市場學(xué)essay：有關(guān)nike公司產(chǎn)品創(chuàng)新研究A NEW PRODUCT BASED ON RECENT RESEARCH

發(fā)布新產(chǎn)品是企業(yè)發(fā)展歷史中的一塊豐碑。新產(chǎn)品的發(fā)布應(yīng)是協(xié)調(diào)統(tǒng)一的，即便是組織中最小的部門都應(yīng)該了解新產(chǎn)品及其規(guī)范。然而，管理者需要對市場形勢有清晰的、整體的想法并能夠預(yù)測產(chǎn)品能否被市場接受。預(yù)測的正確與否有助于其規(guī)劃未來、避免困難。另一群憂心新產(chǎn)品發(fā)布的便是企業(yè)的投資者。無論是小投資者還是大投資者，他們都會憂心并想知道新產(chǎn)品在市場上的亮點(diǎn)是什么及發(fā)布的結(jié)果如何。

 

為什么企業(yè)不顧損失去發(fā)布新產(chǎn)品呢？新產(chǎn)品能夠獲得產(chǎn)品系列、市場份額、企業(yè)品牌價值的優(yōu)勢。一旦謹(jǐn)慎發(fā)布，新產(chǎn)品便能扭轉(zhuǎn)企業(yè)虧損形勢、轉(zhuǎn)負(fù)為盈。然而，值得注意的是，一旦新產(chǎn)品無法在市場上立足，那么便可能專盈為負(fù)。然而，Schumpeter (1934)談到新產(chǎn)品引起的競爭比現(xiàn)有產(chǎn)品因價格增長而引起的競爭還要大。因此，從組織發(fā)展的角度看，當(dāng)務(wù)之急是在產(chǎn)品層面上創(chuàng)新并推出新產(chǎn)品。

 

A launch of a new product is a landmark in a company’s history. The launch of a product should ideally be a well-coordinated event where even the smallest department of the organization is informed of the new product and specification. The management, however, needs to have a clear and holistic idea about the market condition and should be able to predict the reception of the product in the market. Prediction, right or wrong, helps to plan for the future and avoids uninvited troubles. Another anxious group of people associated with the launch would be the investors of the company. Small or big, they will be anxious to know how the new product shines in the market and how the results of the launch are.

 

Why do companies take all the pain and loss in the world to launch a new product? New products breathe fresh life in to the product range, market share and the brand value of a company. When carefully launched, a new product can bring a company’s profit and loss account to green figures. The caveat, however, is that a new product that does not do well in the market can turn any green figure (of profit and loss account) into red. Nevertheless, Schumpeter (1934) remarked that the competition posed by novel products is more substantial than that posed by a small increase in the prices of existing products. Therefore, from a perspective of growth of an organization, it is imperative that innovations at product level are identified and brought out as new products.

 

Sports always have been a big entertainer for humans since time unknown. As time passed by and with the dawn of commercialization, sports also have turned into a commodity that can be sold. Sports have drawn interest not only from athletes and sport enthusiasts but also from business men and organizations. High performance sporting equipment manufacture and sales have seen many corporations rise and compete world over. With a large research and analysis going to every movement of a sportsman/sportswoman, sports equipment manufacturers are aiming higher comfort for these athletes and better profits for the organizations. This report will focus on one such manufacturer and a product that will help all athletes around the globe.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

ABOUT THE COMPANY - TO DEVELOP AND SUCCESSFULLY MARKET A NEW PRODUCT BASED ON RECENT 

RESEARCH

 

“Just do it”

 

Who does not know that slogan? If one has doubt, then remember the swoosh logo. Nike has grown more than being a brand. Nike has become a revolution. Nike started its conquest for sporting world in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports, a distributor for a Japanese shoe manufacturer, found by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. The present day name of Blue Ribbon Sports was conjured up by the company’s first full time employee, Jeff Johnson. The greatest success of Nike is that it was found by two visionaries who wanted to contribute to the sporting fraternity. Bill Bowerman was a coach at University of Oregon and Phil Knights, a runner who trained under him. Bowerman was particularly interested giving his athletes competitive edge. For this, he tried re-hydrating drinks, special tracks and most importantly, he clobbered up shoes for his athletes which were lighter than normal training shoes but had more traction and grip.

