Content
Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3
Task 1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
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Task 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7
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Task 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10
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Task 4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13
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References ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16
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Candidate ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20
Checklist
1
INTRODUCTION
NIKE, Inc. (128 words)
NIKE, Inc., the one of the most famous sportswear brands, has taken the lead in the market by
having the highest compound annual growth rate– 9.4%, and revenue– $51.22 billion, among
the competitors in 2024 (Globalgrowthinsights.com, 2024). According to (Nike.com, n.d.), NIKE,
Inc. has over 300 best seller products including Air Jordan, NIKE C1TY and other athletic wear.
NIKE mainly contributes in the service, tertiary sector while taking some part in secondary by
the production of products. NIKE entered the market with the name of “Blue Ribbon Sports” in
1964 (Carlson, 2024) and now it has over 79,000 workers (Stock Analysis, n.d.) while operating
in several countries including, and NIKE, Inc. headquarters take place in Shanghai, US,
Netherland while Converse headquarters take place in the U.S (Nike, 2024).
2
TASK 1
SWOT
SWOT analysis is a valuable tool for analysing the advantages, drawbacks, market prospects,
and potential risk of business activities, companies, organisations and much more (Gürel, Emet.
2017). This approach is equally applicable to analyzing NIKE, Inc.
STRENGTHS
1. Brand Awareness
The slogan of NIKE– “Just Do it” is the perfect quote for the sportswear business and catchy at
the same time which leaves an impact on people who have seen the advertising of NIKE
(Latterly.org, 2025). Moreover, their collaboration with celebrities strengthened the marketing
(www.britannica.com, 2024), leading them to 1st rank under the category of “Most well-known
sportswear brands in the United States 2024” (Umair Bashir, 2024).
2. Loyal Customer Base
As a result of brand awareness, NIKE has millions of loyal customers around the world, willing
to take part in any activity related to Nike (Gupta, 2024). Due to its popularity, NIKE achieved
152th in the most valuable company around the world with $105.31 Billion USD of market cap in
January 2025 (Companies Market Cap, 2022).
WEAKNESS
1. High Dependency on Middleman
Although NIKE has a wide customer base, the middle man plays an essential role between it
and customers. Hence, NIKE doesn’t have full control over product price nor the customer
service as 56% of their products are sold to customers across wholesalers (Gupta, 2024).
3
Figure 1 (Nike, Inc., 2024)
OPPORTUNITY
1. Eliminating the Middleman Involvement
By the decision of only using its own stores, apps and websites for the sale in future and exiting
the wholesale distribution market in the U.S, NIKE will now obtain full control over service given
to customers; enhancing relationship with customers, and the pricing system of products;
increasing profit margin (Gupta, 2024).
THREATS
1. Economic Instability
Due to its status as an MNC, stability of the global economy– the levels of inflation, difference in
currency exchanges and living standards, are crucial elements to be considered. Those factors,
economic conditions in particular, can have a serious impact on the total sale of NIKE (Nike,
Inc., 2024).
2. Competitive Industry
Despite NIKE having a strong customer base, the sportswear industry itself is full of
competition. Pricing, quality control, the product itself, marketing are the main areas where
competition occurs. As the customers' demands are changing rapidly, failing to respond
effectively to their demands, can cause challenges to NIKE’s profits and sales (Nike, Inc.,
2024).
4
Evaluation
In fact, NIKE has the biggest competitive advantage– brand popularity (www.britannica.
com, 2024), and loyal customer base (Gupta, 2024), so even when the distribution channels
change to direct, the sales won’t be affected, thus NIKE should take it as a chance to build
customer relationships and collect feedback to enhance their quality of product and provide
customer service. The risk of economic stability is likely to be reduced if NIKE tries to enter the
mass market, decrease the price to normal goods price or produce non luxuries products.
Consequently, people will now have the ability to buy even when inflation occurs. And by taking
advantage of having a loyal customer base, worrying about the sale must not be a concern for
it.
5
TASK 2
(a)
Introduction
Establishing an overseas subsidiary means NIKE is operating a manufacturing facility under its
brand in another country. This decision holds various benefits and drawbacks (Safeguard
Global, 2020).
Advantages
To start off, it led NIKE to remove the transportation cost and taxes on export, leading to easier
trading while reducing the cost for NIKE’s production (Nguyen, Hoang-Tien., 2020). Moreover,
entry into the overseas market can increase the total profit and shares of NIKE in the global
market. According to (Nguyen, Hoang-Tien., 2020), entrepreneurs claim profit earned from
foreign subsidiaries is greater than the profit gained from the home country.
