Developing Sustainable Enterprise - Nike Inc - Essay Example

DЕVЕLОРING SUSTАINАBLЕ ЕNTЕRРRISЕ (BUSINЕSS АND SUSTАINАBILITY) CASE STUDY OF NIKE INC. Name Class Instructor Institution City State Date DЕVЕLОРING SUSTАINАBLЕ ЕNTЕRРRISЕ (BUSINЕSS АND SUSTАINАBILITY) CASE STUDY OF NIKE INC. Introduction Most of the neoclassical economics and other related management theories make assumptions that the aim of going venturing into business is to make a profit. However, all the theories explain that the most important agent is a shareholder as they control all the financial action of the company. For more two decades most of growing companies have willingly tried to involve both social and environmental aspect of the business models they have adopted with the future strategies they wish to use to achieve corporate objectives and goals. According to Tukker, (2004) it’s often seen environmentalist asking that organization to upsurge sustainability in their business due to some reasons. Apart from environmental factors which include the rise in fuel and energy resulting which is associated with rising in manufacturing and production expenses which led to companies have to choose the methods that can enable them to be effective by plummeting costs to run the business. In many countries, the regulations have also forced the companies to consider the environmental effects of the action they take thus explains the reasons the companies are adopting the sustainable policies (Epstein, 2010). Nike Inc. To explain the effects of sustainability on the business development on bricks-and-mortar retailer I have chosen Nike Inc. Nike Inc. is a company from America that is multinational, and its main business is to manufacture, design and sell footwear, accessories, equipment and services that are designers. The company was founded in the year 1964 and has grown in the industry and recently it was named as the best company in the largest supplier of the athletic shoes and apparel. I chose this company has it has faced a lot of criticism from activists on how it operate its business these include violation of minimum wages by its suppliers who are contracted in the Vietnam and China. The company has also been accused of not being environmentally friendly, and this allegation has an effect on the financial statement. To overcome this, they adopted the environmental policies. This has been used as an example of companies who want to achieve economic and sustainability development (Porter, 2012). Current practices Currently in the Clean Air-Cool Planet, an environmental company that is a corporation in the England, it said that Nike was among the best firms in a survey that were done on companies that are eco-friendly. According to Zingales (2000), from the year 1990, Sustainability has been the guide that was used by the Nike to achieve its objectives from marketing to customer retention. In this sustainability steps, it started in 2001 when it developed its first corporate responsibility report. This aimed at lying on how it will achieve corporate social responsibility. In 2007, it did an analysis on the key sustainability meta-trends. However, by the fact the shareholders are important in achieving the company objectives the company in 2010 designed a stakeholder engagement strategy (Dauvergne, 2012). The supply chain is the backbone of every company success. It affects the cost and the reputation of the company and before the adoption of sustainability it affected the company performance and hence it had to use sustainable procurement in its policies. The company from 2011 to 2014 had to work with its suppliers and businesses it had contracted to work with to ensure that they follow the necessary being green policies and in the production of apparel brands by eliminating toxic discharge from their supply chains. Some of the sustainability current practices are Waste management According to Valero (2000), in Nike Company, they mainly define the waste material as the items that are procured in the supply chain that do not eventually end up as a beneficial piece of product, or that it be recycled and utilized during the product life. This is a process that starts from the packaging of the material, shipping material to the customers and the product samples produced. The company also recognizes a broad range of manufacturing waste these include scrap fabric from its production, leather from products and rubber. With such a broad definition enables the company to think about waste production at all sockets across the value chain. Nike has also used innovative production methods to its products such as Nike Flyknit technology; this has been a step forward that revolutionized the old method that was used shoemaking in which the products were knitted to virtual seam shoe uppers, these as reduced manufacturing waste in the firms supply chain(Valentin, 2000). Energy and labor Climate change has been affected due to increase in energy demanded which poses a great challenge for every firm. The fashion industry has reducing contributions toward climate change