Programme Name Pearson BTEC Level 5 HND in Business

Unit Number and Title Unit 1 Business and the Business Environment
Unit Level 4

Academic Year 2024-25 13

Cohort
Assessor Dr. Adeelah Tariq
Internal Verifier Dr Sukru Yurtsever
Portfolio of Industry Analysis Factsheets (Part A)
Assignment Title
Environmental Business Audit Report (Part B)

Learner Declaration
Please include below declaration along with your signature and date on the cover page of your assignment before
submission.

I certify that the work submitted for this assignment is my own. Where I have used the work of others to
support my work, I have acknowledged all credits. I have identified and acknowledged all sources used in
this assignment and have referenced according to the Harvard referencing system. I have read and
understood the Plagiarism and Collusion section provided with the assignment brief and understood the
consequences of plagiarising.

Signature: ………………………………………… Date: ……...………………………………

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Table of Contents
Part 1................................................................................................................................................4

Introduction..................................................................................................................................4

Different Types of Organisations, Market Size, and Growth......................................................5

Public Sector Organizations:...................................................................................................5

Private Sector Organizations...................................................................................................5

Voluntary Sector Organizations...............................................................................................6

Factsheet explaining Size, Scope and Range of Different types of Organizations......................7

Public organizations.................................................................................................................8

Private Sector Organizations...................................................................................................9

Critical Analysis of Relationship of Different Organisational Functions with Objectives and

Structure.....................................................................................................................................11

Central Role of Finance.........................................................................................................11

Marketing and Strategic Alignment.......................................................................................11

Structure of the Organization and Human Resources Perspective........................................11

Operations and Efficiency.....................................................................................................12

Organizational Structure and Interdependencies...................................................................12

Conclusion.................................................................................................................................13

References..................................................................................................................................14

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Part 1

Introduction
The stakeholders involved in the policy, business development and strategic planning of the
world of sports management, where appreciation is in the varied field of organizational types
prevailing in the operating environment, are beyond overemphasizing (Breuer, Giel and
Hallmann, 2017). The sports sector fits into three different sectors: public, private and voluntary.

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Each of these sectors will hold different values, objectives, structures and underlying legal
frameworks. Differences extend into organizational management and, as a consequence, the
marketing-related activities that take place in Nike. The paper dwells on the peculiar roles and
regulatory environments of these sectors focusing on Nike, provides an insight into their size,
outlines the scope, examines the interrelation between the functions of the various organizations
and lastly, assesses the impact of external macro factors on the business operations.

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Different Types of Organisations, Market Size, and Growth

Sports organizations are in the public, private and voluntary sectors and serve many purposes
according to diverse legal structures (Preisser, McDonough and Harth, 2016). These differences
are crucial to the kind of understanding needed for professionals, including the stakeholders, in
the field of sports management, policy and business development.

Public Sector Organizations:

The public sector sports organizations in the UK encompass national bodies, for instance, UK
Sport and Sport England and local leisure centres and community sports facilities (HOULIHAN
and GREEN, 2009). Most of these organizations will aim at the promotion of sports participation
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across all levels, improvement of public health and the realization of national sports excellence.
They will be funded by government bodies and thus be accountable to stakeholders within the
public domain. For example, one of the flagship investment programs of the United Kingdom's
UK Sport is Olympic and Paralympic Sports.

Such organizations, due to their character and functioning, are subjected to the public law
governance standards that also include transparency and accountability in operations (Tintarev,
Knijnenburg and Willemsen, 2024).

Private Sector Organizations

The private sector of the sports industry is anything with the sports industry that operates to
make money. This includes gyms sports retailers and manufacturers like Adidas and JD Sports
(Lechner and Solberg, 2021).

They can come in all sizes of organizations, from small privately held businesses to large
corporations that are listed on stock exchanges. The legal structure can range from sole
proprietorship to limited companies or partnerships (Bull, 2020).

For example, JD Sports is a publicly listed company on the London Stock Exchange, following
corporate governance rules set by the UK Companies Act 2006, which this act has duties of the
director's conduct of the business and obligations of the company towards its shareholders
(Ferguson, Hassan and Kitchin, 2023).

