On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nike Inc. CEO Mark Parker apologized to employees for allowing a corporate culture that excluded some staff and failed to properly recognize serious complaints about workplace issues.
Thanks to brilliant reporting by Sara Germano, The Wall Street Journal learned of a rare all-staff meeting at Nike’s headquarters. The meeting comes after several top ranking Nike executives resigned their positions or were forced out amid complaints of a “boys club” culture at Nike that protected male subordinates that engaged in behavior that was demeaning to fellow colleagues.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Mark Parker addressed a huge crowd in the Tiger Woods Conference Center and apologized to those who felt excluded and felt like they didn’t have anyone to turn to about their situation.
In the last week, Nike has promoted two women — Kellie Leonard, its new chief of diversity, and Amy Montagne, vice president and general manager of global categories — to positions left vacant by the ouster of senior male employees.
Last month, The Wall Street Journal revealed that two executives, Vikrant Singh, a senior brand director for the Nike Basketball brand in North America, and Daniel Tawiah, vice president of global brand digital-marketing innovation, were forced to leave the company. Just days before their exits, Antoine Andrews, Nike’s former head of diversity, left the company.
The exits of those executives come just weeks after Nike’s No. 2 executive, Trevor Edwards, resigned his position. Days later, the brand forced out Jayme Martin, a vice president and general manager of global categories including women’s, running, training, and basketball.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Yup, that “Mamba Day” thing didn’t go to well with the ladies over there at Nike.