http://ethisphere.com/wme2011/
This article came from a website called Ethisphere who is "a leading international think-tank dedicated to the creation, advancement, and sharing of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption, and sustainability" (Ethisphere). This article in particular was about the winners they selected as 2011 World's Most Ethical Companies. They chose these winners based off of 4 criteria: (1) ethics and compliance program, (2) reputation, leadership, and innovation, (3) governance, and (4) corporate citizenship and responsibility. There is no set number of companies that make the list; is is simply based off of recognizing companies that "go beyond making statements about doing busness ethically and translate those words into action" (Ethisphere).
For the year 2011, 110 companies made the list. Of those 110, five were from the retail industry. They included three American companies: Gap, Patagonia, and Timberland. The other two were Adidas (Germany) and Comme iL Faut (Argentina). The process to be placed on this list is lengthy and in depth, so these 5 companies are clear stand outs in the retail industry, and showed they have outstanding ethics programs. Patagonia has been on the list since the year 2006 and has continued going strong. The Gap, Timberland, and Comme iL Faut have all appeared on the list prior to 2011, but none have stayed on it consistently. Something interesting to be noted is that Nike has been on the list since 2006 with Patagonia and 2011 is the first year they were not selected as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies.
As pointed out in a blog I found in a site called hub pages, I found a post that summarized one of Nike's major ethical issues. It said it had some major ethical problems when it started outsourcing its manufacturing plants to other countries in search of lower cost of production. It also points out that Nike "was labeled as forcing children to slave away in hazardous conditions for below-subsistence wages”. This created and outrage and Nike's popularity reduced."The factory workers were forced to work exceptionally long hours to fulfill quotas and had to follow strict rules during work for below minimal pay despite having “77 percent of the employees in Vietnam suffer from respiratory problems”. "Therefore, the legal, ethical, and cultural challenges began to add up for Nike and it was time for the company to confront them."
ReplyDeleteProbably this is one of the elements that took Nike out of the list.
Here is the site:
http://phoenixbusiness.hubpages.com/hub/Nike-Global-Business-and-Challenges
Great posting Jenna.
ReplyDeleteEthics and Social Responsibility is very important for some of the major retail brands. Most of these corporations outsource; meaning that the products they sell are usually made in a foreign country. For example, several years ago there was a lot of controversy over how Nike ,footwear and apparel corporation was producing their clothes and shoes. The working conditions were very bad. Some consumers boycotted the brand. While on the other hand, it damaged the companies public image very badly. So, it is key that a company maintain a very good public image. This is crucial because everyone walks around with a corporation/brand or symbol on their feet or shirt. (the Nike symbol or Adidas ETC. ) Some people don't want to walk around with a Nike symbol on their feet if it can damage their personal image.
Sincerely,
David Connolly