Strategic Research

Introduction

Nike international company is a United States based company involved in manufacturing sportswear and sports equipment. It has its headquarters in Oregon, Beaverton. Nike has been the leading manufacturer and supplier of sportswear and equipment. Additionally the company is involved in running retail shops around the world that sell the company’s products. Founded in 1964, the company has grown over time and expanded its productions in order to meet the market demand. The company has also four main subsidiaries, namely, Cole Hannah, Converse Inc, Hurley international and Umbro that manufacture other popular products. Nike manufactures a variety of products. Initially they manufactured track running shoes. Currently, they make jerseys, shoes, shorts, and base layers used for different sporting activities. In order to make large sales Nike has contracted over 700 shops around the globe and over 45 countries with their offices. Most factories that manufacture Nike products are located in the Asian continent namely China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Philippines.

Nike cooperation has a mission of being the source of inspiration and innovation to all athletes around the world. According to the founder of the company, Bill Bowerman, an athlete is defined as any person with a body. The company has become an inspiration by making people remain proud of using the Nike products. The inspiration can be drawn from the company’s efforts to protect the environment as a social obligation and manufacturing products that surpass the client’s expectation. The company also aims to be the centre of innovation by ensuring all its products are unique and meet the customers’ ever changing expectations. The company has a vision to carry on the legacy of thinking innovatively in order to develop products that aid athletes to realize their potential, or create business opportunities and value for shareholders investments.

In the past, the Nike cooperation through proper governance has worked towards attaining its mission and vision. In pursuit of its mission, the company has produced quality products that have been extensively acknowledged all over the globe. The cooperation has also taken an initiative to sponsor athletes around the world, giving them with the support they need to be successful (David, 1995). The company has used the new technology to improve the existing products. In working towards realizing its vision, the company has since its inception build customer’s confidence by selling them quality products. It has created business opportunities by contracting other companies to make supplies of raw materials, employed people around the world to oversee the operations and sales. Since the company has goodwill, it is expected to make more sales. It is likely for more investors to invest in the company so that they may have a share of profits made by the company. This has led for the company to expand and acquire strategic companies rapidly (Mullin, Hardy & Sutton, 2007).

Despite of Nike cooperation having a strong market base, it faces stiff competition from other companies like Adidas. This makes it essential for the company to have an analysis of the market and the ability to penetrate in the competitive market. It is therefore essential for us to analyze the company’s current competitive situation through the porters five force analysis. On the supplier power, Nike cooperation has the power to determine the market price since it controls a large customer base. Secondly, the company faces the risk of losing its customers to other companies if they raise the price. This is because the customers have the power to choose the product of their choice. Thirdly, competitive rivalry would count if the other companies propose attractive offers like you do and have quality services. For example, if Adidas offers quality products similar to those of Nike then Nike is at a risk of losing its customers since they are likely to be indifferent. Another factor is the threat of substitution. If Nike’s products are not unique there is a risk of substitution and lastly incase the industry has a treat of new entrants, the company is threatened its power to control the market. Due to the large initial capital and high marketing costs. Nike is likely to face threats of new entrants into the market. The five forces are essential in the decision making process since the company is able to determine the level of competition it is facing.

Intensive strategies are the strategies that involve intensive efforts and energy to improve a company’s competitive position in sales of the existing products. These strategies are crucial for the success of any organization. The main intensive strategies include market penetration, product development and market development. The Nike cooperation has sought to increase its market share of its products through intensive marketing efforts. The company has heavily invested in creating awareness of its products to the public through popular athletes and sportsmen. It has also sought to increase its market share by increasing the sales personnel and offering offers on their products. The organization has targeted areas that markets are not saturated and the present usage of products can be increased significantly. The company has increased economies of scale in order to gain competitive advantage.

The second intensive strategy is that the company has introduced its products to new geographical areas (Lussier, Kimball & Lussier, 2009). Since a quantity of the markets such as Europe and the U.S. have become saturated, Nike cooperation has sought for new markets in Africa to maintain a competitive edge. This is intensive since a lot of research is done before investment is done. The last strategy is product development. The Nike cooperation has developed its existing products through innovations. The company has invested in research activities and ways of improving the service delivery. The company has also spent a lot of money on marketing the newly developed products.

A SWOT analysis of Nike international company reveals that the company has its SWOT factors. These can be analyzed as follows, the strengths include it form a professionally competitive cooperation. It has goodwill among consumers. It manufactures lightweight shoes from linarite materials. It has branches in over forty-five states around the world. The Nike products are sold worldwide. It has successively rebranded its products. The company has created employment opportunities for over 30000 people across the world. Lastly, it has got over 700 retail stores around the world, for example, Nike town. The Nike weaknesses include that most of the profits made are from footwear products, other brands like clothing are not profitable. There are accusations that the company offers poor working conditions to its workers. There are accusations that the company is engaged in exploiting workforce that would work for cheap payment from overseas and accusations for wage rate violations in Vietnam. Some of the opportunities for Nike include expanding their markets globally. There is an opportunity to develop their products to meet the current trends and tastes. They also have an opportunity to lower the cost of production by cooperating waste materials in production. The main threats of Nike include maintaining its reputation as eco friendly. It also faces the threat of competitors manufacturing products of higher quality than that of Nike.

            The strategic plan in order for the company to edge out competition and have an upper hand in the market share is as follows (Pride & Ferrell, 2003). It is important for the company to make the other brands associated with it apart from footwear strong and popular through intensive marketing. It would be critical for the company to expand and source for new markets for its products. Moreover, it would be wise for the company to develop products concerning the fashion trends and prevailing tastes in order for the company to remain relevant. It can, therefore, be concluded that Nike international has succeeded in most of its objectives despite the numerous challenges it has faced. It is also predictable that the company will be capable to make enormous income in the near future if the right policies and ideas are implemented.