Nike Company Practice Analysis
Methods applied to maintain sustainable relationships with partners and suppliers in Nike Company
Nike Company deals with a wide range of partners including suppliers, other enterprises, administrations, multi-shareholder establishments, amalgamations, and domestic civilizations to respond to hazards and reinforce its supply chain’s flexibility and competence. Nike is also in partnership programs with other establishments like Sustainable Apparel Coalition, the Fair Labor Association (FLA), the Better Work Programme, and the Social Labor Convergence Program. These societies offer critical assistance to Nike through the creation of managerial abilities in supplier faculties, examining communal contribution and spending on operational settings globally. Nike Company combines standards, tools, programs, and advocacy with these partnerships to build and sustain sustainable relationships for better business performance.
Some of Nike’s partnerships take effect at a national level and offer substantial assistance to employees and the communities towards a better relationship with the firm. For instance, Nike signed the Freedom of Association Protocol in Indonesia through its unions, and suppliers in 2011. Nike signed the protocol as an original partner to enhance an application of a contractor agenda to back the functions of various unions in establishing maximum respect to the rights that enable workers to join unions of their choice and bargain jointly. This freedom equipped to the workers has established a passionate dedication to work and produce the best products in the market. Nike’s products have advanced through innovation over time (Kaushikkar et al., 2020). This is a clear indication that Nike is an excellent organization whose partnership is developed and managed for workable merits. Overall, Nike’s partnership is built on mutual merits of a collective success to the organization and its clients, which enhances control of Nike’s numerous partners within the set regulations and standards.
Nike uses The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) to ensure fair measurement of performance principles worldwide. SAC is a partner of Nike with an enormous affiliation of over 250 chief garments, foot-apparel, and home fabric varieties, vendors, providers, associates, and educational institutes. The alliance between Nike and this ideal partner aims at establishing virtual tools for regulating the examination of societal effects of attire, foot-gear, and household fabric products. The components of this coalition are tailored towards capturing a holistic record of a make, commodity, and supply sequence’s sustainability routine. Such tools have facilitated the elevation of Nike’s brand to a synonymous level in sports-clothing research (Kaushikkar et al., 2020). However, suppliers are allowed to conduct internal assessments through Faculty Environmental Module (FEM) tool to study their environmental performance and compare it to their colleagues before sharing it with SAC for approval. The standards and tools are meant to strengthen Nike’s interactions with its suppliers by helping them realize the right regulations for a certain market by studying its nature through the conclusions made by Nike when making standards.
Despite the numerous strength points in Nike’s interaction with suppliers and partners, the company’s supply chain faces the challenge of information know-how, advertising conduct, and opposition to change. Nike’s suppliers differ in accepting recommendations and standards and thwart the purpose behind those changes and modifications. Lack of expertise in information technology (IT) is also a challenge to modern marketing and publicizing. Most of the partners have fewer experts in IT, which slows their operations against the targeted progress by Nike (Abushoke, & Aisha, 2020). On the other hand, other partners are completely against change in behavior, which hinders Nike from being a flexible firm with the random changes in the market. The challenges also inconvenience innovation, whereby new or improved commodities might be denied a chance to sell in the market involving such opposing vendors and suppliers.
New Innovative products and services developed by Nike Company
Nike Company uses sustainability as the spearheading factor in its production and supply chain processes through functions like recycling to reduce wastage of resources, and advancement of structures and equipment to meet innovation purposes. Nike relies upon numerous raw resources and chemical components, which keeps it prone to being impacted by sudden changes in climate. Nike may suffer from climatic changes in two ways, which include: reduced supplies and increased prices of raw materials due to natural calamities or diversions in weather patterns, and over-reliance on electric power and water during manufacturing processes, distribution, and in retail bases. Government restraints against the production of toxic gases will hurt electricity bills and the cost of fuel, while drought may inconvenience the affordability of water, and affect the cost of these power inputs. However, Nike is taking steps towards improving equipment and management of structures to address these situations, whereby it organizes product scoring to explore the environmental effect of a product and modify it accordingly, it also manages maximum use of resources through re-usage of scrap to generate new items.
