Various activist organizations are pleading for codes, but then these codes have to be good codes. These are the questions that will be answered in this section. Companies that have come under fire from various campaigns and activists have slowly but surely learned that they need to stay one step ahead of their critics. If they get stuck in constantly denying charges or reacting to incidents, it can only mean bad publicity and the constant threat of being confronted with new scandals. So it's no coincidence then, that the companies who have borne most of the criticism, now have been in the forefront of developing policies to proactively deal with criticism.
Codes of conduct are now a common weapon in their arsenals.
If we look at the garment and sporting goods sectors we see that American companies have set the pace in this area. Now, some seven or eight years later, there is almost no major American clothing company that doesn't have a code of conduct. Nike, Reebok, The Gap, to name just a few who are also active in Europe, all have their own codes of conduct. In Europe this trend is being quickly snapped up and emulated. We can see that here as well.