 

From being a mere distributor of shoes, with the vision of few sports enthusiasts, Nike has rose to become world’s most popular and leading maker of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a plethora of sports and fitness activities. The making involves many steps like designing. Nike’s designs are well sought after across the world.

 

Nike today proudly owns a multi-million dollar organization headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, a place where it was founded. Nike has factories in around 45 countries which include Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Cambodia etc. They employ around 30,000 people across six continents. With its fair share of controversies with regards to the installations outside United States, Nike tries to put strict control over the factory units to prevent violation of any human rights or ethics.

 

In this age of increasing focus on nature conservation and recycling, Nike is renowned for its initiatives towards usage of natural resources. As part of the textile industry which puts a serious pressure on the natural resources like water, vegetation etc., the chances of Nike being a corporation with just business focus is decent. However, with their constant environmental protection policy, Nike has earned quite a few accolades. Nike is ranked 3rd most climate friendly company (by an organization named Air-Cool Planet).

 

It cannot be disputed that Nike is known mostly for it advertisements. Nike has had a unique way of advertising since their formation. Nike works their marketing with help of endorsements from people who use their products, athletes. Steve Prefontaine, a young and promising athlete from Oregon who many thought would be a silver lining in athletics, was Nike’s first brand ambassador. Prefontaine worked together with the Bowerman and Johnson, often challenging them to produce better designs and remained Nike’s ambassador till his untimely and shocking demise at the age of 24. Since then, Nike has had famous endorsers, a list which includes sports who-is-whos like Michel Jordan, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Rahul Dravid, Kobe Bryant, Christiano Ronaldo etc. Nike advertisements mostly include these athletes performing and are always looked upon by millions of people across the globe. Nike’s advertisements were awarded Emmy Award thrice for best advertisement. These exemplify how much Nike invests in endorsements and advertisements.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

Like many other corporations, Nike also has its wholly owned subsidiaries. They include :

 

Cole Haan – A designer & luxury shoes and other leather accessories manufacturer and marketer.

 

Converse Inc. – A premier shoe manufacturer with a reputation of “America’s Original Sports Company”.

 

Hurley International LLC – A sports apparel company which specialises in surfing, skateboarding and youth lifestyle apparels.

 

NIKE Golf – Designs and markets Golf Balls, Clubs and other golf accessories. Based in Beaverton, Oregon.

 

Umbro Ltd. – Famous English athletic and casual footwear, apparel and equipment manufacturer (primarily for football) based in Manchester, England.

 

Hence, the company chosen for the study is undoubtedly the best in the market and has experience of churning out and making success of new product lines on a regular basis. The company has the monetary foundation for supporting research and development of a new product and also has the expertise in market analysis and placing the new product in the right market.

 

ABOUT THE PRODUCT - TO DEVELOP AND SUCCESSFULLY MARKET A NEW PRODUCT BASED ON RECENT RESEARCH

 

The product that is being proposed for development is a sports wear for athletes which adjust the inner temperature according to the external conditions.

 

Comfort is required for any human being or animal to work at its higher potential. This is of higher importance in areas like sports where performance is of prime importance. The difference between a successful career and a ruined life is of the order of milliseconds or even less. Hence, athletes tend to use all that available that will keep him (or her) at comfort while performing so that they are not distracted with any other factors. So, while they are performing in warm climate, they would want clothing that will keep them cool and absorb all the sweat that is dissipated by their bodies so that they feel dry and comfortable. In cold climates, they use clothing that keep him (or her) warm and again keep the body dry. So, depending upon the climate of the place where they are going to compete, athletes are to choose the kind of clothing. It is not uncommon for athletes to be surprised by the unexpected climate and having to change clothing and adjust at the last minute when they should be concentrating for the competition.

 

In such in a scenario, any athlete would appreciate clothing that adapts itself according to the external climate. This will save them from pre-planning the kind of clothing and prepare themselves for the unwelcome surprises. This kind of clothing therefore would need three key qualities:

 

Thermal layer which will keep the warmth within the clothing and not let it outside

 

Dry layer which will absorb the sweat and keep the athlete dry

 

Cooling layer which will breathe cool air into the clothing and hence cooling the body

 

In spite of having three different layers, the cloth needs to be as thin as a second skin for the athlete thereby saving the clumsiness of loose apparel.

 

Thermal layer

 

The thermal layer will have a backing inside the dry stretch fabric that will seal the body heat within the clothing and hence keeping the athlete warm

 

Fig: The heat generated by the body is trapped inside by the thermal layer backing

 

Dry Layer

 

The fabric will contain wicks that will absorb the sweat produced by the body of the athlete.

 

Fig: The water (sweat) inside the clothing should be released outside

 

Cooling Layer

 

The cooling layer permits cross ventilation of cool air in the hottest of the climates. The air circulation vents should be strategically placed where the need for cool air is the most like at the arm pits and along the spine of the athlete.

 

Fig: The heat trapped inside should be ejected out

 

PURPOSE OF NEW PRODUCT - TO DEVELOP AND SUCCESSFULLY MARKET A NEW PRODUCT BASED ON RECENT RESEARCH

 

“An innovation is said to have occurred when a new product or process has been incorporated into a regular production program” (Rosegger. G 1986)

 

This product that will be developed will help athletes around the world do what they do best, irrespective of whether it is cold or hot outside. This will be a great advantage for the players are many of them currently have to pre-plan their attire before getting into a game or event. This planning is sometime managed by physio of the team they play with. But the amount of warmth or cooling a player wants can play a big factor in their comfort during the sport.

 

A player or sportsman/woman needs to be at ease with the environment while they indulge in their activity. Such a comfort can affect their performance in a huge way. Consider the scenario where an athlete is participating in an event during winter. The athlete is forced to wear thermal wear to keep the body and muscles warm. Normally, these thermal wears are thin and are not efficient in locking the warmth inside the clothing. Hence, athletes are forced to wear another layer of clothing. This can be clumsy and can negatively affect some of their movements and hence warmth comes at the cost of loss in comfort and concentration. This, for obvious reasons, can hinder the performance by the athlete.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

With the current product, an athlete will get the same warmth as with multiple layers of clothing, thanks to the new technology, without having to lose concentration due to the clumsiness of the sportswear. The clothing will stay stuck to the athlete’s body and will keep it warm or cold as necessitated by the climate outside.

 

CURRENT PORTFOLIO – REVIEW THE CURRENT PRODUCT RANGE OF THE ORGANIZATION

 

The current portfolio of Nike is a very exhaustive list. Few important and popular products from the portfolio is being listed according to the sport they are used for.

 

There are many hundreds more of products that are not listed here to avoid an expansive list.

 

The product that is being proposed will be part of the clothing/equipment category of most sporting activities. The product is set to revolutionize the sportswear sector with the product and market expertise of Nike.

 

Nike has another division, NikeiD, which allows customers to personally customize their footwear/apparel. Nike is trying to run against what Hamel and Prahalad (1994) suggested, “listening to your customer may actually stifle technological innovation and be detrimental to long-term business successes” through NikeiD. NikeiD has been a reasonable success and the organization looks forward to it for propelling their profits.

 

HOW IT FITS INTO CURRENT PORTFOLIO - REVIEW THE CURRENT PRODUCT RANGE OF THE ORGANIZATION

 

The product that is being proposed will fit into the sportswear portfolio of Nike. The company will use its traditional approach of marketing and launching their products with the new product as well.

 

The adaptive sportswear can be used for any sport. Since it is the material that makes the cloth, the same material can be used for producing clothes for both men and woman. The material can be used for producing clothing specific for particular sports. For example, American football needs the innerwear to be attached with protective pads. Also, these clothes need to be tightly fitting. So, professional sports persons would want their clothing to be customized.

 

SWOT – ANALYSIS OF MARKET CONDITION AND COMPETITION

 

SWOT Analysis is a technique to analyse the external and internal factors that will affect the performance of a particular product of an organization. It lists out the strengths and weaknesses of an organization and also opportunities and threats to the organization. Strength and weaknesses are analysed based on internal data of the organization. Opportunities and threats are deduced based on data from factors that are external to the organization.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

Helpfulfactors

 

Degradingfactors

 

Factors that are internalto the organization

 

Strength

 

Weakness

 

Factors that are externalto the organization

 

Opportunity

 

Threat

 

Fig: Summary of SWOT Analysis

 

SWOT Analysis when done for the adaptive sportswear, we can list of the following deductions.

 

Strengths:

 

The Nike brand

 

Research and Innovation history of Nike

 

The multi-million dollar backing of Nike

 

Market share of Nike

 

Nike’s ability to quickly adapt to problems (failures) in market

 

Excellent environmental record

 

Weaknesses:

 

Pricing pressure

 

Sceptical outlook of athletes

 

Opportunities:

 

The lack for sportswear which keeps athlete both cool and warm

 

The compression effect of the product which will be like a second skin to the athlete

 

No competitor having the potential of investing in R&D as much as Nike does

 

Threats:

 

Endorsement from a prominent sport personality can be costly

 

Competitors coming up with similar technology

 

Cheap gimmicks will sprout in Chinese markets

 

TASK 2

 

RESOURCES, TOOLS AND SYSTEMS REQUIRED – IDENTIFY THE NATURE AND TYPES OF RESOURCES REQUIRED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF NEW PRODUCT. THESE RESOURCES CAN INCLUDE INDISPENSIBLE RESOURCES LIKE HUMAN RESOURCES, RAW MATERIALS ETC BUT ARE NOT RESTRICTED TO THESE. ALSO IDENTIFY THE POSSIBLE SOURCES OF THESE RESOURCES.

 

“The actual effectiveness of the organisation will be dependent upon the quality of its people, its objectives and structure, and the resources available to it.” Laurie (2002)

 

Every initiative, every new venture needs the organization to gear up for the upcoming task. It starts with the management who plans the new venture. In this case, the venture is the development and production of the new product, its launch and related analysis. Since it is a new product that is being developed, the organization as a whole needs participation in it. Let us analyse what are the resources that are needed for the development of the new product.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

The resources that are needed for the venture can be broadly classified as two: Non-human resources and human resources.

 

Non-human resources

 

These include the resources that do not include the human resources. These include the following.

 

Movable and immovable assets: These include the buildings, machinery, other resources like power, water, storage facilities etc. However, assets also include the capital assets that the company hold and also the intellectual assets like designs, patents on raw materials and its compositions.

 

Raw Materials: The raw materials themselves form a big part of the non-human resources. The raw materials in this case include the clothing raw materials like cotton, rubber, lycra, poly styrene, poly ethylene, poly ester etc. The raw materials are mixed together (macerated in some cases) to form fabrics which will be later used for stitching the sportswear.

 

Human Resources

 

Human resources are the more valuable resources of an organization. Human resources are more difficult to manage and mistakes in human resource management can lead to huge complexities which can lead consequences ranging from the failure of product development to lock out of the company. Human resources include the following classes of people:

 

Managers: The management consists of the managers. Managers also include the middle tier people who carry out the management function among the lowest level employees thus coordinating the effort of product development from its lowest stages. It is common wrong notion that managers merely order employees to work, supervise them etc. However, a good manager will be involved in all the activities that make the employee feel comfortable at work which makes him possible to do his best for the organization. Hence, managers are not just ordering people; they also mentor and develop the employees. The top management, therefore, should take precautionary steps to make sure that they chose the right managers and be the right managers.

 

Skilled Employees: The skilled workers of the organization mainly consist of tailors and machine operators. They have clear idea about the specifications of the products and build them according to the designs provided to them. As they are skilled, the quality of work expected from them is of high standards and the defect rates needs to be very zero. Skilled workers can also be trained when the specification is changing.

 

Unskilled Employees: Unskilled workers are involved in the works of the factory those do not need much precision. Such works include requirements of logistics, movement of semi-finished goods from one machine or shop to another, packaging etc.