Voluntary Sector Organizations

Many times, such voluntary organizations in sports, similar to the local sports clubs and
nonprofit entities, get the drive of their volunteers. Their funding comes from donations,
membership fees and grants in their work to promote sports for the sake of community welfare.
Generally, entities of such nature are in the form of charities or trusts in the UK, managed under
the Charities Act 2011 and the Trustee Act 2000. In all operations, these must ensure non-profit
distribution and they must reinvest all earnings into the initiatives (Diegtiar, Piatnychuk and
Hornyk, 2018).

This legal framework allows these organizations to ensure public benefit rather than the
advantages of this particular legal framework (Čingienė and Kalašinskaitė, 2017).

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Each of these includes specific regulatory requirements. Forrester Consulting noted in its report,
Commissioned by Global Systems Integrator Wipro, that public sector organizations suffer from
procurement regulations and standards of public accountability (Čingienė and Kalašinskaitė,
2017). On the other hand, private companies are exposed to corporate laws and financial
reporting standards. Though voluntary organizations, more often than not, enjoy relief from taxes
to which they are accountable, they nonetheless require clear charitable purpose and public
benefit to be maintained. Basically, in short, there are many organizations within the sports
industry in the UK, all playing very unique roles in the industry (Breuer, Giel and Hallmann,
2017). While the objectives of the public sector entity aim at national goals and public welfare,
the objectives of private sector businesses aim at the maximization of profit and market
expansion. It is against this background that the objectives of voluntary sector organizations aim
to advocate for sports as a tool for community development and social good (Lechner and
Solberg, 2021).

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Factsheet explaining Size, Scope and Range of Different types of Organizations

These organizations vary in consideration of the characteristics and scale of operation. Hence,
the following characteristics and scales of operation provide a clear view of how these sports
organizations influence this industry (Preisser, McDonough and Harth, 2016).

Public organizations
Public organizations, referred to as Public sector organizations in sports can be small local
facilities or be as large as the national bodies. For example, UK Sport is a national and far-
reaching organization dealing with issues such as athletes' and team funding for international
competition and improved sports development and high-performance standards across the whole
of the United Kingdom (Laine and Vehmas, 2017). This organization takes on massive public
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funds, which are basically from the government and the National Lottery, in the accomplishment
of sports excellence. On the other side, public local organizations, such as the municipal sports
centre, usually engage in small-scale operations because they focus on community health and the
development of local sports (Laine and Vehmas, 2017).

These centres are very critical in the delivery of grassroots sport but usually run at a more
modest level of investment with narrower strategic objectives than national bodies (Kumar,
Manoli, Hodgkinson and Downward, 2018).

Private Sector Organizations

In the private sector, this could range from small independent gyms to multinational
corporations. A good example is that of Nike, a company with a very large and broad base of
operation, known all over the world and deals with sportswear and equipment (Iversen and
Cuskelly, 2015).

Nike is involved in product development, marketing and retailing with large investments in
product innovation and brand building. At the same time, there may be a small, private sports
shop serving the local community through retailing sports equipment and apparel, with a much
smaller geographical reach and strategic scope. These are the very important small businesses
that are key to our local economies. But their contribution is very minimal compared to those of
giants in the sports industry, such as Nike (Preisser, McDonough and Harth, 2016).

Voluntary Sector Organizations

The voluntary sector is wide-ranging and covers all things from small local clubs to large
national charities. For example, in the UK, the Amateur Athletic Association is set up as a charity
and it has powers to regulate athletics sports in the country. Its focus is very prone, from
grassroots to elite, relying mostly on the promotion and development of the sport, while getting
by on volunteers and donations. Its scope is national but with a very localized implementation
through community clubs and events (Kumar, 2018).

Even at the smaller end of the scale, a local sports club may only number a few dozen members,
usually looking more towards furthering training and participation opportunities at a local level

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or for a specific group, for example, youth or disabled athletes (Preisser, McDonough and Harth,
2016).

Each of these types of organizations holds with them their own challenges and advantages. Big
public and private organizations bear big resources and influence but have to negotiate complex
regulatory environments, usually with lots of public or shareholder scrutiny (Bull, 2020). On the
one hand, smaller firms are normally more flexible and can easily adjust to changes in the local
environment; they, however, on the other hand, may not be struggling with the problem of
resource limitation and sustainability. Furthermore, this directly differs from the strategic scope
of said entities in their operational dynamics and interaction with the market. UK Sport or Nike,
among others, have an important role in the definition of sports policies or consumer trends,
while smaller ones have an important role in sports participation or talent development at the
community level (Ferguson, Hassan and Kitchin, 2023).

