MBA 5652, Research Methods Course Syllabus Course Description Business research methods will guide students in advancing their knowledge of different research principles and their applicability in social research. Students will investigate a business-related issue in their content area and design a publishable research proposal. Course Textbook Zikmund, W. G., Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., & Griffin, M. (2013). Business research methods (9th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western. Course Learning Outcomes Upon completion of this course, students should be able to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Design and plan a research study. Apply statistical methods to business research. Apply research techniques to commerce and business issues. Differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics. Devise the sampling theory into appropriate sampling distributions. Write and test a hypothesis. Contrast and compare descriptive, correlational, and qualitative non-experimental research. Contrast and compare experimental and quasi-experimental research. Write a publishable research proposal paper using APA guidelines. Apply ethical research standards. Credits Upon completion of this course, the students will earn three (3) hours of college credit. Course Structure 1. Unit Learning Outcomes: Each unit contains Learning Outcomes that specify the measurable skills and knowledge students should gain upon completion of the unit. 2. Unit Lesson: Each unit contains a Unit Lesson, which discusses unit material. 3. Reading Assignments: Each unit contains Reading Assignments from one or more chapters from the textbook. Supplemental Readings are provided in the Unit I, II, III, IV, V, and VIII study guides to aid students in their course of study. Suggested Further Readings are listed in the Unit VIII study guide. The readings themselves are not provided in the course, but students are encouraged to read the resources listed if the opportunity arises as they have valuable information that expands upon the lesson material. 4. Learning Activities (Non-Graded): These non-graded Learning Activities are provided in each unit to aid students in their course of study. 5. Key Terms: Key Terms are intended to guide students in their course of study. Students should pay particular attention to Key Terms as they represent important concepts within the unit material and reading. 6. Unit Assessments: This course contains two Unit Assessments, one to be completed at the end of Units III and VIII. Assessments are composed of written response questions. 7. Unit Assignments: Students are required to submit for grading Unit Assignments in Units I, II, IV, V, VI, and VII. Specific information and instructions regarding these assignments are provided below. Grading rubrics are included with each assignment. Specific information about accessing these rubrics is provided below. MBA 5652, Research Methods 1 8. Research Proposal: Students are required to submit for grading a Research Proposal in Unit VIII. Specific information and instructions regarding this assignment are provided below. A grading rubric is included with this assignment. Specific information for accessing this rubric is included below. 9. Ask the Professor: This communication forum provides you with an opportunity to ask your professor general or course content related questions. 10. Student Break Room: This communication forum allows for casual conversation with your classmates. CSU Online Library There is a virtual library with resources, including both journals and ebooks, to support your program and your course at Columbia Southern University. eResources are accessible 24 hours a day/7 days a week from the CSU Online Library gateway page. To access the library, log into myCSU, and then click on CSU Online Library. Resources are organized in the library by title, but if you click on Research Guides, you will find eResources arranged by subject. The Library Reference service is available 7 days a week; you can reach CSU's virtual librarians by emailing thevirtuallibrarian@columbiasouthern.edu. These professional librarians will be glad to help you develop your research plan or to assist you in any way in finding relevant, appropriate, and timely information. Librarian responses may occur within minutes or hours, but it will never take more than 24 hours for a librarian to send a response to the email address you have provided. Replies to reference requests may include customized keyword search strategies, links to videos, research guides, screen captures, attachments, a phone call, live screen sharing, and meeting room appointments, as well as other forms of instruction. Unit Assignments Unit I Mini Project Using Exhibits 6.4 and 6.5 from Chapter 6 in your textbook as guidelines, respond to the following statements. You are not required to submit the responses, but use your answers as the foundation for the assignment listed below. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Identify a business decision situation that requires action in your organization. Be clear and succinct. Assess the current situation. Identify two symptoms. Identify likely problems causing each symptom. Write a decision statement (this is always a question). Identify research objective (potential result) that corresponds to the decision statement. Restate research objective in the form of a question (known as the research question). Develop a hypothesis by (1) reviewing the research objectives and identifying the variables and (2) specifying the variables in a declarative statement and describing the direction of the relationship. Write a two-page paper based on the information from your responses. The paper should include the following headings: Current Situation, Problem Statement, Research Objective, Research Question(s), and Hypothesis. Be sure to include a title page and a reference page. Use correct APA formatting when writing your paper. NOTE: This assignment is part of the Unit VIII Research Proposal. This assignment must be submitted in sequence (i.e., Unit I must be submitted and graded by the professor, who will provide feedback to the student before he or she can progress to the Unit II assignment). The student assignment will be graded according to the assigned rubric. The professor will grade and annotate items that need to be corrected by the student. This feedback from the professor will help the student correct any discrepancies before compiling this assignment into the Research Proposal. This will help the student achieve a better review/grade for the Research Proposal. Information about accessing the Blackboard Grading Rubric for this assignment is provided below. Unit II Mini Project Write a three- to five-page literature review on your selected topic. Ensure your literature review has the following: Introduction: Provide an overview of the topic. Explain why the question is important and a brief description of the research design. State the purpose of conducting the literature review. Discuss major trends in the field. Explain how the literature review will be organized. MBA 5652, Research Methods 2 Body: Discuss the current status of the topic. Organize this section according to the previously mentioned themes or something similar. Discuss relationships that may exist in the literature. Conclusion: Highlight major points discussed in the previous sections. Be sure to relate the information back to the purpose and relevance of the research. Include a minimum of five sources. Three of the sources must be from peer-reviewed journals. Use and follow APA style for this assignment. NOTE: This assignment is part of the Unit VIII Research Proposal. This assignment must be submitted in sequence (i.e., Unit II must be submitted and graded by the professor, who will provide feedback to the student before he or she can progress to the Unit IV assignment). The student assignment will be graded according to the assigned rubric. The professor will grade and annotate items that need to be corrected by the student. This feedback from the professor will help the student correct any discrepancies before compiling this assignment into the Research Proposal. This will help the student achieve a better review/grade for the Research Proposal. Information about accessing the Blackboard Grading Rubric for this assignment is provided below. Unit IV Mini Project Write a two- to three-page report discussing the sampling design for the proposal. Generate a sampling design that will yield the best results for your research objective. Include the following information: 1. Research the objective. 2. Description of the population: Process for identifying the target population and selecting the sampling frame 3. Describe the sampling procedures (convenience, quota, simple random), and justify your rationale for choosing the procedure(s). 4. Determine the sample size using one of the techniques from Chapter 17. 5. Calculate the confidence interval at 90%, 95%, and 99% to get an interval estimate, and explain the results. (Click here for a copy of the Appendices.) 6. Identify the different types of biases that are likely to occur and explain what steps you will take to minimize them. 7. Conclusion: Highlight the major points discussed in the previous sections. Be sure to relate the information back to the purpose and relevance of the research. You must use correct APA formatting when writing your paper. All references used, including the textbook, must be cited. NOTE: This assignment is part of the Unit VIII Research Proposal. This assignment must be submitted in sequence (i.e., Unit IV must be submitted and graded by the professor, who will provide feedback to the student before he or she can progress to the Unit V assignment). The student assignment will be graded according to the assigned rubric. The professor will grade and annotate items that need to be corrected by the student. This feedback from the professor will help the student correct any discrepancies before compiling this assignment into the Research Proposal. This will help the student achieve a better review/grade for the Research Proposal. Information about accessing the Blackboard Grading Rubric for this assignment is provided below. Unit V Mini Project Write a two-page paper describing a basic experimental design for the proposal. Design a basic experiment to assess a cause and effect relationship based on your research question. Include the following information: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Research the objective. Explain if the design is a true experiment or a quasi-experiment. Justify your selection. Develop a hypothesis based on your research question. Evaluate your hypothesis according to the characteristics provided in the lecture. Be specific. Describe the