Management Essentials CW6 Summative Assessment Brief | BPP

1.General Assessment Guidance

• Your summative assessment for this module is made up of this coursework submission which accounts for 100% of the marks.
• Please note late submissions will not be marked.
• You are required to submit all elements of your assessment via Turnitin online access. Only submissions made via the specified mode will be accepted and hard copies or any other digital form of submissions (like via email or pen drive etc.) will not be accepted.
• For coursework, the submission word limit is 5,000 words. You must comply with the word count guidelines. You may submit LESS than 5,000 words but not more. Word Count guidelines can be found on your programme home page and the coursework submission page.
• Do not put your name or contact details anywhere on your submission. You should only put your student registration number (SRN) which will ensure your submission is recognised in the marking process.
• A total of 100 marks are available for this module assessment, and you are required to achieve minimum 50% to
  pass this module.
• You are required to use only Harvard Referencing System in your submission. Any content which is already published by other author(s) and is not referenced will be considered as a case of plagiarism.
  You can find further information on Harvard Referencing in the online library on the Hub. You can use the following link to access this information: BPP Business Guide
• BPP University has a strict policy regarding authenticity of assessments. In proven instances of plagiarism or collusion, severe punishment will be imposed on offenders. You are advised to read the rules and regulations
  regarding plagiarism and collusion in the GARs and UPPs which are available on the HUB in the Help and Support section under Documents and Forms.
• Use of AI in assessments is only allowed for the purposes of reviewing a draft, correcting language errors or if specified in the summative assessment brief. If you have used AI for any of these purposes, you should indicate this on the Assignment Cover sheet. For more information regarding acceptable and unacceptable use of AI,
  please enrol onto the Generative AI Foundations course on the HUB.
• You should include a completed copy of the Assignment Cover sheet. Any submission without this completed Assignment Cover sheet may be considered invalid and not marked.

2.Assessment Brief

This module is assessed through one graded element worth 100%. You must achieve at least 50% to pass the module. For this assignment you will produce a Business Consultancy Report based on Nike, written in an academic style.

By completing this assessment, you will achieve the following learning outcomes (LOs):

LO1 – Critically assess management practice within organisations.
LO2 – Apply your understanding of management principles in relation to key business challenges. LO3 – Critically evaluate how management behaviours can promote organisational success.
LO4 – Defend skills required to be an effective manager in a given business context.

Assessment Scenario

Acting as a Business Consultant you are required to produce a business report for the senior management team at Nike, by utilising the techniques and concepts you have covered in the module.

• Date Founded: 1964
• Industry: Sports Footwear and Apparel
• Corporate Headquarters: Beaverton, Oregon
• Type: Public

Nike, Inc., based in Beaverton, Oregon, designs and markets athletic footwear and apparel sold around the world. Nike sells its products through company-owned stores, outlets owned by licensed retailers, and also directly to consumers via the internet. The company was founded by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports. It later changed its name to Nike and went public in 1980.

The company’s first product was running shoes. Initially, its target audience was professional and serious amateur athletes. However, the shoes quickly attracted the attention of the general public, rapidly boosting the company’s market and sales. Nike later extended its line to athletic footwear designed for many other sports as well, primarily
basketball, football, tennis, and soccer. Additionally, athletic apparel for men, women, and children eventually grew into a significant source of income for the company. In 2017, to further capitalize on this market, the company instituted a women's plus-size apparel line for the first time.

The company became renowned for its multifaceted and skilful marketing strategies. Nike has historically furnished uniforms, footwear, and equipment to professional sports leagues and college teams—as well as to many top individual athletes through sponsorships—to promote its products. It also sponsors major sporting events. Nike has continued to capitalize both on its iconic Swoosh logo, adopted in 1971, and on its simple yet distinctive slogan, "Just Do It," which was introduced in 1988.

Its principal competitors in footwear, equipment, and apparel include Adidas, Asics, Reebok, New Balance, Columbia Sportswear, lululemon athletica, Under Armour, and VF Corporation. Nike’s revenues from its athletic apparel alone tend to be on par with those of the largest clothing manufacturers, not just manufacturers of apparel designed for physical activity.

History

Before teaming up as business partners, Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight met at the University of Oregon in the late 1950s. While serving as the track coach there, Bowerman made shoes on the side from his own designs for runners on his team, including Knight. In 1964, Bowerman and Knight established Blue Ribbon Sports, the company that would become Nike, Inc. Blue Ribbon initially sold running shoes as a distributor for a Japanese company, Onitsuka Tiger, which later became Asics Corporation. University track meets became open-air venues for the two men’s operations, and they used the boot of a car as a mobile store.

In 1968, Bowerman designed the Cortez running shoe, an instant hit, which Onitsuka Tiger added to its line of products. In 1971, Blue Ribbon Sports dissolved its relationship with that company and shortly thereafter began manufacturing its own running shoes, including the Cortez, in the United States. Bowerman and Knight later turned over all of their footwear and apparel production to factories overseas, primarily in China, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Bowerman continued refining his designs, and in 1971 he invented an entirely different style of sole, using a waffle iron to make a prototype. The pseudo-rubber waffle tread offered better cushioning and grip that runners loved. When talking about this revolutionary design, customers called the footwear the moon shoe because its tread made marks like those left on the moon by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin a few years earlier.