Disadvantages
However, on the other hand, differences in culture, along with the divergence in working style of
the labour forces and standard of management, can challenge NIKE in the initial phase
(webadmin, 2024) even if they are already a big business. There could also be intense
competition where NIKE competitors, Puma, own a bigger market share than NIKE in foreign
market (Nguyen, Hoang-Tien., 2020).
Evaluation
Though numerous strategies are used to approach the oversea market, joint ventures can be
suitable for NIKE. Despite the risks of failing due to complicated structure and ineffective
communication, joint ventures bring the opportunity to explore the market and the working
environment to NIKE (Bingol and Begec, 2020).
6
(b)
Introduction
There are various elements NIKE will have to consider when building a new quarter in a new
market.
Economy
Initially, the stability of the economy is important for NIKE when choosing a new market.
Unstable economies can cause unmanageable inflation, resulting in sudden spikes in costs,
making operations of NIKE expensive and uncertain (Oner, 2024).
Regulation
Followed by, NIKE also needs to research the chosen market about the regulation of its
country, such as MNW, taxations and the standard quality of product or production. Those
factors could influence the total cost of the production (The Regulatory Review and Hoguet,
2024).
Labours and Suppliers
In addition, the labours and supplies for shoe material availability are identically essential as
workers are a must and raw materials are the foundations for the production. Therefore, the
quantity and quality of them available in stock in the market is important for the quality control
and production process (Widjaja, Sheren & Darmawan, Bambang., 2022).
Cash Flow
Furthermore, cash flow is the biggest factor for NIKE when it comes to running the new centre.
Effective cash flow can be beneficial in dealing with day-to-day capital, debt, differentiating trade
receivable and payable, and liquidity (Kroes, James & Manikas, Andrew., 2014).
Likewise, the information on cash flow can play an important role when considering upcoming
investment in a new manufacturer as it vividly shows the results of past investment and closing
7
balance available. Moreover, if cash flow is effectively managed, it can attract the investor
(Campus et al., 2021).
Evaluation
To finalize, the factors stated above provide just a glimpse over essentials, there are still many
more left to be considered for NIKE when it comes to entering a new market, evaluated after
selecting a suitable country based on the aspects mentioned above.
8
TASK 3
Recruitment
Suitable recruitment is necessary for NIKE’s success, as it depends on the quality of employees
in the business (Collins & Kehoe, 2009, p. 209, Waxin and Brewster, 2020), which can be a
balance in recruiting as NIKE will be operating overseas. Expatriates will have the knowledge of
NIKE’s products and production while local employees will support through their familiarity of
market culture (Leddy, 2016).
(a)
Introduction
Leadership skills of each are essential when it comes to managing the part of a business
(Khoshhal and Guraya, 2019).
Understanding The Market
Firstly, communication skills are crucial in every situation, even daily (Lazarova & Cerdin, 2007,
Waxin and Brewster, 2020). Moreover, effective communication between expertise and locals
will contribute to NIKE’s understanding more about the market, positively impacting
performance (Waxin and Brewster, 2020).
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Having competence in diversity, capability to interact with peers from diverse backgrounds
(www.theequalgroup.com, n.d.), is an important element that candidates should possess
(Anderson, 2005; Reiche, Harzing & Kraimer, 2009; Waxin, Brewster & Ashill, 2019, Waxin and
Brewster, 2020). This is beneficial for addressing and adapting to new cultures and traditions.
Ethic And Moral
Moreover, the mindset and morality of the individual is equally essential as others (Sharma et
al., 2019, Guo, 2022). According to the professions, an ethical leader's attitude can influence
employees favorably by boosting morale, creating healthy relationships, and reducing ethical
issues (Moon and Jung, 2018, Guo 2022).
Considering that, an unprincipled decision can damage the public reputation of NIKE (Nash,
1993, www.sciencedirect.com, n.d.), it is pivotal to ensure unbiased and non-discriminatory
decision-making (Trevin, 1986, Banks, G.C. et al., 2022).
Conclusion
To summarize, the conditions mentioned above are known as standard requirements for
expatriates as well as locals, to be able to work efficiently with minimum issues (Waxin and
Brewster, 2020).
