Nike, Inc.: Phil Knight
Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal. Phil Knight, co-founder and chairman of Nike, Inc. is the epitome of an innovative leader who revolutionized the sports industry. In the past, he has also served as the company’s chief executive officer. Nike, Inc. is one of the largest if not the largest suppliers of athletic shoes and apparel around the world. Although Phil Knight has never been a professional athlete, owner of a team, or been employed in the sports industry, Sports Illustrated named him “the most powerful person in sports”, because his influence on the sports world has been tremendous.
Philip Hampson Knight was born in 1938, in Portland, Oregon. While …show more content…
Knight was not sure about his future, even after his graduation and was unsure of what he actually wanted to do. He enlisted in the army and completed a year of service. “After serving in the Army for a year, he went back to school to earn his MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business” (Martin, 2015). While working on an assignment for one of his classes where students had to invent a new business, Knight realized he was passionate about sports shoes, and that was the basis for his company. He wrote a paper “Can Japanese Sports Shoes do to German Sports Shoes What Japanese Cameras did to German Cameras?” This became his premise for his future endeavor, where he knew his purpose was to create a business in shoe dealings. In 1962, he graduated with a Master’s Degree in Business …show more content…
They then decided to start their own company. Jeff Johnson, one of the first employees of Blue Ribbon Sports suggested naming the new company “Nike”, after the Greek winged goddess of victory, thus, the Nike era began. Nike’s “swoosh” logo, which is considered one of the most iconic of all time, was created by a Portland State University graphic design student in 1971, for $35. “When the company officially rebranded as Nike in 1971, several well-known athletes were prominently sporting the shoes, helping double profits annually. Knight and Bowerman’s connections to the running community and focus on producing a high-quality product made Nike the top choice for professional athletes” (Martin,
Philip Hampson Knight was born in 1938, in Portland, Oregon. While …show more content…
Knight was not sure about his future, even after his graduation and was unsure of what he actually wanted to do. He enlisted in the army and completed a year of service. “After serving in the Army for a year, he went back to school to earn his MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business” (Martin, 2015). While working on an assignment for one of his classes where students had to invent a new business, Knight realized he was passionate about sports shoes, and that was the basis for his company. He wrote a paper “Can Japanese Sports Shoes do to German Sports Shoes What Japanese Cameras did to German Cameras?” This became his premise for his future endeavor, where he knew his purpose was to create a business in shoe dealings. In 1962, he graduated with a Master’s Degree in Business …show more content…
They then decided to start their own company. Jeff Johnson, one of the first employees of Blue Ribbon Sports suggested naming the new company “Nike”, after the Greek winged goddess of victory, thus, the Nike era began. Nike’s “swoosh” logo, which is considered one of the most iconic of all time, was created by a Portland State University graphic design student in 1971, for $35. “When the company officially rebranded as Nike in 1971, several well-known athletes were prominently sporting the shoes, helping double profits annually. Knight and Bowerman’s connections to the running community and focus on producing a high-quality product made Nike the top choice for professional athletes” (Martin,