Nike and International Labor Practices
Nike has long been known as the only brand of shoes to wear. Since its inception in the early 1970s, teenagers have seen the brand’s "swoosh" as a mark of cool. With their celebrity endorsements with people like Tiger Woods, kids have wanted the shoes so that they could be like their sports star. Nike was headed to the top rung of the athletic shoe industry until it hit trouble in the 1990s with news leaking out about labor violations in its factories overseas.
Executive Summary
Nike’s company strategy is a clever one. One that founder Phil Knight thought of while still in school at Stanford. Instead of paying Americans to put together Nike’s shoes, Knight thought that it would be a better idea to take manufacturing plants overseas to places where labor is much cheaper than in the U.S., places like Taiwan and South Korea. With 86% of its products being produced in one of those two countries and Nike employing a large number of people who lived there, the countries became richer and richer until Knight decided prices were too high to manufacture there anymore (Hitting the Wall, 3). He decided to move the factories to places in China like Indonesia where countries were practically begging for foreign investment. Production was going well until the early 1990s when labor strikes rose to 112 in 1991 and news began to leak out about the terrible conditions Nike’s labor force was working in. The company was using underage workers and underpaying them to the point that a family couldn’t even survive off of the wages made at a Nike factory. From this point, Nike’s sales began to slip and returned into the media’s spotlight numerous times in the 90s for their bad labor practices.
Porter’s Five Forces
Rivalry
What kept Nike ahead of its competitors was its strategy, which it still employs today. Instead of manufacturing the shoes in the U.S., Nike moved all of its factories overseas where cheaper labor could be used to make the shoes. With the money it had saved by doing this, Nike decided to put it toward marketing to have huge names in sports Like Michael Jordan to promote its products. In 2003 alone Nike spent $153 million on advertising, more than four-and-a-half times more than Adidas spent on ads that same year (The FN List).
There are many popular brands of athletic shoes in the U.
Nike has been under a great deal of pressure to correct the misdoings that have been done regarding production facilities in the East. As Nike is responsible for these plants, their reputation has been tainted with increasing public debate about ethical matters. While Nike still promotes itself as one of the industry leaders in corporate social responsibility, workers in Asia are still forced to work excessively long hours in substandard environments and are not paid enough to meet the basic needs for themselves or their families. They are faced to a life of poverty and are unfortunate subjects to harassment and violent threats if they make any attempt to form unions or tell journalists about labour abuses in their factories. Phil Knight’s speech regarding Nike’s steps to improving human rights in Asian countries was a step in the right direction for Nike, but it would have been much more effective had Nike fully followed through with these initiatives.
In addition, Nike is a worldwide known company and it is among the top empires just as Adidas and Puma. It has more than 900 factories which are located in an estimated 50 countries, they also have more than 660 000 workers which most of them are women. However, although they have a lot of factories around the world, their main manufacture factories are located in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam which are basically countries with the most minimum salaries rate given to the workers. Nike chooses these locations for their production of their merchandise because of the cheap ...
Nike’s goal is to remain unique and different from others in terms of the items offered on the market. Arguably, Nike belongs to a monopolistically competitive market as there only a few organizations with the ability to regulate the amount charged for their product which means they cannot make their prices high as this is likely to make customers move on to other available choices (Nike, Inc., 2012). However, Nike can find a balance between the prices to charge for their products and remaining competitive with other companies in the industry. Nike has formed a distinction between the appearance and performance of their footwear and that of their competitors. Although products are differentiated from other companies, they still influence each other because they are items of the same
Many global companies like Nike, Inc. are seen as role models both in the market place as well as in society in large. That is why they are expected to act responsibly in their dealings with humanity and the natural world. Nike benefits from the global sourcing opportunities, therefore areas such as production and logistics have been outsourced to partner companies in low-wage countries like China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. As a result the company is limited nowadays to its core competencies of Design and Marketing.
...fected by print advertising even if they don’t realize it. Nike uses all different forms of advertising to appeal to all audiences.
