Page 180 - Performance Leadership

Chapter 10 The Social Role of Organizations • 169

brand as well. Behavioral risk spans the complete value chain. The
social dimension of the performance leadership framework provides an
outside-in view that forces organizations to look at the consequences
of their actions on the outside world. The social dimension then acts
as a boundary condition of doing business in a legal and socially
accepted way.
Consider Nike, for instance, with over $12 billion in revenue in its
fiscal year 2004, one of the largest and certainly one of the most well-
known fashion and sports companies in the world. Nike has not always
been a poster child for corporate social responsibility. For Nike, CSR
has been a learning process for the last 10 years, growing from a defen-
sive stage, to compliance, to a strategic adoption of CSR principles. 10
On its Web site Nike describes its social and environmental strategy in
detail, using the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI; a
global organization promoting a social, environmental, and economic
11
reporting framework). Nike’s philosophy is that the social dimension
is simply good for business. As Nike writes on its Web site:

Nike’s corporate responsibility (CR) mission is simple and straightfor-
ward. It is clear acknowledgement that CR work should not be separate
from the business—but should instead be fully integrated into it. Our
CR mission:

• We must help the company achieve profitable and sustainable
growth.
• We must protect and enhance the brand and company.

Nike operates in an environment where almost all manufacturing is
done by independent contract manufacturers that also produce for
other global brands. A large part of the CSR strategy therefore lies in
partner management. Transparency is a cornerstone to the strategy.
Nike’s latest achievement is that it has disclosed its manufacturing base,
so that it is available for all stakeholders to see which other companies
are involved in the Nike brand, and how they are adopting CSR prin-
ciples. Nike has an extensive audit program in place to make sure its
suppliers comply with the social and environmental standards that
Nike has set, again based on the GRI framework. Given the nature of