Personal Development within Nike

Introduction:

This assignment is about analyzing our own personality and behavior and focusing on developing the behavior which will help in building different characteristics that are needed to become an efficient strategic manager. We have taken ‘Nike’ as the organization, where we will focus on different traits that are required to be developed in person to be a strategic manager for the particular organization. This assignment will bring into focus different skills and traits that will help an individual to build his managerial as well as leadership skills that are important for the success of an individual in an organization.

LO1: Be able to identify personal skills to achieve strategic ambitions

Analyse the strategic direction of the organisation

Nike Inc. is world’s leading company in sports industry. The company was established in the year 1968 in the state of Oregon. It is one of the leading players in sports footwear, apparel, equipments and accessory products. Nike, the name of the company is taken on the name of the Greek Goddess of Victory. With its strong marketing strategy, Nike Inc. has been successful in stretching its reach globally. Nike has followed the innovative strategy and has captured the market by introducing different athletic brands such as Nike Air, Max Air, Zoom Air, Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike +, Air Jordan, Nike Skateboarding and Nike Shox. The company operates in over 170 countries globally with company operates retail outlets, and independent distributors and licensee. The principle activity of the company is design, development and worldwide marketing of its products which includes sports footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. The company produces its footwear and apparel products outside United States, whereas the sports equipments are manufactured in United States as well as other parts of the world.

With its highly recognized slogan “Just do it” and its distinguish swoosh logo (representing the wing of Greek goddess NIKE), Nike has been successful in building up a strong brand image which successfully captures maximum sports market and sponsors different athletes and sports teams around the world and has evolved into one of the biggest multinational corporation in sports industry.

The strategic objective of Nike is to hold its position as the market leader in sports footwear sector with a strong focus on innovation, research and development. Company works on authenticity, honesty, athletic, competitiveness, performance and teamwork. These are the strategic objectives which the company follows so as to have a competitive edge in the market.

Evaluate the strategic skills required of the leader to achieve the strategic ambitions

Nike operates in highly competitive environment and needs to have a strong focus on innovation, research and development. To operate in highly competitive and a multinational organization it is very important to have strong communication skills, analytical skills, leadership skills, time management skills, problem solving skills and negotiation skills.

Communication Skills: Communication is the base of an organization. It is one the most important skills which focuses on meeting the personal as well as organizational goals, it is one of the biggest driver which focuses on stimulating the behavior of an individual in an organization. It is very important for a manager to have effective communication skills as it helps in driving and motivating the employee’s behavior. It also helps in effectively expressing the feelings and emotion of the employee and the manager which helps in creating a bonding between the manager and the employee.

Leadership Skills: Leadership is one of the most important aspect of an organization without leadership the organizational performance is minimal as it helps in increasing the efficiency and the working of the employees in the organization. It helps in influencing the people. ‘Leadership can be termed as an interpersonal process that involves attempts to influence other people in attaining organizational goals’ (Hitt, 2009). Leaders help the employees and other members of the organization to focus on achieving the set goals and objectives of the organization. Leaders help in guiding and motivating their subordinates or followers to work on a certain perspective which helps in attaining productive results.

Negotiation Skill: Being in a multinational organization it is very important for an manager to have negotiation skill as it is a skill that is needed on day to day working within the organization as well as personal working. It is important for a manager to have efficient negotiation skills so as to settle different arguments and conflicts in the organization. For being an efficient negotiator it is important for a manager to be open mindedpro active, empathic, good communicator, friendly, and intuitive.

Problem Solving Skills: It is important for a strategic manager to have strong analytical and problem solving skill as the manager encounters different challenges in their day to day working where their analytical skill and problem solving skill playa a crucial rule which helps in achieving the organizational goals and objectives.