The company changed its name in 1978 to Nike, Inc., after the Greek goddess of victory. The company went public in 1980, and its shares continued to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange into the twenty-first century.

In its early years, Nike consistently promoted its products among serious athletes at high-profile track events, including the US Olympic Trials in 1972. The company looked to partner with prominent athletes who would use and promote its products. Professional tennis players like Ilie Nastase and Jimmy Connors were among the first of many athletes who provided brand endorsements. In 1985, Nike partnered with basketball superstar Michael Jordan to develop a line of footwear bearing the name Air Jordan, and these shoes became a sales blockbuster. Over time, Nike’s strategy for and commitment to sponsoring sports leagues, teams, and individual athletes influenced how other companies structure such partnerships.

In the 1970s, many amateur athletes began running for exercise. These athletes discovered Nike’s shoes and created a huge demand for the company’s comfortable and lighter-weight footwear. Nike’s primary market changed from serious athletes to average consumers in countries around the world.

Though the sports equipment business was well-established by the late 1990s, Nike decided to invest heavily in refining several types of gear using improved technology, including baseball gloves, lacrosse sticks, footballs, and shin guards.

Nike began selling its products online in 1999. That year, the company began devoting resources not only to expand sales through “brick-and-mortar" locations but also to augment its brand recognition on the internet generally and leverage online tools to improve its ability to reach customers directly. Nike introduced a way for customers to design their own shoes using NIKEiD on its website.

Over time, the company became the largest seller of athletic footwear, apparel, and equipment in the world. Historically, North America has been the company’s largest market. To support operations elsewhere, Nike introduced country-specific websites to target consumers in its major markets, such as China and Japan. Europe, Latin America, and other Asian countries also account for significant revenues.

Nike acquired sneaker maker Converse in 2003. This subsidiary has generated significant revenue for the company.
In 1980, Nike formed a Sports Research Lab, which collaborated with athletes to better understand their needs and address them. Data from its research was applied to refining existing products and coming up with new innovations. After several years of work in the company's devoted research and design labs, in late 2016, Nike released its first self-lacing shoes to the general public, with technology that allowed the footwear to electronically adjust to the wearer's foot; it was labelled the HyperAdapt 1.0. In early 2019, Nike released the Adapt BB shoe, the second generation of the HyperAdapt. The Adapt BB was sold at a lower cost, making it more accessible, and used Bluetooth technology for a wireless connection to a smartphone application to control the tightness of the shoe.

The company remained an industry leader into the 2020s. While it experienced a dip in revenue in 2020 amid store closures and an economic recession associated with the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic early that year, it posted a record revenue of $44.5 billion in 2021, with a record profit increase of 196 percent between 2020 and 2021. Nike’s annual revenue in 2023 increased further to $51.19 billion, and it remained the world’s largest athletic apparel company, though its annual revenue figures began to stall in 2023 and 2024. Critics blamed the slow growth on an over-reliance of top products like the popular Nike Air Force 1 sneaker line and a lack of innovation and introduction to the market of new styles. Observers also noted that other companies, such as Hoka and New Balance, have done a better job of marketing their shoes to the running market, which has grown significantly in the US since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Controversies

Some of the company’s actions have created well-publicized controversy and opened the company to criticism. For example, because it largely relies on overseas factories to make its products, Nike has been accused of tolerating poor working conditions, paying extremely low wages, and employing children in some of those factories, some of which have been described as sweatshops. In 2021, amid increased international outrage over China's repression of the Uyghur people in the western Xinjiang region —a crackdown described as a genocide by the US and some other governments—a court in the Netherlands accused Nike and other companies of profiting off the forced labor of Uyghur people.

Within the United States, Nike's sponsorship of the NFL has drawn attacks following cases in which high-profile football players have been charged with domestic violence. In 2015, the company name was linked to an extensive bribery and corruption scandal within FIFA (the international organization that sponsors soccer’s World Cup), although no legal charges were filed against the company.

Nike has also featured multiple controversial people in its advertising, including cyclist Lance Armstrong after his doping scandal and golfer Tiger Woods amid his adultery scandal. In 2018, Nike announced that football player Colin Kaepernick —who had started a movement to kneel during the National Anthem before football games to protest

racism in the US—would be the face of Nike's thirtieth anniversary "Just Do It" campaign. In response, some people took to social media to publicly burn Nike products and denounce the company. Immediately after the ad featuring Kaepernick ran, Nike lost almost $3.3 billion in market capitalization. However, the company regained the loss within weeks and reported an increase in sales. In 2023, the company was further embroiled in controversy when it partnered with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney, making her the first transgender face of the brand and angering some conservative members of Nike’s customer base. Nike remained steadfast in its support of the gender

pioneer. amid his adultery scandal. In 2018, Nike announced that football player Colin Kaepernick —who had started a movement to kneel during the National Anthem before football games to protest racism in the US—would be the face of Nike's thirtieth anniversary "Just Do It" campaign. In response, some people took to social media to publicly burn Nike products and denounce the company. Immediately after the ad featuring Kaepernick ran, Nike lost almost

$3.3 billion in market capitalization. However, the company regained the loss within weeks and reported an increase in sales. In 2023, the company was further embroiled in controversy when it partnered with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney, making her the first transgender face of the brand and angering some conservative members of

Nike’s customer base. Nike remained steadfast in its support of the gender pioneer.

