BUSM3199 Ethics And Governance - Research Essay Help

Introduction

Organizations hold many moral and ethical obligations towards society and their actions largely affect the society and community in which they operate. The compliance with ethical code of conduct and integration with socially responsible conduct is highly appreciated by stakeholders of the organization, including customers among others. The underlying essay has addressed as recent issue which created burning debate on ethicality and morality of the organization. This issue is based on recent advertising campaign of Nike which has featured Colin Kaepernick, player of National Football League, to support a cause where Colin has protested against brutality with people colour by refusing to show pride to National flag. The essay has taken the stance that Nike has although supported social movement against injustice, yet it has ignored ethical aspects associated with the support and has led to questionable moral and ethical behavior. 

Body

Businesses have been using controversies in their favor for decades, as controversial issues mainly lead in more internet exposure of advertisement of specific brand and is expected to offer benefits in terms of enhanced sales and stock value. Nike has also linked itself with a controversial political issue in its recent advertisement, where Nike has featured National Football Leagues’ player, Colin Kaepernick, on 30th anniversary of “Just Do it” logo. Colin Kaepernick has protested against ‘take a knee’ during the National anthem before matches and has also denied to stand silently with arms locked, as respect and patriotic gesture (Chadwick and Zipp, 2018). The protest of Colin Kaepernick was based on brutality and racist behavior of US police against black men, as maintained by Colin, there is no point of showing pride for flag of the nation, which do not offer equal treatment to people of color (Abad-Snatos, 2018). This protest of Colin was highly popularized and many have joined him in the protest. On the other hand, plenty of people have criticized the protest and Donal Trump have even asked to fire the players who are engaged in disrespectful actions against the national anthem. These evidences are clearly showing that issue has taken stance of political nature and if it has many in its favor, then many are against it as well. 

Followed by ad of Nike, company has been largely critiqued by the people who were considering protest of Colin Kaepernick as disrespectful to flag and country. The question of ethicality has raised and it is important to mention that being a great influencers, brands should not be taking sides. It has been addressed by Briscoe, Chin and Hambrick (2014) that alignment with a political issue not only affects the organization, but it has huge influence on consumers as well. For instance, it is notable that number of belief buyers is increasing substantially as one study on millennial has indicated that around 50% people purchase products of brand, which they think is congruent with their values and beliefs. The association of Nike with #TakeAKnee protest has caused discomfort to people who belief that NFL’s player protest is against the flag and US nation. The patriotic are offended by this protest and thus advertisement of Nike has further brought them into rage, which is witnessed by the act of destroying the apparels of Nike (Ihazza, 2018). Although, the proponents of NFL protest might take a stance that being socially responsible, it is important for organization to support individuals who fight against racism and support diversity, inclusion and equality of all. Yet, it is considerable that there are always two sides of a coin and if many consumers of Nike have supported this recent advertisement campaign, then many have been offended (Winther Nielsen, 2017). Being a socially responsible brand, it is obligation of an organization to consider the feelings and values of all its consumers, prior to affiliating with any political issue.