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Critical Analysis of Relationship of Different Organisational Functions with
Objectives and Structure

Central Role of Finance

Finance, in any sports organization, remains the operational and strategic backbone of any
running initiative. For example, in an organization where sports are run in the private sector, such
as Nike, the finance department has to budget, control expenditures, and assess performance
against financial plans and profitability (Tanklevska and Vybranskyy, 2019).

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These financial metrics bear directly on strategic choices, such as measures of market expansion,
product development and promotion activity about company strategy to increase market share
and innovate the product offerings (French and Cardinal, 2021).

Marketing and Strategic Alignment

Marketing is a very important function since it is critical to carry out promotional products or
services, understand the needs of customers and building brand loyalty. Marketing strategies
followed by sports organizations include sponsorship deals, endorsements and digital campaigns
corresponding to broader business objectives like brand visibility and sales growth. Just as
functional activity in marketing, when its influence on revenue targets is indirect, an example of
such functional activity is the marketing function of Nike, which is in constant collaboration with
the product development and sales department in creating and promoting goods meeting market
demands and sustaining brand dominance by Nike (D.A. Dagaev, 2018).

Structure of the Organization and Human Resources Perspective

The Human Resources (HR) function contributes to an organization through the administration
of its workforce, compliance with labour law and organisational culture development with
support to employees in training and development. In a UK Sports kind of public sector entity,
human resources have to be much more than mere recruitment and ensuring compliance. Human
resources have to facilitate high performance and offer an environment for continuous
improvement, sans which this national sports excellence organizational objective cannot be
reached (Miragaia, Ferreira and Ratten, 2017).

Operations and Efficiency

Daily operations within a sports organization - gym or sports facility - may deal with, but are not
limited to, issues of facility maintenance and customer service. All these operational tasks are
crucial for the organizational objective of delivering excellent service in any manner that helps in
customer retention and satisfaction. This will require tight integration with the finance function
for cost management and with HR for staffing and training (McSweeney and Safai, 2020).

Organizational Structure and Interdependencies

Organizational structure defines the interrelationship between these functions and this could be
hierarchical, flat, or matrix in nature. The traditional organizational structure of a hierarchal

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nature may lead to relatively independent workings of each department under centralized
decision-making (Preisser, McDonough and Harth, 2016).

Flat structures—such as those usually found in small organizations or startups, say boutique
fitness studios—mean more collaboration and less formal separation of roles. Following very
well with agility and fast decision-making. The matrix structure is an organizational structure
present in complex or project-driven environments—e.g., large sporting events. It enables team
members from functions to join together in given projects; hence, they can share information and
innovate much faster. For example, in a large sporting goods company like Decathlon, the
marketing, product development and operations teams could closely work with each other while
introducing new products in a given regional market (Preisser, McDonough and Harth, 2016).
The joint approach will ensure that the efforts of each function are closely aligned with the
overall strategic goals: marketing generates consumer interest, and product development ensures
product-specific regional needs. Meanwhile, operations manage the logistics of getting the
product to market efficiently.

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Conclusion

Based on the above discussion, it can be said that from the critical impact analysis of different
business structures and the interrelationships between departments that are internal to fulfill the
overall set of business objectives within the sporting organizations, several inferences can be
drawn.

Diverse Organizational Types and Objectives: In the UK, sports organizations across the
public, private, and voluntary sector arms work with different legal structures and aims set. The
respective organizational goals and objectives are achieving national sports excellence and
achieving public health. Meanwhile, private sector businesses aim for maximum profit and the

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possibility of expanding the market, while voluntary sector organizations generally aim at sports
to provide community development and social good.

Headache of Regulating and Operational Challenge: Regulating work and operational

challenge is also different for every organization. Public sector organizations are subjected to
governance standards that are enshrined by public laws, whereas those of the private sector have
to show respect to the corporation laws and standards of financial reporting. Most organizations
carrying out their activities purely on a voluntary basis, therefore, enjoy tax relief. They have to
ensure that their operations are being carried out on charitable purpose and public benefit.

Size, Scope, and Impact: Sports organizations tend to be small to large, local to international,
and with low to. The public sector bodies, for instance UK sport, will have enormous influence
with their largescale operations funded out of government and lottery funds. The private sector
giants, however, for example, Nike, are working in the global vicinity with heavy investments
linked with the product and marketing innovations.

