Nike And Adidas: Exclusive Summary, Overall Findings
Please complete the following and use the attached comparison for guidance.
Review the comparison and contrast paper you wrote to the CEO in the case assignment. Next write your 9-10 page paper on the overall findings and recommendations, based upon literature and your SWOT analysis. Your paper should have no more than a 1 page executive summary as the first page of your paper.
It is okay to provide condensed versions of tables or graphs within your paper, but provide full versions in your appendices.
Make sure your report is supported by literature and credible external websites such as www(dot)gao(dot)gov. It is okay to utilize organization websites to provide support for mission, vision, diversity statements, etc.
Cite sources used within the text and provide the bibliography in APA style (see APA Style Formatting: http://www(dot)dianahacker(dot)com/pdfs/hacker-shaw-apa.pdf or http://www(dot)apastyle(dot)org/learn/tutorials/basics-tutorial.aspx
Proofread your paper for spelling and grammar errors before submission
Note: Title/cover page, executive summary page, references page, and appendices are not included in the 9-10 page count
Each of the MBA Program Learning Outcomes (PLO) is embedded within the course. If you write a meaningful paper, touching on each area covered within the course, you will successfully achieve the Program Learning Outcomes. Below are the topics that were covered throughout the course:
Module 1 - Organization Background & Benchmarking
Module 2 – Organization Background, Ethics/Legal, and Current
Events
Module 3 –Marketing, Financials & Accounting
Module 4 – Organization Culture, People, and Diversity
Module 5 - Strategy and Planning Analysis—Organization Goals
Module 6 – SWOT Analysis: Preparing for Recommendations
Module 7 - Recommendations, 21st Century, and Moving Forward
Module 8 - Synthesizing the Report (ALL)
The report is synthesized by interweaving the above topics in a coherent paper (avoid the tendency to rewrite the titles and make a running list. You had the same organization all session, so just flow with it)
The Executive Summary is also a synthesis of what you learned
If your paper is for your current organization, please do not provide real-time data, especially for financials (change the numbers but provide a brief explanation in advance)
Nike And Adidas
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Exclusive Summary
Adidas is the second most successful company in the apparel industry coming second to Nike. The company has risen through the ranks since it first opened in the year 1948. At the moment, the company is concentrating in sports such soccer, tennis and basketball. The company has enjoyed much of its success relative to several brands among them Reebok, Umbro and Rockport. Based in Germany, the company has a wide presence in the European market. This would explain why it has majored in the sport of soccer. Europe has some of the most successful soccer leagues and clubs worth billions of pounds. As such, the company has majored in this market, which would explain much of its success. The company has also had much success relative to endorsements in various sports such as soccer, tennis and basketball. However, the company has limited online presence. Nike on the hand, is currently the most successful sports apparel company, having made $32.4 billion dollars in revenue in 2016. The company, as of 2016 had a brand value of $27.5 billion dollars. Like Adidas, the company has also had a number of brands such as Converse, Hurley and Cole Haan. With endorsements as well, the company has been in a position to popularize its products (Hossain, 2013). To better manage the cost of production the company has outsourced to companies in Asia. There are a number of recommendations however, that the companies need to work on to improve and maintain their current success in the industry. In the case of Adidas, there is need to diversify on the number of sports that it is involved in other than soccer, tennis and basketball. The company also needs to improve on its social media presence (Alqararah, 2014). In the case of Nike, the company needs to diversify and stop relying too much on the footwear; change its strategy on outsourcing to Asia and establish strict conditions for the parties and finally venture into emerging markets such as China and India.
Overall Findings
Adidas
Adidas is one of the leading sporting apparel companies in the world currently, coming second after Nike. Having been started in the year 1948, the company serves a significant large population in the professional sporting community along with persons that are looking for quality sportwear. Currently the company has been concentrating on the manufacture of sports apparel in reference to soccer, basketball and tennis. In this light, the company has been concentrating on a number of brands to make sure that it reaches the highest number of customers (Thomasson, 2014). Among the main brands that the company has under its name include Reebok, Umbro and Rockport among others.
Its main base of operations is in Germany, where the company has managed to edge out a significant market in Europe. In many of the areas within Europe the company brand is the most popular giving it a strong presence. This would also explain why it is also one of the most signed brand in the European football leagues. This is where the company has shown much its might. Europe is known for refined football leagues, where clubs’ sponsors spend billions of pounds on deals with the clubs and in some of the cases the players. European is a subtly lucrative venture, where the company has concentrated most of their efforts. Having conquered the football leagues the company has also ventured into the tennis and basketball sports markets.
Looking closely at the company strategy, it is clear that other than the fact that the company targets persons that are in the professional sports industry, namely athletes, there is also a niche in the general population that is keen on buying sporting wear for their personal use (Bhasin, 2017). As such, the company targets a population that is within the upper middle class and the upper class. This is a population that appreciates the quality sportswear that the company is selling and is able to easily afford them. Much of what the company sells, is sports oriented and thus is designed through rigorous tests and research. This means that the products are going to be slightly expensive than the normal wear that is found in most of the clothing lines. As such, a few of the people are going to be interested in the products that the company will be offering (Grincha21, 2009). At the same time this is a niche of people that will be sports oriented in that they regularly exercise or take part in activities that are sports oriented. This means they seek quality wear that they can use for these extra curricula activities during their free time. This could be associated with hobbies that they have for the weekend or for the upper class during their free time on weekdays. This would explain why the company positions its products with reference to the passion in sports. Persons that have the passion for the sports that they are involved in will most likely be easily persuaded to buy high quality sportswear.
To achieve the level of success that the company enjoys in the sporting industry, there are a number of strategies that they have put in place. One of them has been getting endowments for their products. Endorsement have been significant for the company from an early time when the company came in to the market. this mostly in football, and basketball. In football the company has been able to get endorsements from some major players such as Kaka, Gareth Bale and Zinedine Zidane. In basketball, the company has been able to get one of the best players in the game named Kobe Bryant. Using the players, the company is able to popularize their products. The company is able to reach more people as the company is associated with quality (Grincha21, 2009). With endorsements, the company is able to create a brand name that is associated with professionalism. This a crucial as most of the customers will assess the level of quality relative to the endorsements that have been made. Kobe is a star in the game and as such, this translates into quality and professional reliability. The company has been involved in sponsoring several world cup games in the FIFA competitions starting in the 2002, 2006, 2010 and in the 2014. One of the earliest sponsorships was with the German team of the 1954 FIFA World Cup.
The company has limited presence online which means that the company does not have as much influence on the followers. Much of the content that is shared on the social media platforms is associated with videos. These offers the users a chance to interact with more refined content that takes more time to prepare and publish.
Nike
Nike, has had much success in the apparel business being the current leader. This is relative to the amount of revenue the company has been generating compared to the rest of the competition. The company made an estimated $32.4 billion dollars in 2016 which is the highest in the market. the value of the brand has also grown significantly and it is currently at an estimated $27.5 billion dollars, as of 2016. This is quite significant as no other company in the industry has beaten this margin. To achieve this level of success the company has majored in a number of brands which are recognized globally. Among the man brands that are associated with the company are Converse, Hurley and Cole Haan. These are superior brands that have pushed the company to new dimensions when referring to the level of success in the market (Hossain, 2013).
There have been a number of approaches that the company has engaged in that have brought the level of success seen in the revenue figures. One of the approach has been the fact that company has been working with various sports personalities to popularize the brand in various sports. One of the main sports personality was Michael Jordan, who was the endorsement for the Jordan brand (Salemi, 2016). The brand has had massive success with products such a...