BUSN 4275 - Under Armour's Business Strategies: A Detailed Case Study

This case study provides an in-depth analysis of Under Armour's business strategies, tracing its evolution from a startup to a major player in the sportswear industry. It examines the company's strategic restructuring, including workforce reduction, product diversification, and technological advancements like fitness-tracking apps. The study highlights Under Armour's marketing tactics, emphasizing brand awareness through retail presence, athlete endorsements, and digital media campaigns. It further explores the company's internal operating system, corporate culture centered on employee motivation, and its approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The case concludes that Under Armour's strategic initiatives have significantly contributed to its success, positioning it as a strong competitor against industry giants like Nike and Adidas. Desklib offers a wealth of similar case studies and academic resources for students.

Running head: A DISCUSION ABOUT BUSINESS STRATEGIES
A DISCUSION ABOUT BUSINESS STRATEGIES
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author Note

1A DISCUSION ABOUT BUSINESS STRATEGIES
The study will discuss about the strategies followed by Under Armour Company. It will
discuss on the relevant factor that how the company is working and what ethics are they
following. Under Armour is a footwear, sportswear and casual apparel manufacturer. Kevin
Plank founded the company in the year 1996 (Nafziger, 2013).
Executive plan for enabling the chosen strategy:
The company had a sudden downfall in the market. They decided to restructure the
strategy and planning of the company. The first step that they took was to terminate 2% of the
company workforce. The product offerings were increased for women and children; they offered
more lifestyle products than performance products, increasing the customer channels. The
biggest and strongest strategy that they followed was to look for the technical improvement of
the company. Being an sportswear company they concentrated on the technical development that
had a significant effect on their creation strategy. The introduced apps for tracking health,
fitness, nutrition. However, their disruption was not correct and hence they did not find success
in the plan. They have started to focus on the shoes and is producing women products more than
men. They are increasing the stretch of their market. They are taking up partnership to increase
the sale and that is expected to be equivalent to Nike’s sale ratio in the market.
The initial focus of the company was to increase the floor space dedicated to the
company to the stores. They focused to design and fund the company including flooring, meeting
in-store issues, product displays, lighting with in the stores. They approached a shop in shop
strategy helped them to find a position in the market. Their way of marketing increased the store
numbers, educated the consumers about the products and producing a easy way for consumers to
shop the product. The company stressed not only on the retails shops for selling their products

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but also for creating the brand awareness among the retailers and customers. The company kept a
different team to maintain the issues faced by the retailers, this was the reason to create
awareness among the customers and retailers. They tried to prove that they maintained a
different merchandized strategy for the company.
The company initiated advertisement and promotion to increase their sale in the market.
The followed national, digital broadcasting and print media systems to advertise in the market.
They also used social media and mobile media to reach the customers. They used athlete
personality to campaign their products and frequently used new technique to reach the
customers.
The company used these strategies to implement its name in the market. The company
used various skills and ideas to make a name in the market. They tried to follow uncommon
trends and strategies to create the brand awareness and thus have succeeded in the market. The
company comes after Adidas and Nike in the sports market. This proves the company’s strategy
has succeeded in the apparel market.
Internal operating system of the company:
The company believes in a simple structured management system with the CEO at the top
of the pyramid. A committee is formed to evaluate the board to make sure whether they are
giving their best to t he company or not. A director is elected for overseeing the meetings. The
director and the company has an open communication system to maintain flexibility and clarity
in the work field.
The company has never followed the conventional styles. They have competed with
Nike, Reebok and has handled challenges in a complicated company in a different way. The

3A DISCUSION ABOUT BUSINESS STRATEGIES
company targets to modernize the industry, they are introducing new technologies for making
efficient products and develop new and attractive designs to attract the customers.
The main strategy and aim of the company is to provide a dry wear to the sportsperson.
The company tried to maintain a well-framed system to manage the systems. They kept special
teams to fix the issues in the retails and branded the product to the customers. The company was
dedicated to the production and followed a well-developed management team. The company
introduced a connected fitness system that was used to track the fitness, health and nutrition
value. This app became popular and soon the company saw a turning point in their income scale.
The trend was highly influencing the customers and there was a high demand for the apparel
along with the sportswear and fitness offerings. The company still aspires to reach higher goals
and leading the brands that are already leading in this industry. The company is setting further
goals to achieve their target and meet the customer demand.
Corporate culture
The company believed that if audience see the brand worn by the athletes it would create
a demand for the brand in the market. They believed showing off or hi-lighting the product or
brand to the customers would increase the market demand for the product. This would create an
on field authenticity for the brand and advertise the product at the same time. They were the
official outfitter of the sportsperson in Boston college, north western university, US naval
academy, University of Indiana and many other college and universities.
They are targeting to become a global brand by creating global awareness about the brand
and introduce themselves to the international market. They aspire to become the sportswear
brand of different nation and become a successful brand. The company targets to create an

