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Nike: Sweatshops and Business Ethics
History
What started with a handshake between two running geeks in Oregon in January 1964 are now the world's most competitive sports and Fitness Company. Bill Bowerman the legendary University of Oregon track &field coach and Phil Knights a University of Oregon runner under Bowerman coach, found the Nike Company, named by the Greek winged goddess of victory. First the company was named Blue Ribbon Sports. The Nike athletic machine began as a small distributing outfit located in the trunk of Phil Knight's car. From these rather unpromising beginnings, Knight's idea grew to become the shoe and athletic company that would come to define many aspects of popular culture. Bill Bowerman's search for lighter, more durable racing shoes for his Oregon runners, and Knight's search for a way to make a living without having to give up his love of athletics. Bowerman's desire for better quality running shoes clearly influenced Knight in his search for a marketing strategy. Between them, the seed of the most influential sporting company grew. While getting his MBA at Stanford in the early '60s, Knight's the semester-long project was to devise a small business, including a marketing plan. Synthesizing Bowerman's attention to quality running shoes and the burgeoning opinion that high-quality/low cost products could be produced in Japan and shipped to the U.S. for distribution, Knight found his market position.
By 1964, the company ha ...