Nike EthicsNike Incorporated is the world's leading supplier of athletic apparel and equipment. They produce everything from casual clothing to sports equipment, from shoes to socks, from basketballs to golf balls. As a result of its enormous success, Nike employs nearly 30,000 people worldwide, manufactures in 700 stores worldwide and has 45 offices outside the United States. Its vast reach in the global market has meant that Nike produces more exclusive products than any other manufacturer in the world. Nike's headquarters are located in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. Nike was initially known as Blue Ribbon Sports, founded by University of Oregon track athlete Philip Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in 1962. It officially became Nike, Inc. in 1978 while taking its name from the Greek goddess of victory. Mark Parker is the current CEO and Phil Knight continues to hold a position at the top of the organization, as President of the company. Nike has always been an ethically challenged company. People have heard of stories of sweatshops in Southeast Asia exploiting teenage employees for unreasonably small sums of money. This had tarnished Nike's reputation several years ago, but it has since tried to become a truly respectable company. On Nike's website you can find Phil Knight's beliefs on ethics. It is the following: “At NIKE we are always on the attack. We play hard, we play to win, but we play by the rules of the game. This Code of Ethics is of vital importance. It contains the rules of the game for NIKE, the rules we live by and what we stand for. Please read it. And if you've already read it, read it again. So get some paper... middle of paper... ethics? Well, the honest answer would be to eliminate sweatshops completely. This is unlikely because it would be very difficult for a company with such a wide reach in the corporate world to close its factories abroad. Companies will always continue to take advantage of lower wages as long as the opportunity is present. One possible way would be to improve the employee environment. Since Nike benefits from low wages, it should at least provide a safer working environment for its employees. No employee should ever be put at risk due to a lack of environmental awareness. Nike should also pay attention to the wage laws that govern the area in which it produces. With all the profits Nike makes, it couldn't hurt them to pay their employees no less than minimum wage. Otherwise, any company with such blatant greed will not last in the long term.