Strategic Plan For Nike Inc: Strengths And Weaknesses

STRATEGIC PLAN FOR NIKE INC. Your Name Course No. Professor UNIVERSITY 14th MAY 2018 Evaluate the internal and external environments of your selected company. Nike’s Internal Strengths Nike’s first notable internal strength is its strong global brand image (Research and markets, 2012). Through its effective marketing strategy, the company managed to elevate Nike into a strong global brand. Secondly, the company has a rapid innovation strategy which supports continuous innovation and development of new innovative products (NIKE Inc, 2014). The innovative strategy helps the company top constantly launch cutting edge product designs in its three core product lines: apparel, equipment and footwear. Thirdly, Nike boasts a widespread global supply chain and efficient productionprocesses which enables the company maintain its global leadership position (Research and markets, 2012).Through a strong brand, rapid innovation and an extensive global supply and production network, Nike enjoys a competitive edge in the apparel and footwear industry.Nike’s other strengths include a large global market share, electronic product distribution network, superior advertising and product promotion and high quality products. Nike’s Internal weaknesses Still, Nike has internal weakness that impede on growth and performance. These factors include labor disputes particularly in developing nations where the company sources its raw materials (NIKE, Inc, 2016). Labor disputes have adversely impact on the company’s global brand. Secondly, the company has limited product lines despite its recent efforts to expand its product mix (Research and markets, 2012). Thirdly, Nike faces stiff competition in developing markets where it faces challenges ranging from pricing, counterfeiting to copyright infringement issues (Research and markets, 2011). As a result, Nike needs to review its strategies especially in labor and further expand its product lines to effectively serve developing markets. Opportunities- External Factor The external strategic factors (opportunities) that Nike can exploit to gain a competitive advantage includes improvement of its labor practices particularly in developing markets and further expand its product mix (Research and markets, 2012). Besides, the company can improve its presence in developing markets to improve sales. Threats-External Factors The first external threat is fierce global competition from other established brands such as Adidas (Research and markets, 2011). Moreover, Nike is threatened by rapid technological transformation which directly affects its innovation strategy. Thirdly, widespread counterfeiting and copyright infringement issues in developing nations remains a formidable challenge for the sports apparel giant (Research and markets, 2012). Analyze the competitive advantage of Nike. Branding is Nike’s first competitive advantage as the company has progressively used its effective marketing strategy and innovative products to establish a strong corporate brand (Nike vs. Adidas, 2018). As a result, the company’s brand name is regarded as premium based on its product pricing and quality. Nike is a widely recognized global brand. Secondly, the company provides product customization thereby meeting the specific needs of its customers (Research and markets, 2012). This provides customers with superior experience, connectedness with the company and long term relationship with the company. The third area of competitive advantage is a strong research and development department (NIKE, Inc, 2014). This has helped the company to constantly launch innovative products that has helped differentiate the company from the competition. Still, this has helped Nike to expand its product mix hence offering a wide range of products that cater for diverse population segments. A strong research and development division has further helped Nike remain flexible and responsive to the changing needs of customers (NIKE, Inc, 2016). Another competitiveadvantage is celebrity endorsement. Nike uses this strategy to attract, influence and retain its target market. This strategy has not only helped boost Nike’s revenue, but has further helped differentiate Nike’s products from the competition (NIKE, Inc, 2016). The strong connection between its products and sports celebrities has been instrumental in brand positioning thereby creating a unique mental connection in the minds of customers. Evaluate the strategies Nike uses to create value and gain competitive advantage. Nike uses continuous innovation to create unique value for its customers. Through product innovation, Nike improves its existing product lines while creating new products (NIKE,Inc, 2014). Still, using celebrity endorsements, the company is able to connect its products with high value which is reflected in the products of its products. Nike also creates value for its customers through pricing. By highly pricing its products, Nike is able to create a mental perception of superior quality which makes thereby attracting more customers and subsequently improving its sales performance (Research and markets, 2012). Furthermore, Nike uses diverse strategies to ga...