Time Management: Time Management is very important tool which helps in developing the personality of the person. It basically refers to the skills, and techniques which help in managing the time in respect to accomplish the set goals and objectives. An effective time management is helpful in many ways such as effective time management helps in reducing stress and anxiety, builds a sense of achievement, helps in increasing the energy, helps in increasing productivity, helps in reducing avoidance, helps in building up the confidence. Time never stays for anyone. So time can only be managed, it cannot be controlled replaced or recreated.

Assess the relationship between existing, required and future skills to achieve the strategic ambitions

To achieve the strategic goals and objectives the strategic manager needs to have strong skills in respect to manage the team and their working. The manager needs to have strong analytical skills and technical skills which will help in nurturing innovation in the organization. The strategic manger needs have a strong focus on authenticity, honesty, athletic, competitiveness, performance and teamwork skills which are the pillars of Nike so as to focus on achieving the strategic objectives and goals of the organization. The manager needs to have strong leadership skills so as to achieve the strategic goals and objectives of the organization.

LO2. Be able to manage personal leadership development to support achievement of strategic ambitions

2.1 Discuss the opportunities to support leadership development

Nike is the organization which has a strong focus on research and development, for this the organization gives a strong focus to training and development of the employees. The organization strongly focuses on innovation, the employees are motivated to do different experiments in an innovative measure. The CEO of the company has focused on reorganizing the company into different units that are categorized in different particular sports. Mark Parker says, “a conscious decision to sharpen each piece of the business so we’re not some big fat dumb company,”. He has put strong emphasis in new global market and have made a strong emphasis on the nations like China and Japan because they are nations on low cost production, the CEO of Nike strongly focuses on eliminating the middle management and restructured the organization by down turning. This has helped in increasing the leadership skills within the organization. Nike also has an Innovation Kitchen, which is a think tank where all the designers work on their creativity and enhance their skills. ‘The Kitchen is a free-range creative playpen, with every type of tool, material, machine, toy, instrument, software, game, and inspirational image at the ready.’ (McGrit, 2010). Kitchen is one of the most secured place in the organization where not all the employees are allowed to enter the organization. The organization focuses on open communication so as to facilitate innovation in the organization. He wants all his employees to share all their thoughts and imagination so as to build innovative company. These are different perspectives which help in developing leadership skills within the organization. The organization also urges the managers to work innovatively by collaborating themselves on different perspectives by focusing on nature, animal and building so as to inspire the employees in the organization to work innovatively and effectively.

2.2 Construct a personal development plan to direct leadership development

For having effective leadership skills it is very important to work on different skills which help in enhancing the leadership qualities that are required in the organization. Nike being an organization which focuses on innovation, being creative is one of the most important perspective that is required for an efficient strategic manager, as creativity helps in building up new ideas for developing new products and will also help in facilitating the creativity within the organization. For facilitating a high creative perspective it is important for a manager to work on five P model of creativity i.e. Passion, Persistence, Persuasion, Playfulness and Positivity.

It is important to have innovative thinking as well as strong visionary goals which will help in building a positive environment in the organization. For being an efficient manager it is important to have strong communication skill which will help in facilitating communication where employees share the problem with subordinates as a group, and together, they generate and evaluate alternatives and attempt to reach consensus on a solution. The manager needs to develop skills which include drive, the desire to lead, honesty/integrity, self-confidence, cognitive ability and knowledge of the business. It helps in enhancing the performance of the employees. The efficient strategic manager needs to be characterized by high Self-confidence, strong vision, ability to articulate the vision (speaking ability), strong convictions about the vision, highly creative and innovative, perceived as agents of change and Environmental Sensitivity (threats, opportunities). An efficient manager needs to have enhanced time management and stress management skills which will help in increasing the efficiency of the managers and will help them in building different leadership skills which will help the employees and subordinates to work on different organizational goals and objectives.

