Leadership and Management in the Event Industry: A Case Study of Nike

This article presents a case study of Nike's leadership and management strategies in the event industry. It discusses the impact of participatory leadership, PESTEL analysis, and internal environmental factors on organizational performance. The article also provides recommendations for improving organizational performance.

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LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT EVENT INDUSTRY-CASE STUDY: NIKE
COMPANY
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Introduction
In the world of sports and sports ware, there are companies that are worth mentioning to
completely define sports. In the sports industry, therefore, different companies try to edge each
other in capturing the largest market share to completely define sports in a different perspective
from main competitors and rivals. These sports giants use different strategies and approaches that
make them fit in defining sports in their own capacities.
Among the most competitive companies worth mentioning where sport industry is
involved include but not limited to Adidas, Nike, Puma, Sketchers, all of which have their areas
of specialization. Mostly, these companies use technology in different sectors of the business to
produce quality products, introduce a new product line, among others as a means of overcoming
competition. Sports typology, therefore, plays a very vital and significant role in the nature of
the industry's business or chosen line of operation.
Tjonndal (2018) asserts that innovation in sports plays a very important role in coming up
with new ideas, the transformation of the whole sport and renewal of outdated ideas. Sports
typology also shapes our view on a particular sport, how it is played, and the organization. In a
nutshell, therefore, innovation in a sports industry shapes the role of sport in our society.
Nature of the chosen organization (Academic support): Case Study- Nike
Incorporation
Nike Incorporation is one of the many sports industries that has shaped sports in different
capacities. Nike Incorporation is currently considered the world’s leading sports goods
manufacturer (O’Reilly 2014). Facing stiff competition from the like-minded organizations such
as Adidas, Nike has stood the test of time and taken a leading role in transforming the societal

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sports and its perception in line with various products/services, promotions and advocacy to say
the least. Nike has taken a central role in design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and
sales of varied sports products. Ideally, the company deals with more than just production of
sports-wear.
Nike Incorporation deals in sports goods and services that keep shaping the world of
sports. Nike products are classified as footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services
which are further classified into nine categories; Running, Football, Men's Training, Women's
Training, Sportswear, Golf, Jordan Brand, Nike Basketball and Action sports (Reuters, 2018).
The athletic footwear comes in sleek designs, elegance and of specific use giving the
wearer a sense of purpose, identity, and satisfaction. For example, Nike produces the Jordan
Brand athletic footwear, accessories, equipment and apparels that promote basketball and also
involved in designing, distribution and licensing of these products under the Jumpman
trademark. The company also produces products for leisure and casual work out for the athletes.
Nike has also redefined sports dynamically by producing apparels that are licensed and with
inscribed team college and league logos that give identity to the particular sport, fans and the
teams.
Accessories and equipment that complement various products produced by Nike also
come in unique designs that promote user’s identity to the company under the Nike brand. Such
equipment and accessories including but not limited to; sports' bags, socks, sports ball, eye
guards and wear, digital devices, batts, protective wear, among other accessories that are
designed for a particular sports undertaking. According to Reuters (2018), Nike also operates a
subsidiary and offers other subsidiary plastic products such as Air-sole cushions through Nike

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IHM Inc.to other manufacturers. Therefore, Nike is a dynamic, diversified and a multifaceted
organization that has a broader visualization of the sports industry and promotes innovative
diversification of its core business portfolio to always stay the best ahead of the rest in the world
of sports.
Leadership and the impacts on the employees and the organization.
Nike's success comes as a result of visionary leadership and proper management of the
organization's core business line, something that its competitors find a great hurdle to keep pace
with. Nike continues to expand its retail businesses worldwide due to investment in manpower to
steer its core objective of building every athlete to a whole new different level of satisfaction.
Nike’s leadership is considered participatory. According to Blazek (2016), Nike’s current
CEO Mark Parker is well known for his thoughtful and not quite demanding kind of a leader
who is meticulous in design and development. He focuses his energy in developing his
subordinates to sharpen their ideas taking center stage in giving directions but also flexible to
ideas from his juniors. His leadership style which encourages participation and freewill in testing
ideas and innovations compares to an edit and amplify approach.
According to Davoren (2018), a participatory leadership has impacts to the growth of an
organization. Nike's growth that has steered it to the highest level of operation is highly
dependent on the freewill participatory leadership and management approach by most of the top
managers at the organization. Most employees at Nike have the liberty of decision making. This
helps the organization in staying ahead of their challenges and to assist their managers in solving
organizational problems.

