Nike Business Profile Paper

by
Caleb Brunner, Tim Bizon, Dakota Lefker, and Emily Melena

Back in 1978, Nike was born in order to provide sportswear to athletics wanting to
improve and become the best they can be. Nike has become the face of athletic gear for

professional sports teams and has become iconic in our economy. Nikes drive and passion has
given them the upper hand on many companies and their extreme passion to stick to performing
PACE in their company. PACE stands for professionalism, academics, character, and engagement
within the community. Nike has become a big success because of their professionalism when
dealing with competitors and customers, academically teaching and positively helping their
employees and interns achieve success, promoting a unique set of characteristics that makes them
stand out against all other sportswear brands, and finally engaging and supporting the community
by offering aid and help to organizations who are trying to make a difference within the members
of our community.
Nike has done much to diversify itself into different cultures and countries. It has not only
diversified its products but also its manufacturing and supply chain. Nike started its production
with running shoes originally. It then developed into have shoes of almost every sport, athletic
apparel, sports equipment, and many other things. Nike develops heavily on strategic outsourcing.
Almost all of Nikes shoes are produced outside the United States. Nike uses manufacturers in
over 35 countries. China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand manufactured 38%, 27%, 18% and
16% of total Nike footwear respectively. In 2003, only 1% of total Nike apparel was
manufactured in the U.S. (Josh B., 1). This gives Nike the opportunity to emerge into a new
market if they see it fit. Nike has changed their motives over the past years to fit in with the
culture of the country. Nike realized that people do not want brand names all over them and made
their clothes and shoes more simple. Cross-culturally, Nike has not done much to appeal to other
cultures. American and European countries are mostly the same in the sense of having
individualism and masculinity. The marketing to these countries does not have to change much in
that sense, in Asian countries however, the marketing techniques are still not changed much even

though their values are much different. Nike could focus on appealing to those cultures to increase
their revenue (Cross-Cultural Challenges, 4). Nike does a very great job at diversifying
themselves into almost every sport possible. They use professional athletes of almost every sport
to promote their various products, which makes young athletes want to buy those items because
they look up to those athletes. By diversifying itself along these lines, Nike has created a
sustainable strategy that will lead to profits from now until the future.
In order to become a member of Nikes team of employees one must have the proper
education for the job. There are two different types of jobs within the company, the company
offers corporate jobs and retail jobs. The retails jobs require that the employees have received or
are working towards their GED or high school diploma. In order for people to obtain the
corporate jobs, Nike requires that their employees obtain their bachelor's degrees and have years
of experience in their fields of expertise. This could mean co-oping for other companies or
working at another company for a couple years before becoming a corporate employee at Nike. In
order for Nikes corporation to flow, the corporate jobs are split up into eleven different groups
ranging from product development to supply chain.
Nike offers internships and opportunities that help encourage college students to apply to
Nike once they have graduated from their undergraduate or graduate degrees. These internships
are paid and can be acquired from all around the world, they have interns in China, London, the
United States, and many other countries in order to bring Nike world-wide. Interns interact with
leaders in the company, take on challenges and problems that Nike could encounter in the future,
and building relationships with co-workers and networking with others within the company
(Careers-Nike.com). Nike wants their employees to reach their full potential within their
company. In order for their employees to obtain their undergraduate or graduate degrees, Nike

offers tuition assistance and transportation allowance in order for their employees to receive a
higher education.
Nike also offers support to many educational institutions in order to get kids active. Lets
Move! Active Schools which focuses on getting kids in schools become more active is one of the
programs Nike puts in money and time in order for kids everywhere to succeed. Kids who
perform physical activity while enrolled in school perform better academically, have better
attendance, and their behavior and sense of respect improves (Lets Move! Active Schools).
Children who take the time to get involved and exert energy become better students, which is why
Nike puts a lot of time into the success of this program. There are only six states in the United
States that require physical education in every grade (Lets Move! Active Schools), Nike is
hoping that in they can partner with Lets Move! Active Schools in order to increase the physical
activities for every state and help children reach their full potential better and faster.
When you first think of Nike, you think of how massive and successful they are so one
might not think that there is much room for growth for the already booming company. They are
proving all of these statements to be false, as they continue to grow in the global market, while
also protecting the markets they already control. Nike released this statement on June 28, 2016,
Fiscal 2016 revenues up 6 percent to $32.4 billion; 12 percent growth excluding currency
changes. Nike has expanded and is now controlling sales on six different continents, as a huge
boost in Europe came after the World Cup several years ago, and also in South America following
the Olympics. Their inventories were also up 12 percent as of May 31, 2016, so Nike is still
increasing sales, product, and markets up to this point.
In terms of employees, Nike is also steadily increasing their numbers there. According to
CNN Money, the number of employees Nike has inside their company globally has increased