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References
Breuer, C., Giel, T. and Hallmann, K., 2017. Germany: Transformation towards a more private
sport sector. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-61310-9_9

Bull, F. (2020) 'World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary
behaviour,' British Journal of Sports Medicine, 54(24), pp. 1451–1462.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-102955.

Čingienė, V. and Kalašinskaitė, K., 2017. LITHUANIA: Towards Professionalization of the

Private Sport Sector. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-61310-9_14

D.A. Dagaev (2018). Decision-Making in International Sports Organizations — a Survey. Žurnal

Novoj èkonomičeskoj associacii, 40(4), pp.167–174. doi:https://doi.org/10.31737/2221-2264-
2018-40-4-8.

Diegtiar, O., Piatnychuk, I. and Hornyk, V., 2018. PUBLIC GOVERNANCE OF PHYSICAL
CULTURE AND SPORT: THE WORLD BEST PRACTICES. Electronic scientific publication
"Public Administration and National Security". doi: 10.25313/2617-572x-2022-1-7852

Ferguson, K., Hassan, D. and Kitchin, P., 2023. Policy transition: public sector sport for
development in Northern Ireland. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 15, pp.211-
228. doi: 10.1080/19406940.2023.2183976

French, M.T. and Cardinal, B.J. (2021). Content Analysis of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in
the Recreational Sports Journal, 2005–2019. Recreational Sports Journal, 45(1), pp.69–77.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1558866121998382.

Iversen, E.B. and Cuskelly, G., 2015. Effects of different policy approaches on sport facility
utilisation strategies. Sport Management Review, 18, pp.529-541. doi:
10.1016/J.SMR.2014.12.004

Kumar, H., (2018) 'Means as well as ends: some critical insights for UK sport policy on the
impact of facility ownership and configuration on sports participation,' International Journal of
Sport Policy, 11(3), pp. 415–432. https://doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2018.1522660.

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Kumar, H., Manoli, A. E., Hodgkinson, I. R. and Downward, P., 2018. Sport participation: From
policy, through facilities, to users’ health, well-being and social capital. Sport Management
Review. doi: 10.1016/J.SMR.2018.01.002

Laine, A. and Vehmas, H., 2017. Getting a grip on the private sport sector in Europe. doi:
10.1007/978-3-319-61310-9_1

Lechner, E. and Solberg, H.A. (2021). The competition for government funding of major sports
events: why do some applicants pass the needle’s eye? International Journal of Sport Policy and
Politics, 13(1), pp.13–27. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2020.1859586.

McSweeney, M. and Safai, P., 2020. Innovating Canadian sport policy: towards new public
management and public entrepreneurship? International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 12,
pp.405-421. doi: 10.1080/19406940.2020.1775678

Miragaia, D., Ferreira, J. and Ratten, V., 2017. Corporate social responsibility and social
entrepreneurship: drivers of sports sponsorship policy. International Journal of Sport Policy and
Politics, 9, pp.613-623. doi: 10.1080/19406940.2017.1374297

Preisser, A.M., McDonough, R.V. and Harth, V. (2016). Fitness to work: a comparison of
European guidelines in the offshore wind industry. International Maritime Health, 67(4), pp.227–
234. doi:https://doi.org/10.5603/mh.2016.0041..D., Kissick, J. and McCrea, M. (2013).
Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport-The 4th International Conference on Concussion in
Sport Held in Zurich, November 2012. PMandR, 5(4), pp.255–279.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmrj.2013.02.012.

Tanklevska, N. and Vybranskyy, V., 2019. Basics of sports marketing. Socio-Economic Problems
of the Modern Period of Ukraine. doi: 10.36818/2071-4653-2019-6-4

Tintarev, N., Knijnenburg, B.P. and Willemsen, M.C. (2024) 'Measuring the benefit of increased
transparency and control in news recommendation,' the AI Magazine/AI Magazine [Preprint].
https://doi.org/10.1002/aaai.12171.

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 Programme Name Pearson BTEC Level 5 HND in Business

Unit Number and Title Unit 1 Business and the Business Environment
Unit Level 4

Academic Year 2024-25 13

Cohort
Assessor Dr. Adeelah Tariq
Internal Verifier Dr Sukru Yurtsever
Portfolio of Industry Analysis Factsheets (Part A)
Assignment Title
Environmental Business Audit Report (Part B)

Learner Declaration
Please include below declaration along with your signature and date on the cover page of your assignment before
submission.

