INTRODUCTION

In The second part of the XXth century, the occidental nations have known the history of slavery, colonialism and also the cold war. A new model of society is claimed to loud protests from all around the world. A set of values and moral standards required in business life.
It’s during this context that the notion of business ethics is born. It was the beginning of the reflection about how to develop the corporate in the respect of moral principles. The pursuit of profits can’t no longer exist without taking care about a certain code of conducts and a wise reflection on the meaning of its actions. Ethics becomes at the heart of this social debate.
But, it’s really since the late 1970s and early 1990s the companies realize with the serious economic and natural disaster it was time to act ethically. Indeed, in the 60’s, 70,s, the Corporate Social Responsibility theorized the involvement of businesses towards society, and Corporate Social Responsiveness assured their social responsibility. And, in the 80s, appeared the holistic approach of "stakeholders". Finally, in the 90s, the "new social contract" is theorized; the concept of virtue and the concept of integrity are raised, to go beyond a purely legalistic approach in business life.
After defining Nike’s characteristics, we will analyze the behavior of the company regarding the ethics and determine some solutions to improve its situation. After, we will show how Nike became “one of the most ethical companies”. Then, we will study the link between the CSR and the stock market performance.

1°)
Today, the leading companies has a major role to play in the restoration of human values and seem to have understood this role with the help of strong social pressures, political and financial. Indeed, these multinational corporate are capable of affecting everyday lives of the mass. All the eyes are looking at them so they need to show the way. Despite the bad image that a bad business ethics can bring