Nike's Long Term Financial Goals

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

The report focuses on the Economic Value Added of Nike Inc. The analysis is conducted through a detailed assessment of the financial statements including income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow. Such financial statements are then applied to derive common-size statements for income statement and balance. The trends and predictions obtained from the common-size statements predict the future economic value. Similarly, the Pro-forma financial statements derived provide vital future economic performances of Nike Inc. According to the regression analysis and the assessment of the common-size and Pro-forma financial statements; Nike Inc. has a growth in revenue and earnings per share. The EVA computed using WACC, Net Operating Profit after Taxes (NOPAT), and Invested Capital is positive (+$391.24); this shows that Nike Inc. is financially stable and will grow in the next three years.

Nike faces many risks when they use their core marketing strategies to achieve their goals and these risks can come from both internally and externally environment. The risks will have a negative influence about Nike's future development.

Fifteen years ago, Nike underwent intense scrutiny and brutal attacks for its global supply chain management policies and priorities (Sharma, 2013).

Expanding globally is a very serious decision for any corporation. Before making this decision, management should take into consideration the health of the corporation and identify the long term financial goals. In this assignment, I will discuss the importance for the financial managers of Nike Inc. to use economic variables in identifying long term financial goals and the major techniques/tools that the financial managers of Nike Inc. can use for forecasting future directions in the stock market and in the economy as a whole.

As the brand name of Nike continue to soar, other companies in the industry; learning from the success Nike has experienced, start focusing more on brand development to keep up with the increasing levels of competition. These companies resort to brand maintenance, which has become the main target in this industry due to product differentiation made by Nike. Nike, being market-advantaged, produces an extensive range of products, through which it gains a balanced level of profits. This has influenced rival companies to initiate a new range of products in their businesses too. Previously these companies had high risks of failing in business, if their single products did not appeal to the market. Due to the impact of Nike’s business strategy, the other companies are also enlarging their product range,

Nike invested in their brand by getting sports heroes to advertise for their brand such as Michael Jordon, Tiger Woods and the Brazilian football team. This further fuel the products appeal towards the consumers.

Similarities & Differences: Within the financial statement of Nike, Inc. there are tremendous similarities due to the consistency as well efficiency of the conduction of business. However, with these similarities is a fair deal of differences due to economic stability as well as the adoption product ideas and innovative methods that aid Nike to continue for the better of the company: by reaching new levels of sustainability as they enhance product performance, by developing, more meaningful connections with consumers, and by presenting their products in compelling experiences at retail. The annual reports of 2010 to 2014 clearly distinguish the letter to shareholders in the same placement but the content with each year are not similar by any means; within 2010, they created six new strategic geographies to focus their effort where passion and culture of sport are strongest. Nike pushed forward an aggressive retail agenda in store and online. Revenue at $19 billion the previous year went down 1 percent under EPS and future orders. Their income from other operation contributed more than $2.5 billion in revenue and generated $2.8 billion in free cash flow from operations and had $5 billion in cash and short-term investments on their balance sheet. Revenue from direct to consumer increased 12% to near $2.5 billion. Gross margins came in at 46.3 percent for the year. That was the year of the World cup, whereby they showed tremendous acceleration they generated in the back of

Nike has seldom manufactured products own premises, except their air bladders. The shoes are manufactured through outsourcing and alliances with other companies. A successful company like Nike formed its organization on the customer values that have the MOST impact on the consumers mind – Design/R&D, Marketing and Distribution. Even though manufacturing is a vital function to perform, Nike realized that there were other ways to go about this function and thereby save both cost and maintain its focus on the critical customer value areas.

After sluggish focus and growth in the 1980ies, Nike experienced strong growth in the 1990ies and cemented the position as global recognizable brand. The increased international focus created strains on the supply chain, which was consider inadequate to cater efficiently to the organization and the rapid changes consumer demands . As a consequence of the afore mentioned supply chain problem Nike faced inefficient inventory management, problems in flow of goods and poor demand

Enderle, K., Hirsch, D., Micka, L., Saving, B., Shah, S., Szerwinski, T. (2000, March 14). Strategic Analysis of Nike, Inc. Retrieved on December 14, 2005, from

The sportswear industry is very price sensitive and most competitors prices are about the same. Nike sells its products in Nike shops and the selling of its products direct to the consumers conflicts with other resellers of the brand. Most of Nike’s earnings are derived from selling into retailers.

Nike’s recent decline in market share and stock can be attributed to changing trends in consumer spending habits and apparel tastes. Nike can re-establish a competitive advantage in the short-run by implementing an innovative design team and brand ambassador. Long-run competitive advantage can be achieved by fully committing to a sustainable innovative business model or by incorporating innovative technology trends into their retail structure.

A comprehensive analysis, using market data and market research, allows us to assess all areas affecting Nike’s strategic direction:

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.”