It’s an astonishingly good match between the product and the place from which it arises. Green, beautiful, near rivers and mountains, the Portland, Oregon suburb of Beaverton and the surrounding area simply begs residents and visitors alike to lace up a high quality, comfortable pair of sneakers and get moving.
Started under the name Blue Ribbon Sports in the mid 1960s by Phil Knight, a University of Oregon track athlete, and his coach Bill Bowerman, the sports apparel and equipment known as Nike since 1978, has become one of the most recognized and popular brands in the world with its tell tale swoosh logo and Just Do It tag line. With 2009 earnings of nearly $2 billion from revenue that approaches $20 billion, Nike’s success arose and has blossomed through a dedication to making a good shoe combined with eye-catching marketing and advertising, and shrewd acquisitions (among the company’s subsidiary brands are Cole Haan and Converse).
But it has certainly not all been easy and free of controversy and criticism. The manufacturing and labor practices employed by Nike contractor factories were exposed in recent years to run afoul of ethical and legal standards, and these reported transgressions confronted Nike with a very visible public relations problem. But in part through addressing these issues head-on and with a commitment to transparency, in addition to several core actions that Nike was already performing as ties to organizational values, Nike has demonstrated itself as an exemplary corporate citizen. While those who know mostly about the labor practice problems (which the company maintains to have been corrected as of several years ago), it may come as a surprise to learn that Nike is seen to be among the world’s most ethical corporations, and has been lauded accordingly by the Ethisphere Institute and its magazine.
Nike is certainly no stranger to the pages of Tonic; in addition to the company’s recognition as one of the most ethical, we have reported on individual actions that no doubt help to earn them the accolades: last fall, the company walked away from its position on the board of directors of the US Chamber of Commerce in protest of the blase and contrarian official position on climate change by the national business body. And approximately one year ago, Nike announced tightened review and control of its supply chain to ensure that it is not using any leather from cattle being raised on lands that were once Amazonian rain forest.
Comprehensive, interactive and beautifully designed, Nike’s Corporate Responsibility Report is a highly worthwhile online destination for a discussion of the technical, legal, human and environmental factors that all figure into Nike’s dedication to making many shoes but as small a footprint as possible.
Oregon Facts:
- A legal distinction it shares only with New Jersey: it is illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon.
- Oregon law also frowns upon the use of canned corn as fish bait.
- The deepest lake in the US is Crater Lake, formed by a dormant volcano.
- Oregon’s state flag is the only one of the 50 with separate designs on both sides.
- The one-way street was first used in the city of Eugene.
- Oregon was a recycling pioneer, being the first state to pass legislation to ban non-returnable cans and bottles in 1971.
Read more Dollars & Sense.
Photo by Straheurm via Wikimedia Commons.