Expertise
Interview
“The world loves an
underdog in sports
and in business,
but the world loves
a champion more.”
PHOTOS: NIKE INC.
For Mark Parker, President and CEO of giant
sports and fitness company Nike, competition and
innovation make all the difference.
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Expertise Interview
The Focus: You have set a growth target of 50 percent in
RESUMÉ Mark Parker
the next five years. What are the key pillars of growth?
Mark Parker: Nike has unlimited opportunity. We work
in the worlds of performance, technology, fashion, media, retail, and we do so from a brand deep in the universal experience of sports and competition. That’s a very
broad and diverse landscape to explore for top-line
growth. We wanted to bring more focus to these opportunities, so we realigned the brand into six key categories – running, basketball, soccer, men’s training,
women’s training and sportswear. This helps us make
deep and meaningful connections with those consumers.
We use the insights we gain to create innovative products. Then we use those products as the centerpiece of
premium consumer experiences in the marketplace.
While our opportunities may be unlimited, our resources
are not. This really gets to the other side of growth,
which is profitability. We have a relentless focus on
operational excellence – reducing costs, leveraging
resources, deploying capital effectively.
By focusing externally on consumers we generate
topline growth. By focusing internally on efficiency, we
create profitability and value for shareholders. It’s really
a giant optimization exercise in reaching our potential.
Mark Parker, 51, has been with one employer for all
of his professional life. Parker joined Nike as a
designer and has now been with the company for
28 years. He has been at the center of the
company’s evolution in product design, advanced
research and development, manufacturing,
marketing, and brand management. He is widely
recognized as the product visionary for the Nike Air
franchise and many other industry-leading product
design and performance innovations.
His career track with the company culminated in
2006 with his appointment as President and CEO.
As CEO, Mark leads growth of the Nike brand, and
The Focus: How does Nike defend its leading position?
the growth of Nike Inc.’s global business portfolio,
Parker: Being a leader doesn’t guarantee success. But it
which includes Converse, Cole Haan, Exeter Brands,
does guarantee that you will be targeted – by competitors and by critics. That’s fine. We know they’re out
there, and we respect their position. In fact, we’re our
own harshest critics, because we know we can always
be better. But if you’re defending something, it means
you’ve stopped moving forward. You’ve turned around
to deal with someone else’s agenda rather than pursuing
your own. That’s not in our nature. We are on the
offense… always.
We don’t obsess on the competition. And we don’t ruminate about things we might have done better. Our focus
is on connecting with consumers. They decide who the
market leaders are. Consumers relate to Nike because
we are passionate about sports, we’re curious about culture, and we’re fixated on innovation and performance.
It’s who we are. We don’t know any other way.
Hurley International, and Nike Bauer Hockey.
From the outset, Parker shared a passion for
running with Nike co-founder and Chairman, Phil
Knight. As a student at Penn State University,
Parker was on the running team and would
regularly run up to 20 miles a day. His passion for
sports not only led him from East Coast to West to
work with Nike but also helped forge a bond to his
wife and former fellow student Kathy Mills, who in
1978 set a women’s world record for the 5,000
meters.
The Focus: What elements of Nike’s corporate culture
set it apart, and how do you keep that culture alive?
Parker: Nike never should have survived. Phil Knight
and Bill Bowerman, co-founders of the company, knew
everything about sports and nothing about running a
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15 years old, the most fundamental communication shift
in our time – shoved aside by teens who text.
At its core, the digital age is about the power to create
content and shape information without limits or filters.
It’s about the democracy of ideas and cultures, all accessible instantly and globally. For many traditional business models – publishing, advertising, broadcast programming – this digital freedom is a real threat. At Nike
we not only embrace the change, we’re helping to drive
it. We’re building products for the experience economy,
not the transaction economy. For example, Nike+ is a
product initiative that combines a sensor/transmitter in a
running shoe with music and training information from
the iPod, all uploadable to a global community of athletes on the Internet. There are more than 425,000 registered users who have logged more than 28 million miles.
Nike+ has succeeded beyond our most ambitious estimates, because we delivered a relevant and authentic
solution for the modern runner – a bridge between the
physical and the digital worlds.
business. Their goal was to help athletes run faster.
That’s what really mattered to them, so they started
designing and selling shoes. That passion and enthusiasm did more to shape Nike culture than anything else.
In Nike’s early days I remember presenting shoe designs
to Bill Bowerman. In addition to being one of the most
influential coaches in global track and field, he was an
authentic genius in the realm of performance footwear.
He would listen patiently to my pitch. Then he would
pull his briefcase up onto the table, bring out his triplebeam scale, and wave me over to weigh the shoe. He’d
check the scale, sneer, and say, “Is this the best you can
do?” That’s the best question I’ve ever heard. It really
captured everything about Nike – the fixation on innovation and performance, the commitment to athletes,
the demand for excellence. How do we keep that spirit
alive? We ask, “Is this the best you can do?”
The Focus: What is it that makes Nike better than the
rest?
Parker: Better is a qualitative word I don’t really like to
use when it comes to our competition. I prefer to focus
on how to make Nike a better company – how to become
better editors and align ourselves against a shorter list
of bigger opportunities. We have a lot of strengths. We
know sports and understand athletes better than anyone.
