Can Nike Still Do It?

It's hard to say exactly when Nike Inc., one-time corporate brat, began to transform itself into a pillar of the community. But it may have been during a meeting in 1998, at a time when the company was under attack for allegedly exploiting overseas factory workers. Nike, in its usual maverick style, had initially tried to slough off the issue. But now, as managers argued over whether to raise the minimum age of workers in those factories from 14 to 18, Nike Chairman and co-founder Philip H. Knight ended the debate with a surprising call: Just do it.

The issue became a galvanizing force for both him and Nike. One of Corporate America's true free spirits, the brash Knight had long cultivated an aloof, even arrogant, style. When the outcry over working conditions in Nike's overseas factories started in the late '90s, he glossed over the complaints, claiming he had little control over suppliers.