Ch. 3 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

Nintendo approaches the concept of operating business very much like it's approach to developing video game software: making sure that everyone has a smile on their faces. From it's treatment of employees to making sure operations are running as green as possible, Nintendo is(seemingly) no-nonsense when it comes to ethics.

"At Nintendo, we emphasize safety and reliability in manufacturing products of the highest quality so that consumers of all ages can enjoy them with peace of mind."

Nintendo follows through with this statement by following the safety standards across all regions, Including the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 here in the U.S., the Toy Safety Directive for the European region, and the Toy Safety Standards of Japan for Nintendo's motherland. Nintendo also ensures that all of it's hardware is tested and approved for sale and all software is rated appropriately before they are sold. This keeps various games that would be too mature for younger gamers out of their reach(In this country, in order to purchase a rated "M"(for mature) game, you need to be at least 17 years old with a valid I.D.). Nintendo however rarely publishes such content on their systems so it isn't much of an issue.

"We recognize that the strengths and talents of each employee inspire Nintendo's competitive edge. We strongly believe that promoting the development of each employee to his or her fullest potential is the best way to increase the long-term collective strength of the company and is the best path to individual job satisfaction."

Through Nintendo's Human Resources Development program, Nintendo evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of each employee and encourages them to always seek greater. There is room for advancement and many incentives(including wage and salary increases) in place to encourage strong performance. Its more or less in line with Herzberg's Two-Factor theory: a satisfied employee is more likely to work more efficiently, and that in turn is better for the whole company(obviously). With that said, I find it illogical to think that other businesses(mainly Nintendo's direct competitors, Sony and Microsoft) wouldn't follow a similar set of ethics in terms of employee satisfaction. But what do I know? I'm just a humble college student.*shrugs*

Even Super Mario thinks it sounds like a bunch of generic corporate mumbo jumbo

"Nintendo Co., Ltd. established the Environment Committee in September 2011, with the company President serving as committee chair, in order to promote environmentally conscious activities. We also established our Environment Policy to guide environmental activities and implemented the PDCA (Plan - Do - Check - Act) cycle, an environmental management system based on ISO 14001, with defined targets specific to environmental activities. Some of our overseas subsidiaries have also established groups to promote the environmental activities of the company."

But I digress, continuing on with this observation of Nintendo's ethical standings, Nintendo claims to run all manufacturing processes as well as transport of manufactured goods in an eco-friendly way. Nintendo also claims all of its products are built with a similar mindset, with it's gaming consoles utilizing energy-saving technology. This to me, is very laughable. How is it possible that gaming systems are eco-friendly? I mean, sure they save a bit of energy, but honestly, 70 years from now when they burn out, they sure wont be going anywhere. Plastic and metal wiring isn't really known for being biodegradable, I'm just saying . . . . Anyways, I guess in a way to make up for this, Nintendo holds electronic recycling drives around the world in order to promote recycling. 

At Nintendo, Everything is green! . . . Veeery, very green! . . . .

So on paper, everything seems straight and narrow with Nintendo in terms of it's business ethics, but who can be so sure? While reading Nintendo's CSR from 2013, I couldn't help but feel like I'm just reading a bunch of nonsense. Sterile words I would expect a computer to mutter if computers gained sentience. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong, but my slightly cynical view on this world(as well as multi-billion dollar businesses) is making me believe there could possibly be some underhanded things happening behind the scenes. Again, what do I know? I'm Just a humble college student.