 

Third party vendors: Third party vendors are external agents who are also actively involved in the success of a product. The items or goods they deliver needs to be of utmost quality and will have a direct impact on the quality of the developed new product. Hence, caution should be exercised in finalizing the vendor.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

HUMAN RESOURCES - IDENTIFY THE NATURE AND TYPES OF RESOURCES REQUIRED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF NEW PRODUCT. THESE RESOURCES CAN INCLUDE INDISPENSIBLE RESOURCES LIKE HUMAN RESOURCES, RAW MATERIALS ETC BUT ARE NOT RESTRICTED TO THESE. ALSO IDENTIFY THE POSSIBLE SOURCES OF THESE RESOURCES.

 

Developing a new product is not a one man job. It is a collective effort of an entire organization. So is the quality of a product. Hence, developing a new, high quality product is the essence of an innovation and requires the effort of complete organization.

 

However, not all people who are part of the organization will involve directly in the development and production of the new product. It directly involves only a few members of the company.

 

Let us have a look at the personnel distribution who will directly involve in the production of the new adaptive sportswear.

 

Designation

 

Roles

 

Board of Directors

 

Providing the basic support to the innovation

 

Allocate monetary support and quota for the new project

 

Allocate managers who will manage the project

 

HR Executives

 

Recruit specialists, if needed

 

Work with the top management on the allocation of work, roles etc.

 

Line Managers and Supervisors

 

Set goals and objectives for the related department or sub-department

 

Motivate the employees reporting to perform to the best of their potential

 

Orient the goal of the team with that of the organization

 

Aid in strategic planning of resources

 

Analyse the requirements for the project

 

Delegate the work according to the skill level of the employees

 

Address issues that hinder the progress of the project

 

Scientist and Research Team

 

Research

 

Development

 

Analyse product at different stages and make sure that the path is correct

 

Labourers

 

Transportation of the raw materials and semi-finished goods

 

Assembly of the different parts and stitching them together

 

Packaging

 

Delivery

 

Marketing

 

Effective sales

 

Marketing of the product

 

The above list is not a complete and exhaustive list. There are many more roles and functions of the roles already mentioned. Nevertheless, the list emphasises the different classes of people working together to aid the development and production of a new product.

 

Another huge class of stakeholders who are not mentioned in the above list is the external agencies that include the raw material suppliers, the machine supplier and their engineers. They also play an important role in the development of the new product.

 

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT - IDENTIFY THE NATURE AND TYPES OF RESOURCES REQUIRED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF NEW PRODUCT. THESE RESOURCES CAN INCLUDE INDISPENSIBLE RESOURCES LIKE HUMAN RESOURCES, RAW MATERIALS ETC BUT ARE NOT RESTRICTED TO THESE. ALSO IDENTIFY THE POSSIBLE SOURCES OF THESE RESOURCES.

 

As mentioned earlier, innovation is taking the centre stage and is becoming one the chief differentiator in the present world competition. There are famous philosophers of economics who compared the innovation that a company brings about in its ranks to the competitive advantage.

 

Innovation cannot be brought about in a day’s brainstorming session, as is done by many organizations. Innovation is the result of well though-about, strategically planned initiatives. The most important initiative is the investment into to Research and Development.

 

Research and development department of a company is what drives the innovation in the organization. Merely having a department called Research and Development and managers to manage innovation would not do the job. R&D should be headed by people who know about technology as much they know about market economics and about the organization. It is common to see the R&D Divisions being headed by Chief Technical Officers of big organizations.

 

Again, naming a building in the campus as R&D Department and having a knowledgeable person as its head would not be sufficient. An effective research needs people who are committed to the company’s cause of producing better products. They need the environment, need accesses to technologies and machinery and also need accesses to the software that simulate the use of products. R&D is a painstaking process and will go through its share of disappointments. The key is to continue investing and believing in the research potential.

 

Fig: Shows the relation between the tangibility of different products

 

The research and development needs to handle and test products at different stages. The items or the products that undergo testing will depend on the stage. Some products such as idea or theories may not be tangible and hence cannot be taken places to test. In such cases, the validity of such ideas needs to be discussed among groups of the department and if found necessary, realised and tested a physical product whose tangibility is high and which can go through physical tests.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

At Nike, the focus of around 3000 researchers is in providing better services for athletes. They also have a very capable mechanism of testing the effectiveness of the existing and newly developed products. This investment of Nike in the R&D department helps in innovating the existing products and techniques.