I certify that the work submitted for this assignment is my own. Where I have used the work of others to
support my work, I have acknowledged all credits. I have identified and acknowledged all sources used in
this assignment and have referenced according to the Harvard referencing system. I have read and
understood the Plagiarism and Collusion section provided with the assignment brief and understood the
consequences of plagiarising.

Signature: ………………………………………… Date: ……...………………………………

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Table of Contents

Part 2..............................................................................................................................................17

Introduction................................................................................................................................17

Positive and Negative Impacts of Macro Environment on Business operations.......................18

Political Factors.....................................................................................................................18

Economic Factors..................................................................................................................18

Social Factors.........................................................................................................................19

Technological Factors............................................................................................................19

Legal Factors.........................................................................................................................19

Environmental Factors...........................................................................................................20

Internal and External Analysis of specific organizations (SWOT)............................................20

Internal Analysis (Strengths and Weaknesses)......................................................................20

External Analysis (Opportunities and Threats)......................................................................21

Interrelation of strengths and weakness to macro factors for expansion...................................22

Strengths of Interacting with External Factors......................................................................22

Weaknesses Interacting with External Factors......................................................................23

Conclusion.................................................................................................................................24

References......................................................................................................................................25

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Part 2
Introduction
The following report discusses the huge influence that macro environmental factors have on
business operations, sport being the particular industry under focus. It puts into perspective that
the respective policies of the government, the state of the economy, the prevailing social trends,
the existing or emerging technology, legislations as well as environmentalism all have a very
important, if not very critical bearing on the operations and strategies of sports businesses. This
report, therefore, will involve a comprehensive SWOT analysis of Nike, Inc. to illustrate how
these macro factors combine with strengths and weaknesses at an internal level to dictate
business outcomes, hence offering important insights applicable in strategic planning and
operational adjustments within the industry.

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Positive and Negative Impacts of Macro Environment on Business operations
The macro environment is the sum of all those external factors which can broadly affect business
activity with great magnitude, favourably and adversely. Among these factors, economic,
technological, social, political and legal elements are involved. Understanding these influences is
a task of great importance for any strategic planning and the settings of operation within an
industry. The sports industry doesn't make an exception (Lv, Wang and Jin, 2022).

Political Factors
Political conditions may come to bear on sports businesses in terms of regulations, government
funding and international trade policies.

For positive instance, if the government of the country will make efforts to encourage sports as a
part of the public health program, then participation will increase and subsequently be good for
the local sports organizations.

On the other side, such political instability may reduce consumer confidence levels and disrupt
international supply chains, just like what happened with Brexit, where it brought about
uncertainty on the tariffs and market access to be experienced by UK-based sports retailers and
manufacturers (Breuer, Feiler, Llopis-Goig and Karsten, 2017).

Economic Factors
The economic condition has an impact on consumer spending, determination in investments and
overall business growth.

Economic booms, on the positive note, increase spending on leisure and sports, increasing in turn
the revenues for the businesses across the whole spectrum of the sports industry (Ferguson,
Hassan and Kitchin, 2023). For example, fluctuating exchange rates can also affect the business,
dealing in an international market like Adidas, by changing the cost of exports or the profitability
of operating overseas.

For negative impact, during economic recessions, most discretionary spending on sportswear and
sports club memberships is reduced, which might affect companies like Nike or local sports
clubs.

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Social Factors
In the sports business, social trends may greatly influence the business.

One such aspect that has influenced the growth of the gym and fitness industry is the growing
health and fitness awareness across most societies. Companies like Peloton thrived due to such
trends because they innovated in terms of offerings, including virtual classes.

Other issues could include increased awareness of gender equality and diversity, hence pushing
brands towards changes in marketing strategies and product lines to be better positioned to
appeal to a different, wider demographic group.

Social changes, however, can also bring problems. In the case of shifting population ages and
interests, their decreasing numbers might lead to a smaller number of people playing golf, for
example, and that would affect all related businesses (Kumar, Manoli, Hodgkinson and
Downward, 2018).

Technological Factors
Technology changes the landscape under which sport's business is done. It affects the sports
business since it allows the birth of new types of products, and improves customer experiences
and operational effectiveness.

As positive side, wearable technology like Fitbit totally transformed the way consumers keep
track of their fitness and therefore started catering to an altogether new market segment (Kumar,
Downward, Hodgkinson and Manoli, 2018). And, of course, the developments in online
streaming technologies served to bring the extended reach of sports events to a global level,
which is good for brands that involve broadcasting in sports.

