Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies
In this assignment, you are to use the same corporation you selected and focused on for Assignment1: Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness and Assignment 2: External and Internal Environments.
Researchthe company on its own website, the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database https://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml , the University’s online databases, the Nexis Uni database, and any other sources you can find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these questions.
Requirements
Write a six- to eight-page paper in which you do the following:
Analyze the business-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the business-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether or not you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your opinion.
Analyze the corporate-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the corporate-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether or not you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your opinion.
Analyze the competitive environment to determine the corporation’s most significant competitor. Compare their strategies at each level and evaluate which company you think is most likely to be successful in the long term. Justify your choice.
Determine whether your choice from Question 3 would differ in slow-cycle and fast-cycle markets.
Use at least three quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other websites do not quality as academic resources.
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Figures title: 8
Week 8 Assignment 3
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BUS499 Business Administration Capstone
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The assignment is due in week 8. Late submissions negatively impact your grade.
Use the same public corporation you used for assignments 1 and 2.
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Week 8 Assignment 3
Write your introduction to this 6-page paper here. Include one (1) paragraph (not more than 6 lines of text) that explains what your paper will discuss. Much of your introduction may be taken from the assignment instructions (in your own words). Read all assignment resources to understand what should be included in your paper. Be sure to review the assignment instructions in Blackboard, the grading rubric, and relevant course announcements to understand the requirements. Do not exceed 6 lines of text in this introduction. There should be no direct quotes in this section. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your introduction and change the font color to black.
Business-Level Strategies
Analyze the business-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the business-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm. You will also need to determine whether or not you judge this to be a good choice (Note: in this step you need to choose and write about only one (1) business-level strategy from the text book (not Google). Hint: See Figure 4.1 in the textbook. Include a thorough justification for your choice that is backed by facts and sound judgement. For background, be sure to research and explain the industry in which your selected corporation operates. You could also briefly (1 2 sentences) define the business-level strategy (cite your sources) you are writing about using the textbook/Learn, as an introduction to your analysis. Read Chapter 4 in the course textbook. Review the Week 4 Learn Reading for supporting content. Your response here should demonstrate that you understand the key concepts regarding the selected business-level strategy and can apply them to a real-world corporation. Keep in mind that this is a 6-page paper and as such your analysis should thoroughly address the concepts discussed in the course. Avoid unsubstantiated statements, extended introductory commentary, direct quotes, and unrelated content. Strive for about 1 – 2 pages of well-constructed, in-depth analysis in this section.
In this section, you could research and identify the core competencies your chosen firm uses to implement its business-level strategies and discuss their effectiveness. You could also demonstrate from your research how the firm uses its core competencies to create and sell its products in the marketplace. Consider the actions & choices your firm has made to compete in individual product markets. Review Chapters 4-9 for specifics on the business-level strategies. Your response should clearly identify the one business-level strategy from the textbook that you think is most important to the long-term success of the corporation. Your response must also include a clearly stated and justified judgement on whether that strategy is a good choice. Include enough content and depth to demonstrate a thorough analysis of your selected corporations business-level strategy. Remember that this is a 6-page paper and as such, you will need to dig deep. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your analysis and change the font color to black.
Corporate-Level Strategies
Analyze the corporate-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the corporate-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm. You will also need to determine whether or not you judge this to be a good choice. (Note: in this step you need to choose and write about only one (1) corporate-level strategy from the text book (not Google). Hint: See chapter 6 in the textbook. Include a thorough justification for your choice that is backed by facts and sound judgement. You could also briefly (1 2 sentences) define the corporate-level strategy (cite your sources) you are writing about using the textbook/Learn, as an introduction to your analysis. Read Chapter 6 in the course textbook. Review the Week 6 Learn Reading for supporting content. Your response here should demonstrate that you understand the key concepts regarding the selected corporate-level strategy and can apply them to a real-world corporation. Keep in mind that this is a 6-page paper and as such your analysis should thoroughly address the concepts discussed in the course. Avoid unsubstantiated statements, extended introductory commentary, direct quotes, and unrelated content. Strive for about 1 – 2 pages of well-constructed, in-depth analysis in this section.