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Participatory leadership and management style comes with a lot of motivation to the staff.
Employees feel a sense of belonging, find meaning in their responsibilities and purpose for their
engagement to the organization. Employee engagement in the running the daily business
operations also fosters good understanding, good relations, harmony, and winning their
commitment to serving the organization. A committed employee is a motivated individual who
derives his/her motivation from the satisfaction s/he gets out of the working place.
Davoren (2018) further asserts that participatory leadership and management style also
comes with a feeling of empowerment and ownership. Nike employees have the freedom of
participation in the decision-making process of the organization hence feel a sense of value.
They also feel empowered in performing duties over and above their daily responsibilities. Such
employees also feel a co-ownership of decisions the organization takes and a responsibility of
making things work and being involved in deciding how things are done in the organization.
Shetty (2011) describes Nike’s leadership as a movement. It is a distributed, not centralized, but
collaborative leadership approach that identifies and celebrates everyone involved in making
things done at Nike.
Also notable to mention about management and leadership at Nike is the aspect of the
cofounder’s Knight principle. Hirani (2012) mentions that Nike's founders especially the co-
founder Knight exhibited a participative leadership style in which most employees had the
liberty and freedom to express their opinions and/or creative ideas which allowed Nike's
management through its innovation department to develop new products and to come up with
market-oriented strategies which have been in the forefront of projecting Nike into the lead
ahead of its competitors. Knight is also described as a hands-off manager. He does not get

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involved in close supervision of his employees but has belief and great confidence in them to
make decisions that serve the best interest of the organization.
External Environmental factors that affect the management and performance of
Nike (PESTEL Analysis)
External environmental factors come in all manner ways and affect greatly the
management and by far the performance of any organization. These factors could be broadly
classified into Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal (PESTEL).
The study of these external environmental factors and their effect on an organization’s
management and performance is known as PESTEL analysis (Professional Academy 2018).
Bush (2016) identifies Political factors that affect business operations, especially on the
backend. Bush further states that politics plays an important role in the survivability of the
company. For Nike, political factors have continually shaped its operations in a number of ways.
Nike has always been subjected to tax changes and strict laws regarding manufacturing. Harpaz
(2013) identifies that multinational businesses such as Nike suffer great adjustment costs
associated with tax rate changes. Tax changes, for instance, affect the ability of an organization
to forecast, plan, and financial reporting.
Nike's performance is deeply affected by the economic factors. According to Bush
(2016), Nike is reliant on low labor costs in the Far Eastern countries. The changes in the cost of
labor in the Far Eastern countries are significantly affecting Nike's performance in the retail
shops as most products from Nike are sold at higher prices to cater for the increasing costs of
operations. In so doing, this move gives an advantage to new companies in production and sale
of competitive products.

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Internal environmental factors that affect the management and performance of
Nike (Organizational Culture)
Nike’s culture of operation is heavily dependent on footwear market. Overreliance on the
footwear market share has predisposed the multinational organization to threats of market share
erosion. This is because the retail sector where Nike sells most of its footwear products is very
price poised since they offer almost similar price caps for the customers and experience. Nike,
however, has an opportunity and the financial muscle to ensure new product development and
diversification of its line of business to ensure revenue income from various ends of the business.
Nike is largely blamed on labor practices. The organization faces criticism regarding their
labor practices and unfavorable working conditions (Dalavagas, 2015). Safety issues of Nike
employees have also been of great criticism especially in most of Nike’s own retail outlets and
subsidiaries in foreign countries which are said not be meeting and replicating Nike’s own
standards and reputation. Nike’s pricing is also in question by most users due to their high prices.
Despite the fact that Nike produces quality standards as compared to its competitors, the prices
are overly charged which limit or deny emerging markets the opportunities to use Nike products.
This, in essence, would have a customer base shrinking effect especially in line with the
competitor's pricing strategies which offer products of almost equal quality at a relatively
cheaper price.
Managerial recommendations to improve organizational performance.
Nike Incorporation has a ripe opportunity for the take to continue staying ahead in
product design, development, manufacturing, marketing and sales of their amazing products.

