Nike: The Sweatshop Debate
MGT/448
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Introduction
There are many issues that a corporation has to take into consideration when going global. There are legal, cultural, and ethical challenges that have to be dealt with. There are issues that will arise that will require the host government and the corporation to work together to resolve them. A strong strategic and operational plan in place will help the global managers to be successful in these other countries. Specifically this paper will review how Nike handled these issues in the, The Sweatshop Debate case.
Global Business Challenges
When a corporation decides to become a global entity it requires research into the legal, cultural, and ethical challenges that will arise. One such challenge Nike had to overcome what the public outrage and protests regarding child labor, hazardous conditions, and pitiful wages. Nike was criticized for taking jobs away from the United States and moving them overseas where employees, often young children, worked in poor environments, worked long hours to fill quotas, and were paid wages well below the cost of standard of living.
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NikeThe company was dealing with legal, ethical and cultural issues all at once. There was finger pointing of how Nike took advantage of it's employees in various countries. The wage issues were simply handled by increasing the country's living wage to the minimum, which was the culturally and ethically acceptable. Work hours were shortened and overtime was cut back. The poor working conditions and environments were resolved by providing protective materials, proper ventilation was installed, and the use of toxic chemicals used were reduced.
Government Roles
Nike definitely had challenges in being a global company. The fact that Nike had become such a big name with a product it seemed everyone wanted made them even a big target for...