Impact

Despite occasional periods of financial strain, Nike has historically experienced an overall trajectory of tremendous growth, becoming one of the most recognized sneaker and athletic wear brands in the world. Its innovative products and marketing savvy are largely responsible for this success.

Nike has historically been involved with philanthropy in a variety of ways. In 2008, it launched the Nike Foundation, whose focus is improving the education, health, and futures of adolescent girls living in poverty around the world. Because the high incidence of obesity in children has become a significant public health issue, Nike partners with public and private organizations to encourage physical activity in children.

Case study can also be found here:

Mahtani, S.M. (2024) ‘Nike, Inc.’, Salem Press Encyclopedia [Preprint]. Available at.
It is recommended that you should carry out a substantial amount of independent and individual research to strengthen your understanding of the business context and the preferred style of management practice.

Assessment Task

You are to critically evaluate the current management practices at Nike Corporation and recommend changes based on your evaluation that company must implement to improve its success in the Sports Footwear and apparel sector.

Task 1 – Management Practices (LO1)

Conduct a comprehensive analysis of Nike’s management practices, describing their key aspects and critically assess these management practices.
Support your arguments with reference to appropriate academic literature, case study materials and your independent research.

Task 2 – Analysis of Business Challenges (LO2)

Identify significant business challenges faced by Nike. Apply relevant management principles to analyse how Nike addressed these challenges.
Support your arguments with reference to appropriate academic literature, case study materials and your independent research.

Task 3 – Impact of Management Behaviours on Organisational Performance (LO3)

Critically evaluate the potential impact of Nike’s managers’ behaviour on the overall organisation’s performance.
Support your arguments with reference to appropriate academic literature, case study materials and your independent research.

Task 4 – Management competencies development (LO4)

Critically assess different management competencies and defend why these skills are important for current and future managers at Nike to improve its success in the Sports Footwear and apparel industry.
Support your arguments with reference to appropriate academic literature, case study materials and your independent research.

Assessment Guidelines:

Introduction

• Define leadership and management and provide an overview of the purpose of your report including an indication of the contents.

Task 1 – Management Practices

• Identify Nike’s mission, values and management practices.
• Critically assess whether Nike’s mission, values and management practices are all aligned.

Task 2 – Analysis of Business Challenges

• Identify and critically discuss 2 key challenges that Nike is encountering in the current environment.
• Conduct an analysis of Nike’s current management competency of Creativity and Innovation using relevant model/ framework.
• Critically discuss effectiveness of Nike’s current management competency of Creativity and
  Innovation to enable Nike’s management to resolve the challenges identified.
• Analyse the Nike’s management competency of Decision making using relevant model/ framework.
• Critically evaluate how effectively the management competency of Decision-making is being used in mitigating the challenges identified.

Task 3 – Impact of Management Behaviours on Organisational Performance

• Analyse the emotional intelligence of Nike’s managers using relevant model/framework.
• Analyse the positive and negative effects of these behaviours on Nike’s performance.
• Give recommendations for cultivating or modifying these management behaviours to enhance Nike’s success.

Task 4 – Management competencies development

• Select any 2 management competencies from the following and critically assess the selected competencies using relevant models/ frameworks.
• Managing Resilience
• Managing Stakeholder Relationships
• Managing Conflict and Negotiation
• Managing Teams
• Propose recommendations for developing and nurturing these skills among current and future managers at Nike to improve its success in the Sports Footwear and apparel Industry.

Conclusion

Provide a conclusion that summarises your recommended changes that Nike must implement to improve its success in the Sports Footwear and apparel industry.

Presentation and Referencing

Your report structure should include the following sections:

• Cover page (BPP University Administration Cover Sheet)
• Table of Contents
• List of Abbreviations (if appropriate)
• Introduction
• Task 1
• Task 2
• Task 3
• Task 4
• Conclusion
• References
• Appendix (if required)

Word count: 5000 words

Word count – only applies to the main body (shown in bold); i.e., cover page, table of contents, list of abbreviations, references, assessment self-evaluation and appendix are not part of the 5000-word count.

If you have any further questions about this coursework assignment, please contact the module leader or your tutor.

Tip for Mapping the Assessment towards Module Topics and Module Learning Outcomes (LOs)

3.Marking Guide

The assignment is marked out of 100 and counts towards 100% of your module mark. The following table shows the tasks, marks and marking rubric: