BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U
The case tells the story of the transformation of the corporate learning function at Nike Inc. and the creation and branding of the Nike U. It provides an account of the transformation plan that was developed by the newly appointed CLO Andrew Kilshaw and tracks the implementation process with its challenges and successes. It also outlines the key components of a learning brand of a multinational corporation. Learning objectives: Identify the key priorities of a new CLO. Outline the key components of a corporate learning brand. Identify ways in which learning creates value for an organization.
Swot Analysis of "BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U" written by Shlomo Ben-Hur, Robert Crawford includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Learning Nike facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Learning Nike, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Learning Nike operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Learning Nike
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Learning Nike
Strengths BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Learning Nike in BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Learning Nike has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Learning Nike is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Learning Nike is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Learning Nike has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Learning Nike to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Learning Nike is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Learning Nike in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Learning Nike is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Learning Nike digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Learning Nike has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Innovation driven organization
– Learning Nike is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Learning Nike is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Learning Nike has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Learning Nike has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Learning Nike has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Organizational Resilience of Learning Nike
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Learning Nike does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Learning Nike has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Learning Nike needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Learning Nike is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Learning Nike products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Learning Nike needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U HBR case study mentions - Learning Nike takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Learning Nike supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Learning Nike vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Learning Nike has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U, it seems that the employees of Learning Nike don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Learning Nike 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U, is just above the industry average. Learning Nike needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Opportunities BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Learning Nike to increase its market reach. Learning Nike will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Learning Nike to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Learning Nike to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Learning Nike in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Learning Nike can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Learning Nike can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Leadership & Managing People segment.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Learning Nike has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Learning Nike to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Learning Nike has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Learning Nike can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Learning Nike operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Learning Nike can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Developing new processes and practices
– Learning Nike can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Learning Nike can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Learning Nike has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Learning Nike to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U case study. Learning Nike can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Learning Nike can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Threats BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Learning Nike in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Learning Nike with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Learning Nike needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Learning Nike high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Increasing wage structure of Learning Nike
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Learning Nike.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Learning Nike demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Environmental challenges
– Learning Nike needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Learning Nike can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Learning Nike can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Learning Nike business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Learning Nike needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Learning Nike can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Learning Nike will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Learning Nike has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Learning Nike needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of BUILDING THE CORPORATE LEARNING BRAND: THE STORY OF NIKE U is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Learning Nike needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.