Swot Analysis of Nike Shoes

The Nike A Greek would say,” When we go to battle and win, we say it is Nike. “According to Greek Mythology, The Nike was the winged goddess of victory. Daughter of the titan paellas and the river Styx, Nike sat at the side of the omnipotent Zeus for the duration of his plight with the titans. The goddess Nike came to be an everlasting symbol of victory and dominance on the battlefields of ancient Greece .In light of her conquest, a popular footwear company of the 20th century designed products in her name to push new levels of achievements in athletes worldwide. Nike is largely a marketing company. They think up and produce clever and extremely effective advertising and marketing campaigns. They design a product, and then sell the rights to produce it to the regions of the world where it is cheaper to produce. Often these people then outsource ever further, so Nike really has little control over the labor practices of the people who are making these things. They have some separation that way .With that said, the sweatshops etc. are always a work in progress, but not as bad as they used to be. Nike doesn’t physically make anything themselves. Nike has been the official kit sponsor for the Indian cricket team, since 2005. In 2012, Nike is listed as a partner of the (RED) campaign, together with other brands such as “Fighting for an AIDS free generation”).

Nike produces a wide range of sports equipment. The first products were track running shoes. They currently also make shoes, jerseys, shorts, cleats, base layers, etc. for a wide range of sports, including track and field, baseball, ice hockey, tennis, association football (soccer), lacrosse, basketball and cricket.

SWOT analysis (alternatively SWOT Matrix) is a structured planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. A SWOT analysis can be carried out for a product, place, industry or person. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective. The technique is credited to Albert Humphrey, who led a convention at the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International) in the 1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune 500 companies. The degree to which the internal environment of the firm matches with the external environment is expressed by the concept of strategic fit. Setting the objective should be done after the SWOT analysis has been performed. This would allow achievable goals or objectives to be set for the organization. Strengths: characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage over others Weaknesses: are characteristics that place the team at a disadvantage relative to others Opportunities: elements that the project could exploit to its advantage Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or project Identification of SWOTs is important because they can inform later steps in planning to achieve the objective. First, the decision makers should consider whether the objective is attainable, given the SWOTs. If the objective is not attainable a different objective must be selected and the process repeated. Users of SWOT analysis need to ask and answer questions that generate meaningful information for each category (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) to make the analysis useful and find their competitive advantage. -Nike is recognized to be the number one sportswear brand in the world. -Nike gained valuable exposure by sponsoring the celebrity athletes like Tiger woods, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and many others. -Continuous research and development programmes to bring about new innovations in the product range including track and field, football, basketball, golf, etc. -Generates effective employment opportunities all over the world. -More than 500 locations in the US, Middle East and Asia Pacific region. -Proffered by consumers due to its shoes lighter in weight than the shoes manufactured by its competitors. -Recycling programme -Nike Grind Program, in order to eliminate waste during production. - Advanced technology like FIT (fitness information technology) and Quality fabrics is used in order to provide comfort to the athletes in any condition. -Poor conditions in its third world factories, under paying workers, employing children.

Vietnam. -Negligence in the maintenance of secret and valuable information. -Poo r conditions in its third world factories, under paying workers, employing children. -Negligence regarding the basic rights of its workers. -Allegation of labour and wage laws with employees in Vietnam. -Negligence in the maintenance of secret and valuable information. -Price competition from the very similar cheap products as Nike’s products are offered usually at a high price. -Market share depends heavily on the foot wear, thus eroding market share. -Product expansion in areas which gives high profits like jewelries , sun glasses ,sports apparel etc. -More attention towards collaboration or tie-ups with sports academics and schools world-wide. -Can open stores/showrooms in emerging economies also. -Positive consumer behavior towards considering Nike products as trendy and stylish product .Nike products are in fashion products. -Heavy competition in the market from numerous sports fashion brands. -Reebok, the second largest shoe and sports clothing supplier, is providing high geared competition. -Business is affected by the currency fluctuations, for it is an International brand. -Not able to stop the fake imitations by some other companies. -Other brands, adopting new techniques and innovations. -Ecological reputation in the whole world is at stake, due to increasing pollution. Nike a symbol of labor exploitation. -Ignorance of human rights in order to secure greatest profits. - Association of Nike as sweatshop labor by public.

Nike has to develop comprehensive marketing strategies in order to be the leader of the market .sell the trust and value of Nike its self. Keep up satisfying its market and position, as it wants in the mind of the consumers. Company’s goal is to further the idea that they are socially and environmentally conscience. After overcoming all the allegations, through its constant and rigorous hardships, Nike would be able to attract new customers that were simply not buying Nike shoes because of the human rights issues in Southeast Asia. Loyalty and brand recognition is always going to be high at Nike because of the companies historic past, but any little improvement in public image will only help sales and revenue. With the support of the employees, Nike is able to achieve the realistic goals. Research and development of new ideas and initiatives will be created to keep Nike constantly changing and moving forward. The only way Nike can be innovative is through change and as John F. Kennedy’s quote says, “Change is the law that will always be there throughout everyone’s life and we must encourage and embrace the change because it is going to happen, so why not the people making change happen.” Change is something that every organization needs to grow but usually hesitates or looks down upon when faced with it. Change is a necessity for a company to keep up with industry leaders or to become an industry leader. If a company is not making an effort to change in specific areas of an organization, then that company is essentially moving backwards in the industry. There is always room for improvement and if a company doesn’t make the improvement, then one of its competitors probably will.

1) "NIKE and Knowledge Management" (2010, July 14) Retrieved November 19, 2013, from http://www.paperdue.com/essay/NIKE-and-Knowledge-Management-9047 2) Kothari C.R, (2005). Research Methodology, New Delhi, New Age International Publishers 3) Nike Annual Report, http://info.nike.com/invest/year.html