Nike’s management has designed principles to guide and control practice to meet the best performance score built on the standards of the excellent running of resources, equipment, and structures. Nike has an agency that foresees adherence to its energy and carbon regulations. Nike’s energy and carbon regulating agency have managed to ensure a reduction in energy usage by half in the last ten years (Nica, Chiriță, & Ionescu, 2021). Nike is also anticipating a modification into the usage of renewable resources to cater to all its operations before 2030. Nike has also embraced the usage of techniques that preserve water including “color dry” technology that dyes apparel without water to save over 20 billion liters of water. Such behavior has enabled Nike to experience a less 18% usage of water per unit in fabric items and 43% less per unit in foot-garment (Matović, Stanić, & Drinić, 2019). Nike is also moving towards zero environmental pollutant materials, whereby it has created a restricted list of substances for its partners and departments and encouraged them to use innovative materials. Such innovation includes the re-use of waste materials to create new products for sale by the industry. Nike is also willing to modify buildings in its industries to comply with environmentally friendly practices echoed by climate research entities like MITS.
Ways used to manage buildings, equipment, and resources at Nike Company
Nike Company has established measures to regulate performance and reduce environmental pollution in an attempt to meet their pollution-free strategy. Nike’s supply chain is long and sophisticated such that the management results in extreme environmental pollution despite the operation standards set by the company. Every procedure in the supply chain consumes remarkable energy and exerts a force on Nike’s carbon footmark. Therefore, Nike encounters 10% carbon emissions and 25% carbon usage worldwide. Nike is therefore supposed to endorse innovation throughout its production (Kim, 2020). For that reason, Nike has a great role to play in modifying climate change to reduce the level of harmful chemicals into the air and soil and halt the generation of greenhouse gases leading to global warming. Overall, Nike has the responsibility to alternate performance to focus on friendly commercial communal accountability and corporate conduct.
Nike Enterprise has the role to play in an attempt to conduct favorable business operations for the welfare of its workers and communities involved. The Nike industry has 566 factories globally, which have employed more than a million personnel. It is thus a responsibility of Nike Company to ensure that their practices are favorable to the well-being of all employees. Nike has been currently working on its operations to counter allegations concerning overworking and harsh conditions in the factories (Fung, Chong & Liu, 2020). Nike has thus embraced sustainability to meet their strategy of ensuring favorable treatment of all workers. Nike has refurbished its managerial tools to meet sustainable performance criteria. For instance, Nike has revamped its Sourcing & Manufacturing Sustainability Index (SMSI) tool that explores industrial performance in healthiness, welfare, and ecological scopes (Schönauer, 2018). Nike has invested in the SMSI tool to achieve a 100% SMSI score in all its factories in the world. Nike has also targeted to use sustainability as a central development engine in all its business practices by replacing environmentally hazardous energy sources with non-pollutant renewable energy sources. Nike has adapted this refurbishment to reduce pressure on its ecological footprint to encourage innovative practices and scrutinize its manufacturing processes. In that case, Nike has managed to recycle 54 million pounds of scarp from factories into premium items, and reduced water use per unit by 43%. These strategies have enabled Nike to close the bionetwork circle, endorse new tactics scheming, concluding, and dispensing resources.
Nike has recorded improvements from its key strategies and projections concerning improved practices to prevent environmental devastation. Nike has introduced a new fantastic resource made of 50% reprocessed leather filaments, using 90% lesser amount water and 80% lesser carbon imprint. The new item is more durable and lighter than actual leather, thus maximizes performance (Shen & Li, 2019). Therefore, Nike will encourage a reduction in prices as well as lower rates of pollution. Nike has also sidetracked 92% left-over from landfills and burning in manufacturing. This invention is named “color dry,” and eradicates water usage and levels of chemicals used in the dyeing of fabrics in factories. The investment of “color dry” aims at enhancing Nike’s aim of minimizing wastage of water to cover its needs in the future.
Critical procedures used to deliver Nike’s strategies
Nike Company studies customer responses to commodities to innovate in its productions and provide them with appealing sport-wear, to solve issues like athlete constraints and advance individual capabilities. Nike has adopted a new leading platform to empower its innovative elements worldwide (Childs & Jin, 2018). The flagship platform facilitates lucrative innovation, which has never been experienced before at the firm. Nike has set up the first sneaker workroom in NYC House of innovation to display case the vastest collection of Nike foot apparel in the World. The proficient workshop involves an archetype of a live service that local Nike members can book in-store and on the Nike Application. Nike has also established the second house of innovation in Shanghai. Shanghai House of Innovation holds a modern-functioning Center Court which incorporates speakers’ conferences, plants, and digitally guided sprawling hearings. The innovation house also has a platform where Nike plus associates get live periods with inventors to modify certain foot-wear.
