Nike Narrative

Chapter 8 expounded upon the roles that flexibility as a strategic option for firms. Base don risk and strategic analysis, flexibility is important when it comes to a firm making strategic decision when dealing with ambiguity or uncertainty. Flexibility is defined as the ability to change direction quickly and at a low cost, if unexpected changes in the competitive landscape arise in the industry a firm is operating. Due to Nike's size, its flexibility is limited. Am abundance of resources, time, and materials back each decision the company pursues. If something were to suddenly change the would have trouble reacting to the change in a low cost and efficient matter. It would take a lot of moving parts to redirect. In Nike's case, what it lacks in flexibility it must make up for in forecasting and prediciton of indutry fluctuations. Nike must always stay 5 steps ahead of the competition. http://weartested.org/nike-free-run-2

Product differentiation is present when consumers perceive a certain firm's product to have more value than another firm's product. While their offerings may have very subtle to extreme differences, it all comes down to consumer perception. it's all about standing out from the crown. Niek sets itself apart by offering high quality sportsware that is deemed to  be top of the line or exclusive to only the best athletes. This perception makes consumers willing to pay higher prices because they perceive that they are paying for a higher quality product as a result of the brand name . Nike is considered the standard. They are selling an ability, not just a product. Consumers believe "if you have x Nike product, you will perform better". This strategy is very effective. https://www.cleverism.com/stand-crowd-examples-differentiation/

If a firm chooses a cost leadership strategy, their focus is to gain an advantage over their competitors by reducing economic costs below all of them.Nike's cost leadership is found in their supply chain and production costs. They work with suppliers and manufacturers to help keep these costs low. In their supply chain they focus on low costs, but high reliability. In turn, the sporting good industry leader spares little expense on its marketing and advertising. What they can save in manufacturing they can afford to utilize to improve consumer visibility, awareness, and eventually brand loyalty. https://cwpresly.wordpress.com/2016/09/26/chapter-6-cost-leadership/

The text defines distinctive competency as the activities that a particular firm does better than any other competing firm. As Nike is the leader in the sporting goods industry, it is not challenging to definite the company's distinctive competencies. these are the things that set Nike apart from every other sporting good company. Nike's disincentive competencies rest in its marketing and its brand recognition and power. It's slogan just do it and the extremely recognizable Nike Swoosh, in tandum with its top of the line athletes that partner with the brand, all serve as characteristics that make Nike distinct from its competition. These characteristics are also not easy to duplicate and serve almost as the company's unique fingerprints or signatures. They company's slogan and log are recognizable and consumers greatly identify their purchases with top of the line athletic greatness. http://condor.depaul.edu/aalmaney/StrategicAnalysisofNike.htm

First mover advantages are benefits that come to companies that make critical strategic and technological decisions early in the developmental phases of an industry,  This can help said firm control the industry and set the rules of how  the game will be played. These advantages typically come firm technological leadership, preemption of strategically valuable asses, and the creation of customer switching costs. Nike has been the first-move in the sports industry for decades. The company takes the lead when it comes to technological leadership. Some examples of its innovation include e " Dri-Fit and sustainable materials in apparel, and Free, Lunar, and Flywire technology in footwear being integrated across all platforms." With innovations such as these, Nike will continue to dominate the market and experience first-mover advantages. https://www.investors.com/news/continued-innovation-seen-lifting-nike/

I thought the was Case #1, but its actually not! Freebie! Environmental Threats! Chapter 3 – Evaluating Environmental Threats Chapter 3 discusses several models utilized to analyze a firm’s internal and external environment as a strategy to develop and maintain competitive advantage. The external analyses allows a firm to review its opportunities and threats, while the internal analyses analyze its individual strengths and weaknesses. In the 1960s and 1970s, this tool became known as a firm’s SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. The Structure-Conduct-Performance Model, developed in the 1930s to understand the relationship between a firm’s environment, behavior, and performance, preceded the SWOT analysis. In this model, the structure of the industry determines a firm’s conduct as well as their performance. The third model and primary focus of this chapter is Porter’s five Forces Model. This model focuses on pointing out environmental threats and gives ...

Michael Porter created the most influential tool for firm to evaluate their environment or external threat.s It is called the port's Five Forces Model. They include the t hreat of rivalry, entry, substitutes, suppliers, and buyers. Nike's greatest threats come from rivalry or competition. Companies such as Adidas, Under Armour and Reebok serve as a few of Nike's primary competitors. These companies have similar product offerings and serve as Nike's greatest threat. The threat of buyers and substitutes both serve as moderate threats to Nike. While buyer's do have the option to purchase other brands, truly comparable substitutes are only moderately available. Hence why the threat of substitutions is also moderate. While substitutions do exist, they're performance level doesn't quite compare. The bargaining power of suppliers and new entrants are both fairly weak because suppliers are abundant and therefore don't have a lot of bargaining power, and Nike pos...