is a primary aim of our sustainability strategy. The company has embarked on strategies to decrease energy use and limit the emission of greenhouse gas in the value chain to ensure climate stability. The company has focused on a strategic supplier’s selection that validates a commitment employee engagement and sustainability (Dauvergne, 2012). Water The company has focused on the quantity and quality of water. It is an important part of NIKE sustainability strategy. The company has focused on designing items from materials that need less water quantity to produce and assist material sellers and the factories that are contracted to reduce water impacts, and abolish hazardous substances from putting materials into the water. The company has used innovation and technology, such as Color Dry to save water. It used to eliminate the use of chemicals hence cleaner water (Baeva,, 2011). Recommendation and improvements According to Edwards (2010) the growth of sustainability awareness has put pressure on the firm to increase. Similar to other companies Nike have similar pressure from the government and with new laws that are put in place to force sustainability (Wood, 1995). To overcome this challenge the company has to reduce expenses, increase profitability as well as control the damage to the company has to the environment. This means that the firm has to respond to the urge for change and have a continuous improvement to adopt new sustainable strategies that are designed to long-term power business sustainability (Waddock, 1997). Nike has mainly focused on the supply chain rather focus in the whole process. I would recommend the company to have an ultimate, long-term visualization of creating finished products that have a zero waste and closing the loop on raw materials that are used. Some of the recommendations include Energy recovery systems According to Ullmann, (1985), energy is costly and is the real benefactor to environmental change and the carbon foot shaped impression. Typically the wastefulness in vitality use appears as warmth, and warmth is being perceived as an important by-item. On the off chance that your business forms request large amounts of energy or warmth, you might need to examine cogeneration. This is a framework where the endeavor produces a few or the greater part of their energy in a manner that the conceivably squandered warmth is recouped and can be put to utilize. A few plants are currently moving to trigeneration where electric power, heat and cooling are all produced, and significantly more prominent reserve funds in fuel expenses and carbon outflows can be accomplished (Henderson, 2009). At times these organizations will be connected to the lattice for some of their energy needs and they may encourage abundance power once more into the matrix. On a littler scale you may recognize hardware that radiates heat as a consequence of the wasteful utilization of fuel or other vitality. This warmth can frequently be caught and utilized. Hot air may be sucked out by fans and occupied to the warming conduits. On the other hand, a warmth exchanger could be utilized to warm a liquid which is channeled to the space warming framework (Stein, 1989). Engaging workforce capabilities It is vital for individuals that take the necessary steps, work the plant are the most acquainted with the operation of the procedure. Ordinarily they are an incredible wellspring of thoughts for enhancing the procedure. A working nonstop change procedure will catch this. As the general population on the front end build up their comprehension of the procedure, they are better ready to perceive indications of problematic execution and either make a move or roll out suggestions in the matter of what improvements may be valuable. This requires huge specialized information about the procedure and the standards for its operation (Simnett, 2009). A procedure change might require staff with various abilities or possibly the examination has demonstrated that the fundamental issue is how staff are as of now functioning. In both of these circumstances, re-skilling of the workforce will be required to enhance maintainability result (Sen, 2001) Conclusion It can be concluded that Sustainability in the firms mainly resemble the traditional models which aim at profit maximization and that social and environmental concerns are mainly observed as not important or externalities. However, the governments and various laws and regulations have the mandate for forcing Responsibility on corporations to account for such externalities. As from in the example of Nike Sustainability do not mean to pay consideration to externalities but to characterize the firm by diverse governance mechanisms that unswervingly involve broad sustainability questions and that can assist in sustainability objectives. References Sen, S., Gurhan-Canli, Z. And Morwitz, V. 2001. Withholding Consumption: A Social Dilemma Perspectiveon Consumer Boycotts. Journal of Consumer Research, 28(3): 399-417. Simnett, R., A. Vantraelen, and W. F. 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