Summary: Under Armour

Labor is an important aspect in any business but it can be a threat to the company’s growth strategy. The rising cost of international labor poses a threat to the company’s products as it will lead to increase in prices hence scaring away consumers. Strikes and lockouts also affect the accomplishment of company’s objectives as production is delayed. The risings costs of Chinese labor have negatively impacted on UA since they are the primary outsourced labor. The global economy is faced with many challenges and this directly affects under Armour as it produces closely related products to their rivals. These products are non-essential and usually attract fashion preference form the consumers. For this reason, customers may prefer to go for

However, it has been on the forefront in ensuring that ecofriendly products are manufactured. The company has five core eco-friendly operational goals including utilization of recycled material, reducing energy consumption, minimizing and reusing generated wastes, incorporation of green building practices in its retail stores and lastly partnering with suppliers to improve upstream global impact (Davis & Simone Jackson, 2014). The company has had its weaknesses that have been largely manifested through inefficient global establishment unlike its rivals. Under Armour has internationalized its operations with retails stores and corporate facilities in over 13 countries. It has its headquarters in Baltimore, North America and corporate offices in Canada, Toronto, New York, Portland, Texas among others. However, it seems to be concentrated in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Few activities have been registered in Australia and none in Africa. This poses a threat to its growth since globalization is key to the success of any business (Soni,

These companies are known for the manufacture of athlete’s clothing and footwear with Nike being the leading competitor with 16% market shares. NIKE operates in Middle East, Europe, America and Asia Pacific. As opposed to Under Armour that has not penetrated certain geographical locations such Middle East and Africa. It has also used celebrities in its product endorsement including Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. However, this did not deter Under Armour as they entered the market with a totally different product. They were the first to manufacture performance apparel using synthetic fiber. The oligopolistic nature of their business gave them a greater competitive edge and an opportunity to penetrate the market. The company exists in strategic groups that are based on powerful brand identity, product performance, word of mouth endorsement and simple merchandising story. They have accomplished this by developing a quality brand of sports apparel that is well-known. This has been through word of mouth endorsement by celebs including Michael Phelps and Lindsey Von who have made public statement about the product attracting public and customer attention (Bruke,