Philip KnightPhilip Knight was a kid who loved to run. He went from Cleveland High School to University of Oregon where he found himself in a team with three Olympic distance runners. In University Oregon, he participated in a track under a track coach Bill Bowerman. Philip Knight was a letter winner in year1957, 1958, and 1959. Where later his coach, Bill Bowerman became his partner in forming the Blue Ribbon Sport. After a couple of years they changed their company name to Nike Inc. and began the Nike Empire’s.
When he was at Stanford University, he wrote a business plan titled, “Can Japanese Sport Shoes Does To German Sports Shoes, What Japanese Camera Did To German Camera?” which this business plan formed the basis of what would eventually become Nike. This is because at that time, the American running shoes available there were very discomforting to wear while the superior German running shoes available at that time is very expensive if compare to the America running shoes. He was convinced that a business that could get good quality sport shoes produced cheaply in Japan and sell at a low price in the US would be successful and could be able to knock off German sport shoes manufactures.
After he graduated from Stanford University, he taught accounting at Portland State University. In year 1962, Philip Knight took a trip to Japan. At there he discovered a shoes factory named Onitsuka Tiger Company. He was able to pass himself odd as an American shoe importer who was interested in their line. When the executives of the Onitsuka Tiger Company asked about which company he represented, Philip Knight came up with the name Blue Ribbon Sport. Then he signed a contract with Onitsuka Tiger Company.
When he returned to America, he found his track coach Bill Bowerman and told him about the Onitsuka Tiger Company. Both of them invested $500 to start the company, Blue Ribbon Sports. Together with Onitsuka Tiger Company they develop and distribute running shoes for the North American market. As their company struggled to grow, Philip Knight worked as a certified public accountant and taught at Portland State University. Soon Philip Knight began selling shoes at track meets out of the back of his Plymounth Valiant station wagon, eventually it making enough money to quit his job as an accountant.
In the end of 1971, the disagreements contract with Onitsuka, Philip Knight and Bill Bowerman considered to start their own shoes company. Then they changed their company brand name to Nike Inc.
The Nike Journey
Before Nike was formed, the America running shoes ware very cheap but it were very uncomfortable and even brought to injuries. In the other hand, the German running shoes were very comfortable but very expensive. Philip Knight saw an opportunity to help fellow athletes perform better and make a few bucks for him in the process. Therefore he devised a business and marketing plan to importing low cost high-quality running shoes from Japan and selling them in United State at a high profit margin. Philip Knight wanted to create sport products that the world’s greatest athletes would want to used and be associated with.
Philip Knight see the opportunity in the sport market, he revolutionized the sporting goods business to meet the market needs. For example, the early Nike was only focus on the sport shoes but now Nike has branched out into several sport fields like hockey, golf, and soccer apparel.
As the CEO of the Nike Corporation, Philip Knight main mission is to lead the company to make profit thus he listens to ideas and try to cook up a few of his own ideas, and make decisions based on what is good for the shareholders and for the company.
Philip Knight saw the importance of having a celebrity endorsement to achieving remarkable success. As a result, Philip Knight signed Michael Jordan to promote his shoes although at that time Michael Jordan was not a celebrity but he signed him anyway. He saw that Michael Jordan had the potential to be great. This decision was a gamble which paid off beyond everyone’s imagination. Michael Jordan rose to international stardom thus made Nike become one of the most recognized brands worldwide.
Throughout the 1980-1990, Nike is under heavy fire by public criticism of contracting with “sweatshops”; children and women working in harsh conditions that are underpaid and overworked. Knight solved these criticisms by promising a reforming program and setting guidelines and regulation with the contracted manufacturers that will improve the conditions of workers working for the manufacturers.
Knight was keen to keep Nike in the top of the industry. In the late 1980, he streamlined the NIike campus in Eugene, Oregon and gave it a corporate atmosphere while maintaining the image of a company run by casually attired athletes.
In the 1990’s despite criticism Knight involved the company in environmental and community service activities at the same time branching out to different apparels for different sports and opening huge Niketown stores in shopping malls. As a result, the company had more than $10 million sales before 1999.
About Nike
Nike Inc. (pronounced NI-KEY) was formed because Philip Knight want to make high-quality and low-cost running shoes. Nowadays Nike holds the majority of the athletic shoe market. Before Nike’s time, American sport shoes were very cheap and were inferior in style and quality, too heavy, and too easy damaged. Besides, it also brought injuries to the athletes at that time while the German sport shoes which were the superior sport shoes but the German sport shoes were very expensive. Thus Philip Knight aims was to import cheap but superior running shoes from Japan and shipping those shoes to United State and sell the sport shoes at United State at a high profit margin. Thus athletes could have good running shoes at a reduced and affordable price. Nike ranks is among the top ten.
