(1) Knowledge of Nike beyond the Obvious Knowledge Definition Knowledge is a fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual

information and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information. It originates and is applied in the minds of knowers. In organizations, it often becomes embedded not only in documents or repositories but also in organizational routines, processes, practices and norms. ( . !ynch ("##$% &trategic 'anagement (th edition, pg.")*% +he knowledge of ,ike was first built up upon the personal experience of its founders, -ill -owerman and .hilip Knight. -ill -owerman was the track coach at the /niversity of 0regon track team. -ill liked to experiment and he always created specially designed running shoes for 0regon1s damp and hard2to2grip tracks. 3hile -ill was young he liked to race in lightweight metal spikes. -ut when the 4merican companies stopped manufacturing that type of shoe, -ill decided to create his own special shoes for his top athletes on the track team. ,ike in its early years was successful because of -ill -owerman1s constant inventiveness to create shoes which where light. 5is shoes were lighter than the 6erman manufacturer, 4didas at that time. (6reenberg K.7., .hilip Knight and 8ohn -owerman9 building the ,ike empire, pg.:)2:;% ,ike first started out as -lue ibbon &ports. It was the brainchild of .hil while he was studying for '-4 at &tanford /niversity, where he was told to write a business outline. <3rite about something you know,= instructed his professor, >rank &hallenberger. <4nd something you like=. (6reenberg K.7., .hilip Knight and 8ohn -owerman9 building the ,ike empire, pg.:$% 4nd .hil wrote an outline to overcome the monopoly 4didas had on the 4merican sneaker market at the time. 3hile .hil was traveling around the world after graduating, he discovered that the labour cost in 8apan was much lower than 4merica. .hil took advantage of the low labour cost in 8apan and its high technology shoes and started selling shoes from 0nitsuka +iger ?o. (known as 4sics today% under his company, -lue ibbon &ports. :

.hil together with his old coach, -ill -owerman debut the shoes at 5ayward elays at the /niversity of 0regon. .hil marketed ,ike based on the general but ingenious knowledge of the society1s worship of heroes, obsession with status symbols and captured the zeitgeist of 4merican pop culture. ,ike used the top athletes in each field of sports to market its shoes (Krentzman 8., &tanford magazine(:$$;,@an2feb% +he >orce -ehind the ,ike 7mpire%, such as +iger 3oods, 'ichael 8ordan, 'aria &harapova, -o 8ackson, &teve .refontaine, 'ichael Irvin and 4lberto &alazar(originalstyles.com, :" 4ug "##A, &pokesperson for ,ike%. +his is proven by the fact that when ,ike was having a downturn between :$AB and :$A( with profits falling more than A# percent, the debut of 4ir 8ordan which 'ichael 8ordon wearing the shoes during matches despite being warned and threatened with fines by the ,-4 as they were too colourful, rescuing the company with more than C:## million in sales. 3ith the experiences of international manufacture and gaining knowledge of overseas shoe manufacturers, gained over the years while partnering with 0nitsuka +iger, ,ike was able to finally break away from its 8apanese counterpart in :$;" (Krentzman 8., &tanford 'agazine (:$$;,@an2feb% +he >orce -ehind the ,ike 7mpire% to establish its very own brand. -ill -owerman, has been building and designing shoes since the :$(#s. 3hen ,ike decided to be independent and market its own brand of shoes, -ill put his years of experience of creating and designing shoes to complete use. In :$;", -ill first created the now iconic waffle soles. 4s -ill -owerman and .hil Knight were runners themselves, they made use of the knowledge and personal experience that professionals and the salesmen would have a great deal of understanding between each other and employed sales person who had athletic backgrounds and were mostly runners during its early days. ,ike sales person make it a point to be with their runners at track events. +hey were not @ust paid money to endorse ,ike products. ,ike built relationships with its athletes. +his contributed greatly to ,ike1s success of being able to attract top athletes and therefore, the company1s success (6reenberg K.7., .hilip Knight and 8ohn -owerman9 building the ,ike empire, pg.BB%.