Your response should clearly identify the one corporate-level strategy from the textbook that you think is most important to the long-term success of the corporation. Your response must also include a clearly stated and justified judgement on whether that strategy is a good choice. Include enough content and depth to demonstrate a thorough analysis of your selected corporations corporate-level strategy. Remember that this is a 6-page paper and as such, you will need to dig deep. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your analysis and change the font color to black.
Competitive Environment
Analyze the competitive environment to determine the corporation’s most significant competitor (this will require research outside of the course material). Compare their strategies at each level and evaluate which company you think is most likely to be successful in the long term. Justify your choice. Hint: read chapters 1 – 10 in the course textbook as they provide a solid background for this section. Review the Week 1 – 8 Learn Readings for supporting content. Remember that this is a 6-page paper and requires a thorough competitive analysis. Strive for about a 1 – 2 pages of well-constructed, in-depth analysis in this section. Cite your sources and avoid the use of direct quotes. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your analysis and change the font color to black.
Market Cycles
Determine whether your choice from Question 3 (Competitive Environment section above) would differ in slow-cycle and fast-cycle markets. It would be a good idea to briefly explain what the slow-cycle and fast-cycle markets are from the textbook (cite your sources) as a short introduction to your determination. Hint: read Chapter 5 in the course textbook. Remember that this is a 6-page paper and therefore each section requires a thorough response that demonstrates your understanding of key concepts covered in the course and your ability to apply them to a real-world corporation. Cite your sources and avoid the use of direct quotes. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your response and change the font color to black.
Sources
1. Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2020. Strategic management: Concepts and cases: Competitiveness and globalization (13th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning
2. Author. Publication Date. Title. Page # (written as p. #). How to Find (e.g. web address)
3. Author. Publication Date. Title. Page # (written as p. #). How to Find (e.g. web address) 1
Nike Inc. Business Strategy
Students Full Name
Strayer University
BUS499 Business Administration Capstone
Professors Name
Date
Nike Inc. Business Strategy
Nike is one of the largest companies in the United States dealing with design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and sales of accessories, footwear, equipment, apparel, and services. Nike is an American multinational corporation whose headquarter is in Oregon, Portland. According to a report issued by Forbes news in 2015, Nike is the top leading supplier and manufacturer of sports apparel with over 50 billion dollars in revenue (Walker & Yemer). The company has more than 1.5 million employees worldwide. The companys brand is worth 30 billion dollars, making it one of the most valuable brands in sports in sports business. The company was ranked position 89 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list (Walker & Yemer). The companys success is linked to its mission and vision, as well as its strategic approach to globalization and technology in its operations. This paper aims at investigating essential aspects behind the success of Nike Company.
Globalization
Nike is the pioneer in outsourcing to the developing world. Currently, it has more than 1.5 employees distributed across its 42 countries of operation. More than 29 percent of the companys products are made in China, while 44 percent are manufactured in Vietnam. Global expansion is one of the competitive advantages that Nike has over its competitors. Besides, the companys success in globalization is faced with challenges of new policies imposed on taxation by the current U.S administration (Dadzie, Winston & Dadzie, 2012). The company now faces an average of 11 percent tariffs on shoes imported into the U.S with another threat of increasing the tax to 45 percent for goods exported from China.
The companys global expansion has effects on the political system, environment, economic development, culture, and the physical well-being of human beings in society around the globe. Through globalization, the company has managed to connect to its customers through the internet and even increase its customer base. The company can quickly sell its products to its customers from another country successfully. Besides, the company has also enhanced its operations by improving its transportation and telecommunication systems. The company can make goods and distribute them all over the world to all its customers. The companys transition from regional to global organizations has forced its leaders to manage people from diverse backgrounds, values, and work ethics.
Technology
Adopting the use of new technological innovations is essential in coordinating operational activities in Nike Company. The company uses advanced technology for various reasons, including increment in product complexity and heightening customer demands. The company also engages in the adoption of technological changes to transform its supply chain from a pure operations hub to an epicenter of business innovations (Dadzie, Winston & Dadzie, 2012). The company uses new technology in the management of its supply chain. Some of the latest technological changes that the company has introduced in its supply chain include the use of sensors and advanced internet connectivity, which are used in gathering information by the forward-thinking organizations at every checkpoint.
Through the use of advanced technology in operational activities, the company can check the status of its raw materials and the status of the finished products’ location.