independent variables, blocking variables, dependent variables, and extraneous variables. Explain how you plan to deal with issues related to internal and external validity. Be specific. Conclusion: Highlight the major points discussed in the previous sections. Be sure to relate the information back to the purpose and relevance of the research. You must use correct APA formatting when writing your paper. All references used, including the textbook, must be cited. MBA 5652, Research Methods 3 NOTE: This assignment is part of the Unit VIII Research Proposal. This assignment must be submitted in sequence (i.e., Unit V must be submitted and graded by the professor, who will provide feedback to the student before he or she can progress to the Unit VI assignment). The student assignment will be graded according to the assigned rubric. The professor will grade and annotate items that need to be corrected by the student. This feedback from the professor will help the student correct any discrepancies before compiling this assignment to the Research Proposal. This will help the student achieve a better review/grading for the Research Proposal. Information about accessing the Blackboard Grading Rubric for this assignment is provided below. Unit VI Mini Project Write a 2-3 page paper discussing the measurement scale for each question in the survey developed in the Unit III assignment. Decide if you will use composite scale score or a summated scale score. Justify your decision. How will you measure reliability, validity, and sensitivity? Explain how you will deal with ethical dilemmas during the research process (confidentiality, anonymity, conflicts of interest, informed consent, debriefing, experiments on human subjects, and so forth). You must use correct APA formatting when writing your paper. All references used, including the textbook, must be cited. NOTE: This assignment is part of the Unit VIII Research Proposal. This assignment must be submitted in sequence (i.e., Unit VI must be submitted and graded by the professor, who will provide feedback to the student before he or she can progress to the Unit VII assignment). The student assignment will be graded according to the assigned rubric. The professor will grade and annotate items that need to be corrected by the student. This feedback from the professor will help the student correct any discrepancies before compiling this assignment to the Research Proposal. This will help the student achieve a better review/grading for the Research Proposal. Information about accessing the Blackboard Grading Rubric for this assignment is provided below. Unit VII Mini Project Using the survey that you developed in Unit III, choose 10 people in your organization to respond to the survey. Before disseminating the surveys, please pre-code the data (refer to Chapter 19, pp. 470-471) or follow the example provided in the lecture. Perform the following: 1. Create a data file using an Excel worksheet. 2. Compute descriptive statistics for the variable(s), and explain the measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion that are most appropriate for your study. 3. Create a pie chart with percentages. 4. Compute a frequency table and histogram for each variable. 5. Decide which measures of central tendency, spread, and graphical display would be most appropriate for the study. Using the information above, write a one- to two-page paper explaining how the data will be analyzed. This section should begin with a brief introduction to the section and a description of the problem. You must also explain how the data will be coded and edited. Provide justification for the descriptive statistics that will be employed in the study. You will only need to submit the paper for this assignment. Please do not include data, results, or graphical displays. The above activities are designed to help you explain the type of analysis that will be performed. Remember that the proposal is futuristic. You must use correct APA formatting when writing your paper. All references used, including the textbook, must be cited. NOTE: This assignment is part of the Unit VIII Research Proposal. This assignment must be submitted in sequence (i.e., Unit VII must be submitted and graded by the professor, who will provide feedback to the student before he or she can progress to the Unit VIII assignment). The student assignment will be graded according to the assigned rubric. The professor will grade and annotate items that need to be corrected by the student. This feedback from the professor will help the student correct any discrepancies before compiling this assignment to the Research Proposal. This will help the student achieve a better review/grading for the Research Proposal. Information about accessing the Blackboard Grading Rubric for this assignment is provided below. MBA 5652, Research Methods 4 Research Proposal Compile the revised mini projects assignments from Unit I, Unit II, Unit IV, Unit V, Unit VI, and Unit VII to formulate a complete 8-10 page research proposal. Please include the appropriate headings for each section of the proposal to help transition the reader and organize the paper. Remember to create your abstract. An abstract is a self-contained, short, and powerful statement that describes a larger work. Be sure to review the abstract to ensure it is correct and include it as part of the research proposal. Note: All assignments must have been