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,ot only do they understood who they were selling the shoes to, they have a clear target marketD the young, cool and competitive teenagers. +heir Eswoosh1 logo and the brand message E8ust do itF1 is well suited to its target market1s aggressiveness, competitiveness and pursue of individual success. ( . !ynch ("##$% &trategic 'anagement (th edition, pg.")$% ,ike has also made it iconic Eswoosh1 sign highly visible on all its products. +o back up its brand name, ,ike ensures stringent Guality control for its technologically advanced products although they are manufactured out the /& in developing countries where the labour is cheap. -ecause ,ike1s efforts to provide cool and nicely designed highly Guality products, ,ike built up its image. +he brand image and Guality is directed and represented by the Eswoosh1 sign, adding value to its iconic sign and the tagline E8ust Do ItF1. 4lso, in ,ike1s very creative advertisements, which are a notch above others, the only indication that the advertisement is promoting ,ike is by its Eswoosh1 sign and its tagline E8ust Do ItF1. +herefore, by making its Eswoosh1 sign highly visible everywhere, it becomes loaded with significances and uniGueness, making the market and its consumers, wanting to be a part of it. +his increases the sales and its customer base, making ,ike successful and making it uniGue from many other companies and brands in this field. (http9HHbooks.google.com.sgHbooksI idJKK.#Bbw:mLI?MpgJ.4:ABMlpgJ.4:ABMdGJwhatNmadeNnikeNsuccessfulMs ourceJblMotsJ"7/vOP4oxkMsigJ>Q6)'g3kG(.(pI h3ust4k?$/B7MhlJenMei J2h+v&e0G6t0,k43,g(&hDwMsaJPMoiJbookQresultMctJresultMresnumJ$% (""nd 4pr "##$% (2) Other Resources Beyound Knowledge 4 very valuable resource that ,ike had in early days was its people. During its early days, the people who started out ,ike were very passionate about what they doD running. 7specially -ill -owerman, co2founder of ,ike and former track coach of the /&4 0lympic track sGuad, who has contributed greatly to ,ike1s success and its competitive advantage. -ill -owerman1s perseverance in search of a better shoe, with concepts of lightweight, cushioning, and flexibility has contributed to ,ike1s competitive advertisement. -ecause of his determination to always come up with a better shoe the next time, -ill founded the waffle solesD -ill was having waffles for

breakfast one morning as he was thinking about sneaker soles, shortly after which he rushed into his workshop with the waffle iron and poured rubber into it which created the ,ike1s famous waffle soles. (&trasser 8.-. R &woosh9 +he /nauthorized &tory of ,ike and the 'en 3ho .layed +here. .g:"A,:"$.% 4nother innovation of -ill1s that contributed to ,ike1s competitive advantage is the ?ortez &hoes, named after the explorer who conGuered the 4ztecs, which was the name of a line of 4didas shoes then. (6reenberg K.7., .hilip Knight and 8ohn -owerman9 building the ,ike empire, pg"$,B#% -ill originally created this product by cutting up two types of +iger shoes and putting together the best parts of the two pairs. -ut ,ike doesn1t stop there. It is constantly striving to get the perfect shoe each time. ,ike has improved on its various lines of successful shoes to cater to the changing needs of its consumers as time goes on. +his give ,ike the competitive advantage in the market as it improves on its products to meet the different needs of customers and the people, who worked on building the ,ike empire were passionate about what they do. +hey connected with the professionals and the product they sold as they were mostly runners themselves. (&trasser 8.-. R &woosh9 +he /nauthorized &tory of ,ike and the 'en 3ho .layed +here. .g :"$.% 4nother very valuable person in ,ike is 8. -. &trasser, a former ,ike advertising director, a passionate and loyal person who stayed with the ,ike company even when ,ike was experiencing extreme downturn after a decade of its establishmentD eebok was taking over ,ike1s number : spot in the market with its stylishly designed aerobic shoes which were wildly popular with the 4merican women, while ,ike refused to break into the market as it believed that it was sports company and not some company selling fashion shoes. It was &trasser, who came up with the idea of 4ir 8ordan, saving the company with more than C:##mil in sales within a year. 3hen ,ike, known as -lue ibbon &ports then, separated from 0nitsuka +iger, there was a legal battle over the rights of the ?ortez &hoe, which was very popular. &trasser spent two years concentrating on the case, finally winning the rights to be the sole manufacturer of +he ?ortez &hoes. If he did not have the passion and loyalty to ,ike and gave up, ,ike would have lost the case, with +iger reaping the profits of the ?ortez. +his is @ust one instance of the kind of passionate and loyal people that ,ike has, which highly contributed to its success. *

(&trasser 8.-. R &woosh9 +he /nauthorized &tory of ,ike and the 'en 3ho .layed +here. .g:(B, :(*,*);,*)A.% ,ike, unlike its competitors does not have its own manufacturing plant. It out sources its manufacturing parts to low cost parts of the world. +his allows the company not to be tied up in property and labour costs. +hus, instead of investing huge sums of money in factories and manufacturing workers, ,ike directs the money towards research. +his allows ,ike to concentrate on its research and development field, producing highly innovative and technologically advanced products. 4lso, as ,ike concentrate on only research and not factories and labour, its products are made at a low cost as the cost of its products depends on its cost price, involving labour cost and production cost. +herefore, another of ,ike1s competitive advantage is its high Guality products at an affordable price. (http9HHwww.marketingteacher.comH&30+HnikeQswot.htm2:*2#*2#$%

