LB 170 Arab Open University Business Studies Worksheet

Arab Open UniversityIn class -Tutor Marked Assignment (In-class TMA)
Academic Year
Spring 2021-2022
Semester: Second
Branch:
Program: Business Studies
Course Title: Communication Skills for Business and
Management
Course Code:LB170
Student Names:
Student IDs:
Section Number:
Tutor Name:
Questions
Q1
Q2
TOTAL
Weight
60%
40%
100
Allocated Marks
Mark
20/
Tutor’s Comments:
1
Q1: In about 200 words, write an essay analyzing the below case study using the SWOT
framework.
•
Students are required to define each key concept (SWOT) and to identify 4 strengths,
4 weaknesses, 2 opportunity, and 2 threats. Then to write an analytical text for the
case study. Then to write an analytical essay for the case study. (60%)
Nike’s Goddess
Could a famously masculine company finally click with female customers? That was the challenge behind
Nike Goddess, whose goal was to change how the company designed for, sold, and communicated with
women.
In its 30-year history, Nike had become the undisputed leader in sports marketing. But beneath the success
was an Achilles’ heel. Nike is named after a woman – the Greek goddess of victory – but for most of its history,
the company had been perceived as being mostly about men. Could Nike do more to realize the full potential
of female customers? And how could it afford not to, given the threats to its future with Air Jordan running
out of air and brands like Skechers digging into the teen market with shoes inspired by skateboarding, not
basketball. That was the huge question at Nike HQ. The launch of Nike Goddess was the makings of an
answer.
Just Doing It Differently
For much of its history, Nike’s destiny was controlled by its founders, Phil Knight and his running buddies,
who signed up athletes in locker rooms and made the executive decisions. But by throwing together a diverse
team of people with different backgrounds and different levels of seniority, Nike has found that it can keep
many of its core attributes while adding new sources of inspiration. Take the combination of star designer
John Hoke and newcomer Mindy Grossman, vice president of global apparel. Hoke designed the look and
feel of the first Nike Goddess store. Then Grossman, whose career has included helping make Ralph Lauren
into a retail icon, pitched1 the design ideas to Nike’s top retailers as stores within stores. Now it looks like
Nike has a chance to reach a crucial objective: double its sales to women by the end of the decade.
How to Sell to Women
2
Nike Goddess began as a concept for a women-only store, and there’s a reason why. Many of the retail
settings in which the company’s products were found were a turnoff to female customers: dark, loud, and
harsh – in a word, male. In sharp contrast, the Nike Goddess stores have the comforting feel of a woman’s
own home.
How to Design for Women
Designing a new approach to retail was only one element in Nike’s campaign. Another was redesigning the
shoes and clothes themselves. Nike’s footwear designers worked on 18-month production cycles – which
made it hard to stay in step with the new styles and colors for women. The apparel group, which worked
around 12-month cycles, was better at keeping up with fashion trends. But that meant that the clothes
weren’t coordinated with the shoes – a big turnoff 2 for women.
How to Talk to Women
When Jackie Thomas, Nike’s US brand marketing director for women, first heard the phrase ‘Nike goddess,’
she wasn’t impressed. ‘I don’t like talking to women through gender,’ she says. Nike Goddess had to mean
something to women and it was her job to make that happen. ‘Women don’t need anybody’s permission.
We are at our best when we are showing women a place where they didn’t think they could be.’ For John
Hoke, the real power of Nike Goddess is not about traffic at stores. It’s about changing minds inside the
company. ‘I knew that Goddess could galvanise3 us,’ he says, ‘It was an opportunity to redefine and reenergies our entire brand around a market that was taking off.’
3
Q2: In about 200 words, write an essay analyzing the STEEPLE Module .
Students are required to define each key concept (STEEPLE) and to illustrate all concepts with
examples. (40%)
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