5. Introduction
Nike is an American sportswear company
that was founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon
Sports by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight,
who were a track-and-field coach and a
student at the University of Oregon,
respectively. They started by selling shoes
imported from Japan and later launched
their own brand of shoes called Nike in
1972.
6. Business-level strategy
Business-level strategy is the plan of action that a business unit takes to create
value for its customers and gain a competitive advantage in its market. It involves
choosing how to position the business in relation to its competitors and who to
target as the customers
7. Summary of the case
Naki’s sale started to fall, it realized ties like Michael Jordan millions of dollars to
wear that using marketing to increase sales in a particular Business-Level Strategy
and Competitive Positioning 143 market segment can only grow sales and profits
so in-line and hockey skates; and Official Starter, a li- far; it needed to start to sell
more types of shoes to censor of athletic shoes and apparel whose brands in- more
segments of the athletic shoe market. Suddenly it seemed much harder to ning
Nike has grown into a company that sold over design new shoes that customers
perceived to be sig- $12 billion worth of shoes in the $35 billion athletic
significantly better and Nike's stunning growth in sales footwear and apparel
industries in 2004.31 was actually reducing its profitability-somehow it Nike's
amazing growth came from its business had lost control of its business strategy.
8. Q1: Business-level strategies that Nike is
pursuing?
Differentiation: Nike is robustly engaged in differentiating its products from those of
competitors. This is evident when it paid millions of dollars to popular and successful sports icons
such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Serena Williams to promote the sales of its products.
The company focused on producing high quality shoes and other sports wear whose sales were
promoted through “guerilla” marketing. This proactive approach resulted into increased 1998
revenues of $9.6 billion. Nike cements its business-level strategy with corporate strategy
(diversification) to serve its customers better and increase its market share, thus higher revenue.
10. Focused differentiation: Nike also pursues focused differentiation strategy where it
focuses on serving the sports segment by providing the best sports products than other players
in the segment. Nike serves two major market segments: footwear and apparel market
segments.
Q1: Business-level strategies that Nike is
pursuing?
11. Q2: How Nike’s business level strategies changed
the nature of industry competition?
Nike utilized its competencies in design and marketing to penetrate new market segments.
The company’s business-level strategies changed competition in the industry in that the
company significantly reduced the threat of competition through acquisitions. The company
resorted to purchasing other footwear companies that offered substitute products. Nike has
made its products unique from those of competitors and relied on innovation for new product
development. This has enabled the company to venture new markets. The company has used its
competitive advantage over other competitors to stay on top of the market.