Ethics Philosophy and Program (Draft)
My weekend life tends to revolve around what I like to call, “life under the canopy”. I spend a lot of time on the field watching my nephews play baseball and my nieces play softball. Needless to say sports gear of every kind is a way of life for us as well as key component to function. Due to my weekend life, I have decided to focus on Under Armour, Inc. as the organization for this paper. Under Armour is the originator and leader in the performance athletic apparel industry. Founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a 23 year old former University of Maryland special teams captain, whose plan was simple, the concept was to make a better T-shirt. The company has evolved from first offering a shirt that provided a compression fit and wicked perspiration off the skin rather than absorb it. Today, the company has reached global presence with induction to the U.S.,
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Plank is unlike many corporate CEO’s that have been hired by boards of directors to direct the operational future of an organization. Plank is personally invested in the performance of the organization and its employees, some may say, “Under Armour is Kevin Plank”. In an interview for Inc. Magazine, Plank states, “I am a big advocate of the power of positive thinking. Your attitude is contagious.” Plank continues to explain how communicating with employees and listening to the opinions of others can help engage and motivate employee’s to be a part of the business process and operations. Hiring employees that have leadership skills and a good moral compass is crucial to the success of developing and sustaining ethical leadership within an organization. The Under Armour code of ethics supports an ethical culture and encourages employees to exhibit honesty and integrity in all organizational
By proactively addressing ethical issues with a code of conduct, Raiders Inc. can set the standard regarding how they want employees to behave. Employee can be trained on the company code of ethics so they understand how their company expects them to respond. They can also train them on the biases of decision making, to make sure they are aware of the pitfalls that exist. (Robbins & Coulter, 2012)
Under Armour started in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a 23-year-old former University of Maryland football player. As a special teams captain, he turned an idea brainstormed on the football filed into a new industry changing the way athletes dress forever. Since he hated having to change his sweat-soaked cotton t-shirts over and over again during two-a-days, he figured there had to be something better, which in turn led to his solution. The basic concept ...
Under Armour provides innovatively designed performance products that incorporated a variety of technologically advanced fabrics and specialized manufacturing techniques, all in attempt to make the wearer feel “drier, lighter, and more comfortable.” This is Under Armour’s core competitive strength.
In 1996 Kevin plank, the founder of Under Armour came up with the idea of moisture wicking fabric for shirts so that while playing sports you don't have to wear a sweat soaked shirt during the game. He gave the prototype shirt to a couple of his friends on the University Of Maryland’s football team to test and see if the shirt kept them dry,cool, and felt lightweight. As soon as the microfiber shirt was released Nike began to produce a similar shirt to compete with Under Armour,but it was too late, the Under ...
Across the globe, an estimated 168 million children from developing countries employed in sweatshops.(Rogue) Sweatshops have become an integral part of U.S business corporations in the modern age. These corporations use the cheap labor of overseas factories to generate massive profit margins in the states, while taking advantage of those in poverty elsewhere. Many large athletic clothing corporations, namely Nike, Adidas, and the Jordan brand, have come under fire for outsourcing a majority of their work overseas. The most common criticism has come from the horrendous conditions and barely any pay. This topic struck home with me not just because it is involved with my field of study in business management, but also because of how it affects me as a consumer of such products. My ethical question is “should businesses be forced to maintain certain standards for overseas workers?”. By examining the standards a business should maintain, the ethical dilemma of profit versus
Haven't you always wondered who made Nike and Under Armour? Well Nike was founded in 1964 by Bill Bowerman. Nike was making great progress for 32 years and then Under armour was founded by Kevin Plank in 1996. Nike was still making very good progress but was kind of splitting it with the new company Under Armour. Nike has always made more money and more people choose to spend their money at Nike stores.
