Nike’s Social Responsibility: From Diversity to Sustainability

Nike is well-known for its ambition to inspire and innovate. The brand has established itself as an international leader in the sports industry, providing its customers with quality apparel and sneakers and successfully encouraging people from all walks of life to ‘just do it’. With their physical presence and global reach has come a social responsibility to take a stand on various issues, from diversity to sustainability and beyond.

Nike has prioritized the area of social responsibility since its beginning. The company recognizes the power it holds and the corporate responsibility it has to lead the industry by example in order to inspire others to rise to meet the same standards of social justice.

Diversity and Inclusion

Nike has taken a strong initiative to promote diversity and inclusion. Its mission of uncompromising commitment to bringing sport to everyone is reflected not only in its products and campaigns but also in its operations, workforce and leadership teams.

Nike’s commitment to diversity is reflected in their senior leadership roles — 30.6% of the company’s senior-level Executives and 52% of its Board of Directors are women. Additionally, women now make up 40.7% of the executive team, 43.3% of the Board of Directors and 48.2% of the total workforce. Nike’s commitment to advancing multicultural talent is further demonstrated by the company’s pledge to hire and recruit more diverse employees.

Nike’s Corporate Equality Index Score was the highest possible, 100 out of a possible 100, for six consecutive years, demonstrating its commitment to providing equal opportunities to all its employees.

Fair Labor Practices

Nike takes great pride in promoting fair labor practices and transparently engaging its global network of manufacturing partners. The company is committed to protecting the rights of workers around the world and to maintaining safe, clean and healthy working environments.

Nike assesses supplier performance evaluation through a broad range of criteria, any breaches of which are handled through corrective action plans. The company has introduced an electronic system to monitor supplier compliance, striving to increase transparency and eliminate forced labour and human trafficking.

Sustainability

Sustainability is a crucial part of Nike’s social responsibility agenda. The company has taken a number of steps to build their “Manufacturing Index” – a tool that maps the environmental impacts of its footwear from start to finish. This data is publicly available and allows for tracking, forecasting and development of strategies to reduce the carbon footprints of Nike’s shoe lines.

Nike’s “Sustainable Innovation Lab” is a research lab dedicated to developing new materials, reducing waste and pioneering sustainable manufacturing practices. The company is also investing heavily in renewable technologies in its facilities worldwide, aiming to be completely powered by renewable energy by 2025.

Nike has initiated a number of programs to reduce waste. In its factories, the company has set ambitious goals to reduce waste and has made progress in achieving them. For example, Nike’s Tire Factory in China reported a 95% waste reduction in 2015.

The company has also actively supported “Reduce Footprint” – a program to support marginalised communities in India that are facing severe environmental issues such as air, water and soil pollution.

The company’s commitment to promoting diversity, fair labor practices and sustainability has not only improved its reputation, but has made Nike an exemplar for the corporate social responsibility of any other organization. It is clear that Nike is working to make the world a better place, from promoting diversity and inclusivity to leading the way in innovative sustainability initiatives.