NIke Class Concepts

Many of the products Nike produces are often made in foreign third world countries. Within these countries are people who do not have the resources necessary to leave their homeland and find work elsewhere. This brings hardships on their families and a daily fight for survival. The low paying wages Nike gives the people of these countries is only enough to get them by on a daily basis. These people do not experience white privilege. This is where the color of their skin and the education they posses would be enough to get a quality paying job in a more industrialized nation. Instead, they are forced to undertake a work ethic where the motivation is to make enough money for their family to survive.

A problem many people did not face in third world countries prior to industrialization was the strict slave like conditions in multinational corporations. In pre industrialization it was the norm to go to work and work hard in order to support your family. The work ethic gradually increased to set standards for workers to get the highest production returns necessary. As the post industrial era came about people became consumers. This led companies to produce more and thus provided greater profit for them. With the increase in profit came the increase in greed. Next came the outsourcing of products and not taking care of the conditions workers are subject to. Those working in these locations are the poor of the world. They are known as the “failed consumer” and are unable to live a comfortable life.

Nike is one of these companies employing the failed consumer, having a majority of their employees be paid slave wages. This leads those people to make it nearly impossible to support their family. Nike can be seen as a synopticon. The industrialization and consumerism era has done this to Nike where it can be seen as ‘the many watching the few” (multinational corporations). This is a place many businesses want to see themselves and the power they hold. This power can be used positively and negatively. Much of the negative attention comes when a corporation employs those in poor working conditions and bad wages (Nike). With the proper steps and the right moral and ethical ideal, multinational corporations can be perceived better in the global spotlight (Nike).

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Nike Progress

Nike is a large multinational corporation. The size of this business draws criticism from many labor force groups and those who oppose underage workers in third world countries. Many of the decisions Nike makes come under fire because of their labor practices. Although there are many negative attributions associated to Nike in third world countries, there are positive changes the corporation is making in improving working conditions.

Nike was looked down upon in the 90s due to their increasing profits and their outsourcing of products in poor countries. In those times when problems occurred the public relations staff would hurry off and extinguish any falsehoods by either, closing factories, or denying these claims. Many critics find problems in the 900 supplier factories in as many as 50 countries. Nike has implemented a team to go in and inspect hundreds of these factories and make sure they are all up to grade with labor laws and working conditions. They have visited over 600 factories and even revisited the places with the most problems. They have also encouraged the Fair Labor Association to follow up on these factories and add input on any wrongdoings. For those countries that keep violating the labor codes, Nike is quick to pull their production from those areas. Nike has also expanded its inspections to environmental and health issues regarding the safety of its employees.

Public demonstrations are not as common anymore with the Nike Corporation. This is due in part of the implemented staff Nike has hired dealing with factory inspections and labor laws. The inspectors however are limited and not able to catch all problems surrounding the many factories. Many protesters are able to go straight to the company itself and identify any problems. These problems are then taken into consideration and looked at in depth. Many other retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target who can control their prices, for the most part, do practically nothing for regulating labor in other countries.

While Nike is making progress, it is far from being a beneficial place to work in third world countries. This is due to their ability to move to countries that will not let its workers create a union. This keeps labor cheap and the ability for Nike to keep producing many products. Although Nike implementing new labor conditions will help the working conditions for its employees, it still fails to recognize the payroll disparity faced by the workers.


Reference- http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_38/b3900011_mz001.htm

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