Company Motto: Just do it

Nike is a corporation that is active worldwide and is one of the biggest producers of sporting equipment, including shoes, clothing, and various equipment and accessories for many different sports. Nike was founded by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman back in 1964. Bill Bowerman was the coach of Phil, who was a track and field athlete and they were looking to make shoes that performed better than the ones that existed at the time. Phil went on to get his MBA from Stanford University and decided to be co-founders of a new company called Nike.

The vision of the company when it first started was to create a shoe for track and field that had better performance and technology than anything else available. Phil Knight is the Chairman Emeritus for Nike and is still a well-known public figure for the company, but Bill Bowerman died in 1999. Phil served as President for Nike for about 20 years, worked as an accountant for a different company, and was also a professor at Portland State University, so he was a very well rounded man and has been involved in all aspects of the company. The headquarters for Nike are in Beaverton, Oregon. Nike is well known for their Swoosh logo and their saying “Just do it.”

Nike’s mission statement is “Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. If you have a body, you are an athlete” (about.nike.com). With their mission statement, this is what they try to follow each day and bringing inspiration to new and also existing athletes around the world, as well as helping them accomplish their goals by providing the best equipment on the market for athletes and people around the world. They also have a code of ethics. “Nike, Inc. has a Code of Ethics for all employees that defines the standards of conduct we expect employees to follow and includes a range of topics on employee activity, ethical behavior, product safety, legal compliance, competition, and use of resources” (sustainability.nike.com). Nike wants its employees including its athletes to act professionally and put out a positive image for the brand and try to be better than all of its competitors. By doing this, Nike has grown to be the most successful apparel brand today since they started their production of making only track shoes back in 1964, and continues to grow more today and become more popular all over the world.

As far as their corporate statement regarding social responsibility, Nike wants to use sports to continue to push people around globe in an ongoing direction while doing it in a sustainable way and doing what they can to keep the planet clean, safe, and also by making their products in an ethical way. Nike did have some problems with this in the past though, and actually had people boycotting their company because of their unethical practices in the production of their products. They were being accused of using sweatshops and for child labor which was not a good look for the company and Nike lost a lot of support from many customers and users of their products at that time. It took a lot of work to build themselves back up and gain the support and trust back from the public. Phil Knight went to the media and said there would be a change in how Nike would produce their products and also how they would treat their employees working for them. They did this by being the first company ever among their competing brands to make a public list of their factories and places where they made their goods and also ensured that the employees would have better pay, better work conditions, and better hours to allow for an all-around better work experience. Nike is also doing what it can to save the environment by trying to use less water at their production facilities by using other sources to for the dye in their clothes. They are working on more and more technology to help with this and they are also trying to stop using all hazardous chemicals to reduce their footprint. Doing all of this helps with their public image, and also hopefully this will inspire other companies like Nike to do similar things and to all work together to help save the planet.

Nike also recently decided to make Colin Kaepernick the face of their new 30th anniversary ad campaign. Colin Kaepernick was the former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers who decided to kneel for the National Anthem. They did this to show support for Kaepernick and also show support for the racial injustice that occurs in America. The impact from some people was boycott all Nike products, and even had some people burning their Nike shoes on social media because they were so disappointed with Nike supporting Kaepernick. Many people see kneeling for the flag as a huge disrespect to the country and did not like the fact that Nike is now taking his side and supporting his movement. Even President Trump was in disbelief of Nike and he did not like what they did either. Despite all this, Nike popularity has actually gone up and they are doing better than ever after taking on risk on making this controversial person in the sporting world the face of their company. Nike knew that some people would be upset about this ad, but it would also gain popularity from new customers on increased support from current Nike customers and could trigger a major increase in their sales if it goes right for them. By doing this, it shows Nike is willing to take risks and is involved in social and political issues in America today. It was a bold move and it ended up working out in their favor for the better of the company. Also, Nike is very focused on getting kids active. They are doing this by supporting community events to get kids active and to play something outside, instead of sitting inside being inactive. Nike is getting as many kids to play as they can so they can lead a healthier lifestyle and learn how to be active.

The primary stakeholders of Nike include the customers, employees, stakeholders, governments, suppliers, and local communities and other people that are directly involved with the company. Nike made around $34 billion in 2017, making it their best year to date. Nike employs around 74,000 employees. Nike is the official jersey provider for the NFL, NBA, soccer, and also provides jerseys for college and high school teams for various sports, and they are one of the top providers of jerseys at all levels. Being the official sponsor of the NBA and NFL brings in a lot of revenue for the company. Also, Nike sponsors many of the top professional athletes, including names like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Cristiano Ronaldo just to name a few. These athletes a paid a lot of money from their deals with Nike, but they also bring in even more money from their signature products. These products can include footwear, clothing, or even equipment with their own signature logos on the Nike products and this is a major money maker for this company. The secondary stakeholders of the company are media and special interest groups. The media includes social media and the ads Nike puts out to advertise the company and show off the products and services to the public. Nike puts a lot of effort and focus into their media efforts, making them very well represented all over the globe.

The major competitors of Nike are Adidas, Under Armour, Puma, and Reebok. Nike has been the leader for sporting brands for apparel as well as their shoes and footwear and continues to be the best year after year delivering top of the line products and also having the best superstar professional athletes representing their brand. 

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