Navigating Change in a Growing Organization: Tips for Managers - Essay Sample

Introduction

Change is something that cannot be separated from a growing organization. The reason is that change is inevitable. But in most cases, people tend to reject change itself. They tend to have negative assumptions about change in an organization such as relocation, layoff, pay cuts, or downsizing. Change can be the improvement, like building new products, technology improvement, or an increase in the market size. The management, therefore, needs to communicate clearly to the employees on the need for change in an organization and the possible impacts it can bring to the organization so that they can embrace change (Burgelman, 2017).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Nike is one of the largest companies in the world that embraces change management a lot. Thus, the profile of the company NIKE Inc. Which was incorporated in the year 1968 is involved in the development, design, and the worldwide selling and marketing of the footwear, equipment, apparel, services, and accessories (Burgelman, 2017). Considering the strategic change management, Nike changed some individuals in some positions so that deeper customer connections can be driven and the market share expanded. By doing changes, Nike believed that those changes would strengthen the management team globally and impart leadership roles to its team.

Strategies That Nike Employed to Create Change

The generic strategy for Nike for its competitive advantage focuses majorly on the diversity of the product mix. According to Michael Porter, the generic approach explains how the business maintains and achieves its competitiveness. However, the intensive growth strategy is reflecting on the focus of the company towards innovation for business development (Torabi, 2017). For Nike to keep its competitive advantage and its position in the market, the company must ensure that its intensive growth strategies and the generic strategy are always suited to the business conditions currently.

Nike's Generic Strategy

Nike employs the use of generic strategy, which entails a combination of approaches from the Porter Model for its competitive advantage. The two generic strategies implemented by Nike include; differentiation strategy and cost leadership strategy. The generic differentiation strategy employed by Nike provides unique products. For instance, Nike Company is integrating the designs for the cutting-edge for its shoes. The cost leadership strategy maintains a competitive advantage, which is based on the cost. In the cost leadership strategy, the company reduces the cost of production to maximize its profits or to lower the selling price (Torabi, 2017). Thus, the combination of differentiation strategy and cost leadership generic strategies helps in boosting the performance of Nike in the global industry.

Nike's Intensive Growth Strategies

The intensive growth strategies embraced by Nike include:

• Market penetration - Nike uses a penetration strategy to grow by raising the sales revenue in the existing market. For instance, Nike increases its retailers and stores in the United States to sell more athletic shoes to consumers.
• Product development - product development is the primary intensive growth strategy for Nike. It entails a new product introduction to increase sales revenue. The appropriate strategic financial goal, which is based on the product development intensive growth strategy, is to raise the market share for Nike through cutting edge technologies focusing on the design of the apparel, sports shoes, and types of equipment.
• Diversification -is the strategy that entails new business development to achieve growth. The strategic financial objective, which is based on a diversification strategy, is to boost the financial risk of Nike by entering other industries.
• Market development - Market development is a supportive intensive growth strategy for Nike. The strategy facilitates the growth of the company by targeting new market segments. The company invests more in the latest technologies to apply the market development intensive strategy to penetrate new sections in the market. Thus, market development helps in increasing the profitability of the company by entering new markets.

Nikes New Approach to CSR

There is a positive relationship between firm performance and CSR. CSR can generate the positive value of the company from the perspectives of management, marketing, ownership, and innovation. Nike approaches corporate responsibility by not just getting better on what they undertake, addressing influences through their supply chain; they tend to strive for the best innovating for a better world and creating value for the business (Torabi, 2017). Nike is focusing on the corporate responsibility efforts in places which they can have huge impacts and create the most value.

Nike has invested a lot in sustainability and CSR, where it has achieved several milestones. Therefore major vital elements which are related to Nikes new approach to CSR include; innovative manufacturing, commitment to minimizing the carbon footprint, inventing products of close-loop, aiming to accomplish the renewable energy, keeping the voice of human at the heart of everything the company does from marketing to manufacturing, encouraging employees and investing in markets and communities where Nike operates and inclusive culture and diverse workplace that turns to be the catalyst of innovation (Torabi, 2017).

The new approach embraced by Nike affected various departments within the organization in that Nike reduced the layers of management, consolidated the supply chain, cuts the workforce by five percent, and reorganized to matrix defined by sports categories from pattern defined by product type. However, the new structure embraced by Nike enabled a closer relationship with the consumer groups, which are critical to the company and recognized the emerging markets (Torabi, 2017). It also provides an opportunity to promote sustainability into the business in a new manner.

