–Comment on Micheal Mauro‘s Blog Post–
While Nike’s sweatshop controversy was publicized and scrutinized heavily from 1991 to 2000, there are many other famous brands in North America still using sweatshops as a method of paying lower labor wages and cutting production costs. Some of these brands include GAP, Walmart, H&M, Victoria’s Secret and more. However, Nike’s situation was special because it was so heavily publicized. Unlike Nike, many of these brands – some that I have mentioned – are not receiving nearly the same amount of criticism that Nike had to endure. If one looks at what happened to Nike, it might seem as if good business ethics is the best and only way to have a successful business : “In summary, during the 1990’s Nike was a company losing profit and consumers due to their unethical business propositions. However, Nike has now begun to show the global market how ethical behavior is beneficial.” [1]
However, in reality, Nike’s business turned around because they handled the controversy appropriately – not because they suddenly implemented good business ethics. The Operations team in Nike impressively figured out the best way to handle the situation given that they were under the public eye. Now, if any of these other companies suddenly find themselves in a huge sweatshop controversy like what Nike had, will they be ready to handle it with the same amount of precision and skill?
[1] – Micheal Mauro