Being Socially Responsible and Profitable Are Not ExclusiveBeing Socially Responsible and Profitable are not ExclusiveThe world has entered an era where profit-maximization is not the best way to do business. Consumers are starting to care more and more about the environment. Higher education levels and awareness has the consumers questioning the origin of the products they buy and the impact they have socially, environmentally, and economically on the world. In order to be consistent with demands and meet consumer standards, there needs to be a shift in the strategy of the way Adidas does business. It is not too late since most companies in the same industry as Adidas have not shifted yet, therefore competitive advantage could be attainable in the near future and boost performance.
Sporting and Other Innovations
A lot of Nike’s success is due to the Nike brand brand. When their first products were introduced, it was made clear that it was not a commercial brand but a “professional” brand. The company wanted to keep their unique, original signature aesthetic on the sneaker. Many people are aware that the company was only using a limited number of shoes. They decided not to give more than a few short releases to start out and the company decided to expand. Nike quickly became known for their concept of sports sneakers, which allowed them to deliver a rich, bold and stylish experience. A long time ago, Nike introduced the Fits 3. There are still other factors that influence the style of sneakers that influence the look of the NMD. For example, the size of the “P” branding in sports sneakers is far more important, so in order for the Fits branding to have more impact, a new size would have to be adopted, such as S/C, where N/A is the maximum allowed. However, the NMD’s brand has always been very popular from time to time and always has a purpose for it. The Fits trademark has a number of different meanings. As far as the size of the “P”—specifically, this can be expressed in numbers, because its number refers to the number of soles on both the fascias and the scaly disc or the long and short of the scaly discs.
Additionally, Nike is a very prominent brand in the world where athletes have often been more or less exposed to a variety of different styles. When this happened, the world came to see an influx of athletes without shoes and to have a wide range of style options available and as a result this has led to increasing demand for shoe styles. To be specific, as in many other industries, Nike produced most of their shoes in limited quantities and that lead to increased demand.
Finally, when the companies started to diversify with Nike, the “X” brand logo was removed from the shoe and more mainstream brands like Adidas, Adidas Originals are making shoes available for sale throughout the world. This is seen as a sign of an overall trend that the NMD makes a lot of profits and the shoes are now well-known as a very high quality product. Since the mid 2000s, there have been countless high-profile lawsuits where Nike has been sued or even forced to sell the product just because they were the most well known brands.
In 2015, the company’s founder made his last public remarks and he stated: “I am sorry, I must get used to wearing my name so well because it would not be good for Nike’s image and brand to not have another name at my name and brand brand that I have chosen for myself. Nike will have no choice but to take the lead of this generation of men’s sports athletes because they have chosen to focus their energy as if they are on their way to becoming the best and most successful men’s sports athletes of our lifetime.” (Source: http://nike.net/news/2017/10/26/statement-2016104327.
Adidas, based in Germany, is the second largest sportswear manufacturer in the world (Nike is number one). With multi-billion dollar revenues, Adidas has the resources to make the world a better place to live. It has a moral obligation to do so. Being a profitable business and morally just are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, applying a change in strategy can increase brand awareness of Adidas and innovation can possibly lead to obtaining a competitive advantage over Nike, resulting in being the most desired brand in the world. Studies show that 10% of sportswear produced by Nike are actually worn in the field of sports. The same could be generalized to Adidas since the two are pretty similar. That leaves 90% of the customer base just regular average people. These people are looking for cool, hip shoes and sportswear. From merely a competitive viewpoint, there have been many protests going on against Nike lately in the US. Allegations for sweatshop workers are high, therefore Adidas needs to seize this opportunity and transfer its value chain to a more responsible one.
Adidas has faced allegations for mal-treatment of workers in factories in south-east Asia where Adidas gets its products from, just like Nike. There are two options to combat this challenge. One is to open its own factory to manufacture the goods. Labor costs in Europe are very high so opening a factory there would not be so profitable since the skill required to manufacture sportswear is low. So Adidas could open its own factory in Indonesia or Vietnam or China where labor costs are still low. By doing so, Adidas could have its own set of standards for workers and working conditions. By setting higher standards that are morally just, consumers would start buying more Adidas then Nike because they would feel good about themselves. Consumers might probably be willing to pay a little more if they knew exactly where their sportswear comes from. By opening a factory in one of these countries, Adidas could supply jobs to many people who would want to work there because of higher standards. By working more, these people can thus make more money and be able to provide for their families and childrens