However, technology may bring some obstacles, such as the rapid pace of changes meaning
continued investments in innovation and businesses failing to catch up lose their competitive
edge (Breuer, Giel and Hallmann, 2017).

Legal Factors
Legal changes in terms of new labour laws, safety regulations and compliance requirements can
impose extra costs on businesses.

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 This is one of the ways health and safety regulations apply to sports organizations and
something they have to comply with, especially in facility management and organizing events
which helps to gain trust of the customers..

But, the introduction in Europe of stricter data protection laws such as GDPR is also impacting
the way sports companies manage and use their customer data, imposing significant operational
changes and likely high compliance costs (McSweeney and Safai, 2020).

Environmental Factors
The environmental component is one of the influences that bring a business practice more and
more under its emanation.

Sports industry making and large-scale events are not an exception to this. And so, increased
public concern with environmental sustainability means companies are under pressure to adhere
to greener practices. Adidas has, for example, gone to the extent of launching eco-friendly
products, such as shoes from plastic waste.

This could, however, make such a move appealing to environmentally concerned consumers but
at the same time does require changes in the supply chain and could be more costly in terms of
production (Preisser, McDonough and Harth, 2016).

Internal and External Analysis of specific organizations (SWOT)

One of the popular frameworks that can be used to conduct the organizational-specific internal
and external analysis is SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). We will make
use of this to carry out an analysis of the world's best designers, marketers and distributors of
athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories, Nike and Adidas Inc. (Iversen and
Cuskelly, 2015).

Internal Analysis (Strengths and Weaknesses)

Strength

1. Brand Awareness and Market Prevalence: Nike is globally a brand name with great market
prevalence. This is a firm which is most commonly considered to have recognized brand equity
by consumers and equated with sport, fitness and high performance.

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The "Just Do It" slogan and swoosh brand mark are now global. This assists in keeping the
unbeatable competitive edge (McSweeney and Safai, 2020).

2. Innovation Leadership: Nike demonstrates high innovativeness in its product, coupled with
great investment in research and development. For example, Nike Air, Flyknit and Dri-FIT have
brought about revolutionary changes in athletic apparel and footwear (McSweeney and Safai,
2020).

3. Strong Global Supply Chain: Enabled by efficient and sophisticated logistics capabilities,
Adidas has an extensive global supply chain that reaches out its products effectively across the
world. This has, therefore, made it in a better position to meet the market's diverse demand with
agility (French and Cardinal, 2021).

Weaknesses

1. Overdependence on the North American Market: Though its operations are spread all over
the globe, still a good portion of Nike's revenues come from the North American market. Hence,
this overdependence may raise vulnerability due to regional economic fluctuations (D.A.
Dagaev, 2018).

2. Controversies and Public Image Issues: Adidas, at some point in time, has been subjected to
a number of controversies, such as those that were related to its labor practices in the supply
chain and those related to the management of endorsement athletes. At times, such situations
have been tarnishing its image and brand reputation (Breuer, Feiler, Llopis-Goig and Karsten,
2017).

External Analysis (Opportunities and Threats)

Opportunities

1. Expansion in Emerging Markets: High growth opportunities are available in these markets
since incomes and urbanization tend to fuel demand for athletic wear and footwear, especially in
the Asia and African markets.

2. E-Commerce Expansion: The increasing penetration of online shopping will provide

growing opportunities for its channels in the DTC (Direct Consumer) categories to gain better

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margins and build customer relationships directly (Kumar, Manoli, Hodgkinson and Downward,
2018).

Threats

1. Intense Competition: The rivalry experienced in sports apparel and footwear is heavy and
continues. Major competitors include Adidas, Puma and Under Armour. Most of the time,
competitors are the ones who tend to imitate strategies and innovations made by Nike, hence
increasing the competition (Lechner and Solberg, 2021).

2. Consumer Preferences Shifting: Fashion and sports apparel are delicate to changing
consumer tastes at any time. The rate of change here requires agility in the face of this fast-paced
space; falling behind on reactions may cost some market share (Lechner and Solberg, 2021).

