Nike Company Information Technology (IT) Proposal
Executive summary
Nike is an American international association involved in manufacturing, designing, developing, and global marketing and sales of attire, accessories, footwear, services, and equipment. It was founded in early 1964, and there are approximately 44000 workers internationally. The Company’s mission states “to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.” The mission has been laid out well to precisely represent the firm’s position as the most valuable athletic shoes and apparel supplier globally. Some of the systems used by the Company are virtual systems, transaction processing systems, and office automation systems.
The Company encounters online problems like cybercrime, counterfeiting, and plagiarism targeted to divert customers from genuine websites of the Company. Another major challenge the Company is facing is maintaining its record and ensuring that all dealers meet the Company’s demands in terms of deliveries. Nike’s vital requirement is an inventory management system to implement the IT solution that will automate the manual processes in the inventory-related functions.
Company’s Background
Nike is an American international association involved in manufacturing, designing, developing, and global marketing and sales of attire, accessories, footwear, services, and equipment (Kim, 2020). Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman founded Nike Company in early 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports. On May 30th, 1971, the corporation became Nike, Inc legitimately. The headquarters of Nike is near Beaverton, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. Nike has grown to be one of the major producers of sports equipment and the biggest supplier of athletic apparel and shoes. Nike’s brand value as of 2014 was $19 billion, making it a valuable brand in sports with approximately 44000 workers internationally. Throughout its history, Nike has successfully acquired several footwear and apparel companies.
Company’s mission, goals, and objectives
The Company’s mission states “to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.” The mission has been laid out well to precisely represent the firm’s position as the most valuable athletic shoes and apparel supplier globally. Hence, the mission of the Company has been to drive product innovation for sportspersons internationally. The Nike mission has clearly explained the Company’s critical role, which helps the workers achieve the Company’s mission (Moon & Parc, 2019). More specifically, the Company’s mission statement holds these three central components; bring inspiration, innovation, and international presence (Refer to the sample essay on Nike Micro and macroeconomics). First, Nike Company’s main goals and objectives are to drive sustainable product design and innovation (Cavaleri & Shabana, 2018). Sustainable product design and innovation focus on the scientific, artistic, and technical aspects of designing consumer products from a direction that promotes sustainability and suitable business practices. Secondly, unlocking the youth’s capability by giving them aid in sport; Nike Company believes in the power of sports to transform the lives and give youth greater admittance to sports. The Company has invested in various activities that have depended on the influence of sport to unleash talents and improve the lives of youths.
Nike Company’s online and digital systems
Nike Company have a variety of systems that helps the Company to operate efficiently; these systems include:
Nike Company Challenges and Proposed Solutions
Breach into new borders is not an easy feat. It takes a planned effort, risk assessment, consultation, compliance, and diligence to launch successfully. The Nike Company encounters several challenges; the Company encounters online problems like cybercrime, counterfeiting, and plagiarism targeted to divert customers from genuine websites of the Company (Turi, 2020). Another major challenge the Company is facing is maintaining its record and ensuring that all dealers meet the Company’s demands in terms of deliveries. Nike maintains its inventory by handling its supply across the world. The Company has relied on massive research and development focused on creativity and innovation across apparel, footwear, and equipment. However, Nike has still been facing problems with low inventory due to inaccuracy, errors, and mismanagement of demand forecasting, which has led to stock-outs of their products. Therefore, Nike requires inventory management software to provide a technological solution for their supply chain problems. Other challenges encountered by the Company are supply shortage, increased production timelines, and long transit times. Having a sustainable supply chain has been a problem to the Company due to the absence of a link between the contractor and the suppliers.
Nike Company’s survival in the competitive global market depends on approaching the challenges mentioned above (Appelbaum et al., 2017). I believe an inventory management system will greatly benefit the Company and solve supply chain challenges. Inventory control systems are technological solutions that automate and integrate all aspects of an organization’s inventory management processes, including shipping, purchasing, receiving, warehouse storage, tracking, and reordering. The major stakeholders involved are the inventory Chief Operating Officer, IT manager, and supply chain manager. The chief operating officer is the senior executive tasked with overseeing the day-to-day operational and administrative functions at Nike Company (Doppelt & McDonough, 2017). The chief operating officer at Nike leads a digital transformation, global technology, supply and demand management, logistics and distributions, and procurement. Hence, the chief operating officer will play a vital role in leading change in the supply chain. The IT manager will serve a supporting role and strategic leadership position in implementing the IT solution. The IT manager will approve and execute the requests for new equipment and ensure that the inventory management software is implemented and running efficiently.
IT systems proposal
Nike will require an inventory management system to implement the IT solution that will automate the manual processes in the inventory-related functions. The inventory management software will be tailored to meet the needs of inventory tracking and management at Nike. The inventory management software will manage the inventory stock items and guarantee accurate record keeping. Nike will also require additional hardware pieces such as bar code scanners and computer devices, which will update information in the central database.
Inventory management software is critical for Nike’s supply chain (Yadav & Singh, 2020). It will help the Company generate and manage inventory requirements for the various products and services. The Inventory Management System (IMS) will help Nike expand the availability of their products and services by building an understanding of the demand for their products in different countries, developing product localization strategies, and measuring sales performance. Managing the inventory effectively means capturing, identifying, and maintaining the right product mix at the right time for maximum returns on investment (ROI).
Impact of the addition of global locations to business and client needs
The Physical Distance impact; although the Company may have the telephones and Internet to communicate overseas, nothing is normal as the presence of key stakeholders being there to talk to the Company’s prospects and supply associates, not to reference costs connected to shipping, logistics, and freight. The Company must put into consideration such factors before the addition of locations. Another impact that Nike faces while adding more locations worldwide is communicatioN. The way staff members handle the Company’s globalization efforts in reporting, tracking, and communicating will significantly impact how to fit Nike will succeed in adding more locations. The addition of more locations will also impact Nike clients. The greatest challenge the clients will encounter is the products’ supply chain and the time of processing and shipping. I recommend that the Company install RingCentral communication software to counter communication challenges as more locations are added. RingCentral provides a range of initiative-level communication competencies, including; BYOD, mobile app, fax, voicemail, call handling and texting.
TOGAF is also an excellent option to counter Nike’s most challenges. The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) is an enterprise architecture framework that aids in defining business goals and matching them with architecture objectives in the firm (Szabó & Öri, 2017). Still, TOGAF will provide Nike with a high-level framework and methodology for software development. Some of the possible opportunities the Company will benefit from the new structure are; first, the Company will be able to reach more clients globally. Second, improved supply chain of the Company, from production, shipping, and other logistics. Lastly, the new structure will help the Company enhance effective communication to the client and suppliers globally; this will help the Company increase its profit margin.
