Nike Essay, Research Paper

Nike Student Monitoring Report: Korea March 7th and March 10th, I visited four factories, three in Seoul, Korea and one in Pusan, Korea. The sizes of the factories ranged from 35 to 100 workers, and women above the age of 35 made up the majority of the factories’ laborers. At each of the factories, two PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PWC) employees from Korea audited the factories while I observed. These audits consisted of inspecting the factories, reviewing time sheets and cards, and interviewing 25 factory workers. The two PWC employees divided the work, so that one interviewed the workers and the other reviewed paperwork verifying employees’ age, payroll, and compensation. Overall, I had a positive impression of the factories and Nike’s monitoring methods. The general impression I received from each of the four factories was that the manager and the workers had a relatively good relationship. The managers knew each employee by name, and during the interviews, most employees stated that the managers were easy to talk to if they had a problem. In two of the four factories, the factory management provided extracurricular activities for its employees. Although there was only one designated 15 minute break throughout the day besides lunch, employees stated that they were allowed to take smoke breaks, water breaks, and bathroom breaks on their own time. When we interviewed 25 workers from the factories, none expressed physical or verbal abuse. Many of the employees that were interviewed went so far as to laugh when asked the question, and many expressed that if abuse did occur, they would leave the factory immediately. Also during the factory visits, there were no signs of child labor; the youngest worker at the factories was 16 years old, and the workers interviewed stated that they had not seen a young child work at the factories. On the day of the audits, all the factories were clean and well maintained. The major problems at the factories were overtime and insurance compensations. In Korea, the hours of work should not exceed 56 hours per week including overtime; however, three of the factories surpassed the 56 maximum hours allowed for each employee. Nonetheless, it should be noted that all the employees who worked more than 56 hours wanted to work, and management did not force them. Also in Korea, employers are required to provide their employees with national pension benefits, employment insurance, medical insurance, and industrial accident insurance. However, two of the four factories audited did not provide their employees with these benefits. It should be noted, however, that the two factories offered the employees the benefits and insurances but many declined. Many of the factory workers declined because their husbands had insurances under which they were covered. Therefore, instead of receiving the benefits and insurances, many of the employees chose to receive more money. Although none of the factories had the Nike Code of Conduct posted on the day of the visit, the factories had received the codes that morning or were still waiting for the codes to arrive. The managers stated that they would post the codes immediately and send notification to PWC. At the end of our factory visits, the PWC employees talked to the managers, suggesting ways to improve factory conditions. Only one factory manager disagreed with one of our suggestions. We suggested that he install an air filtration system or at the very least fans because the air quality within the factory was thick with dust and particles from the materials used to make the apparel, especially sweatshirts. However, the manager declined to implement either of these, due to the fact that he did not believe it was necessary because the problem occurred only when heavy clothing such as sweatshirts was produced. He believed that it was a rare occurrence. The overall impression of the factories was very positive. Most of the managers were cooperative and willing to comply with Nike’s Code of Conduct, and the employees seemed to be satisfied with their working conditions. Furthermore, many of the factories paid their workers above the minimum wage, which is 1,600 won. I have a positive impression of the PWC auditing methods, however, I think there should be improvements. I believe that there should be a revision of the current PWC questionnaire so that certain questions are country specific. For example, the question concerning the number of years of schooling should not be asked in Korea because many of the employees were embarrassed to answer. Also, there should be more clarification on the relationship between PWC and factory management. In Korea, there were cultural issues concerning respect given to the factory management. For example, the PWC auditors did not push ventilation issues in one factory because they did not want to disrespect the factory manager. I also believe that in the final report written by the PWC auditors, there should be a section in which the auditors could write their overall impression of the factories.

Nike Student Monitoring Report: Korea March 7th and March 10th, I visited four factories, three in Seoul, Korea and one in Pusan, Korea. The sizes of the factories ranged from 35 to 100 workers, and women above the age of 35 made up the majority of the factories’ laborers. At each of the factories, two PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PWC) employees from Korea audited the factories while I observed. These audits consisted of inspecting the factories, reviewing time sheets and cards, and interviewing 25 factory workers. The two PWC employees divided the work, so that one interviewed the workers and the other reviewed paperwork verifying employees’ age, payroll, and