Interrelation of strengths and weakness to macro factors for expansion

Strengths of Interacting with External Factors
Brand Recognition and Global Reach with Economic Fluctuation:

Today, the environment and economic conditions The brand is so strong and world-renowned
that even with the fluctuation, the economic factor will not affect it. In economic downtrends,
consumer spending will usually reduce. However, top brands like Nike will often do better than
their smaller, lesser-known competition. This loyalty is underpinned by Nike's reputation for
quality and innovation (Kumar, Downward, Hodgkinson and Manoli, 2018).

However, under the most excellent economic conditions, Nike's reach on a global basis actually
makes its efforts towards increasing sales maximally and developing into new markets more
effective, compared to many of its competitors, since it capitalizes on the brand to take up
increased consumer expenditure (Lv, Wang and Jin, 2022).

The main factor in achieving Innovation Leadership with Technological Advancement

States.

The people who drive Nike ensure that they balance their emphasis on innovation; they also
dwell on bettering technology and materials with digital applications. For example, Nike has
adopted augmented reality in its approach to marketing and selling products, where they allow
customers to try on the shoes virtually on their app. Such a technological fusion would not only

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enhance the shopping experience but place Nike at the forefront of retail innovation, hence
enhancing the same with a competitive edge in the technology-driven market (Breuer, Giel and
Hallmann, 2017).

Effective Marketing and Sponsorship Deals with Social Trends:

What Nike did with that, through strong marketing tactics and many deals with the best athletes
and celebrities, was able to intersect effectively with the social trends in personal fitness and
wellness. By associating its brand with powerful individuals making the revolution for healthy,
empowered and activist lifestyle choices, further buttressing the claims and relevance of the
brand yet again in the eyes of especially the younger demographic of age-sensitive towards
authenticity and responsibilities in messaging (Breuer, Giel and Hallmann, 2017).

Weaknesses Interacting with External Factors

Economic conditions lead to high prices.

Here lies the drawback of Nike's premium pricing strategy: The company's positioning actually
highlights the offering of high-quality products, but offers less accessibility for consumers during
economic downturns, which in turn brings downgrading to cheaper alternatives. Evidently, this is
one situation clear during the world economic crisis of 2008-2009, when Nike slowed its sales
growth as a result of an increased sensitivity toward the price of the consumers (Breuer, Feiler,
Llopis-Goig and Karsten, 2017).

Social and Political Environmental Problems Regarding Public Image:

Nike has not been able to shake the bad press and image, specifically in regard to labour
practices, under the ever-increasing global sensitivity over corporate responsibility and ethical
practices. The greater demands of consumers and regulators, putting this to higher standards in
corporate behaviour have meant that any mismanagement of the area can lead to a major
backlash. In response to those concerns, Nike has a whole array of efforts that include factory
conditions development and boosting transparency in ensuring that the downsides of the
developing negative impacts may be mitigated and the social expectations may be matched. In
one word, the internal strengths and weaknesses of Nike are intricately related to the macro-
environmental factors. This will later define dominance in the market for this company. Their
capability to manage effectively those interactions, taking advantage of strengths such as brand

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recognition and innovation in a positive environment and curing its weaknesses that it is
dependent on the market and sensitive to premium pricing in times of economic hardship. These
dynamics underline the need for continuous strategic evaluation and adaptive courses in response
to external conditions (McSweeney and Safai, 2020).

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Conclusion
A comprehensive analysis of the UK sports industry's organizations delivers a picture sensitive to
differing objectives, structures and their exposure to external influences. Public sector
organizations focus on the promotion of public health and national sports excellence underpinned
by government funding and characterized by strict accountability and transparency. Private
sector entities aim at maximizing profit through innovation and global market strategies, whereas
voluntary organizations, with stringent legal requirements, ensure the benefit goes to the public
and aim at fostering community development through sports. Furthermore, such
interdependencies that cut across finance, marketing, or human resources are material to the
strategic objectives set by an organization and material for the attainment of operational
effectiveness.

Recommendations

Strengthen Collaboration with Governments: Sports businesses keep working in constant

collaboration with the government in regard to the regulation and facts provision in respect of the
industry's growth.

Enhance Economic Resilience: Such policy may, therefore, become necessary for them to
devise mechanisms that could cushion them from the full wrath of economic downturns—such
as diversification of product lines and markets, in order to keep relatively constant inflows of
revenue during the peaks and troughs of the economic cycle.

Focus on Sustainability: Sustainability into business practices by developing eco-friendly

products and adopting a green manufacturing process to help meet the growing consumers' and
regulatory demand for environmental responsibility.

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