Why Nike Kicks Butt in Sustainability

3009 words 13 pages
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Nike has very strong leadership in the CSR function, and these leaders have the ear of the CEO and the attention of the heads of strategic business units. In the huge Nike campus, where over 7000 people are employed, the CSR department sits in the same building and on the same floor as the CEO’s suite. CSR staff also play a strong leadership role in the footwear and apparel industries. Well known among sustainability circles, these leaders regularly participate on key boards, and speak frequently about Nike practices. For example, Nike CSR leaders participate in panels and presentations in forums such as the Green Business Conference,
Opportunity Green, and Business and Social Responsibility. In
2008, Nike became chair of the World Economic Forum’s
Consumer Industries Working Group on Sustainable Consumption. In this role, it has spearheaded GreenXchange, a forum that allows companies to share sustainability-related patents and other intellectual property. In addition to sharing its own innovations in these forums, Nike uses these opportunities to gains insight into new developments in sustainability at other leading companies, and to stay abreast of plans for future developments that affect sustainability and business performance.

0090-2616/$ — see front matter # 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2010.07.007 Author's personal copy
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ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN
As CSR has gained prominence throughout

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