,ike uses resource2based competitive advantage to break through to related markets. It was expanding into other areas of sports such as sports apparel and sports eGuipments. >or expansion into and to break through into the international market, i.e. it makes use of sponsorship in -razil to expand in !atin 4merica and its sponsorship of 4rsenal >ootball club to expand its standing in 7urope.( . !ynch ("##$% &trategic 'anagement (th edition, pg.";#% ,ike advertises its products using distinctive personals to sponsor its products. >or >or ,ike1s 4ir 8ordon advertisements, it features 'icheal 8ordon, who was the top /& basketball star. +he advertisements made use of 'icheal1s athletic ability and popular image to promote 4ir 8ordons while eebok was forced to use &haGuille 01,eal for its response to 4ir 8ordons, the eebok .ump shoes. 4lthough they were both ma@or basketball stars, 01,eal was second to 'icheal. +his shows ,ike1s competitive advantage compared to others, which was the use of top stars in its particular chosen field. 0ther such examples are the sponsorship of golf star +iger 3oods for the lucrative golf shoes and clothings and the whole -razilian football team for football boots and other kits. ( . !ynch ("##$% &trategic 'anagement (th edition, pg.")$% (

(3) E ergent !ur"ose of Nike in Rel#tion to its Knowledge ,ike has gained experience and knowledge over the years, building up a successful company of sports wear that is sold in more than (# countries worldwide. -ecause of the knowledge of the target market that ,ike acGuired over the years, ,ike know how to attract customers and gain market share, such as its strategy of sponsoring the top athletes while its rival eebok went to the extend of sponsoring the 0lympics. -ecause of its extensive knowledge and understanding of the market and how to break through it, ,ike was able to gain more coverage than eebok minus the huge expenses. (http9HHwww.marketingteacher.comH&30+HnikeQswot.htm% 4ccording to the Brd point of emergent purpose key strategic principles, <5uman2 resource2based theories emphasise the importance of the people element in strategy development. +hey highlight the motivation, the politics and culture of organizations and the desires of individuals. +hey also suggest that strategy would benefit from an element of learning and experimentation that empowers individuals.= ( . !ynch ("##$% &trategic 'anagement (th edition, pg.):% which states the important role that employees play in the successful build up of a company, ,ike also became successful because of the kind of employees that they had who were very dedicated to the company. ,ike also hires the right people for the right place and because of their knowledge, as mentioned in Guestion ". eferring to the *th point of emergent purpose key strategic principles, <Innovation and knowledge2based theories stress the value of radical new strategic thinking in order to move ahead of rivals. +he sharing of knowledge through the internet may be an important part of such a process,=( . !ynch ("##$% &trategic 'anagement (th edition, pg.):% which states that a company1s ability to be successful and to be able to move ahead of its competitors is dependent on the innovation and knowledge2based theories of the company and its ability to come up with new strategies to constantly keep the company ahead of others, to upgrade itself always. ,ike also has this ability, this strength point in the company for its success. 4s )

mentioned above in Guestion ", ,ike has the innovation which drives them to constantly improve its product and offers technologically advanced shoes and eGuipments ahead of its rivals. ,ike also has made it a point to keep up the creativity and the uniGueness of its advertisements which are like none other in the market. 4ll in all, ,ike1s success can be contributed to two main factorsD the people who first started out and defined the company, and the mentality that they had, which is the perseverance and the motivation, driven by the passion that they had in their chosen field to make ,ike the best by constantly improving their strategies, innovations and technology to keep it ahead of other similar companies in the sportswear market. ,ike would not have been this successful if not for .hil Knight and -ill -owerman, who were passionate about running and wanted to produce the best shoes that is perfectly fit for running when they first started out. +he first few key employees and sales persons were personal friends of .hil and -ill, either track teammates, students or school2days rivals. +his makes ,ike a very tight knitted group, who knew what they were selling, making the company a very personal business for them. &o, they tried their very best to keep ,ike at the top as it was not only a business but almost like a child to them. Reference $ist :. . !ynch ("##$% &trategic 'anagement (th edition .layed +here(:$$B% B. 6reenberg K.7., .hilip Knight and 8ohn -owerman9 building the ,ike empire(:$$*% *. Krentzman 8., &tanford 'agazine (:$$;,@an2feb% +he >orce -ehind the ,ike 7mpire (. 5ollister. 6, 0ut of ,ow 3here( +he Inside &tory of 5ow ,ike 'arketed the ?ulture of unning% ("##A% ). www.originalstyles.com, :" 4ug "##A, &pokesperson for ,ike ;. http9HHbooks.google.com.sgHbooksI idJKK.#Bbw:mLI?MpgJ.4:ABMlpgJ.4:ABMdGJwhatNmadeNnikeNsucces sfulMsourceJblMotsJ"7/vOP4oxkMsigJ>Q6)'g3kG(.(pI h3ust4k?$/ ;

". &trasser 8.-. R &woosh9 +he /nauthorized &tory of ,ike and the 'en 3ho

B7MhlJenMeiJ2 h+v&e0G6t0,k43,g(&hDwMsaJPMoiJbookQresultMctJresultMresnumJ$ (""2#*2"##$% A. http9HHwww.marketingteacher.comH&30+HnikeQswot.htm2:*2#*2#$ $. http9HHnikeshoes:#$.blogspot.comH"##AH#$Hadidas2vsnike2shoes2with2 challenge2ofQ#B.html(":2#*2#$%