Nike Responsibility Governance
Nike was founded on a handshake.
Nike was founded on a handshake. Implicit in that act was the determination that we would build our business based on trust, teamwork, honesty and mutual respect.
As we have grown from a two-man partnership – between Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman - to a global business, our task has been to maintain this same ethic across our operations. We've put in place corporate governance policies and practices to help us do this. These to include corporate responsibility principles and policies
Our Codes and Policies
Our code of ethics for employees is called Inside the Lines; it defines the standards of conduct we expect of all our employees. Every year, employees are required to verify that they have read and understand Inside the Lines.
We operate a global toll-free Alertline for employees to report in confidence any suspected violations of the law or our code of ethics. Any reported concerns around accounting, auditing or internal control are communicated to the Audit Committee of the Board.
We expect our suppliers to share our standards and to operate in a legal and ethical manner. While Inside the Lines covers the behavior of Nike employees, our Nike Code of Conduct covers contractors who manufacture Nike-branded products. It directs them to respect the rights of their employees, and to provide them with a safe and healthy work environment.
CR Management at the Board Level
Nike's Board of Directors is responsible for corporate governance in compliance with the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other laws, and the interests of our shareholders.
The Board is currently composed of 10 members, eight of whom are independent non-executive directors as defined under the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange.
Nike’s Vice President of Corporate Responsibility reports directly into the CEO of Nike Inc, who in turn is a member of the Board of Directors.
One of the six committees on our Board of Directors is the Corporate Responsibility Committee. Its members are:
- Jill Ker Conway, Non-Executive Director, Committee Chair
- Douglas G. Houser, Non-Executive Director
- Jeanne P. Jackson, Non-Executive Director
- Johnathan A. Rodgers, Non-Executive Director
- John R. Thompson, Jr., Non-Executive Director
The CR Committee of the Board was established in 2001 to review significant policies and activities and make recommendations to the Board of Directors regarding labor and environmental practices, community affairs, charitable and foundation activities, diversity and equal opportunity, and environmental and sustainability initiatives. Nike's Executive Team attends the Committee meetings.
CR Management at the Executive Level
In fiscal year 2006, we created a management framework to ensure executive accountability for Corporate Responsibility across Nike. The Vice President for Corporate Responsibility reports directly to the CEO, and in turn co-manages a number of CR dedicated teams with business and functional executives.
The responsibilities of the Business Leadership Team include:
- Assisting in developing overall CR policies and strategies
- Reviewing and approving policies and strategies prior to Board approval
- Reviewing and approving overall CR investments, divestments and reinvestments
- Reviewing and monitoring progress against overall CR objectives and plans and help promote/direct achievement of those objectives
- Reviewing and approving global, regional and country CR organizational structure and accountabilities
- Helping promote further integration of CR into the business through active advocacy for CR, both internally and externally
Integration of CR at the Operational Level:
At the operational level, corporate responsibility is managed by functional CR Directors representing “Responsible Competitiveness” (Labor Compliance); Considered Design (Environmental Sustainability); Community Investments; Business Integration; “Horizons” (Scenario Planning).
Nearly 120 Nike employees work on CR issues as their primary function or have CR work as a significant portion of their workload (as of December 2007).
For more information about our approach, please see the Governance, Accountability and Reporting section of our