submitted in sequence. Feedback from each mini project must have been received from your professor before moving to the next section. Please be sure to make the revisions based on the feedback provided for each mini project. All papers must be formatted using APA guidelines. Information about accessing the Blackboard Grading Rubric for this assignment is provided below. APA Guidelines CSU requires that students use the APA style for papers and projects. Therefore, the APA rules for formatting, quoting, paraphrasing, citing, and listing of sources are to be followed. A document titled \"APA Guide\" is available for you to download from the APA Guide link, found in the Learning Resources area of the myCSU Student Portal. It may also be accessed from the Student Resources link on the Course Menu. This document includes examples and sample papers and provides links to The CSU Success Center and the CSU Online Library staff. Blackboard Grading Rubrics Assignment Rubrics One or more assignments in this course utilizes a Blackboard Grading Rubric. A rubric is a tool that lists evaluation criteria and can help you organize your efforts to meet the requirements of an assignment. Your professor will use the Blackboard Grading Rubric to assign points and provide feedback for the assignment. You are encouraged to view the assignment rubric before submitting your work. This will allow you to review the evaluation criteria as you prepare your assignments. You may access the rubric in \"My Grades\" through the \"Tools\" button in your course menu. Click the \"View Rubric\" link to see the evaluation criteria for the assignment. Upon receiving your assignment grade, you may view your grade breakdown and feedback in the rubric. CSU Grading Rubrics for Papers/Projects and Assessments The Learning Resource area of the myCSU Student Portal provides the rubrics, and information on how to use them, for written response questions in Unit Assessments, and Research Papers/Projects. The course writing assignments will be graded based on the CSU Grading Rubric for all types of writing assignments, unless otherwise specified within assignment instructions. In addition, all papers will be submitted for electronic evaluation to rule out plagiarism. Course projects will contain project specific grading criteria defined in the project directions. To view the rubrics, click the Academic Policies link on the Course Menu, or access it through the CSU Grading Rubric link found in the Learning Resources area of the myCSU Student Portal. Communication Forums These are non-graded discussion forums that allow you to communicate with your professor and other students. Participation in these discussion forums is encouraged, but not required. You can access these forums with the buttons in the Course Menu. Instructions for subscribing/unsubscribing to these forums are provided below. Once you have completed Unit VIII, you MUST unsubscribe from the forum; otherwise, you will continue to receive e-mail updates from the forum. You will not be able to unsubscribe after your course end date. MBA 5652, Research Methods 5 Click here for instructions on how to subscribe/unsubscribe and post to the Communication Forums. Ask the Professor This communication forum provides you with an opportunity to ask your professor general or course content questions. Questions may focus on Blackboard locations of online course components, textbook or course content elaboration, additional guidance on assessment requirements, or general advice from other students. Questions that are specific in nature, such as inquiries regarding assessment/assignment grades or personal accommodation requests, are NOT to be posted on this forum. If you have questions, comments, or concerns of a nonpublic nature, please feel free to email your professor. Responses to your post will be addressed or emailed by the professor within 48 hours. Before posting, please ensure that you have read all relevant course documentation, including the syllabus, assessment/assignment instructions, faculty feedback, and other important information. Student Break Room This communication forum allows for casual conversation with your classmates. Communication on this forum should always maintain a standard of appropriateness and respect for your fellow classmates. This forum should NOT be used to share assessment answers. Grading Mini Projects (6 @ 7.5%) Unit Assessments (2 @ 12.5%) Research Proposal Total = = = = 45% 25% 30% 100% Course Schedule/Checklist (PLEASE PRINT) The following pages contain a printable Course Schedule to assist you through this course. By following this schedule, you will be assured that you will complete the course within the time allotted. MBA 5652, Research Methods 6 MBA 5652, Research Methods Course Schedule By following this schedule, you will be assured that you will complete the course within the time allotted. Please keep this schedule for reference as you progress through your course. Unit I Review: Read: Submit: Notes/Goals: Unit II Review: Read: Submit: Notes/Goals: Unit III Review: Read: Submit: Notes/Goals: Foundation of Business Research Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 1: The Role of Business Research Chapter 4: The Business Research Process: An Overview Chapter 6: Problem Definition: The Foundation of Business Research Supplemental Reading: See Study Guide Mini Project Qualitative