Strategic Fit - 5061 Words

Executive Summary Founded in the early 1960’s, Nike formerly known as Blue Ribbon Sport grew into one of the world’s most recognised brand. A leader in the field of sport clothing and footwear, Nike has always been one that encouraged innovation, creativity and growth. Outsourcing of its manufacturing processes, created an opportunity for Nike to realign itself and focus on its core competencies, doing what they do best research, development and advertise. By mid 1990’s the company began fighting attacks on its manufacturing practices in Asia, human rights and employee’s exploitation. The media sensationalised its overseas labor practices and their commitments to being socially responsible were questioned. In the wake of such†¦show more content†¦A value chain analysis can be use as a strategic tool for Nike to internally evaluate its processes and to see the advantage that Nike was able to gain from manufacturing in Asia. The value chain disaggregates a firm into strategically relevant activities in order to understand the behaviour of cost and the existing and potential sources of differentiation (Porter 1985, p.33). Porter (1985) suggested that it is at this level the company achieves competitive advantage, he classified the activities into two categories (Appendix II refers) primary giving the support and secondary activities that provide the infrastructure which enables the primary activities to take place. For Nike the inbound logistics, concern mainly with the sourcing of raw material, Asia provided Nike with a ready source of cheap raw material which was needed for the sophisticated composite soles, for example the air sole cushioning system, that was demanded in modern athletic shoe designs. Mechanization had not been considered effective for shoe manufacturing due to fragile materials used and to the short life span of styles (De Wit Mayer 2004 p.934). Nike maintained a virtual relationship with their subcontractor that allowed management to change contractors for lower cost and high quality. Operations started with production and ended with the subcontractor handing over ownership of the product to the next value chain participant. According to the case theShow MoreRelatedStrategic Fit1574 Words   |  7 PagesSTRATEGIC FIT – A STRATEGY TO ALIGN ORGANIZATION AND ENVIRONMENT Abstract This paper analyzes the term ‘strategic fit’ exactly means, types of strategic fit, necessities to focus on strategic fit, and most importantly how well an organization can align its resources capabilities with the opportunities that exist in the external environment so as to achieve peak performance in the business. Strategy of Nestlà © as an example to discuss how far it is true that effective strategic fit ensures organization’sRead MoreShrm and Strategic Fit6427 Words   |  26 PagesIntroduction ‘Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is concerned with the development and implementation of people strategies which are integrated with corporate strategies and ensure that the culture, values and structure of the organization and the quality, motivation and commitment of its members contribute fully to the achievement of its goals’ Armstrong (1991, p.81). While human resource management (HRM) focuses on the potential and actual productive value of ‘human resources’ (HR) toRead MoreThe Fit-Concept in Strategic Management Ââ€" an Inappropriate Idea for Companies in the 21st Century?7277 Words   |  30 PagesExecutive Summary The aim of this paper is confronted with the question of how the fit concept in strategic management is an appropriate idea or not for companies in the 21st century. 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The strategic business partner model emphasized the proper integration or fit of HR practices with the business strategies of the organization, to generate a competitive advantage. Vertical link between business strategy and HR strategies and horizontal links among HR strategies Strategic Human Resource Management is the practice of aligning business strategy with that of HR practices to achieve the strategic goals ofRead MoreOperational Effectiveness Is Not Strategy1123 Words   |  5 Pagesif we perform particular activities more efficiently than competitors and we have to look from all a company’s activities, not only a few. Operational effectiveness (OE) means performing similar activities better than rivals perform them, while Strategic positioning means performing different activities from rivals’ or performing similar activities in different ways. When companies try to improve its operational effectiveness, such as TQM, it requires capital investment, different personnel, or simply