Nike’s Asian operations had previously continued to soar generating US$300 million in 1994 in revenues to a whopping US$1.2 billion in 1997. However based on the Asian economic crisis, this had adversely affected revenues, while regional layoffs were inevitable. Nike also performed well in the European market generating about US$2 billion in sales and a good growth momentum was expected, however, some parts of Europe were only slowly recovering from an economic downturn. In the Americas (Canada and the U.S.A.), Nike experienced a growth rate for several quarters. The U.S. alone generated approximately US$5 billion in sales. The Latin American market at this point was exposed to economic volatility; however Nike still saw them as a market with “great potential for the future”.
The essay, “The Noble Feat of Nike” by Johan Norberg basically talks about the effects of Nike going into third world countries, particularly Vietnam. Norberg explains how Nike’s factory gains from being in its desired location, Vietnam. Vietnam being a communist country comes to Nike’s advantage, because if they were located elsewhere they would have to pay workers higher wages and use more of their machines. Workers in these countries are provided with an air conditioned building with regular wages, free meal plans, free medical service, and training/education to operate the machinery within the factory. The workers find all of this beneficial and in their own favor because of the fact their earning double to five times the amount in wages than if they were working outdoors on a farm. This great deal, blinds them to notice the meaning behind the company’s location in Vietnam. The Nike factory was rather clever in making their location in that specific area to gain benefits for Western owners. The catch Nike gains from is simple. The owners pay factory workers only a small monthly sum from what they make selling the shoes to customers. Globalists state that the company doesn’t pull this fast one on the Western population because of our advancements compared to the Eastern countries. Western people would protest and strike to demand better wages for their work, but the people in Eastern countries have no choice but to deal with the injustice in order to support their families and educate their children.
From their marketing strategies to their selling philosophies, Nike has developed one of the most recognizable and demanded name and logo tandems ever created.
Nike Inc. was founded in 1962 by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight as a partnership under the name, Blue Ribbon Sports. Our modest goal then was to distribute low-cost, high-quality Japanese athletic shoes to American consumers in an attempt to break Germany's domination of the domestic industry. In 2000 Nike Inc. not only manufactured and distributed athletic shoes at every marketable price point to a global market, but over 40% of our sales came from athletic apparel, sports equipment, and subsidiary ventures. Nike maintains traditional and non-traditional distribution channels in more than 100 countries targeting its primary market regions: United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Americas (not including the United States).
Nike is a worldwide known business that many people around the globe are attracted to purchase. They make a variety of products ranging from shoes and clothes to sports gear, sports products, and many different accessories. Nike is designed for everyone ranging from infants to elderly. Because of their range of age for products, this makes them a huge competitor. Being able to appeal to all ages and styles of people.
The organization reduced prices for its products even though the amount charged for its shoes was still higher than in the past. Nike realized exceedingly high revenue in the past, and the Nike brand was the best seller in first quarter of 2016 making the organization profits of $2.9 billion (Hill, 2009). This is about 6.4% higher than the last quarter of 2015, allowing for a prediction of about $10 billion pre-tax income for the full year 2016 (Hill,
This project concentrates on the Nike Sports shoe; Nike is one of most significant shoe manufacturing company worldwide. Sportswear manufactured by Nike is known for quality and is most liked brand of athletes. (Daniel, 2011)
Manufacturing in foreign countries typically means cheaper production costs resulting in higher profit margins. Nike operates manufacturing plants worldwide, with most of their clothes and shoe...
Nike is the number one innovator in the world in athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories. This worldwide company operates in an extremely different organizational structure than other companies, such as Reebok and Adidas. Nike operates tremendous marketing strategies and develops inventive designs to inspire athletes around the world. This company is one of the largest suppliers in the world in athletic footwear and apparel, main producer of sports equipment, and making Nike the most valuable brand among sports companies. The task for Nike is to join diversity and inclusion to encourage ideas and innovation. Around the world, this company is a popular brand.
Nike, Inc is one of the leading companies in the world that is known for its brand of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories.