Nike

Selling Strategy:

Nike’s strategy in early 2000s was to develop, flag ship stores, Nike Town shops in bigger cities, first national, and then abroad. Nike was the first company to establish flagship stores and it turned out to be a sensation.

There are independent small retail stores that sell Nike products all around the world as well. Also, on seeing the potential of the low price market, Nike took efforts in 2005 to tap in to the low price segment by striking a deal with big retail discount stores like Walmart and rolled out starter shoes at a cheaper price, competing with private label brands. However, to avoid brand dilution, Nike did not use the swoosh logo in these shoes. Currently, Nike has a high quality website and uses it as an online selling channel. N i k e I d14, a part of the website allows a customer to customize his own shoes and buy it. The website is available in 14 languages and is different according to the country requirements.

Manufacturing Strategy:

Nike manufactures all of its footwear from outside United States. Nike has contract suppliers in China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand15. These countries accounted for 36%, 36%, 22% and 6% of total NIKE brand footwear respectively. Nike also has manufacturing agreements with independent factories in Argentina, Brazil, India, and Mexico to manufacture footwear for sale primarily within these countries. Primary reason for this is that it is cheaper to manufacture in South East Asia and transport it to USA and Europe, regardless of the transportation and tariff costs involved.

Organizational Strategy:

With over 21,000 employees worldwide, the company was organized into departments by both geographic divisions and product categories, which created overlapping management responsibilities and a fluid leadership structure. For example, a footwear manager in Europe answered to both the Vice President of Footwear and the Vice President of Europe. However, there was no formal communication link...