It is characteristic of the media that good news takes a back seat to scandal, but the article in the url below is worth highlighting as an example of how far Nike has come regarding CSR (Issues: Cultural Conflict, p160). The article, buried deep in the sports pages of my local paper, reports Nike’s voluntary disclosure of the mistreatment of workers at the factory of a Nike sub-contractor in Malaysia:
“… including squalid living conditions, garnished wages and withheld passports of foreign workers.”
Nike’s response, I think, is impressive:
“Nike said all workers are being transferred to Nike-inspected and approved housing … All workers will be reimbursed for any fees and going forward, the fees will be paid by the factory. All workers will have immediate access to their passports and any worker who wishes to return home will be provided return airfare.”
Those executives that remain unconvinced of the value of CSR, however, are likely to remain skeptical as long as such proactive behavior remains unrecognized, while the slightest transgression is plastered all over the front pages.
Have a good weekend.
Dave
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
Nike finds major violations at Malaysian factory
By SARAH SKIDMORE
AP Business Writer
415 words
1 August 2008
02:04 PM
Associated Press Newswires
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2008/08/01/1713691-nike-finds-major-violations-at-malaysian-factory