For instance, the company uses artificial intelligence in machine learning and other advanced analytics to drive automation and deliver insights that enhance efficiencies that accelerate product delivery. The use of artificial intelligence is applied by the company be by swapping out materials for the advantage of better availability and pricing. The use of 3D printing technology enables the company to localize goods nearer to consumers, allowing for quicker turnaround, greater personalization, and low transport costs.
Apart from using new technology in supply chain management, the company also uses technology in workforce communication. In Nike Company, technology and communication play a vital role. The use of new technology determines how employees behave in the company. The use of technology ensures that there is a more efficient way to disseminate information in the organization. Nike Company provides workforce diversity, and there have been concerns over the use of technology in nearly all the company’s daily operations.
Industrial organization model
There are various ways in which Nike Company can use an industrial-organizational model approach to maintain a significant stake in the highly segmented market. Through this approach, Nike Company will be able to peg its products against its competitors using advertising information, production and transaction costs, and government alliances (Dadzie, Winston & Dadzie, 2012). The advantage of this approach is that it keeps a pool of competition small, creates entry barriers, and at the same time, will enable the company to assess the next step of its few rivals. Given that Nike is a multinational corporation with over 30 billion dollars revenue, it will dominate the industry and become more potent than its key competitors such as Adidas, Puma, and Gucci. Nike Company will be able to increase its revenue in that few firms operate in this model so the company will be able to control the market. The company will have control over research, information, price, and development.
Resource-based model
Apart from using the industrial organization model, Nike Company can also use a resource-based model to make its business unique. Resource-based model (RBV) is a model that views resources as key to superior firm performance. In other words, this model enables a company to see a competitive advantage over looking for a competitive advantage for the resource.
This model will allow Nike Company to exploit its external opportunities with the available resources in a new way instead of acquiring new skills for different occasions. With this model, the company will give its resources a significant role in achieving its organizational performance. The two resources that the company will focus on in this case include tangible assets and intangible assets (Dadzie, Winston & Dadzie, 2012). The company will be able to bring its physical assets to the market as soon as possible before its rivals duplicate it. Besides, the company can improve its brand to gain more customers because when the company brand becomes more popular, it will increase its customer segment and thereby increasing its sales volume.
Vision
Nike Inc. The corporate vision statement represents the company’s position as the leading supplier of sports apparel globally. The company objectives and purpose in business are well explained through its vision statement. The company’s corporate vision is to provide a picture of the future target conditions of the business. The company’s vision mainly focuses on strengthening the company’s brand. The company strengthens its brand by advocating for leadership in the international market while counteracting competition (Dadzie, Winston & Dadzie, 2012). The company’s vision also propels the company’s strategic management to develop policies to ensure competitiveness against its rivals, such as Gucci, Adidas, Puma, Under Amour, and ASICS. The company’s vision is built on three pillars: authentic, connected, and distinctive. The company’s vision is to remain the most unique, connected, and trustworthy brand. The vision statement’s genuine components show that the company focuses on making its products deliver high performance to its consumers. The second pillar, “connected,” indicates that the company is focused on connecting its customers to its products. The last component, “distinct,” shows that the company is focused on delivering high-quality products.
Mission
The company’s mission statement prompts the business in meeting and exceeding the expectations of athletes. The mission statement of Nike Inc. guides it for the evolution of its business. The implementation of the company’s mission helps it to support its market position as the leading producer of athletic apparel. The company’s mission is to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. The company claims in its mission statement that everyone is an athlete provided that they have a body. The main components of the company’s mission include “inspiration, innovation, and every athlete in the world.” the company is focused on informing its customers to develop the mindset of a winner through its inspiration component. The company’s slogan is straightforward. It states, “Just do it.” Besides, the company is also focusing on using technology and innovation in its products to ensure that they are of high quality and affordable (Walker & Yemer). Finally, the company targets every customer in the world through its mission of “every athlete in the world.”
Stakeholders
The stakeholders of Nike Inc influence its stakeholders through maintaining a corporate social responsibility program. The stakeholders of Nike Inc. include employees, community, customers, and government agencies. Each of the company’s stakeholders has a significant stake in what the company does (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2016). In Nike Inc, there are mutual benefits in the company’s influence on its stakeholders and vice versa. The company works towards ensuring its stakeholders’ well-being while the stakeholders of the company are also working towards developing the company’s brand.
