Consider the corporation you have selected to use in your first three assignments. Identify one of the firm’s major competitors that you would consider working for. Research the corporation on its own

Running head: assignment 2 0

Assignment 2

Under Armour Company specializes in the production of casual apparel, footwear, and sports; operating in the United States of America with its headquarter located in Baltimore, Maryland. The products of the organization are being distributed all over the world, such as China, Germany, India, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The financial worth of the company recorded as per the statistics of 2018 was about $5.2 billion. Currently, more than 15,800 employees are serving the company all over the world ("Under Armour," 2019). In previous work, the paper examined the influence made by the technological and globalization changes along with the role of vision, mission, and stakeholders of the company. This study will be carrying out a SWOT analysis of the company for providing effective suggestions to improve their forces. Moreover, the study will also be examining the global and competitive environment of the company.

The advantages of the company include growth in approximately all the sports. The company utilizes highly engineered innovation in its products to support athletes for better performance. The Company engages itself in various community programs like UA Give Back, UA Power in Pink, and UA Win Global. Under Armour Company also owns and operates multiple digital applications like My Fitness Pal and Map My Fitness (McDonald, Christensen, West & Palmer, 2018). The growth of the company is constant, and share prices have been increasing tremendously. As a strategy, the company has developed its name and got fame in the sporting area; therefore, they must avoid diversion of their focus to other areas. It should continuously focus on the sporting products for maximizing the benefits of their products for customers.

The weaknesses of the company include being a newer company as compared to competitors like Nike and Adidas. The presence of the company is limited to a few markets. The commission of consumer products safety in the United States of America recently recalled its products creating a massive setback for the company (Weiss, 2019). The strategy available for the company to overcome its weaknesses is to emphasize on quality check of its products so that they could not face any embarrassment due to the quality of their products (Blanton & Peksen, 2017). Moreover, they need to expand their target market for improving their brand presence.

The tangible resources of the company include 166 physical stores, land, technological patents like research centers, Supply chain, loyal customer base, Return on Investment, and Effective distribution channels (Hayduk & Walker, 2017).

The intangible resources of the company are more than 15,800 employees working all over the world, dynamic technological innovative design, brand name, trademarks, logos, effective research team, patents all over the world, customized website, and mobile applications (Weiss, 2019)

The core capabilities of the company include strong management structure, good inventory management, effective human resource management, excellent customer services, attractive product design, strong and ethical conventional and digital marketing, and cost-effectiveness (Cawley & Snyder, 2012).

The core competencies of the company include effective marketing strategy, innovative product design, strong supply chain network, effective relationship with all suppliers, Product differentiation through R&D, involvement in various community programs, ensuring comfort, performance, and pleasure to the customers with cost-effectiveness (Kolodko, 2006).

The two segments that have a great influence on the company are social and economic. The reason for the economic factor is that the products of the company are developed after detailed, innovative engineering, R&D, and quality check leading towards higher prices of the products as compared to the conventional shoes; the purchasing power of the consumers matter a lot for ensuring high sales of the product that is indicated directly by the economic condition of the company (Moretz & Giapponi, 2019). Moreover, the reason for the social factor is that the products of the company are developed for a specific target area, i.e., Sports; the interest and attention of the consumers must be present in the same area for ensuring appropriate sales of the product (Weiss, 2019).

Competition in the industry is the first and foremost significant factor for the company because the company targets a specific market niche while other companies like Nike and Adidas have developed a strong market with huge annual sales. Comparatively, the annual sales of Nike in 2018 were $31 billion, Adidas was about $16 billion, and UA was around $4 billion (“Under Armour," 2019). However, the growth of UA as compared to its previous statistics has been better, and it has acquired positive results in all the entered markets.

Customers are the king for any industry, and the power of customers is the second most critical factor for companies, including UA. The customers of such market are quite dynamic in their likes and dislikes; moreover, they are more concerned about the brand (McDonald, Christensen, West & Palmer, 2018). The company has started sponsoring various athletes in recent times for the promotion of their products and brand.

The company must continue to produce highly engineering innovative products with a solid quality check for ensuring the customers that their products possess the capability of standing out the competition. Currently, the UA is facing tough competition in the market; it needs to carry out strong marketing while sponsoring various athletes to catch the attention of the customers positively (McDonald, Christensen, West & Palmer, 2018). The UA must develop a positive relationship with the suppliers for purchasing raw material in bulk quantity to offer products at lower pricing to the customers.

There are several external threats for the company, including high brand recognition and global customer base of competitors like Nike and Adidas. Moreover, the products like a chin strap, athletic cups, etc. are quite sensitive and can cause injuries to the athletes bringing a bad name to the company. Brand awareness is still lower globally as compared to competitors (Weiss, 2019). The UA company can overcome these threats by focusing on innovation, designing, quality, and firmness of its products along with strong international ethical marketing.

There are several opportunities available for the UA Company, including the extension of the innovation for increasing the benefits offered to the customers for catching their attention. The company can also enter other markets at an international level for enhancing its global presence. The company can target kid sports products by partnering with the NBA and other similar leagues for making kids their permanent customers (McDonald, Christensen, West & Palmer, 2018). Moreover, the company can initiate an online shopping facility for providing convenience to the customers for positively boosting their sales.

This study carried out an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the UA Company, along with the tangible, intangible, core capabilities, and core competencies. The two significant general environment factors for the UA Company include social and economical, where the significant forces of competition comprise the power of customers and competitive rivalry. The company must take actions for overcoming its threats and availing its opportunities for achieving better results.

References

Blanton, R., & Peksen, D. (2017). Dying for Globalization? The Impact of Economic Globalization on Industrial Accidents. Social Science Quarterly, 98(5), 1487-1502. doi: 10.1111/ssqu.12367

Cawley, B., & Snyder, P. (2012). Beyond Resource-Based Theory: Further Avenues for Industrial-Organizational Psychology Ventures Into Strategic Management. Industrial And Organizational Psychology, 5(1), 112-115. doi: 10.1111/j.1754-9434.2011.01415.x

Hayduk, T., & Walker, M. (2017). Re-assessing resource worthiness: A new model. Organizational Dynamics, 46(1), 40-45. doi: 10.1016/j.orgdyn.2016.09.001

Kolodko, G. (2006). Globalization and Its Impact on Economic Development. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.961479

McDonald, R., Christensen, C., West, D., & Palmer, J. (2018). Under Armour Company. Retrieved August 11, 2019, from https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53549

Moretz, J., & Giapponi, C. (2019). Stakeholders and Business Strategy: A Role-Play Negotiation Themed Exercise. Organization Management Journal, 16(1), 14-26. doi: 10.1080/15416518.2019.1573130

Under Armour Inc. Details. (2019). Retrieved August 12, 2019, from https://about.underArmour.com/about

Weiss, D. (2019). Under Armour's Good, Bad And Opportunity. Retrieved August 13, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidweiss/2019/05/02/under-Armours-good-bad-and-ugly/