Nike, an international well-known brand, certainly has a good reputation of making stylish sportswear and comfortable shoes. However, who would have thought that a company as big as Nike has done so little if not nothing in terms of providing a safe and fair working environment for their workers. Although the company makes more than millions of profit a year, the profit margin apparently does not satisfy the shareholders of Nike. Desperate to increase their profit margin, Nike in recent years has moved a large portion of their factories overseas to circumvent the strict working regulations within the United States. Since the third world countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, and India provide access to readily abundant cheap labor, Nike could now reap the benefit of the United States consumer market, while keeping their costs extremely low in offshore production.
In recent years, Nike has been accused of treating factory workers very harshly, stripping away worker’s basic human rights. A former Nike factory worker has recently spoke out against Nike, claiming that workers are often abused physically and mentally by their supervisors at work. “Supervisors frequently throw shoes at them, slap them in the face, kick them and call them dogs and pigs”, says a worker in Indonesia. Mentally abused to the point where some of them did not want to speak up against the bad things that were happening to them, as one of the workers was actually fired after she spoke out against Nike.
While on an economic stand point, it is totally understandable as to why big corporations like Nike are trying to take advantage of the cheap labour cost in third world countries. On a Business ethic stand point, judging by the way they are treating their workers, its organization management is undoubtedly questionable. There has already been a growing concern and hatred among the consumers in recent years. If Nike does not show signs of change or improvement anytime soon, a boycott on Nike is likely going to happen.
