P1 Unit 3 Material Innovation

Robert Swan once said “the greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” Two companies that understand this concept are Patagonia and Nike. How they address these issues regarding sustainable business practice vary, however. Both have made it their mission to deliver excellence and make the best quality products within their industries, Patagonia focussing more on outdoor active wear, while Nike is more sports oriented. Part of this process has been developing products from sustainable sources. Patagonia, for example, actively took a stand against chemical intensive cotton in 1994, and has since switched to less harmful means of organic cotton within all their cotton-based products. They are even going the extra

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

Innovation: In such a mature and competitive industry, continuous innovation is crucial to the success of the company as it gives a unique selling point that rivals do not have. Both product and process innovation are Nike’s

Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this exciting project. Per your request I have evaluated the options for enhancing the production capacity to maintain and further develop our market share.

Patagonia’s value proposition is based on embedding environmental sustainability in every business decision it makes. Its core strategy is differentiation by focusing on durability and quality of products whilst minimising its carbon footprint and use of synthetic ingredients (what). The business model revolves around developing innovative technologies and influencing competitors and suppliers alike to adopt environmentally-friendly processes (how). Commitment to these causes while maintaining quality has allowed it to develop a loyal customer base amongst high income groups and athletes (who) and significantly increase customer’s willingness to pay.

Being able to take in the information that is presented and being able to apply it is a crucial tool that is needed in order to be successful. One of the assignments that we were given in ENGR 1000 was that we were tasked to see what type of learner we were. Everyone has their own unique way of learning and I myself feel that I am more of a visual learner than verbal. There are eight different characteristics on a scale from one to ten which means there can be fifty thousand and four hundred different possibilities. This is why it is important to know and understand what type of learner you are because you are only one of that fifty thousand and four hundred. You could and are very likely spinning your wheels trying to learn things the wrong way if you truly don’t understand how you learn. I can read a book cover to cover and at the end, sometimes I could not tell you what I have just read. After taking that survey I was surprised at how much I was heavily leaning only on visual and not verbal. Just this one alone was putting me at a disadvantage in my education because I was only really taking in half of what I could be. I have started to rely different learning styles so that I can be more we

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.

Nike is known as one of the most consistently innovative companies for its technologically advanced products. As Nike stated, Innovation is the company’s heart in its business growth strategy because it helps them to become more sustainable company and to keep up with the competition and customer demands (nikeandunderarmour.com, 2015). Therefore, Nike vision innovation is a key business success of the company. It invests

It provides a conceptual framework that enables Adidas stakeholders — from its 50,000 employees on through to suppliers, customers and communities — to better and more easily understand, assess and realize the multinational footwear and sportswear company’s sustainability goals.

Apart from marketing strategies Nike has embellished on the expanding market of technology. In efforts to collaborate with issues of climate change in business the challenges and opportunities that growing organizations seek, Nike has designed a tool to advert such issues. They released a version of their Environmental Apparel Design Tool back in December 2010 in hopes that companies would use it and build from it. In efforts to stay competitive within their market and sustain leadership of sports apparels, Nike has given designers this tool to gather

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.

They have created more sustainable products such as t-shirts made of recycled polyester and recycled plastic bottles. Recycling old shoes into new ones. Nike started numerous charities and has donated millions of dollars to organizations to help repair Nike's image. Nike must continuously work towards the enforcement of their corporate social responsibilities that they have presented to their suppliers at the same time they must remain competitive in the market place.

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.

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.

Nike took responsibility and created stringent benchmarks for production associations - the Code of Conduct (CoC). While CoC became a need and necessity as it was evident that there still was more to be carried out to direct and deal with the inventory network. Nike constituted the CR Board. It also disclosed the locations of the source factories and manufacturing plants. Nike took measures to match the expectations and published its progress reports. This signalled Nike’s tough stand against these issues and that Nike takes is very seriously to strictly adhere to the best practices and find the solutions. This has resulted into transparency. It has empowered Nike to better fathom the issues and shape more fitting