...Under Armour Case Study Source: Hogan, 2013 Table of contents Detailed Timeline 3 Business and Corporate Level Planning 4 Brief Summary of the Company Situation in their Competitive Environment, Issues they Face and Clear Problem Statement to Analyze 6 Key Leadership 8 Types of innovation and Evidence of Entrepreneurship 10 Global Presence and Effects 11 Ethics - Examples of Social Consciousness/Corporate Social Responsibility 12 Responsible Wealth Creation 14 Engagement and Plan Alignment & Corporate Culture 15 Wild Card 16 Internal Analysis 17 External Analysis 20 SWOT Analysis 24 Recommendation 27 Bibliography 33 Appendix 37 Team Member Roles 46 Detailed Timeline It all started in 1995 when Kevin Plank, the special teams captain on the University of Maryland football team, noticed that the cotton T-shirts he and his teammates wore underneath their pads were always soaked and filled with sweat (Under Armour, 2012). “There has to be something better,” he believed (Under Armour, 2012). That statement soon launched the performance apparel industry (Under Armour, 2012). That statement also became Under Armour’s generic strategy, which was to develop a better product than there was in the market. While Plank was perfecting his t-shirt after he graduated, he needed funds to launch his apparel line, so he maxed out his credit cards to the tune of $40,000 and set up a company in his grandmother’s basement in Washington, DC (Under Armour, 2012). In...
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...Lindsey Professor Chewens Under Armour Case Study Under Armour is an American sports clothing and accessories company that is headquarted in Baltimore, Maryland. Their mission is to make athletes better and they have stayed true to this mission. They center their brand on the authentic performance category and are constantly in the pursuit of innovation in mobility, temperature regulation, and comfort enhancement. The company’s heavy investment in product research and development has led to their desired results of innovation in apparel and footwear. Their innovation and product differentiation has created a competitive advantage. They are currently on top of the industry when it comes to high quality and comfort. Under Armour offers three variations of its appareal for different weather conditions. They offer HeatGear for hot weather, ColdGear for cold weather, and AllSeasonGear for mild weather conditions. Within these three gearlines there are three primary fit types: compression, fitted and loose. Under Armour’s success has resulted mainly from its sports marketing strategy through sponsorship of well-known, admired professional athletes such as Tom Brady and Stephen Curry. Under Armour has also strategically scored sport team’s sponsorship of many NCAA Division I Universities. This exposure has directly influenced the performance of the company in the market. Nike is the most dominating player in the athletic apparel industry, surpassing Under Armour and Adidas in market...
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...Case Study Analysis of Under Armour Module: Lecturer: Submission Date: Word Count: Matriculation number: Contemporary Issues in Strategic Management Maurice Brunet 15th November 2013 2990 (max. 3.000) 40131612 1 Introduction Under Armour, founded in 1996 by former University of Maryland football player Kevin Plank, is an American sports apparel company with headquarter in Maryland, US. Kevin Plank had the idea of making a t-shirt that is able to enhance athletes’ performance by controlling the body’s temperature and acting like a second skin. In only 14 years, Plank has succeeded in building Under Armour into a worldwide operating company that offers a wide range of premium priced sport articles including performance apparel, footwear and accessories. As of 2010, Under Armour was able to generate sales revenue of $1.06 billion of which the majority comes from Canada and the United States. Under Armour’s vision is to become the world’s leading performance athletic apparel by pursuing the mission of making “… athletes better through passion, science, and the relentless pursuit of innovation” (Ireland et al., 2013, p.378). The following report provides an analysis of the company Under Armour based on information from Ireland et al. (2013) in Management of Strategy. The paper is divided in the following three parts: 1. Five Forces analysis of the sportswear industry 2. Value chain analysis of Under Armour 3. Under Armour’s generic strategy. 1 2 Five Forces Analysis...
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...3-17-15 Under Armour Case Study Under Armour was founded by Kevin Plank a former collegiate football player at University of Maryland. Being an athlete and having to wear heavy sweaty shirts from playing he came up with an idea for a fabric that is cooler and comfortable to the athlete. He had passed on a job opportunity out of college and decided to take his idea and sell t-shirts instead. From what started as just a t-shirt idea had grown quickly into a powerful brand name with unlimited possibilities of growth in a very big industry. Before it became Under Armour it was formally called KP Sports which was a subchapter S corporation. After this Plank was able to convince Kip Fulks to be a partner in this enterprise and when money got tight he would borrow from family to keep the idea alive. This whole operation took place inside Planks grandmother basement until enough funds were secured to take out a small loan to move the operation to an actual facility. Later on the two of them acquired another friend as a partner by the name of Ryan Wood. After this the business truly began to take off and was no longer considered a S corporation but a C corporation. It wasn’t until late 2005 the company changed its name to Under Armour and became a publicly traded company. Now Under Armour is involved in the development, marketing, and distribution of performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men and women of all ages. In the industry that Under Armour is in there...
