History of Nike (Brand) (Essay Sample)

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History of Nike (Brand)
Nike is a multinational corporation company based in America and engaged in designing, developing and manufacturing footwear, apparel, accessories, equipment and services. It was founded in 1964 by Bill Bowerman and Phi Knight as Blue Ribbon Sports. At first the company operated as a distributor for Onitsuka, a Japanese shoemaker. Nike was inspired by two main aspects; Bowerman’s quest to make lighter and more durable shoes for Oregon runners, and Knight’s search to make a living through his greatest passion, athletics. While Knight was an athlete, Bowerman worked as a coach at the University of Oregon. It was Bowerman’s aspiration to make better quality running shoes that motivated Knight to upscale his marketing strategy and find market for Bowerman’s idea. Later on, Knight went to get his MBA at Stanford University in the 1960’s where he took a class with Frank Shallenberger. He was required to come up with a small business and create a marketing plan for the business. Taking Bowerman’s idea as the base of his project, Knight developed his market niche. He realized that they could obtain high quality products at a low price from Japan and ship them to the U.S. for distribution. Knight’s idea, though just a class project slowly sprouted into what would come to be one of the world’s best sports company.[—. Nike History and Timeline . n.d. Web. 15 May 2015.]
Growth of Nike and its Impacts on the Society
Ever since its inception, Nike has been on a steady growth, realizing higher revenues with every passing year and expanding to other parts of the world. In 1964 Nike recorded sales worth $8,000 and this number rose to $1 million in 1971. The company later recorded its $10 million mark in the mid 70’s and sprung to hit a whopping $270 million by the late 70’s. By the year 2000 Nike had recorded $12 billion in sales. The high revenues realized by the company did not just benefit the owners of the company, but also contributed a great deal to the economic growth of the United States. Nike is one of the many companies in the country that contribute towards the tax revenue collected by the government. In addition, the booming sales in the company also prompted expansion in the company and made plans for the same possible. This way the company also provided employment to the U.S. citizens at different levels ranging from shipping the goods from Japan, constructing a manufacturing company in the U.S., the manufacture of high quality shoes, as well as, the marketing, sales and distribution of products across the U.S. later the company expanded further, and established factories in countries such as Malaysia, China, Mexico, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Taiwan and Philippines. The company also expanded its products line from shoes to other sports apparel including sports clothing and sports gear. This expansion translated to more job opportunities in the countries where the company operated, as well as, the countries where Nike’s products were distributed. It also translated to higher sales, thus more revenue to the government.[Kazi, Tasnim B. "Superbrands, Globalization, and Neoliberalism: Exploring Causes and Consequences of the Nike Superbrand." Student Pulse (2011): 1-2. Vol. 3, No. 12. Web]
Has it maintained its original concept?
The initial concept of the company at inception was to sale or provide high quality running shoes for athletes. To this day Nike has not changed its original concept, if anything it has improved this concept to include more provisions. Apart from designing, manufacturing and distributing high quality running shoes, the company also works on the design, manufacture and distribution of other sports apparel and sportswear. Its original concept was inspired by Bowerman’s desire to provide quality running shoes for his team, and Knights passion for athletics and inspiration through his business career. Today the company still works close with athletes and has even sponsored some of the best athletes in the world. This shows that the original concept in the company is still maintained and that the company is dedicated to provide nothing but the best in terms of sports shoes and sportswear to promote the sports industry. Moreover, the company has expanded its market boundaries and operates in more than 750 different locations around the globe. This expansion and provision of sports shoes and other sports apparel across the world also emphasizes on Bowerman’s desire or providing quality running shoes for athletes in his team.
Ongoing Influence or Impact of Nike’s Products
One of the greatest influences of Nike, just like other super brands in the world, is that it is one of the central mediums of globalization. The company is also a symbol of global economy as it expanded and moved out of its initial national boundaries into other countries in the world. It is a multinational corporation that has worked to link the economies of different nations into one complex web through global production arrangements. Nike operates factories in a number of Asian countries even though it is an American based company. Its operations in the different countries helps in the economic growth of the countries, as well as, provision of employment for thousands of citizens in the countries it operates. Moreover, Nike’s products are also made up of a complex arrangement of both material and non-material components that cross national boundaries. Among the most complicated Nike products is a shoe that is made up of 200 different components. All these components are obtained from different countries, making these countries beneficiaries of the company’s operations. On the other hand, the simplest shoe produced by Nike is made up of 52 different components and goes through at least 120 hands during its production process.
Nike’s Existence and Sustainability
Nike is still largely operational in the world and is among the top competitors is the sportswear and apparel companies. One of the reasons for Nike’s existence and sustainability is that the Footwear and Textiles industry is only subject to a handful of companies, with Nike being the most dominant. The company has a share of 44.7% of the footwear market in the world. Moreover, Nike’s market share in the European market has also been on the rise in the recent past. The company recorded an 11% increase in sales in just the first half of the fiscal year 2014, in Western Europe. Despite competition from other super brands ...