2.3 Devise an implementation process for the development plan

Improvement of skills:

Time Management: For being an efficient strategic manager it is important for a manager to work efficiently on given time. It is important for a manager to set their priorities and work according to the set proprieties so that they are able to finish up the most important thing at the first stage and are able to manage the time effectively and efficiently. There are different techniques which help in setting the priorities such as ABC analysis, Pareto analysis, POSEC method, these methods helps in prioritizing different tasks by Organizing, Streamlining, Economizing and Contributing. With the help of these techniques the manager are able to manage their time effectively and also manage their meeting efficiently. With a strong focus on time management the manager will not work under stress and pressure and will have ample time to work on enhancing their creativity and building up new ideas for development of new products focusing on enhancing creativity and skills which will help the manager to achieve the set targets and goals.

Stress Management:Working under a multinational organization creates stress. There are several techniques which help in managing stress, one of the most important being Yoga, yoga is one of the best exercise which helps in attaining mental peace. It helps in developing different skills and controlling different stress situation as a person is at mental ease when he does yoga.

Eating healthy food is also important to minimize stress, healthy food helps in giving proper health to the person and he is able to work efficiently as healthy body helps in removing stress.

Sports activities are also one of the important ways through which stress can be minimized, one can indulge himself in indoor or outdoor sports activity, it helps in relaxing the mind of an individual which in turn helps in increasing the mind power.

Communication Skills: It is very important for a manager or leader to possess. They need to have strong communication skills so as to facilitate different information through different levels of the organization. To have strong communicator one need to be a good listener and believe in whatever he communicates. One should be clear in what he is communicating to the other person.

Problem solving: to become a good problem solver, a person needs to be creative and innovative in every work he does, he must work on developing practical solutions so as to facilitate proper problem solving, Different strategies and methods must be used to solve problems pertaining to different areas.

LO3. Be able to evaluate the effectiveness of the leadership development plan

With a strong focus on enhancing the skills, the manager will be able to develop several skills which will help in enhancing the skills of the strategic manager. With adoption of the leadership development plan the manger will be able to build on Inspirational leadership quality with a strong focus on vision for the future, self awareness and empathy. The manager will also able to build on the traits of charismatic leaders, with the improvement on his communication skills, with enhancing and working on the communication skills the manager will be able to clearly communicate with the employees and maintain their enthusiastic and excitement level with a display of high level of self confidence and self esteem. With working on time management skills the manager will be able to adopt cost efficient and cost effective measures with a strong focus on increasing the productivity of the organization. The manager will focus on developing the skills of people by motivating them to accomplish their goals. The manager will focus on building the organization culture and environment that will help in building a strong and friendly environment. With enhancement on communication skill the manager will also focus on displaying participative leadership. The manager will focus on assigning their subordinates new tasks and involving them in new tasks enhances the performance of the subordinate. This will also help in enhancing the skills of the subordinates.

LO4. Be able to promote a healthy and safe environment that supports a culture of quality

4.1 Assess the impact of corporate and individual health and safety responsibilities on the organisation

Nike considers sustainability as one of the most essential part for the success of the organization. ‘Today, the corporate responsibility approach has evolved from focusing on risk management, philanthropy and compliance to one that utilizes natural focus on innovation to transition NIKE, Inc. into a business that is more sustainable, by which it mean that it brings people, planet and profits into balance for lasting success.’ (Corporate Social Responsibility report’ 2009).

Nike focuses on delivering innovative products in sustainable way. It focuses on recognizing the sustainability that routes to future profitability. With the increasing globalization and new demands across the market, according to him the company needs to focus on capturing the maximum market and provide its customers innovative and customized products. According to Mark Parker, the company needs to work innovatively which is possible only when the organization is able to succeed in a world where natural and human resources are constrained. There are several issues that will impact the business and the preferences of the consumer market, these issues concern the change in climate, depletion of natural resources, peaking oil prices and growth in population. The company focuses on working on the grounds in which it can survive in the changing conditions. With these changes around the world and economy, there will be potential effect to labor forces, working conditions, communities, development, youth, sport, supply chains, products and more.