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...Under Armour: Working to stay on Top of Its Game The following is an in-depth analysis of the company Under Armour. It has been one of the fastest growing productions, along with one of the top runners in the athletic apparel industry. The future of Under Armour remains unclear, but hopeful. There are many questions and issues that founder Kevin Plank and his executive leadership team must consider as the company moves forward; but analysts believe that the demand for Under Armour’s apparel products remain strong. Nike, Adidas, and Columbia Sportswear are all frontrunners against Under Armour in the industry. The first section of this report will cover an overview of the trends in, economics, political/legal, social/cultural-global, technology, and demographics. Economics Under Armour Company has been growing substantially. In 2008 its gross profit was $353,041, in 2009 it was $410,125, and in 2010 it only rose higher to $530,507. Its new income from operating expenses went up as well. In 2008 it was $38,229, in 2009 it was $46,758, and in 2010 it was $68,447. In North America and Canada, Under Armours net revenue in 2008 was $692,388, in 2009 it was $808,020, and in 2010 $997,816. In foreign countries it inclines as well. In 2008 Under Armours net revenue was $32,856, in 2009 it was $48, 391, and in 2010 it was $66,111. If the company follows this trend its profits are simply going to rise. Political/Legal The political and legal environment of Under Armour is greatly...
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...Under Armour’s Strategy Case Analysis 1. How strong are the competitive forces confronting Under Armour, Nike, and The Adidas Group? Provide a five-forces analysis to support your answer. The competitive forces confronting Under Armour, Nike, and the Adidas Group are very strong. There are many other companies who offer similar sportswear and gear lie these three groups. A consumer has a wide variety of merchandise available to choose from, and the price to pick one brand over another costs the customer very little. All the competitors have allowed the market to be saturated with similar merchandise without much differentiation in products. The companies have an equal economic capability and economy of scale as Under Armour, Nike, and Adidas Group which allows them to remain equally competitive. The competitive pressure coming from new entrants into the sportswear apparel industry is relatively high. Active lifestyles are promoted heavily and customer demand for athletic products are high which means newcomers can expect to earn exponential profits. If a company has the resources to enter the market, then they could become a formidable competitor. The competitive pressure coming from firms offering substitute products is very high. Substitutes are often attractive to consumers because they are readily available for a nice price. Consumers often become used to buying substitutes because they suffer very low cost when switching products. Competitive pressure...
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...Under Armour is a leading developer, marketer, and distributor of branded performance apparel, footwear, and accessories. Former University of Maryland football player Kevin Plank founded the company in 1996. The company sells the product worldwide. Athletes at all levels, from youth to professional, from playing fields around the world wear this product. The Under Armour global headquarters is in Baltimore, Massachusetts. There are also European headquarters in Amsterdam’s Olympic Stadium, and additional offices in Denver, Hong Kong, Toronto, and Guangzhou, China. Kevin Plank began the business with savings and credit cards in the basement of his grandmother’s apartment. Now, the Under Armour is a business that has their products flying off the display racks. The defining moment for the novice company came in December 1999, with the release of Oliver Stone’s film Any Given Sunday. The film featured Under Armour throughout its duration, but the pivotal exposure scene was the locker-room scene with Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz. Oliver Stone wanted Jamie Foxx to wear a futuristic-looking jockstrap. Kevin made sure that the logo “UA” was front and center. The company only had 19 employees at the time. Now the employee number has reached 2,200 and the sales now exceed $700 million. As the performance apparel market grew, Under Armour diversified their product offerings, developed different types of performance gear, and ventured into women’s apparel, footwear, and other merchandise...
