[Mno 3sal]

The strengths that Nike possesses are very hard to duplicate. Nike is the global leader in athletic footwear with 33.2 percent of the market share. They have also incurred sales of $13.7 billion in 2004. Nike is a nationally recognized brand and about 97 percent of the United States can place Nike's name with the "swoosh." Another strength that Nike possesses is that their stock is considered a high-valued stock. Nike also endorses top athletes such as Tiger Woods, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Lance Armstrong. These athletes represent many different sports such as golf, basketball, and cycling and they are some of the most famous athletes in the world. Nike has had previous difficulties with its supply chain management. During 2000 and 2001, Nike miscalculated its future demand for shoes. They blamed this problem on their supply and demand planning software, claiming it did not perform as expected, which hurt them financially. Despite all this, Nike learned from its mistakes and fixed the software program. Currently, Nike's supply chain management is very efficient and reduces their costs because of their ability to learn from mistakes and to develop effective business strategies. Nike remains the number one athletic footwear producer in the world.

Nike has also experienced several weaknesses in the industry. Nike has had many allegations of having inhumane sweatshops in their overseas factories. Many people who bought Nike products were now rethinking whether they should support Nike and lack of morality that were shown. Although sweatshops can be seen as an advantage for production and cost, they are also a weakness because it may have deterred customers from buying their products. Another weakness is Nike’s insensitive strategy in advertising campaigns. According to Datamoniter, many of the recent advertisements that Nike produced had to be taken out of certain countries because they were viewed as offensive.

There are many opportunities that Nike can take advantage of in the future. They can grow through their subsidiaries. Nike owns many other brands that are popular in the marketplace such as Converse, Starter, and Nike Golf. Additionally, Nike is due to release its 10/2 line with Lance Armstrong. The LIVESTRONG bands, endorsed by Lance, had sales that were higher than any other Nike product. On Nike's website, they have created a "Just do it yourself" section where the customer can design their own shoes. This shows that Nike is a very innovative company that tries to stay a few steps ahead of its competitors. Another opportunity that has been rumored recently is that Nike may buyout Puma, the fourth largest in worldwide sales of athletic footwear. This opportunity could give Nike an even larger portion of the market share and it would help Nike get an even stronger grip on Europe.

Every company faces threats. The slowing U.S. economy could pose as a threat to the company because Nike is categorized as one of the more expensive athletic footwear companies. If the economy slows down, many consumers may not be able to afford an expensive shoe. Rapid changes in customer taste are a main threat to every company in the industry because consumers’ tastes are always changing and it is difficult for a company to constantly keep up. The most recent threat for Nike is adidas’ acquisition of Reebok. The combined companies would incur 21.2 percent of the U.S. market share and 25 percent of the global market share.