Customers: Nike’s CSR program gives priority to its customers as the stakeholder’s group. Nike values its customers because customers are affected by the company’s revenue directly from its products. The company ensures that it provides high-quality products to its customers at reasonable prices (Walker & Yemer). For instance, the company utilizes technology in producing high-quality products to its customers. In return, the company obtains high sales volumes from its customers.
Communities: since many consumers tend to buy products that have a positive impact on the town, Nike ensures that it provides interest to the community by supporting development programs in the city. The company supports the community through its foundation known as Nike Foundation. For instance, in 2015, the company started an initiative in its program that focuses on empowering girls. Besides, the company has other CSR programs such as Active Schools and Youth Sports Program, which donate sportswear and funds to promote physical activity among students (Walker & Yemer).
Employees: Nike recognizes employees’ importance as members of the stakeholder group who are entitled to organizational effectiveness. The employee performance in Nike Company directly translates to organization performance. The interest that Nike gives its employees includes fair compensation, career development opportunities, and a sense of purpose.
Conclusion
This paper has addressed and recommended various aspects behind the success of Nike Inc and has suggested other models that the company can adopt to ensure an increase in its revenue, such as the use of industrial organization model and resource-based model. This paper has also found that the company follows its mission and vision statements in designing its products and in approaching the market and competition challenges.
Sources
Dadzie, C. A., Winston, E. M., & Dadzie, K. Q. (2012). Organizational culture, competitive strategy, and performance in Ghana. Journal of African Business, 13(3), 172-182.
Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2016). Strategic management: Concepts and cases: Competitiveness and globalization. Cengage Learning.
Walker, C., & Yemer, H. NIKE INC. BUSINESS STRATEGIES 8. Running Head: NIKE INC. CORP
NIKE INC. CORP 2
Nike Inc. Corp
Name
Institution
Date
Nike Inc. Corp
Many external and internal factors influence the growth and success of an organization. Many organizations collapse due to the negative influences of these forces, while others thrive due to the establishment of strategic measures towards these forces, thus enabling them to remain competitive. Nike is one of the companies that have continued to stay competitive despite its robust competing forces in the market segment (Henderson, Locke & Lyddy, 2009). The analysis of the company’s general environment and the competing forces are among the strategies that the company has adopted to remain competitive. This paper aims at discussing the general environment, competing effects associated with Nike Company. Besides, this paper has also analyzed the internal environment of Nike by identifying and addressing its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
General Environment
Various factors contribute to the success or unsuccessfulness of a company’s brand. The Nike Company’s environment includes both factors that it can readily control and others beyond its influence. The company’s factors exist from the general environment. The company’s general environment has a significant influence on its level of success. Therefore its executive members are mandated by tracking the trends of these factors as they evolve by trying to anticipate the implications of such trends and events (Henderson, Locke & Lyddy, 2009). The company conducts PESTEL analysis to organize elements within its global environment to identify how these factors influence firms. PESTEL is a name that recognizes all the six segments of the general environment: political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, environmental, and legal segment. The two segments that would rank highest on Nike Company that will be assessed in this section include technological and demographic segments
Demographic segment
As far as Nike is concerned, demographics are its main concern. There has been a shift in Nike products’ purchasing trends as many people have shifted to other products, especially when they grow old. Nike is rarely serving the elderly population because older adults prefer other comfortable brands such as New Balance to Nike’s apparel. The study conducted by N.Y. times previously revealed that a greater percentage of the elderly population in the U.S. prefer New Balance to other brands of apparel from other companies (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2020). The study reported that it is widespread to spot an older person wearing new balance shoes. The buying tendencies of the company’s products also are based on how its customers are located geographically. There are claims that the company products are not universal, which makes them differentiated to specific groups, thereby making it difficult for the company to attract many customers like farmers. Other reports claim that it is rare to spot a farmer wearing Nike’s products in the ranch. This is one of the gaps that the company needs to fill by manufacturing products that suit everyone regardless of their workplace or age (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2020). Although the company does not regard farmers as their target customers, this does play a significant role in where and how often the company’s products are purchased.
Technological segment
Nike has made tremendous steps in giving its products natural exposure. The companies takes part in computer-aided design, computer-aided manufacturing systems, and have shown the emergence of internet technology. The company has succeeded in making its products accessible through the utilization of all social media platforms, websites, and other marketing channels (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2020). On the company’s website, the customer can design their shoes and purchase them within a short while. The company allows its customers to choose the colors that please them through their websites, buying its products favorable among its consumers.
