Nike Inc.’s corporate mission and vision statements determine the strategies to keep the company in its position as the leading athletic shoes and apparel business in the global market. A company’s corporate mission statement defines the fundamental objectives of the business, especially in terms of its purpose. In this company analysis case, Nike’s mission statement prompts the business to support the endeavors of athletes. On the other hand, a company’s corporate vision statement provides a picture of a target future condition of the business. Nike’s vision statement focuses on brand strength and development. The company applies these corporate statements as guides for the evolution of its business, leading to the creation of business strengths like a strong brand image, as determined in the SWOT analysis of Nike Inc. Through the evolution and effective implementation of its corporate vision and mission statements, the company supports its market position as a leading producer of sports footwear, apparel, and equipment.
Adhering to its corporate vision and mission statements, Nike Inc. aims for leadership in the international market, while counteracting competition. A Porter’s Five Forces analysis of Nike Inc. shows that competitive rivalry imposes a strong force against the company and its industry environment. The corporate mission and vision statements compel the company’s strategic management to develop policies to ensure competitiveness against other firms, such as Adidas, Puma, ASICS, Under Armour, and VF Corporation. These firms make the global athletic and leisure shoes, apparel, and equipment market a challenging business environment.
Nike’s Corporate Mission Statement
Nike Inc.’s corporate mission is “to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.” The company further states that everybody is an athlete, based on Nike founder Bill Bowerman’s statement, “If you have a body, you are an athlete.” This mission statement represents the company’s strategic goal of reaching out to the global leisure and sports footwear, apparel, and equipment market. The following main components are in Nike’s corporate mission statement:
- Inspiration
- Innovation
- Every athlete in the world
As a leading manufacturer of sports shoes, apparel, and equipment, Nike Inc. inspires people to adopt a “winner mindset”, which is covered in the “inspiration” component of the mission statement. The company’s “Just Do It” slogan represents this inspirational goal. Also, Nike’s corporate mission statement emphasizes innovation. This component is applied through the organization’s strategy of continuous improvement of products through new technologies, as included in Nike Inc.’s generic competitive strategy and intensive growth strategies. The “every athlete in the world” component indicates that the company’s corporate mission pushes the business to target every consumer in the world. As noted, the company considers every person an athlete. Thus, based on this corporate mission, Nike’s products are designed to attract and satisfy a wide variety of market segments globally.
Nike’s Corporate Vision Statement
Nike Inc.’s corporate vision is “to remain the most authentic, connected, and distinctive brand.” The business continues to apply this vision statement, which was emphasized in the corporation’s global growth strategy for 2015. The sportswear company focuses on developing its brand. The following are the notable keywords in Nike’s corporate vision statement:
- Remain
- Authentic
- Connected
- Distinctive
Nike’s vision statement uses the word “remain,” which indicates that the company already considers its brand as the most authentic, connected, and distinctive in the global market for sporting goods and related products. The “authentic” component of the corporate vision statement shows that the business organization aims to make its sports and leisure products deliver high performance to satisfy consumers. On the other hand, the “connected” component is about ensuring customers’ personal connection with the brand. Nike’s marketing mix or 4P supports the creation and maintenance of such connection with customers. The company also maintains “distinctive” quality by delivering the best possible products to the sporting goods market. This corporate vision regards Nike Inc. as a leader in the industry, while pushing the business to further separate itself from competitors. A notable point about the company is that it also develops connections with consumers through its vision for corporate social responsibility: “to help NIKE, Inc. and our consumers thrive in a sustainable economy where people, profit and planet are in balance.” This vision serves as a basis for Nike Inc.’s corporate social responsibility strategy and stakeholder management approaches.
Assessment & Recommendations – Nike Inc.’s Corporate Vision & Corporate Mission
Nike’s mission statement outlines the general strategic direction of the business. The statement includes such information as the company’s customers (everybody), the target market (global), and part of the philosophy of the sporting goods business. This corporate statement has strong points, based on conventions in writing ideal mission statements. However, Nike’s corporate mission is philosophical and does not include specifics about the kind of products offered to consumers and the nature of relevant business processes. In this regard, it is appropriate to recommend that the company specify the nature of its products. For example, Nike can improve its corporate mission statement by illustrating that its products are in the athletic and leisure footwear, apparel, and equipment industry. Also, stating that business processes are within the scope of the design and manufacture of such products can make the corporate mission statement more accurate to guide Nike’s operations, employees, and business partners, including suppliers.
Nike’s vision statement is about keeping brand leadership in the global industry. The athletic goods company considers its brand as one of the major strengths of the business, and points out that it has already achieved the top brand position. In this regard, Nike’s corporate vision statement is satisfactory in terms of having the characteristics of ideal vision statements. For example, the company’s corporate vision statement is concise, clear, inspiring, and challenging in focusing on maintaining brand leadership. The statement is also future-oriented, considering that Nike Inc. highlights keeping its brand’s leading position as a strategic aim for future business development.
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