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BUSINESS
Bloomberg Businessweek
May 14, 2018
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executive oicer. Edwards, according to some of the
former employees, at times bullied workers through
insults and disparaging comments. More import-
ant, once he set the tone, other people mirrored
his behavior, they say. A handful of executives who
worked for Edwards have since left Nike.
“I’ve been disturbed to hear from some
employees of behavior inconsistent with our
values,” CEO Mark Parker said in an emailed
After Nike Inc. ousted a handful of male executives
for behavior issues over the past few months, some
media reports tied the departures to the #MeToo
movement and its revelations of sexual harassment
and assault. Interviews with more than a dozen for-
mer Nike employees, including senior executives,
however, paint a picture of a workplace contam-
inated by a diferent behavior: corporate bully-
ing. The workers say the sneaker giant could be a
bruising place for both men and women, and that
females did bullying, too. On May 8, Nike signaled
as much when it conirmed four more exits stem-
ming from an internal misconduct inquiry, includ-
ing the departure of a woman with more than 20
years at the company.
The surprise announcement in March that
55-year-old Nike brand president Trevor Edwards—
who had a reputation for humiliating subordinates
in meetings—would leave following an internal inves-
tigation about workplace behavior issues suggests
the coddling of tough guys may have come to an
end. “Some companies are realizing that a bullying
boss isn’t the best way to manage a company,” says
David Yamada, a professor at Sufolk University Law
School in Boston who’s authored antibullying legis-
lation. “Maybe we’re starting to see a tipping point.”
Gary Namie, co-founder of the Workplace
Bullying Institute, who consults with businesses
on workplace issues, says one reason some compa-
nies have long tolerated or even encouraged such
behavior is that many American managers believe
the workplace is by nature rough around the edges.
“Bullying is inextricably interwoven with capital-
ism,” he says. “It creates a zero-sum, competitive
work environment where people feel they need to
obliterate their competitors.”
Some former employees say that was the case
at Nike, particularly among managers who used
abusive tactics to safeguard their own position or
authority. “There are a lot of very talented people
deeper in the organization who have been margin-
alized both by senior and middle management try-
ing to protect their domain,” says Shaz Kahng, who
was a senior executive at Nike for six years through
2010. “People are often promoted based on rela-
tionships, not on results.”
In response to complaints, including from depart-
ing female executives, Nike ousted Edwards, who’d
been a favorite to become the company’s next chief
“Some
companiesare
realizing that
abullyingboss
isn’t thebest
waytomanage
acompany”
Is theCorporateBully the
NextWorkplace Pariah?
○ Nike’s ouster of a top executive casts a
light on the hard-knuckled behavior common
in many workplaces