Five forces of competing
The five forces of competition include competition rivalry, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of buyers, threats of new entry, bargaining power of suppliers, and threats of substitute products. The two forces of competing which are significant to Nike include competing rivalry and threats of new entrants.
Competitive rivalry
The following are the critical company rivals: Puma, Adidas, Gucci, Under Amour, and ASICS. These companies are well established in the market, and they also control more revenue by occupying a large market share. These companies limit the company’s full exploitation of the market. However, through technological innovation, Nike has managed to modify its products, which suits most of its customers, thereby making it to continue thriving alongside these competing forces (Mahdi, Abbas, Mazar & George, 2015). Nike has also made improvements to its customer services by providing excellent services by hiring skilled employees, thus making it competitive against its competitors.
Threats of new entry
Several companies are venturing into the sports and apparel industry in the U.S. however; these companies are associated with many challenges of operational costs as the business requires a high level of investment capital. This makes the industry to be unbreakable by other companies (Mahdi, Abbas, Mazar & George, 2015). The few companies, therefore, stand a better chance of enjoying good returns since there is no stiff competition as also there is less pressure by other companies in lowering prices. Apart from the high cost of entry, strict government regulations discourage other investors from venturing into this business.
Future improvements
The two competing forces have posed a significant threat to the company’s success by occupying other regions that the company operates, thus leading to the sharing of the market. There are many strategies that Nike can put in place to cope up with these forces. For instance, the company should put more emphasis on attracting internet customers. Today, the internet market is one of the largest platforms that successful organizations such as Apple, Amazon, and Wall-mart obtain most of their customers (Mahdi, Abbas, Mazar & George, 2015). When the company dominates the online market, it will be able to have a competitive advantage against its rivals. Besides, the company should also focus on global expansion as a strategy to obtain customers from areas where its competitor’s brand neither neither is nor recognized.
Greatest external threat
One of the most significant external threats that the company faces is unfavorable government regulations, especially in areas of its expansion. The company currently operates in over 40 countries, and some of the threats that it faces are the government policies in these countries. Some regions such as New York have also remained hesitant in registering company operations due to the availability of other companies such as NY&C, which operates in similar products (Paine, Hsieh & Adamsons, 2013). The company has too faced various challenges in its attempt to break into other markets despite being registered due to the availability of well-established companies operating in the same line of products. Besides, the company has also faced an economic downturn due to the current Covid 19 pandemic, which has greatly impacted its spending power.
Greatest opportunity
The greatest opportunity is that several large companies in this industry cannot provide adequate service and high-quality products that satisfy the needs of the clients. This is an opportunity that is being exploited by this organization since Nike is a standard and a well-positioned company that uses all the opportunities within its means to attract customers throughout the world (Paine, Hsieh & Adamsons, 2013). Some of the strategies that Nike deploys in exploiting this opportunity include the use of advanced technology, hiring experienced workforce, ensuring the strategic location of its stores across the world, ensuring affordable prices and accessibility of its products.
Strengths and weaknesses
Nike regularly engages other professionals in this area of specialization to seek enough critical information useful in identifying its weaknesses and strengths to allow it to compete favorably in the market. The main organizational advantages rest on the power of its workforce. The company has a team of highly qualified consultants and subordinate staff that are ready to take the company beyond the limits and make the customers obtain what they require (Schipper, & Boj, 2008). The team is skilled and trained to listen and pay attention to customers’ concerns and deliver excellent services. The company is also well-positioned, which gives the company the advantage of attracting many customers at a quicker rate. Despite these strengths, the company has also recorded some weaknesses resulting from a lack of enough funds to market the company and make it get the publicity it deserves. Despite the company being the first mover, there are other brands such as Puma, Gucci, and Adidas that have gained a lot of popularity and are today highly preferred than the company’s products.
Strategy or Tactic
For the existence of many competitive organizations, the company should adopt a cost leadership strategy. Cost leadership strategy focuses on producing goods and services that are desirable to customers but at a lower cost to that of competitors. Specific factors that initiate this strategy’s success include process innovation, which entails newly designed distribution and pr
