Nike 's Global Competitive Strategy For Growth

Nike’s employment of the cultural relativism philosophical approach, used to justify ‘sweatshop’ labor practices in developing countries, had a detrimental effect on the reputation of the company. In 1998, Nike had to lay off staff amid lagging sales resulting from the backlash against the company. Today, Nike is recognized as the leader in athletic apparel, and one of the favorite brands among millennials and teens. A significant part of that success is attributed to the company’s dramatic change in social responsibility, initiated by its then CEO, Phil Knight, in 1998 (Lutz,

Nike has a very sophisticated sustainability strategy. The strategy is based on company’s prospects for future, to ensure that the company remains profitable and reputable, taking into consideration the social responsibility of the company (NIKE 2013). For instance, the strategy is supposed to ensure that the company gains a stable supply for the raw materials for the product manufacturing that will ensure stable supply of the products in the market at favorable prices. The strategy also targets make the company responsive to environmental concerns, aiming at reducing environmental pollution through emissions to the atmosphere (Charter, 2001). The strategy outlines the company

Unfortunately, the same factor that contributed to Nike’s exponential growth (low-cost labor and production) also contributed to hurting Nike’s public image as a leader in “athleticism, health and fitness, and innovative marketing and design” (Locke, 2002). Nike was criticized for unethical practices by their subcontractors, which included underpaid workers, poor working conditions, child labor, and abuse (Locke, 2002).

is a growth company. Over the last 10 years, we’ve more than doubled our revenue, and they have stated “we believe we’ll deliver $30 billion in revenue by FY15 and $36 billion by FY17.” Since we published our FY10/11 Sustainable Business Performance Summary, our overall employee base grew to approximately 48,000 at the end of FY13, an increase of 10,000 employees. We expect strong growth in Running, Basketball, Football, Men’s Training, Sportswear, Women’s Training and Direct to Consumer sales. As we look forward, we believe that sustainability is one of the key drivers that will catalyze innovation and lead us toward continued growth. NIKE, seeks to deliver shareholder value through sustainable growth. One of the ways we will achieve this goal is to find avenues to reach our long-term vision of decoupling profitable growth from constrained resources. The CEO shared that they are working to integrate sustainability into every aspect of our business. Our aim is to challenge, push and explore ways that change the game entirely for materials, design and manufacturing. We don’t grow just to get bigger. We grow to be better and do

Similarly, Nike’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices were in question. Truly, their CSR was insufficient and lacked in moral obligation to the communities in which they operated. Conversely, supervisors in the overseas factories were just trying to ensure they met production goals and kept costs low so Nike would continue to do business with them (Nisen, 2013). As a result, Nike expanded their compliance staff, invested in the training of staff and overseas suppliers, developed additional auditing protocols, hired third-party auditors to check their internal audits, and spent millions of dollars to improving working conditions in overseas factories who made Nike products (Locke, 2013). According to a case study, “Nike auditors and compliance staff to be serious, hardworking, and moved by genuine concern for workers and their rights” (Locke, 2013, p.

Business level strategies are plans that a firm forms to describe and project how it intends to build a sustainable competitive advantage, over its competitors in a discrete market (Furrer, 2010, p. 1). These strategies have changed the nature of competition in industries, and paved way for further developments in product quality and cost. Business level strategies employed by Nike work mainly in two forms, that is, competitive strategies and corporative strategies (Furner, 2010, p. 1). By looking at the different business level strategies Nike has employed, this essay will explain how it has had such a massive impact in the Sports and Apparel industry it now leads.

To conduct this study on Nike I used a mix of primary sources, books, and websites that are all dedicated to Nike Brand’s past and present history. All of the sources I used have proven to be credible in the sneakerhead world and are sources that Nike will leak information to so they can publish it and make it known to everyone it may interest. Additionally, I used a connection I have with the District Loss Prevention Manager at Nike, Inc for the greater New York City Area to obtain an interview in order to gain insight into why Nike conducts limited releases the way they do. To protect his identity, for this paper I will be referring to him as “Bill Harris” as he provided me with insider information that is classified and

In the article “Nike Quietly Goes Green” by Reena Jana, Nike realizes that they should keep pursuing their “go green” efforts while making sure their customers are still content with the quality and performance of the shoe. Last year, Nike debuted the Air Jordan XX3 which was made through eco-friendly manufacturing and the company experienced high customer satisfaction and growth in the market. This aligns with the approach that the company creates positive stakeholder externalities while maximizing their profit. In this article, Nike was able to maximize their profit while consumers still benefited by getting high performance shoes. In addition, there were no stakeholders that were negatively harmed such as environmentalists who were against Nike’s

This Capstone paper will explore the challenges inside the business arena of superpower, Nike, Inc. (Nike). Statements and references within this paper are supported with information gained through extensive research of business journals, financial reports, and various other news sources. The author will describe business and marketing challenges inherent in the world of sportswear and sporting goods manufacturing and more specifically, some that Nike has directly faced and overcome. From a very humble beginning in 1964, Nike has grown into a worldwide multi-billion-dollar company that sets the bar as leader of the sportswear and athletic shoe industry (Forbes, 2016). This paper will examine how Nike has become the industry leader and most

Nike expresses The Heroic by making the world better through sustainability. They are using a new water-free dyeing process, turning recycled bottles into performance gear, reusing old shoes and shoeboxes and are using new technology that minimizes waste. Nike states: “To help achieve our own goals and priorities, NIKE, Inc. uses a robust corporate responsibility reporting process. Reporting pushes us to share information about our sustainability commitments and then measure and make public our progress toward meeting those commitments. Through reporting, we’ve come to better understand and address our environmental footprint, especially our use of water, our creation and reuse of waste and the toxicity of materials and processes used to make our products.”

Nike’s main strategy revolves around product branding. Their brand compromises of a swoosh logo which is accompanied by a message of “just do it”. The logo was imprinted on all of their products with the message developed to express the individuality of their target group. The branding was further promoted by Nike’s relentless approach on the quality of their product as demonstrated when considering overseas business opportunities, quality must not be compromised in order to do so. This ensures consumer satisfaction and loyalty towards Nike.

The purpose and intent of this paper is to describe the legal, cultural, and ethical challenges that face the Nike Corporation in their global business ventures. This paper will also touch on the roles of the host government and countries where Nike manufactures their products and the author will summarize the strategic and operational challenges that Nike managers face in globalization of the Nike product.

It is important for any organization to consider the environmental influences that have been particularly important in the past, and the extent to which there are changes occurring. Having this knowledge will any Nike to stay on top of their game. The macro-environment consists of all the outside institutions and uncontrollable forces that have an actual or potential interest or impact on the organization’s ability to achieve its objectives.

Another perspective is to analyse based on the amount of good done as compared to the amount of bad. By subcontracting its operations in underdeveloped countries, Nike helps to create job and improve the lives of the employed. Then, we have to consider the poor working conditions, poor wages, and the constant violation of child labour laws. Now, the bad inevitably outweighs the good despite the lack of unit of measurement in the

Nike’s management understands how important a relevant strategy is in the global environment, as Don Blair, Nike’s CFO, stated “...we are refocusing our efforts, increasing our investments in innovation, using our voice for stronger advocacy and looking at how we incubate new, scalable business models that enable us to thrive in a sustainable economy.”