The Culture Nike Was Trying to Create

Nike's organizational culture gives support to business capability and resilience. The culture of an organization entails the combination of habits, traditions, behavioral expectations, and values among employees. The workers in Nike's company are provided with some set of rules, instructions, and expectations on how to handle their tasks, with consideration for their relationship with customers and other employees. The approach used by Nike ensures that the company is maintaining its corporate culture, which contributes partly to business success (Burgelman, 2017). Nike precedes its strategies and policies being the global athletic shoe giants to promote the culture of an organization that reinforces business competence and resilience.

Key Elements Related to Nike's Desired Culture

The organizational culture of Nike is centered on innovation and creativity to provide goods that match the current preferences of consumers. The critical elements of Nike's corporate culture include; Diverse, Talented, and Inclusive.

Diverse - Nike's organizational culture is continuously developed by diversity. The company has a belief that diversity results in a dynamic workforce. It also promotes Nike's brand image, innovation, creativity, and the company's competitive advantage. Nike maintains diversity through the programs of human resources like the "speak up" program, which promotes the sharing of ideas among the workers (Burgelman, 2017).

Talented - Nike learns to understand that innovation and talent are complementary to each other. The skilled element of the culture of an organization puts more emphasis on the need to provide support for human resources for internal services and product development in the corporation. Nike embraces the training programs to keep the talents of the employees at the core. Such approaches lie on the strategy that enables and develops leaders within the organization for the global growth of Nike.

Inclusive - Nike puts more emphasis on the inclusiveness in the culture of the organization. The main goal of inclusiveness is to minimize employee performance barriers. Thus, inclusiveness helps in reducing Nike's workforce problems and supports the streamlining athletic apparel, shoes and equipment design, and the process of production.

The relationship between the desired culture and the new CSR policy is that corporate social responsibility entails the business conduct so that it is profitable economically, ethical, law-abiding, and socially supportive. To be responsible socially means that obedience and profitability to the rule are the prevailing conditions when talking about the ethics of the company. And the extent to which the society is supported, which appears to the contribution of talent, money, and time.

Communication Strategies

Nike uses different communication strategies to create "buy-in" throughout the organization. The company embraces the marketing communications to promote products and businesses considering the target market dynamics. The policy of marketing communication is also known as the promotions corresponding to the marketing mix components. The marketing communication strategy of the company is observable easily in the market in the form of different activities and advertisements. Nike's communication strategy that creates buy - it is essential because of the balance created between keeping existing customers and attracting new customers.

In maintaining and developing its communications strategy, Nike Company tends to apply the strategic combinations of personal selling, sales promotions, advertising, direct marketing, and public relations. Such combinations allow Nike's company to promote its products effectively and strengthen the image of its brand.

The Personal Selling Strategy of Nike - It usually occurs in the store where the personnel is trained to assist the customers. The store personnel is expected to persuade customers to buy the company's products. Personal selling results to the positive experience of the customers in that customer feel empowered when making buying decisions which are informed. Such a tactic enables customers to have a good feeling about the products they purchase from the company. Therefore, Nike's marketing communications strategy of personal selling creates good customer experience and relations while promoting the outcomes of the company (Burgelman, 2017).

Nike's Advertising Strategy - The main goal of Nike in advertising is to reach a large population that has the most significant possible impact on the company. An advertisement improves the perception of customers and promotes the brand to the customers about the company y and the products it offers. Advertising is an effective communication strategy that creates buy-in; it is equally costly. Thus, Nike Company is still able to get the net benefits in its financial growth despite high advertising costs.

Nike's Public Relations - Nike Company uses public relations as one of its communication strategies to create buy-in. The company, in this case, implements public relations as a method of handling social issues which are linked to its operations. Nike applies public relations to pass information to the stakeholders concerning planned and current activities of corporate citizenship to boost the business and its effects on the groups of the stakeholders (Burgelman, 2017). Nike usually applies public relations by offering sponsorships sports events and the same activities and uses them to communicate to the target group concerning what the company does solve relevant issues in the social setup.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Nike's Communication Strategies

Strengths

Nike communication strategies have advantages such as; (Burgelman, 2017)....