Nike Company has innovated an interactive mobile application platform that allows customers to relate directly with retailers. The Nike App at retail is a tremendous innovation that is designed to link the worlds of technology and manual retail to the clients through their smartphones. The platform is also accessible to non-users of smartphones by just visiting the nearest Nike store. Nike has also invested in its first sentient impression store to show a set of items selected by Nike digital commerce data to serve local Nike plus associates exactly what they need. Nike has also created appealing sporting wear for the Nigerian football federation. The kits station a fit back-up of enthusiasm and portray the emphatically calm culture of pure modern Nigeria. Nike has also modified various sports uniforms to meet the latest taste and variations that facilitate teams’ objectives and claim, to enrich teams’ heritage and their victory smudge. Besides, Nike has also generated a female version of Air Force 1 and Air Jordan shoes to create balance in the dressing experiences (Standaert, 2021). Nike has also considered female athletes and designed Nike City Ready shoes that set a new yardstick for athletics. Nike has also advanced its Air Force 1 by incorporating Nike Fly-leather material in its design to enhance its lightweight and reduce pressure on carbon print. Nike is also working with the newest set of modern apparatuses to combine sportsperson statistics and humanoid inventiveness to award a reason-controlled visual to working out. Nike has also innovated its grooves to have a wide surface of the midsole, which offers a smarmier experience for all-time luxury, and seems like an exaggerated version of its counterpart.
Organization strategy that could help drive business excellence in Nike Company
Regarding the analysis above, Nike is on a journey to lower its adverse environmental consequences. However, the information shows that Nike is more focused on components within its limit, like advancing the design of its products and reforming its manufacturing procedures. Bearing in mind that Nike is a multinational industry with a vast supply chain involving multiple suppliers, distributors, and retailers, the firm should implement more strategies to facilitate the total adoption of a safe supply chain with zero release of harmful elements. Nike should enforce a strategy that revises its effect on the environment frequently and makes gradual efforts to completely shun practices that endanger the environment to improve its global quality and recommendation status.
This strategy would seem to be a gradual process of advancing practices in Nike Company to meet its projected standards for future benefits. The strategy would break organs in the supply chain and replace them with relevant partnerships that heed the codes of the expected behavior to reduce the levels of pollution. The structures would also be reshaped to meet sustainable ecological conditions. Consequently, economic, ecological, and social principles would be progressed to suit the adopted criteria perfectly. Suppliers would also be encouraged to replace old equipment with modern apparatus to incorporate the latest practice and embrace change in the design of final products.
The first step should have Nike Company scrutinizing its supply chain beginning with its suppliers to select the suppliers that portray sustainable and efficient use of resources. This approach should involve Nike’s partners to endorse openness and maintain sustainable relationships between the two. The suppliers should then be informed about impending changes in supply to keep them aware of the necessary changes and give them room to rectify or leave the pact. The willing suppliers to continue with the revised standards should then be briefed on the new requirement from Nike’s management to ensure they operate in line with the organization’s strategies and values. Nike should then adopt appropriate policies and procedures for working jointly with their partners towards executing the new standards and strategies. The administrators should also ensure the creation of convenient networks in the external world to necessitate additional interested parties into their operations for vast business practices.
Secondly, Nike can get closer with their distributors to leverage environmental pollution caused by the transportation of resources to factories and final products from factories to stores and warehouses. Besides, Nike can improve its stores to make them more sustainable by lowering energy consumption and using environmental-friendly shopping bags. These procedures will enable Nike to mentor its supply chain partners while leading the industry in the kinds of procedures and ethics used to ration sustainability struggles. Therefore, Nike should consider engaging in the supervision of the practice of the suppliers and overall partners to ensure they continuously endorse the set principles and strategies.
Nike should establish a culture of tracking performance through internal agents to keep a record of their adherence to the set standards and principles. The selected agents should be rotated on a random basis to ensure openness and clear focus of partnership control and encourage performance based on the right codes of conduct. Besides physical agents, Nike Company should install modern technology in all stores and factories to virtually supervise operations and enforce accuracy-based operations. For Nike Company to accurately supervise and implement these strategies, they will need to deploy researchers at various critical companies with excellent records of practice to emulate their behavior and gain a 100% revolutionized practice that obeys their set standards and principles.