Founded in 1996 by University of Maryland graduate Kevin Plank, Under Armour has become the leading supplier of the athletic performance apparel industry. Under Armour began with simple idea to create a t-shirt that would enhance athletic performance by regulating body temperature and removing perspiration without absorbing it. Under Armour was based out of Plank's grandmother's basement in D.C. until he moved the headquarters to, and built a manufacturing plant in, South Baltimore.
Materialistic things consume today’s society, whether it is cars, clothing, or jewelry, in a sense we rely on these objects for our happiness. Companies such as Nike, Gap, and Toms, have all had major success do to their loyal customers, who seek the name brand logo of their company. These companies have continued to grow tremendously, making billions of dollars; the companies strive to find ways to outsourcing its manufacturing, in hopes of making more and more profit. Profit is not the only thing that rises, many questions and investigations have occurred, exposing the poor ethical choices these businesses have made. Nike, one of the most well- known and profitable companies have experienced this heavy scrutiny first hand. Throughout this essay the reader will gain a better understanding of Nike’s poor ethical business decisions and what actions they took in order to repair their image.
Under Amour Company ventured into a market segment that was overcrowded, it had thousands of companies that competed against each other. Out of the many companies involved in the trade, the two most formidable threats seemed to be orchestrated by Nike and Adidas. These are two giant sports apparel and footwear, which pride themselves as having been long term veterans in the industry. Nike in particular was christened as the ultimate shoe and athletic apparel company with revenues of $18.6 billion, net income of $1.9 billion and more than thirty two thousand employees globally in the year 2008. This makes it the largest athletic shoe and apparel seller in the world. This company has seen major expansions in outlets throughout the world over the years. Adidas on its part has managed to build a powerful brand through its technological innovations and aggressive marketing where they spend up to thirteen per cent of their revenue besides offering high quality services. These scenarios seem to present Under Armour with a massive competitive disadvantage.
The sports apparel and accessories industry has a highly competitive market. Businesses are constantly competing for elite athletes to sponsor, raw materials, and every opportunity to expand. Under Armour is able to not only survive but thrive in this market because of their ability to think outside of the box. They are constantly creating new and exciting products that help athletes everywhere.
The business world has always been a very risky business. There is a lot to worry about no matter what position a person fulfills; everyone has some level of responsibility. The Gap Incorporated is a multinational specialty retail company (Gap Inc. 2014). The company was created by a Doris and Don Fisher (Joslin et. al. 2010). Don Fisher and his wife was a very wealthy couple, Don was a real estate developer (Joslin et. al. 2010). They decided to open up a clothing store when Don realized how popular jeans were becoming in the fashion industry. Another reason that Don Fisher wanted to open a clothing store is because he has an extremely difficult time finding jeans that fit him properly in department stores (Joslin et. al. 2010). So in the year of 1969 the Fishers opened the very first Gap store in San Francisco, California (Gap Inc. 2014). In this paper I will explore The Gap Incorporated and discuss the company’s ethical culture and behavior past and present. Based on preliminary information, I hypothesize that The Gap Incorporated is an ethical company.
He made his first sale 12 months later to Georgia Tech amounting to $12,000 and the rest is all history with him now expanding his product line from footwear to woman’s clothing line Under Armour is now a force to be reckoned with.
1.How strong are the competitive forces confronting Under Armour, Nike, and The Adidas Group? Do a five-forces analysis to support your answer. The Under Armour brand has seen a huge surge in popularity and recognition in recent years. This is a company that has been on a fast track: founded in 1996, it went public in 2005 and has been growing at 20% per year since.
CEO Johnston also has plans to bolster the company’s leadership with the best minds available and also use motivational techniques to invigorate his employees. These ideas show the character of the CEO in enhancing productivity from his work force.
The reason that I reach these judgments, for the most unethical decision, Nike lacks of social responsibilities in term of both legal and ethical responsibilities. Although, there were some people agree with sweatshops because it was better than the firm leaves the workers, it was the best of the workers’ only bad options or it was a path from poverty to greater wealth, but if at least Nike improved their workers working standards, it would help to better increase their quality of lives.