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This could be achieved by retaining and training to continue developing key employees who
have a great impact in the organization. Secondly, Nike should enhance its marketing platforms
to reach out far and wide and capture customers globally. This could be achieved through
enhancement of the e-channels and social media marketing platforms, embark on e-marketing.
Thirdly, Nike has stayed put in business overcoming competition from uprising companies and
giants like Puma and Adidas by always ensuring a more participatory and inclusive style of
leadership. A lot could be done to ensure this milestone is maintained by ensuring that executive
management induces an all-inclusive approach to management where everyone's opinion counts
in decision making while remaining objective and visionary.

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Reference List;
Bhasin, H. (2018). SWOT Analysis of Nike [online]. Available from:
https://www.marketing91.com/swot-nike/ [Accessed April 20, 2018]
Blazek, K. (2016). A Participatory Leadership Style: Nike's CEO Mark Parker [online].
Available from: http://www.boothco.com/360-feedback-resources/leadership-style-nikes-
ceo-mark-parker/ Accessed April 20, 2018.
Bush, T. (2016). A PESTEL Analysis of Nike [online]. Available from:
http://pestleanalysis.com/pestle-analysis-of-nike/ [Accessed April 20, 2018]
Dalavagas, J. (2015). Nike: Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
[online]. Available from: https://www.gurufocus.com/news/325905/nike-analysis-of-
strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats [Accessed April 20, 2018],
Harpaz, J. (2013). The Ripple Effects of Corporate Tax changes [online]. Available from:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joeharpaz/2013/10/04/the-ripple-effects-of-corporate-tax-
changes/#23120e2621e1 [Accessed April 20, 2018]
Hill, T., and Westbrook, R., (1997). SWOT analysis: it's time for a product recall. Long range
planning, 30(1), pp.46-52.
Hirani, N. (2012). Leadership Style at Nike [online]. Available from:
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Leadership-Style-at-Nike-F3HD9S573U4Y[Accessed
April 20, 2018]

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Hopkin, N and Bowers, S. (2017). Revealed: How Nike Stays One Step Ahead of Taxman
[online]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/06/nike-tax-
paradise-papers [Accessed April 20, 2018]
Marzano, R.J et al., (2005). School leadership that works: From research to results. ASCD.
O'Reilly, L. (2014). 11 Things Anyone Hardly Knows About Nike [online]. Available from:
http://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-nike-facts-about-its-50th-anniversary-2014-
11?IR=T [Accessed April 19, 2018].
Professional Academy, (2018). Marketing Theories- PESTEL Analysis [online]. Available from:
https://www.professionalacademy.com/blogs-and-advice/marketing-theories---pestel-
analysis [Accessed April 20, 2018]
Reuters, (2018). Nike Inc. Profile [online]. Available from:
https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/company-profile/NKE [Accessed April 19, 2018]
Shetty, N. (2011). Leadership Style at Nike [online]. Available from:
http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/foundation-human-skills-f-h-s/221124-
leadership-style-nike.html [Accessed April 20, 2018]
Tjønndal, A. (2018). Sports innovation: developing a typology, European Journal for Sport and
Society, 14:4,291-310, DOI: 10.1080/16138171.2017.1421504
Yüksel, İ., (2012). Developing a multi-criteria decision-making model for PESTEL analysis.
International Journal of Business and Management, 7(24), p.52.

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