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...Academia logo redesign 2015 LOG IN SIGN UP Case Study 2, Under Armour's Strategy Nicola Hudson UPLOADED BY Nicola Hudson TRENDING top 1% VIEWS 1,786 DOWNLOAD Case Study 2, Under Armour’s Strategy Under Armour is an emerging company in the sports apparel industry whose mission is to “Make all athletes better through passion, science and the rel entless pursuit of innovation” . Under Armour was a disruptive innovator in the sports apparel industry by creating sports apparel using synthetic materials as an alternative to natural fibers, such as cotton. This important change in material resulted in a “shirt that provided compress ion and wicked perspiration off your skin rather than absorb it…that worked with your body to regulate temperature and enhance performance” . This promise to increase athletic performance differentiated it from competing sports apparel companies, but rivals have since implemented synthetic materials into their product lines. This case study seeks to analyze Under Armour ’s history, resources, capabilities, and core competencies, business and corporate-level strategies, as well as the general environment and competitive landscape. After careful inspection of these varying areas, the factors contributing to Under Armour’s current success and future challenges will become clearer. The conception for Under Armour began over a year ago when CEO Kevin Plank played on the University of Maryland football team. Frustrated with...
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...Case Study 2, Under Armour’s Strategy Under Armour is an emerging company in the sports apparel industry whose mission is to “Make all athletes better through passion, science and the relentless pursuit of innovation”. Under Armour was a disruptive innovator in the sports apparel industry by creating sports apparel using synthetic materials as an alternative to natural fibers, such as cotton. This important change in material resulted in a “shirt that provided compression and wicked perspiration off your skin rather than absorb it…that worked with your body to regulate temperature and enhance performance”. This promise to increase athletic performance differentiated it from competing sports apparel companies, but rivals have since implemented synthetic materials into their product lines. This case study seeks to analyze Under Armour’s history, resources, capabilities, and core competencies, business and corporate-level strategies, as well as the general environment and competitive landscape. After careful inspection of these varying areas, the factors contributing to Under Armour’s current success and future challenges will become clearer. The conception for Under Armour began over a year ago when CEO Kevin Plank played on the University of Maryland football team. Frustrated with having to repeatedly change his cotton shirt during practice, he envisioned a shirt whose materials allowed the perspiration to dry quickly, causing the athlete to be quicker, faster, and stronger...
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...Group 3 Q3 : Dose Under Armour have any resource strengths or competitive capabilities that qualify as a distinctive competence ? A/ A distinctive competence : is a competitively valuable activity that a company performs better than its rival, while the three competitive can get there resource such as Fabrics, raw material and cotton, So here among the three companies all of them has the same resource they can get from the same place, which eliminate any competence distinctive could occurs, which means there is no distinctive competence Q:8How does Under Armour's competitive strength compare against of Nike and the adidas Group?Do a weighted competitive strength assessment using the methodology presented in Table 4.4 in chapter 4 to support your answer.Based on you assessment and calculations, dose Under Armour have a net competitive advantage or disadvantage in competing against Nike and The adidas Group? A/ Under Armour is a public company offering of 9.5 million shares of class A common stock that generated net proceeds of approximately $114.9 million. when can see the the average rate of the stock hase increased gradually starting at $13 per share up to $31 per share. another advantage we can consider from these stocks which they are two types of stocks, Class A and Class B both of them has an option to vote within the organization, where these stock was trading in the $72 to $78...
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...Case study: Kevin Plank, Founder, CEO, and Board Chair of Under Armour Weston Kish 5/11/16 Case study: Kevin Plank, Founder, CEO, and Board Chair of Under Armour Weston Kish 5/11/16 1. Plank’s motivation was to create a new category of performance apparel driven by extrinsic (hygiene) factors or intrinsic (motivator) factors, according to Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Intrinsic factors, or motivators, are higher-level needs such as esteem, self-actualization, and growth. These motivators come from the job itself. Extrinsic factors, or hygeines, are lower-level needs such as physiological, safety, Plank saw a need so he tried to fill it to keep dry during a football game. I do not think this was his only reason for making the under armour brand. He seemed to be a person made to do business. I think he, driven extrinsic factor. When he was younger, he took the bracelets he got from Guatemala. He sold them for $580. He knew he was very good at selling, He knew he would be good at business. Not everyone was with him on his venture about trying to start his business. His motivation when it came to getting his business going he was very passionate. 2. I believe Plank places the most weight out of these three on achievement. If ordered by significance to Plank, I believe first would be his need for achievement, second would be power, third would be affiliation. Even as the CEO, he still models his work ethic by his employees. He knows how to keep the motivation...
