Nike's Corporate Responsibility Committee

The Corporate Responsibility Committee was a part of the Board of Directors committee structure and this committee had a say in major business decisions pertaining to labor practices and corporate responsibility issues as well as environmental impact and sustainability issues (Nike Sustainable Business Performance Summary 2010-11, https://www.unglobalcompact.org/system/attachments/15435/original/NIKE_SUSTAINABLE_BUSINESS_REPORT_FY10-11_FINAL.pdf?1337190353). The committee would consist of at least three directors appointed by the board for any duration, most of the members whom would not be affiliated to NIKE in any way (Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Committee, http://investors.Nike.com/investors/corporate-governance/board-committee-charters/corporate-responsibility-and-sustainability-committee/default.aspx).

This groundbreaking move took the industry by storm and highlighted the company’s staunch belief that transparency and collaboration would be the pillars of progress. This disclosure was referred to as Nike’s manufacturing map. (Nike, Inc., FY2010-11, Sustainable Business Performance Summary).

2008
Nike’s considered product line gained worldwide attention in 2008 when 3 products made using recycled material were showcased during the Beijing Olympics: the Precool Vest, Swift running and rowing apparel and medal stand shoes. This year also saw a significant reduction in packaging material (3%, resulting in an estimated savings of $6 million) usage through redesign and construction of Nike shoeboxes.
To further improve its sustainable product innovation techniques, Nike partnered with not for profit NGO The Natural Step in order to develop a long term vision. This partnership resulted in the North Star vision, a well rounded plan consisting of the following 6 elements (Kim Mackrael for The Natural Step, 2008, Case Study -Nike,

Historically, the company’s business units had been structured in a matrix with business units centred along 3 product dimensions: footwear, apparel and equipment forming the primary axis and geographic regions the secondary. However, this structure was insufficient to cater to the growing demand among athletes for complete tailored high performance, sport specific gear. To respond to this need, Nike reorganized itself around 5 core sports categories - running, football (soccer), basketball, men’s training and women’s fitness- thus improving customer focus and moving away from its product-driven model towards delivering integrated customer solutions. (Marcia Blenko, Eric Garton, Ludovica Mottura, 2014, Winning Operating Models That Convert Strategy to Results, http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/winning-operating-models-that-convert-strategy-to-results.aspx). The resulting complex organizational matrix interactions between the product dimensions (apparel, footwear & equipment), the sports categories and the geographic regions is depicted in annexure A. Details of the regional matrix structure, consisting of interactions between functional units and sports categories are shown in annexure