002) Putting the Boot in. The Ecologist 32(3), 24-28.Bernroider, E. 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