Research Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 7: Qualitative Research Tools Chapter 8: Secondary Data Research in a Digital Age Supplemental Reading: See Study Guide Mini Project Primary Data Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 9: Survey Research: An Overview Chapter 11: Observation Methods Chapter 15: Questionnaire Design Supplemental Reading: See Study Guide Assessment MBA 5652, Research Methods 7 MBA 5652, Research Methods Unit IV Review: Read: Submit: Notes/Goals: Unit V Review: Read: Submit: Notes/Goals: Unit VI Review: Read: Submit: Notes/Goals: Course Schedule Sampling Design Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 16: Sampling Designs and Sampling Procedures Chapter 17: Determination of Sample Size: A Review of Statistical Theory Supplemental Reading: See Study Guide Mini Project Quantitative Data Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 3: Theory Building Chapter 12: Experimental Research Supplemental Reading: See Study Guide Mini Project Measurement and Ethics in Business Research Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 5: The Human Side of Business Research: Organizational and Ethical Issues Chapter 13: Measurement and Scaling Concepts Mini Project MBA 5652, Research Methods 8 MBA 5652, Research Methods Unit VII Review: Read: Submit: Notes/Goals: Unit VIII Review: Read: Submit: Course Schedule Stages of Data Analysis: Part OneDescriptive Analysis Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 19: Editing and Coding: Transforming Raw Data into Information Chapter 20: Basic Data Analysis: Descriptive Statistics Mini Project Bivariate Data Analysis Unit Study Guide Learning Activities (Non-Graded): See Study Guide Chapter 21: Univariate Statistical Analysis Chapter 22: Bivariate Statistical Analysis: Differences Between Two Variables Chapter 23: Bivariate Statistical Analysis: Measures of Association Supplemental Reading: See Study Guide Suggested Further Reading: See Study Guide Assessment Research Proposal Notes/Goals: MBA 5652, Research Methods 9 Unit III Assessement Design a 10-question questionnaire based on your proposed research problem. The questionnaire must contain an introduction that explains the purpose, an approximate time frame for completion, and a statement on confidentiality/anonymity. There should be at most two open-ended questions. Please review the guidelines located in Chapter 15. You may also refer to Appendix 15A for wording on the most common research topics. Your response should be at least 200 words in length, unless otherwise specified. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations. 1. Evaluate each question that you included in the questionnaire. Explain how the question will help meet the objectives of the research. Please be specific and provide justification. Your response should be at least 200 words in length, unless otherwise specified. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations. H essay-ans-_1007 Evaluate each question that you included in the questionnaire. Explain how the question will help meet the objectives of the research. Please be specific and provide justification. Your response should be at least 200 words in length, unless otherwise specified. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations. Running head: IMPACT OF LEAN PRODUCTION ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE Impact of Lean Production on Business Performance Natasha N King Columbia Southern University 1 IMPACT OF LEAN PRODUCTION ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE Abstract This study will seek to examine the importance of incorporating lean production in business operations. The lean production that will be investigated in the study comprises of two important dimensions, namely; Just-In-Time and technology and innovation. The study will measure lean managers' perceptions on the lean production and the level of performance of the company 2 IMPACT OF LEAN PRODUCTION ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 3 Current Situation The current business situation is colored by intense competition and an alarming increment in the cost of raw materials. This is a situation that has alerted manufacturing companies to pursue programs, which would allow them to minimize waste and reduce manufacturing costs. Generally, the organizations should transform from the traditional mass production practice to a better and more efficient and flexible production method, such as lean production. Lean production focuses mainly on the elimination of waste and respect for people (Dennis, 2007). The core of lean production philosophy lies on the premise that it has brought changes in the management practices through enhancing the production effectiveness, efficiency and improving business performance. Problem Statement Today's era of global competition result in an intense challenge to organizations. The companies, which do not keep up with the lean production would lose out to competitors (Dehdari, 2013). In essence, manufacturing companies do not only compete on prices but also on the organization who will introduce new technological, creative, innovative and high quality products to enable them to become market leaders and ultimately gain higher profits (Garcia et al, 2014). As such, lean production has the potential to assist companies in achieving both cost minimization and value maximization. Most researchers claim that lean production can