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...Business Analysis of the Under Armour Brand Business Analysis FOR Dr. Kimberly Carter Business 508: Contemporary Business October 25, 2015 Strayer University . Abstract This paper aims to analyze three factors impacting the overall performance of Under Armour. Kevin Plank, a former University of Maryland football player, started the company in 1996 with an innovative idea to provide premium sports apparel to Under Armour’s customers. Factors such as ethical standards and integrity, innovation, and financial performance will be analyzed along with the potential impacts these factors have on the success of the Under Armour brand. The most critical factors determining the company’s success are determined and three business actions, including ways to cut costs, expand internationally, and increase sales by expanding its product base, will be evaluated in reference to the factors deemed necessary for Under Armour’s success. Business Analysis of the Under Armour Brand Introduction Kevin Plank, founder and CEO, formed Under Armour in 1996 with the innovative idea of providing high-performance sports apparel to athletes. Plank used a sophisticated textile design to repel sweat and keep athletes cool while performing in competitions and working out. Under Armour has designed performance enhancing apparel to include athletic tops, pants, shoes, shorts, bras, and sweaters. Thompson stated that “Plank believed that Under Armour’s potential for long term...
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...Jake Phillips Case Study 1 Financial Reporting and Analysis Under Armour Inc. Under Armour is a sports clothing and accessories company. The company is a supplier of a wide range of sportswear and casual apparel mainly focusing on hi-tech sportswear for professional athletes. It has now broadened its horizons and Under Armour began offering footwear in 2006, it continues to expand its offerings. The company was founded on January 26, 1996 by Kevin Plank, a former University of Maryland special team’s captain for the university football team. Plank and co-founder Jordan Lindgren, also a former University of Maryland Football player, began their business from Plank's grandmother's basement in Washington, DC. Plank, who got tired of having to change out of the sweat-soaked T-shirts he wore under his jersey, noticed that his compression shorts stayed dry. This was the inspiration to make a T-shirt using moisture-wicking fabric for athletic performance. I chose Under Armour because as a former athlete I wore Under Armours’ apparel since about 2002. I have done some research on them before but I never actually went through the financials. Being from Maryland I thought it would be a good fit for me. From 2009- 2010 Total assets went up by nearly $130 million and equity went up by nearly $100 million. Net revenues increased by 24.2% or $207.5 million. Net income increased by almost $22 million. Under Armour’s Independent Auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP issued...
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...6/20/2012 Under Armour: Case 1 The following is an environmental analysis of the “performance apparel” business sector of the athletic apparel industry, with an analysis on Under Armour, the 3rd largest athletic apparel company. The company is clearly rapidly growing, touching markets that have been dominated before, but continues to pride themselves on the performance of their products. The first section of this analysis will cover the trends in technology, economics, demographics, socialites and culture, as well as politics and legalities. It also includes coverage over Porter’s 5 forces and analysis’ of the industry and competitors. It will be concluded with strategies of success of the company as well as alternative strategies. Demographics In the terms of the overall athletic market, Under Armour claims 31% of the market share, Nike 36%, and Adidas and other athletic companies claiming the remainder. In their specific products, Under Armour claims 75% of performance apparel market share, with Nike and Adidas struggling to catch up. The company targets consumers of all ages and all demographics. Their consumers include men, women, and children; athletes, coaches, fans, active people, athletic staff, and anyone who lives an active life style. Their consumers can attain their products through their website, 15,000 retail stores across the country, regional retail chains like Academy and Dick’s sporting goods, and as of 2007, 17 retail outlet stores. Approximately 94% of Under Armour’...
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...Under Armour 1 Under Armour Case Study Jason Miller West Virginia University Under Armour 2 Executive Summary: The beginning of 2009 meant a new beginning for Under Armour. This new beginning brought the Under Armour product line full circle with the addition of a line of running shoes. “We're dead set on becoming the world's No. 1 performance brand and running is a part of that," said Steve Battista, senior vice president of brand at Under Amour (A.P., 2009). Under Armour had the following to say in a press release dated December 8, 2008: “UA Run footwear launches at retail on January 31, 2009 and includes four road shoes: the UA Apparition™, UA Illusion™, UA Revenant™, and UA Spectre™, and two trail shoes: the UA Chimera™ and UA Mirage™. Each shoe is specifically engineered to maximize the performance of today's generation of professional, collegiate, high school and amateur athletes who are running as a sport or incorporating running as an essential component in their training regimen” (uabiz.com, 2008). Under Armour wants to provide a superior running shoe for all athletes that aligns with the current brand positioning of UAs other products which is performance and authenticity. “The foundation of Under Armour's first-ever running footwear collection is the company's new proprietary technology called Cartilage™. “The independent suspension system serves as the "connective tissue" between a runner and his environment to enhance performance and provide an exceptionally...
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