Description of the organization
Nike went from designing shoes from waffle irons in Oregon, to controlling the shoe game with their unparalleled and innovative shoes designs for athletic performance.
“Nike is primarily engaged in the design, development, and worldwide marketing and selling of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and services. The company sells a wide range of performance equipment under the NIKE brand name, designed for sports activities. These include bags, socks, sport balls, eyewear, timepieces, digital devices, bats, gloves, protective equipment, golf clubs, and other sports equipment” (Nike, Inc.).
Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight are the founders of Nike and shared a passion for competitiveness at the University of Oregon. In the early stages, manufacturers excused Bowerman’s shoe ideas, so he began making his own. The company started in 1964 and was named Blue Ribbon Sports. “Knight proposed quality running shoes could be manufactured in Japan to compete with established German brands” (Nike Inc.). Requests went ignored, but Bowerman and Knight still had a thirst for gaining a competitive advantage in the sport of track and field. “The company began as Blue Ribbon Sports, and Knight sold the first shoes out of the trunk of his car. In 1978, he changed the name of the company to Nike, naming it after the Greek goddess of victory” (Alexander, 2015). Nike is now one of the world’s largest designers of athletic footwear and apparel. “The mission statement of Nike is: To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. If you have a body, you are an athlete” (Nike, Inc.).
Nike rapidly grew around a brand, design and patented technologies for their shoes taking logical steps, based on their superior knowledge of the shoe industry and information gathered from foreign markets and operations. Nike is equally committed to their markets, consumer and their athlete/team endorsement business model. This has reduced...