result in improved production IMPACT OF LEAN PRODUCTION ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 4 Research Objective Despite the fact that there is a growing number of anecdotal and empirical evidence in favor of a lean production environment, there has been no theory-building and methodical rigorous research which examines the impacts of lean production and business performance. Therefore, the main objective of the study is to understand the contribution of lean production to business operations and productivity. i. Investigate the relationship between lean practices on an organization's operations performance and business performance ii. Examine the impacts of lean production on business productivity Research Question(s), and Hypothesis. It is hypothesized that business competitiveness depends on an organizational competence, including both static levels of a company's operational capacity as well as the dynamic capabilities of improving and adapting to the ever changing internal and external conditions as well as business performance (Black, 2008). The study will be guided by the following research questions i. What is the relationship between lean production and organizational changes and responsiveness? ii. What is the relationship between lean production and business performance? Conclusion IMPACT OF LEAN PRODUCTION ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE The lean literature provides an unbalanced picture of the elements of business competitiveness, whereas several studies emphasizes on the impact of lean production on static operational measures. In addition, there are much less studied concerning the relationship between lean and, 1) organizational changes and responsiveness, and between lean production and 2) business performance. This study will contribute to the lean production or manufacturing body of knowledge by identifying the relationships that exist between the lean manufacturing practices, organizational performance as well as business practices. In understanding the relationships that exist between these core elements will assist practitioners and business managers in arriving at informed decisions in the manufacturing organization as well as enable all relevant applications on the concepts being reviewed in other contexts, such as service organizations. 5 IMPACT OF LEAN PRODUCTION ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE References Black, J. R. (2008). Lean production: Implementing a world-class system. New York, NY: Industrial Press. Dehdari, P. (2013). Measuring the Impact of Lean Techniques on Performance Indicators in Logistics Operations. Karlsruhe, Baden: KIT Scientific Publishing. Dennis, P. (2007). Lean production simplified: A plain language guide to the world's most powerful production system. New York: Productivity Press. Garcia, A. J. L., Maldonado, M. A. A., & Cortes-Robles, G. (2014). Lean manufacturing in the developing world: Methodology, case studies and trends from Latin America. Zikmund, W. G., Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., & Griffin, M. (2013). Business research methods (9th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western. 6 IMPACT OF LEAN PRODUCTION ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 7 Running head: UNIT II MINI PROJECT Unit II Mini Project Natasha N King Columbia Southern University 1 UNIT II Mini Project 2 Unit II Questions Introduction The project seeks to analyse the financial position of Nike Company. The Company was started in the year 1962 by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight as an association under the name, Blue Ribbon Sports. Our unassuming objective then was to disperse ease, excellent Japanese athletic shoes to American customers trying to break Germany's command of the household business. Today in 2000, Nike Inc. not just makes and circulates athletic shoes at each attractive value point to a worldwide business, yet more than 40% of our business originates from athletic clothing, games gear, and backup wanders (Zhang, Si, Cai, Zhu & Zhang, 2014). Nike keeps up conventional and non-customary dissemination diverts in more than 100 nations focusing on its essential business areas: United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Americas. The firm uses more than 20,000 retailers, Nike industrial facility stores, Nike stores, Nike Towns, Cole Haan stores, and web based Web locales to offer our games and relaxation items. We command deals in the athletic footwear industry with a 33% worldwide piece of the overall industry. Nike Inc. has possessed the capacity to achieve this head position through "quality creation, imaginative items, and forceful promoting." accordingly, for the financial year end 1999; Nike's 20,700 representatives produced very nearly $8.8 billion in income. Services and Products The firm's essential item center is athletic footwear intended for particular game and/or recreation use(s). We additionally offer athletic clothing conveying the same trademarks and brand names the same number of our footwear lines. Among our more up to date item offerings, we offer a line of execution gear under the Nike brand name that incorporates game balls, timepieces, eyewear, skates, bats, and other hardware intended for games exercises (Seitz, 2014). UNIT II Mini Project 3 Likewise, we use the accompanying entirely possessed backups to offer extra games related stock and crude