New Balance Athletic Shoes Case

New Balance is an American footwear manufacturer based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1906 by a 33 year old waiter named William J. Riley began building arch supports to ease pain for people who spent all day on their feet like him. His shoes became successful after he designed his first running shoe for a Boston running club, known as the Boston Brown Bag Harriers. In 1972, James Davis purchased New Balance after trying on the shoes himself and realizing the potential for the company. James is the current owner of the company together with his wife Anne (Veleva, 2009, p. 2).

For Nike's business model to continually flourish and stay profitable, the senior management team and strategic planners must continually monitor short, intermediate and long-term economic factors that will affect their operations. Nike's business model is heavily dependent on supply chains, as the majority of their products are manufactured in Asian nations, either in their own manufacturing centers or contract manufacturing partners. Sales forecasts for next-generation shoes, apparel and sporting equipment must be accurate to ensure the supply chain estimates and forecasts can meet product demand. The influence of economic factors on sales and marketing planning and strategy development is among the most immediate and significant for any enterprise operating in global markets (Cerullo, Avila, 1975). Strategic planners at Nike, working in conjunction with product development and product launch teams, must understand the price elasticity of demand for a given new product or an entirely new division before launching it. Economic data gives Nike senior management and strategic planners the insight necessary to determine which new products to launch or not, when, and in which specific regions of the world. Economic variables will in short tell Nike's senior management how to navigate risk and capitalize on opportunities as quickly as possible.

Sportsman Shoes has been a leader in the shoe industry for more than thirty years. Sportsman manufactures and sells athletic shoes for all types of sports. The company has pursued a low-cost strategy in order to sustain their success. They sell a limited number of shoe designs and have held costs low through manufacturing efficiency and standardized operations. However, the past five years have been a struggle at Sportsman. The shoe market has seen a rise in the availability of low-cost imported shoes that has threatened Sportsman’s competitive position. As a result, company executives have decided it is time for a strategy shift.

Obviously, there is a big number of driving forces in the athletic footwear industry. Each of these driving forces has different impacts—some of them can have a more considerable effect than others on figuring out how much cross-company differences influence market shares and a number of units sold. The first line of most influential factors includes comparative prices, S/Q ratings, and a number of models offered among the footwear competitors. These three most important competitive forces affect customer decisions of which athletic footwear brand to choose. Furthermore, the decisions of customers whether to purchase one brand or another are also influenced by such forces as advertising, celebrity endorsements, the number of independent retail

We designed the Apollo Shoes audit case to introduce students to the entire audit process, from planning the engagement to drafting the final report. Students are asked to assume the role of a veteran of two-to-three “busy” seasons, “in-charging” for the first time. Communication between the students and client personnel and other firm members takes the form of e-mail messages from the engagement partner (Arnold Anderson), the engagement manager (Darlene Wardlaw), an intern (Bradley

This manager’s report provides a financial performance review of the business operations for athletic footwear industry’s Elite Feet for production Years 11 through 18. Included in the report are trends in company’s annual total revenues, earnings per share (EPS), return on equity (ROE), credit rating, stock price and image rating. Additionally reported are the strategic vision for the company, performance targets for the aforementioned production years plus the next two years, the company’s competitive strategy as well as production strategy, finance strategy and dividend policy. Also discussed is a look at the company’s closest competitors and the actions that could be

Great pressure from suppliers and competitors caused some deterioration of basic performance for AGI during 2004–2006. Two main problems are

Before purchasing an athletic shoe, attempt to coordinate it with the game or action, you will do when wearing it. There is a major contrast between utilizing your athletic shoe for a get basketball game and utilizing it for an expert game. The easygoing wearer just needs a comment the feet and give a little footing. An expert needs substantially more from an athletic shoe. For instance, a man who gets out and strolls each day will need an agreeable shoe to wear, surely. In any case, a man who is in preparing to be a sprinter will require a superior athletic shoe. The shoe must face protracted sessions of aerobic exercise. As the

The athletic shoe industry is made up of companies that produce footwear for athletic use. This is a strong industry and has been around for over 100 years. The athletic shoe industry is one of the fastest growing footwear industries and have top growing sales compared to other footwear industries (NDP Group, 2016). The key players that currently dominate the market are Nike, Adidas, and Puma (Kates & Bolduc, 2013). This paper will use the porter five forces, industry life cycle, and the key players to understand the industry. Over these years the athletic shoe industry has grown into a competitive market.

New Balance was founded in 1906 by William J. Riley, a waiter who built arch supports for people who spent all day on their feet. Riley then designed a running shoe for the Boston Brown Bag Harriers, a Boston running club. The success of the shoe allowed the company to make custom shoes for other sports (basketball, baseball, boxing and tennis) in the 1940s. By 1960, the company expanded production significantly by making running shoes in multiple widths. The company was purchased by James Davis in 1972 for $100,000. Under the leadership of James Davis and his wife Anne Davis, New

Competition is very fierce due to the number of companies competing for sales. Lots of money goes to marketing and promotions using various channels to reach the young demographic group of consumers who spend the most money on Nike’s products. Growth is slowing down in the athletic footwear industry. But new markets are emerging with high growth rates. These markets include extreme sports market and the corporate merchandise market.

New Balance International was founded during the early 1990s specializing in orthopedic footware to improve the fit of their shoes. Today the company continues its founding values in a highly specialized niche business of providing athletic footware in a wide range of widths and sizes which distinguishes the product from its competitors. With the philosophy of “one size did not fit all,” New Balance expanded operation from the US and currently markets its product in 160 countries in six continents. New Balance Inc. first appeared in South Africa In 1976 when a Durban based company obtained a license to distribute the brand. Under this distribution plan the company held a very small percentage of

Marketing with both Nike and New Balance being very similar, the companies can find different ways to set them apart from their competitors by using each other’s information to their advantage. One way for New Balance to have a competitive advantage over Nike is to strictly focus on running shoes. Nike focuses on athletic shoes for sports like

Awareness Set Choice Set Decision Set All running shoes Nike Nike Nike Adidas Adidas Reebok New Balance 4.7

In 1962, Nike started as a US distributor for the Japanese shoe manufacturer Onitsuka under the name of Blue Ribbon Sports selling merchandise out of the back of cars at track meets. It wasn’t long before they realized they wanted to start designing and manufacturing their own brand of athletic footwear. In 1972, they changed their name to Nike and developed their iconic swoosh logo. Their first innovative shoe featured a waffle outsole that was lightweight and provided superior traction. Through quality, innovation, endorsements and strategic decisions the company had captured 50 percent of the US running shoe market by 1979.