4A DISCUSION ABOUT BUSINESS STRATEGIES
innovation creation in the company management system. They renamed the employees as team
mates to increase the motivation power in them. The transformed from decentralized strategy to
HR based strategy. They recruited employees by scrutinizing their value and capacity to increase
the market value of the company. The company scaled a high collaborative process at the top of
the company. This process helped them to remove disparate system with successful workforce.
They targeted for success factors like performance goals, compensation, development,
management, recruiting and management.
They maintained a well-framed management system. The new comers can upload their
resume in the system, they provide facility to large requirements. The HR has been repositioned
as the business partner. The recruitment factor has helped the company to reach a new height.
The technology has helped to create a bond and making the system accessible. The HR system
identifies process and integrations as well as service level agreements. The HR is able to identify
the present and future value of the business.
The company tries to maintain a clear bond and understanding among the workers and
create a work friendly environment. The company is recruiting new comers based on their
quality and capability that will give a better future to the company. The company is hiring
efficient HR who will play a vital role to guide the employees and motivate them to work hard.
The company is targeting for a better future, thus it is making all the necessary changes to create
a productive environment.
CSR
The company claims themselves to be socially responsible as they hire visible minorities.
They claim themselves to be open minded and try to help the socially and financially weaker

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sections. They also adopt the rule and policy of the country or state they are trading. They try to
adjust with the environment of the place they are transacting business. They make sure to support
provide to the society by giving charity to the society. They believe by doing these social works
they will create a brand name among the customers. They make sure they are not hiring under
aged staffs and makes sure they are providing proper salary to the workers. The company tries to
maintain ethical relations with their partners. They try to make partnership with people who have
a strong ethic value and responsibility. The company tends to create parks and shopping zones to
create brand awareness to the consumers. They tend to make residential areas, parks for the
people who can afford them. This will create the brand awareness and raise the brand name in
the market. The company provides opportunities to the youth by providing job offers to the
weaker sections, however, they recruit according to the candidates quality and capability. The
company has few branches in the third world countries like Asian countries. It is often
complained from there that the work place and the factories are not clean and there is dirt. The
pollution level has increased the quantity of dirt. This company must take measures on this issue.
The plays a vital role for the environment as it gives charity and donations to the weaker section
of the society. The company tries to create the brand awareness among the society by doing all
kind of social works.
Is the company a winner?
Yes, the company is a winner as the company has improved their skills and worked on
the drawbacks to create a demand in the market. The company that had faced a downfall in the
market has improved its condition and has become the second popular brand in America. The
company does not follow the trend of imitating the market strategy of the rival companies
instead it focuses to drive the sale to a higher standard for the company. The company is setting

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goals for others as it is recognized for the hard working and dedication it showed for the
company betterment. The company is less recognized for the brand name and product, instead it
is more popular for the achievements it has received within the past few years. The company has
changed its position from a weaker and diminishing company to a competitive brand in the
international market.
The company created its demand by introducing the digital system, which is an
innovative and creative process to attract the customers. The company is dedicated to the
employees and tend to create a work friendly environment that has improved the production
scale of the company. The company has marketed the products with celebrities, which has
attracted customers in a vast range. The company has been listed among the world-class athlete
wear companies. It is giving tough competition to brands like Adidas and Nike. The company
strategies must have worked else it would not been possible for the company to achieve this
success. The company that has been out listed from the top listed market is now looking forward
for a better career competing with companies like Nike. The company is trying to set goals for
themselves and are not satisfy with their success. They are aiming for higher goals and targeting
for better scopes in future.
Thus, it can be concluded that a company like Under Armour with a diminishing market
demand has worked hard on their strategies and has helped the company to reach its goal. The
company has been listed among the top three companies in athletes wear. It is giving a strong
competition to brands like Nike. The company strategies have surely made the company a
winner, other wise it would not have been possible for a company to create such a position in the
market. The company has struggled with work motivation, innovation and creativity and thus
have made a brand name in the market. The company is yet to flourish further in future and

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improve the standard further from the present situation. The company is targeting to reach
further and it is expected that it will achieve its target if it continues the strategic plans and it
implementation in the similar way.

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References:
Ahearne, M., Lam, S. K., & Kraus, F. (2014). Performance impact of middle managers' adaptive
strategy implementation: The role of social capital. Strategic Management
Journal, 35(1), 68-87.
Guiso, L., Sapienza, P., & Zingales, L. (2015). The value of corporate culture. Journal of
Financial Economics, 117(1), 60-76.Speculand, R. (2014). Bridging the strategy
implementation skills gap. Strategic direction, 30(1), 29-30.
Guiso, L., Sapienza, P., & Zingales, L. (2015). The value of corporate culture. Journal of
Financial Economics, 117(1), 60-76.
Stryker, S. (2014). Comparing athletic performance, stability and comfort in athletes wearing
the Under Armour® Blur Cleat in different conditions. University of Delaware.
Nafziger, D. (2013). The Chief Performance Officer in Education. Solutions. Issue No.
3. Building State Capacity and Productivity Center.