Chap.(12)- Supply Chain Management

Nike has admitted that its Chinese supply chain is suffering from a lack of transparency, problems with wages and the use of underage workers. This month the sportswear manufacturer published its first country-specific supply chain report, revealing some problems the company is having. China is the companies largest sourcing area, with 180 manufacturers contracted to produce goods, including footwear. Nike found out the top three problems in management in China were: inefficient compliance with the company code of conduct; a lack of training and awareness of the code; and poor communication of factory standards by suppliers to workers. Nike's factories in China employee more than 210,000 civilians. Problems identified in the report included fake factory documents, 167 cases of workers with "incorrect identification" and two current cases of workers under Nike's minimum age of 18. A 15 year old girl was found working in one of Nike footwear supplier. Nike suppliers were also slow to increase wages in response to laws.