Nike has come a long
way since claims of involvement in slave wages, forced overtime, and labour
abuse in the late 1990s. With a fall in revenue, the athletic wear company was
suffering from a serious image problem and would be under a lot of public
scrutiny for years to follow. Nearly two decades later, Nike is now ranked the
most sustainable apparel and footwear company in North America for environmental
and social performance which includes its labour practices.
Under the lead of
Hannah Jones, Vice President of Sustainable Business & Innovation at Nike, they
are now leading the universal shift towards sustainability in the industry. Nike
has implemented new strategies that has satisfied this new focus. With a change
in systems of production and labour practices, the company has successfully
engaged in innovation and sustainability. One of the way Nike has achieved this is by
being one of the first companies to go public with their list of suppliers. This
information has allowed Nike to be seen as transparent to the public. Furthermore,
they also co-founded the Fair Labor Association with other businesses in the
industry to enforce appropriate working conditions across the industry. The
goal is to encourage other businesses to adapt similar strategies. Lastly, Nike
has changed its strategy to become more innovative. They are now seeking to
create products that “create value, whether that’s value in terms of
sustainability, new offerings to athlete or in terms of our shareholders”, says
Jones. One way they are doing this is by using environmentally friendly
practices. Nike has changed many of its production methods to be more sustainable,
changing many of the materials and manufacturing methods. The production of
Nike shoes now use nitrogen rather than potent greenhouse gas which is better
for the environment. Furthermore, Nike’s water footprint across vendors is rated
sustainable. Nike also has cut its energy use per unit by around 50%. They also use 100% renewable energy in manufacturing facilities
and changed many of its equipment to renewable energy.
Nike has also come a long way since initial claims of unethical practices. Although the change was sparked by public crisis, Nike now act as a role model to encourage other businesses to follow in similar footsteps towards sustainability.
Sources:
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