The company has built up a new strategy to focus on the coming future. It has built a new model and shift to sustainable business and innovation. ‘The vision for SB&I is to enable NIKE, Inc. and our consumers to thrive in a sustainable economy, one where people, planet and profit are in balance. To do this, the company will:

1. Innovate to deliver enterprise-level sustainability solutions.

2. Integrate sustainability into the heart of the NIKE, Inc. business model.

3. Mobilize key constituents (civil society, employees, consumers, government and industry) to partner in scaling solutions.’ (Corporate Social Responsibility Report, 2009).

The company focuses on designing products that are fully closed-loop: products produced using the fewest possible materials, designed for easy disassembly and capable of being recycled into new products or safely returned to nature at the end of their life. The company focuses on innovating its manufacturing, production, recapturing, recycling ad reusing. Nike focuses on building “innovation lab” focuses on delivering enterprise and industry level sustainability solutions.

The company focuses on integrating corporate social responsibility to its organization on whole. This will help in upstream decision making and integrated sustainable thinking.

The company has taken several efforts to improve the working conditions across its supply chain. This can be done through influencing policies in respect to improving the working conditions and encouraging collaboration between society, industry and government.

Nike focuses n achieving sustainability across all its horizons of its operations. Nike has incorporated several steps so as to bring sustainable change in the working condition and for the workers of footwear, apparel and equipment industry.

4.2 Estimate an organisational culture of quality on the achievement of strategic ambitions

Leadership and organizational culture are the most important part of an organization which helps in improving the efficiency and productivity of the organization. Organization culture can be termed as the set of values, and the beliefs that are shared by the individuals working in the organization whereas organizational climate is the environment of the organization, it affects the structure, performance and responsibility of the employees in an organization. It is oriented towards behavioral approach, which revolves around the creativity, innovation, and safety. Organizational culture is an element which brings into picture the organization climate and design. Organizational culture is the study of the psychology, attitudes, beliefs, values of an employee working in the organization. It encompasses personal as well as cultural value into consideration. Organizational culture is composed of three layers i.e. material culture which includes the characteristics of products, technology and equipment used in the organization, it basically represents the style of enterprise manager. Material layer is called the foundation layer of the organization. System layer which includes different code of conduct and regulations on which is there in the mind of the employees, it works as the key of the organization. The last layer of the organization is the spiritual culture which is the core of the organizational culture which includes the philosophy, strategy, value orientation, emotion of the employees.

Leaders needs to set an example in an organization as being an element of culture, so as to enhance the productivity within the organization. Organization culture fosters an organization to achieve its business goals and objectives. The culture of the organization helps in increasing the efficiency of the organization as well as the employees.The corporate culture of the organization brings out the value and norms of the organization as well as the organizational behavior in respect of technologies, strategies, products and services that are used in the organization. The organizational culture also fosters changes in the organization like downsizing, technological advancement which is important for the growth of the organization.

Seven dimensions of the organizational culture are “attention to detail, innovation and risk taking, outcome orientation, stability, people orientation, aggressiveness and team orientation”.

The organizational culture can foster ethics as well unethical issues. Like Enron’s leadership and organizational culture was unethical whereas 3M and apple fosters innovative organizational culture so as to improve its efficiency.Organizational culture of an helps in fostering the behavior of the employees and the future of the organization. Organizational culture helps in team building within the organization. As through the organizational culture helps in fostering creativity, innovation, and sharing of values.Organizational culture has become highly focused to innovation, through technological development and advancement the organizational culture helps in fostering change in the organization which helps in adopting total quality management.

Organizational culture is one of the most important aspect of the organization which helps in fostering development and change in the organization as well as achieving the set strategic objectives and goals of the organization. It is the base of the organization which highly affects the behavior of the employees in the organization. The organizational culture can build positive behavior in an employee as well as negative behavior. It can be said that the growth of the organization highly depends on the organizational culture.