materials: Cole Haan Holdings Inc., Nike Team Sports, Inc., Nike IHM, Inc., and Bauer Nike Hockey Inc. Challenges to the Firm The most noteworthy test in 2000 was to keep up the operational and money related activities we worked so difficult to actualize in 1998 and 1999. We must keep up our stock levels sufficiently low that will permit us to adjust to rapidly changing business sector patterns. Fiscally, we must stay preservationist in our expense structure. Slices to working costs of very nearly $200 million this previous year exhibited that we are in a position to be deft in light of our industry-commanding size. With the slow monetary recuperation in the Asia Pacific area, we can gain by clients who are monetarily more grounded. Our sponsorship of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, and the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea will be the begin of numerous chances to bring games occasions into the standard for territorial and worldwide markets (Zhang, Si, Cai, Zhu & Zhang, 2014). With included introduction, we are tested to react to a business sector interest for in vogue athletic footwear and attire. In this mission, we will succeed on the off chance that we keep quality and execution at the center of our business. The Internet is a quickly evolving medium. As the first organization in our industry to offer e-trade abilities, we must continue with alert and stealth so as to choose a persevering system that will supplement our current dispersion channels. Industry Size In 1998, Americans spent pretty nearly $38 billion to buy more than 1.1 billion sets of shoes. The wholesale estimation of athletic shoes for the US market totaled $8.7 billion in 1998 down 8.5% from the prior year. As indicated by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, UNIT II Mini Project 4 athletic footwear represents right around 35% of all footwear buys. When all is said in done, purchasers are spending less worldwide for athletic footwear. The present residential industry center is on easygoing and agreeable shoes (Seitz, 2014). Albeit athletic footwear deals have all the earmarks of being recouping, interest is as yet inclining toward the "cocoa shoe" easygoing footwear with an agreeable and rough outline. This change is because of the expanding number of working environments receiving easygoing clothing standards. Industry Profitability The athletic footwear industry is a testing and soaked business sector. Extreme rivalry, design patterns, and cost cognizant buyers have impeded development in this industry. Producers are battling drowsy deals with radical new styles, alongside offering more styles at lower value focuses. Organizations are searching for better approaches to support deals by benefiting from direct Internet deals to purchasers. Numerous organizations are likewise expanding gainfulness by exchanging creation to less expensive seaward offices (Ishii, Leech, Kabeshita & Molinari, 2015). This section has come to a state of development in the local market and can anticipate just unobtrusive deals development for the long haul. On the other hand, deals are enhancing somewhat, particularly in the zones of running shoes, cross-coaches and b-ball shoes. Hence, organizations with solid brands will progressively swing to universal markets for development. Industry Seasonality By and large, deals in the athletic footwear industry stay stable as the year progressed. The worldwide change in our business sector adjusts the regular vacillations (Feng, 2014). Run of the mill drifts in regularity show up for spring clothing, the back-to-educational season, and the Christmas season. UNIT II Mini Project 5 Industry Cyclicality In financial year 1999, the economy was generally positive for footwear producers. The footwear business and its benefit are firmly fixed to financial cycles. Humble expansion, low unemployment, and a blasting securities exchange will all add to solid buyer spending. The hypothesis behind the log jam in deals is that development in athletic footwear and clothing is consistently delicate to the Olympics (Cao, 2014). Verifiably, years of the Olympic Games have shown surges in development took after by troublesome deals periods. The standpoint for expanded deals patterns is hopeful because of the forthcoming Olympic Games slated during the current year. Nike can likewise anticipate a support sought after from the World Cup occasions. UNIT II Mini Project 6 References Cao, X. D. (2014). The Analysis of Constructing Sports Brand in the Vision of Building Powerful Sports Nation. In Applied Mechanics and Materials (Vol. 644, pp. 6007-6010) Feng, B. (2014). Study on supply chain management strategies of sports goods company. Advances in Services Science and Services Information Technology (Set), 52, 49. Ishii, H., Leech, N. A., Kabeshita, Y., & Molinari, A. (2015). U.S. Patent No. 8,982,216. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Seitz, P. (2014). A Financial Analysis of the Sports Manufacturer ADIDAS Zhang, Y. L., Si, H. K., Cai, L., Zhu, K., & Zhang, J. H. (2014). The Patent Technology Development Characteristics Research of the Core Sporting Goods EnterprisesTaking Nike Company as an Example. China Sport Science and Technology, 3, 018 Zikmund, W. G., Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., & Griffin, M. (2013). Business research methods (9th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western