 

The research and development department also creates techniques and machines that help the product development department to assess the quality and effectiveness of the product at earlier stages there by helping them to make corrective mechanisms before a inefficient and low quality product is developed.

 

TASK 3

 

MARKETING STRATEGY – PLAN AND DEVELOP AN APPROPRIATE MARKETING STRATEGY FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW PRODUCT

 

Development of a good quality, reliable, efficient novel product will not constitute the success of a product. An organization that produces are new product will be successful only if it markets its product in the best strategy.

 

The new product marketing strategy should be carefully thought about and planned. Planning is a big and crucial step; however, the most important step will be to implement the planning on the sales floor. Nike has the experience and success of developing, launching and thus, carrying the new product to great successes. However, this experience can often lead to complacency. Complacency is a pitfall that happens to organizations that are relatively new. Nike, automatically, will not lose out to complacency. Nevertheless, it should be kept in mind while planning the market strategy.

 

Like any good and successful company, Nike has its own approach to marketing a new product. Marketing can be done in the following steps:

 

Finding a brand ambassador: A prominent athlete who is popular in his/her sport will be chosen to endorse the product. The same athlete(s) can be used for testing the prototype of the product. This is a costly plan, but Nike has been successful with this approach. It is easier to penetrate into the minds of sports men and woman through a person who shares their difficulty, i.e., through the endorsing athlete.

 

Making a video or short commercial with the endorsing athlete: A small yet interesting and entertaining video or commercial featuring the athlete who endorses the product will be made. The video will feature the athlete with the new product and showing his/her skills off. Television and internet are the mediums where the video can be published. This video can be a big boost to the brand of Nike and the image of the future product.

 

Opening early bookings for the product in the online store: The product can be put on display and early bookings can be opened in the online store of the company. This can create an initial rush for the product and will ensure that the opening batch will find the required sales.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

Big banners and real, long advertisements: Then, the product can be displayed in big banners, huge televisions near famous and popular game stadiums etc. Real and long advertisements can be played in the television and internet as well where many athletes from different sporting fraternities can feature. This will market the product to the people and there will be anticipation for the product launch.

 

Gala launching event: The product can be launched in a gala launching event across the world or in selected countries.

 

Throughout the process of pre-launch and in the small advertisement, it is necessary to create anticipation towards the product. This has multi fold effects as stated by Don Sull (2005) “During periods of active waiting, leaders must probe the future and remain alert to anomalies that signal potential threats or opportunities; exercise restraint to preserve their war chests; and maintain the discipline to keep the troops battle ready. When a golden opportunity or a sudden death threat emerges, they must have the courage to declare the main effort and concentrate resources to seize the moment.”

 

Thus, a lead time for the product launch as important as choosing the markets where the product will be launched.

 

TARGETED MARKETS

 

The adaptive sportswear launch will be done sequentially across multiple markets to reduce the risk of failure and non-acceptance.

 

#

 

REGION

 

OPPORTUNITIES

 

CHALLENGES

 

United Kingdom, Europe and United States of America

 

More number of professional sports men and women

 

Stronger market presence and experience

 

Competition from other competitors can be problem

 

In case of leak, competitors can bring a competing product in short time

 

Middle East and China

 

Sophistication of life can earn more sales in high income regions like Middle East

 

After Olympics, greater exposure in China will pay dividends

 

Governments are strict and difficult to convince

 

Piracy in Chinese economy can pose trouble

 

Africa

 

Upcoming importance to Soccer, established popularity for Cricket and Rugby can boost sales among upcoming talents

 

Poor purchasing power

 

Lack of technical know-how will render the new technology useless in bringing sales

 

India

 

Upcoming upper and middle class with high purchasing power

 

Tech savvy customers

 

Fastest growing economy

 

Interfering and corrupt politics pose threat

 

Chinese pirated goods easily reach

 

Un-tappable lower middle class

 

The above table is drawn with the judgement made by me. The information is coincidental and is written according to my knowledge of how the adaptive sportswear needs to be marketed.