from 62.6 thousand in 2015 to 70.7 thousand in 2016. In the last four years Nike has nearly
doubled its number of employees from 44 thousand in 2012. This means that opportunities are
presenting themselves to employees on a daily basis, and there is room to move up the ladder if
they are qualified. With Nike constantly expanding to new markets, introducing new products,
and maintaining all previous products and markets, there is all the opportunity in the world for
employees to grow and develop within the company.
In an interview Monique Matheson, vice president and chief talent and diversity officer for
Nike was asked what kind of person Nike looks to hire. Her response was, People who thrive
here are curious, flexible, resilient, self-starters with high personal standards, optimistic, and great
team players. They also bring world-class capabilities in their area of expertise. She expanded on
this when asked about what candidates should know before they come in for an interview by
saying, We expect candidates to know the job they are interviewing for, talk about their
background in the context of the opportunity, and be able to articulate their story as it relates to
their career aspirations. We expect them to speak to the role they are interviewing for with passion
and a basic understanding of our company. This is just a general profile to what kind of people
Nike is looking to hire.
Nike is committed to helping children around the world get active. They bring inspiration
and encouragement to their own communities. Not only do they work in the United states to help
kids get active but their mission is spread globally. Nike helps kick start kids in order to give them
an opportunity to play sports and live an active lifestyle. Through their program, active schools
they help kids get on the right track for a healthy lifestyle, which also promotes kids being better
students in school. These programs are located in Brazil, China, Russia, and Turkey. Nike helps
get kids moving by incorporating physical activity into the classroom. In just three years Nike has

gotten 7,000 teachers and 2 million people moving. One of the biggest parts of Nikes mission is
to make sure that these kids have a fun safe environment to get active and play sports. Nike also
pairs with Marathon kids to help kids set and reach their goals of running a marathon. Kids are
encouraged to run up to 4 marathons, which is equivalent to 104.8 miles. In the next two years,
the program is aiming to earn a half a million kids worldwide. In New York City, Nike has paired
up with the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development to start a city
wide basketball league called the Zoom League. This program currently benefits over 5,000 kids
in the city of New York. Nike also pairs with the Special Olympics, they host events and send
employees to help with the Special Olympics. Many children do not have the proper footwear for
these games, thats where Nike steps in. In the last special Olympics, Nike donated over 2000
pairs of shoes to these underprivileged children. Nike is able to be so engaged in the community
because of the size and wealth of the company. They are a very ethical company when looking at
their charitable donations and what they do for not only their community but their surrounding
communities.
In order for our group to complete this assignment, we tried our best to split up the
workload into four equal parts. Each of us were assigned a specific part of PACE and were told to
search for characteristics of PACE that Nike exhibits and performs. Tim took on the
professionalism of Nike and help edit our video presentation. Caleb researched the academic
careers and learning opportunities that Nike provides to its employees and community, he also
took the time to put together the group paper and revise parts of the paper. Dakota found the
characteristics of Nike that make it stand out and how the company has changed throughout the
years. Emily took the time to figure out how Nike is engaged within the community and what

organizations that they are part of or support, she also rented out a video camera in order for us to
record the presentation for submission.

Works Cited
B., Josh. "Nike's Diversification Strategy." Josh's Nike Inc. Blog. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970.
Careers. Nike.com, 2014, http://jobs.nike.com/.
Lets Move! Active Schools. SHAPE America and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation,
http://www.letsmoveschools.org/.
Nike, Inc. Cross-Cultural Challenges." Nike, Inc.'s Cross Cultural Challenges. Weebly, n.d.
NIKE, Inc. Reports Fiscal 2016 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results." Nike News. N.p., n.d.
Nike On The Rapid Growth Trajectory." - GuruFocus.com. N.p., n.d.
Rudulph, Heather Wood. "Interview Insider: How to Get Hired at Nike."Cosmopolitan. N.p., 06
Oct. 2016.