Blue Ribbon Sports Inc. was formed after Philip Knight took a trip to Japan and met the representative from a sport shoes company - Onitsuka Tiger Company in 1962. By telling the Onitsuka Tiger Company claiming he was a shoe importer from America representing the Blue Ribbon Sports and wish to market their brand in America. The company agreed to his proposal and Philip Knight signed a contract with the Onitsuka Tiger Company. Shortly after returning to America he formed the Blue Ribbon Sports with his coach Bill Bowerman. The two men agreed to form partnership where each of them contributing $500 to start the company. They used the invested capital to order Tiger Shoes from Onitsuka Tiger Company. They began selling Tiger shoe from the back of Knight’s car. In year 1968, alone Philip Knight gained a profit of $1 million. Over the next few years Blue Ribbon Sports retail stores opened in Santa Monica, California, and Eugene, Oregon and the company began to hire employees.
In year 1971, disagreements between Blue Ribbon Sport and Onitsuka Tiger Company made Philip Knight and Bill Bowerman considered opening their own shoe company. At that time, Blue Ribbon Sports had employed 45 staffs and decided to change their company name. In year 1978, Blue Ribbon Sports had officially changed its corporation’s name to Nike Inc. The company’s name Nike came from an employee (Jeff Johnson) which in Greek mythology is the goddess of victory while the “SWOOSH” logo was designed by a student (Caroline Davidson) of Philip Knight where he paid $35 for it. The “SWOOSH” logo represents the wings of the goddess Nike.
Their first model of shoes, the Cortez was debuted at the 1972 Olympic trails, and in that first year Nike had revenues of more than $3 million. With this achievement, he decided to endorse world greatest athletes in different fields to allow the world to know Nike through the athletic. In 1980 Nike had captured one half of the shoe market and carried its initial offering at the New York Stock Exchange. This enables Nike to sign more endorsement for example with Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, both were signed when they have yet to achieve fame but have high talent. Knight predicts they will succeed and decided to endorse them first.
The first Nike running shoes,
invented by Bill Bowerman.
Nike's Technology
Nike Inc. first creativity was when Bill Bowerman poured some liquid latex into his wife waffle’s iron. Thus he invented the famous sole that made the earliest Nike shoes feels like a bedroom slippers. Another creativity Bill Bowerman did was he invented a shoe with the upper portion made of nylon went into development in 1967, and the following year Bowerman and another employee came up with the Boston shoe, which incorporated the first cushioned midsole throughout the entire length of an athletic shoe. Nike started to earn money when a tennis star Jimmy Connors won Wimbledon in a pair of Nike shoes and after John McEnroe hurt his ankle and started to wear an obscure three-quarter Nike model. After all this incident happened in the right time, Nike started to earn money.
The early Blue Ribbon Sport was only focused on the running shoes. But now Nike has the creativity to branch out to hockey, golf, soccer, and even apparel. Nike did not only focus on a single sports field, they diversified their product to meet the demands of different categories of sports to gain more market share in sport equipment.
In year 1972, Tetra became the only U.S. company that successfully develop and manufacture plastic top surface, sidewall, internal parts, and base materials for the product of snow skis. The first technology for Nike is the cooperation with Tetra to develop the Nike Airsole cushioning system. In 1986, Tetra developed another proprietary process for production of a heel cushioning Airsole that was visible through windows in the shoes. While in 1991, Tetra developed a proprietary blow-molding process that produces an air system totally visible in the heel and creates maximum cushioning. Tetra is the only supplier of the Airsole cushioning materials to Nike worldwide. Nike Air sole cushioning which keep wearers comfortable in the inside.
The next technology for Nike is using the IRIS Explorer (IE) to bring in datasets, and then probe those datasets with IE so that they can see the results in a visual, understandable form. Then they export the data to CAD packages only after it is fully understand. In simple word is Nike using the IE to scan thousands of foot shapes and analyze the human foot and simulate how human foot reacts inside a shoe “foot-shoe interaction”. From the information they get by using the IE, they can begin modifying and improving the shoe interior design so the foot inside is comfortable and fitting. Besides that, it can also use the data to design shoe for specific sport such as football which is low at the heel, or basketball which is high at the back to avoid injuries when participating in these sports. This leads to major success to Nike since they can provide shoes that are both comfortable and functional.They introduce cricket shoes called Air Zoom Yorker, designed it to be 30% lighter than their competitors. This innovation leads to an edge for Nike since most athlete prefer shoe that are light so they will not hinder movements and this leads to improve in their performance and enable them to gain an edge over the rival team.
Team up with Apple Inc. to produce the Nike with accessories which monitors a runner’s performance via a radio device in the shoes where it links to the iPod nano. For example a runners shoe monitors the pressure the foot takes when running, clothes which measures heartbeat and breathing, this will enable professional to analyze the data collected to give suggestions for the athlete to improve aspect they are weak on such as stamina or looking for shoe that are lighter.
For more information of Nike Company please go to:
http://www.nike.com/index.jhtml?l=nikestore,nikeplus&re=US&co=US&la=EN&cp=USNS_KW_SU07_US_YahooSSPCat_F&ref=http://www.yahoo.com#l=nikestore,running&re=US&co=US&la=EN