 

MONITORING THE QUALITY – DEVELOP NECESSARY AND APT METHODS TO MONITOR AND EVALUATE THE PROGRESS OF THE INTRODUCTION OF PRODUCT

 

A quality output is the most important aspect of a product of an organization. Quality has become a major differentiator between products as quality generates interest among customers. However, Quality is never achieved through quality raw materials or quality machines. Quality is a habit that should be present in every aspect of the production of the organization.

 

Total Quality Management

 

The ISO8402 definition of Total Quality Management is the “Management approach of an organization, centred on quality, based on the participation of all its members and aiming at long-term success through customer satisfaction, and benefits to all members of the organization and to society”

 

John S. Oakland (1993) stressed the importance of TQM as “We cannot avoid seeing how quality has developed into the most important competitive weapon, and many organizations have realised that TQM is the way of managing for the future”.

 

According to gurus of TQM, the following are important indispensible for a good quality product.

 

The product should meet consumer expectations. The term consumers encompass a wide variety of people with a plethora of requirements and expectations. A good quality product needs to cater to the requirements and expectations of a majority of the consumers.

 

Every single person in the organization should be involved in the quality of the product. This is one of the key messages of TQM. Every stakeholder, from the CEO to the lowest level of employee, should be informed, educated and involved in the quality of the product.

 

The cost of quality should be determined beforehand and it will become the only performance indicator of the products quality. The estimation of cost of quality will also involve the identification of the importance of doing the job right the first time. Phil Crosby has asserted that it is always cheaper to do the job right the first time.

 

In order to prevent defects in the product the first time it is produced, the design of the product should be checked multiple times. It also involves reviewing the design by committees for zero defect programmes.

 

“Quality requires continuous improvement” is one of the ten benchmarks set by Feigenbaum for total quality success. Hence, the organization should set up councils and other mechanisms to continuously improve the quality of the product.

 

Conclusion

 

“Innovation in industry and commerce is a given. In local government organisations some may find it a more curious concept. But this simplistic, stereotypical view of management is wrong. Managers must manage professionally in whatever sector they function – or leave themselves vulnerable to the threats in an increasingly global and competitive environment. This applies to managers of public sector organisations as well as to private sector managers – and survival for many will be dependent upon the effective management of change and innovation.” Robinson (2000)

 

Hence, as explained by Robinson, it is very important that any management of any given organization considers innovation as the chief driver of their success. Without innovation and new product development, it is quite obvious for an organization of any given status to find their existence on balance.

 

The adaptive sportswear is a product that any athlete would want in their armoury, to help and aid them to perform at their best. This product will surely revolutionize the way athletes used their apparel during competition and will them a competitive edge over those who do not use them. To be delivered to them by Nike, the most trusted and favoured name in sportswear, footwear, sports equipment, will surely favour them spending whatever it is to acquire this product.

 

The ultimate aim of the product will be relieve athletes from the unnecessary distractions before and during competition because of a factor that they do not have control over, nature. The unpredictability of climate and nature can often jeopardize the results of the competition. The adaptive sportswear will give the confidence to the athletes to compete with full energy and focus, whatever the climate be!

 

No matter what the competitors of Nike say or advertise against the product, the truth is that this will be an invaluable asset to the sportsmen and women. The product can be prototyped in a matter of months after the design is over. It is during the prototyping, with the help of athletes themselves, when minor adjustments and tweaking can be made to suit the best needs of Nike’s consumers, the athletes. Taking into consideration all those events, the product can be expected to be on the product floor for mass production and subsequent launching within 18-24 months after the design phase starts. Since the design of the product is done by professionals who have been with Nike designing many successful products, the success of this product can be the cornerstone of few innovations and inventions.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

Hence, it is never ambitious to state that the Adaptive sportswear designed, manufactured and marketed by Nike will transform the outlook of sportspersons and people towards the apparel that they wear during indulgence in sporting activities.

 

References

 

http://www.nikebiz.com/company_overview/

 

http://www.nike.com/