(b)
Introduction
Expatriates have to encounter struggles in diverse forms (Naithani & Jha, 200.
9). Specifically, a sudden change in occupation might require more professional quality (Mol et
al. 2005) and the uncertain responsibility can add more challenges (ORC 2007). Moreover, the
difference in culture in comparison to domestic makes expatriates more difficult in the process
of adapting to the new environment (Shiva, Hemanth Kumar., 2021). According to the thesis of
Semere Haile et (2007), Shiva, Hemanth Kumar., (2021), this can be the result of organisations
underestimating the importance of training.
Solutions
Thus, NIKE can prevent these issues by carefully filtering candidates and selecting the most
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suitable one in the end (Shiva, Hemanth Kumar., 2021). Primarily, the expatriate should have a
basic knowledge of the guest country; only by doing so can they acclimate to its culture and
environment. Otherwise, NIKE should provide training and information about the country (Shiva,
Hemanth Kumar., 2021).
Subsequently, the emotional intelligence of the expatriates should be considered. In addition,
they should possess traits such as approachability and tolerance, which are crucial for
communicating and adjusting with new people (Shiva, Hemanth Kumar, 2021).
Conclusion
To conclude, for expatriates to perform well, the training alone is not enough; strong personal
and professional quality, along with a willingness to explore and work in new areas should be
required from the outset (Shiva, Hemanth Kumar, 2021).
11
TASK 4
(a)
Marketing Mix Application for Nike
Marketing mix, usually known as Four Ps– product, price, place, and promotion, is a model
structure introduced in the 1950s which is used in launching a new product or service to a new
market (Twin, 2024).
Chosen market
NIKE is known for their high quality and price products. Hence, mass market, where the
businesses focus on targeting large audiences (Williams, 2015), could be a new industry to take
on.
1) Product Strategy
As its mass market, the product has to be affordable while maintaining a degree of quality by
providing simplified features, focusing on essential functions (Williams, 2015).
2) Price Strategy
Though NIKE normal pricing strategies focusing on approaching high price setting by usings
methods like value-based pricing (melbado.com, n.d.), focusing on quantity sold rather than the
profit gain from each sale would be more suitable in the mass market. Thus, penetration
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pricing– a strategy of setting the price to cheaper (Kenton, 2024), would be the best option;
people who have only been having the willingness to buy, now have the ability as well.
3) Place Strategy
NIKE can continue the current distributions but it would be enhanced if they could send their
products to local retailers; easier for people to buy the product.
4) Promotion Strategy
NIKE can empathise with the “Quality for Everyone” message, letting the world know about the
new product by advertising. Likewise, marketing on social media where most of the teenager
gather also is a great strategy
Conclusion
To conclude, the approach stated above integrates all elements of the marketing while aligning
the overall business strategy and objectives of NIKE– People, Planet and Play (Nike, 2023).
This can also result in diversifying NIKE revenue streams; overall profit can rely on sales in the
mast market as well.
(b)
Knowledge Management
Knowledge management (KM) is defined as collecting, organising and using knowledge in the
organisations, leading to an efficient working environment (Arun Kumar, Dr. A. & Kumar, Uday.,
2015). As a result of being the best practice for obtaining profit and competitive advantages, KM
can be applied to any business entering internationally (Sarkindaji et al.,2014, Beshir, E. &
Zelalem, B., 2022).
Customer Relationship
KM can be beneficial in various aspects including customer satisfaction which play a critical role
in building relationships with customers for NIKE. Knowledge Utilization, the role of exploring
right solutions to remove obstacles; improving the production line (the intact one, 2023), giving
NIKE a strategic benefit (Aliyu, 2016, Ferraris et al., 2019, Shrafat, 2018, Alaarj et al., 2016, and
Saqib et al., 2017, Beshir, E. & Zelalem, B., 2022).
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Identifying New Customers
Customer knowledge management (CKM) can be a great tool when communicating and
identifying new customers for NIKE, their needs and gathering more information about the
current customers in the international mass market (Ourzik, 2022).
Conclusion
To conclude, data provided in KM, such as the trend activating in the international market,
helpful in overall marketing activities of NIKE; attract more people (Santos-Vijande, López-
sánchez, et al., 2016, Ourzik, 2022). Moreover, KM and CM can help in identifying the way to
gain people attention, helping NIKE to operate a success advertising, increasing market
effectiveness (Carnerio, 2000, Bhatti et al., 2011)
14
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