The brightest, most creative people in the industry work
here. We lead in research, design and development. The
Nike brand is as iconic and meaningful as any other
brand in the world. These advantages are valuable, but
only if you’re smart and surgical in how you leverage
them. It all comes down to building great products,
telling great stories, and involving the consumer in both.
It sounds simple, and it is, but it works only because
we’re hungry and aggressive… confident. We’re constantly searching for new technologies, new materials,
new production methods. We’re willing to try anything,
and we’re willing to fight for new ground, claimed or
unclaimed. Yes, there is a gap between Nike and our
competitors. I can’t speak to their role in that. But I will
say that the gap between Nike and our competition is far
narrower than the gap between Nike and our potential.
The Focus: How do you apply Nike’s resources to the
challenges of corporate responsibility?
Parker: As an innovator, Nike works to improve the per-
formance of athletes. As a leader, Nike has the opportunity, the ability and the responsibility to step up and
work to improve our global and local communities – to
The Focus: How does Nike continue to prepare for the
shift in consumer attitudes and trends?
Parker: Consumers today are sophisticated and power-
ful. They are masters of digital connectivity, which is
continually re-creating and expanding its influence. Already we’re hearing claims that e-mail is dead – not yet
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“The most effective leaders
at Nike are those who
have strong opinions and
an open mind.”
Willingness to train hard like Tiger Woods, who had nine
major championships and the No. 1 ranking, but he
knew he could do more so he deconstructed and rebuilt
his swing… twice.
The one thing common to all great athletes, the thing we
look for in all Nike employees, is a raging competitive
fire. That’s what drives us to reach our individual and
collective potential. That’s the difference between competence and greatness.
innovate for a better world. This year we published
our third public corporate responsibility report on
nikeresponsibility.com. It shows our focus on three primary areas – improving the environment, improving
conditions in our contract factories, and improving the
lives of young people. To improve the environment we
use sustainable resources and renewable energy wherever we can in our business, whether in our facilities or in
the products we build. To help improve conditions in our
contract factories we have established goals to eliminate
excessive overtime, to help educate and train workers
about their right to freedom of association, and to help
lead systemic change within our industry’s supply chain.
And we’re launching a new initiative called Let Me Play.
It’s based on a Nike ad campaign from a few years back
that promoted the benefits of sports for kids – they do
better in school, they develop stronger relationships,
they’re less likely to use drugs or become teen parents.
We believe now is a good time to re-introduce that
message. We do these things because they are the right
things to do. Corporate responsibility is a source of
innovation and growth for our business. And it is
increasingly important to our consumers and our employees.
The Focus: Which leadership skills do you value most in
your executives? Where is there room for improvement?
Parker: There is no single archetype for a Nike leader.
There are infinite archetypes. The most effective leaders
at Nike are those who have strong opinions and an open
mind. If you think you’re the smartest person in the
room, chances are you’re not. We have a real focus on
team at Nike. The effective leader is the one who has an
intuition about people, who can see the likely and, more
importantly, the unlikely combinations of individuals
who become high-performing teams. That kind of chemistry on teams is both elusive and invaluable.
Where can we improve? Everywhere. Nobody is so
evolved that they can’t grow. One area we are focusing
on is increasing the diversity of our leadership styles and
experiences. This is key as our business continues to increase in complexity and reach around the world. We
need to be more thoughtful to ensure we have the right
mix of players at all levels of leadership and throughout
the company.
The Focus: In its ads, Nike allies itself with star athletes.
What attributes do you look for in your own employees?
Parker: The connection between athletes and Nike is
very real and direct. We are athletes – world record
holders, marathoners, collegiate champions, coaches,
weekend golfers, passionate fans – the athletic spirit permeates our culture. The attributes you find in a great athlete are the same attributes we look for in Nike employees. Passion like Steve Prefontaine – Pre didn’t have the
classic stature of a distance runner. He was small. One
leg was shorter than the other. But he lived to run, and
that passion made him one of the sport’s great champions. Self-confidence like Michael Jordan – MJ always
wanted the ball in his hands in the final seconds of a
close game. He missed more final shots than he made,
but he always believed he was the best man for the job.
The Focus: How do you attract, develop and retain talent?
Parker: Nike is one of the great consumer brands in the
world. The values we have help us attract the best talent
in the world. We are also great storytellers, and when we
can speak to a candidate about who we are, our culture,
what we do to give back, it’s very compelling. We work
and live in the heart of sports and innovation, and that
provides tremendous energy… and high standards of
performance. When you come to Nike, you will be
challenged and you will work hard. In return you will be
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supported and developed in three ways – We’ll give you
growth assignments. We’ll support you with coaching
and mentoring. And we’ll give you formal training as
you grow as a leader.
Throughout our history we have seen that the best way to
grow our people is through the critical experiences we
give them on a daily basis. Our heritage is filled with examples of people who were thrown into situations with
little or no guidance. Should we have failed in those
early days? Probably. But we didn’t know that, so we focused on the challenge and we grew. Today we work to
position our best talent in jobs long enough for them to
learn from the experience. At the same time, we provide
a variety of new opportunities for them to intersect other business units, functions, markets and geographies.
We are told that one of the best things we have to offer is
the opportunity to work with incredibly talented leaders
and peers. I’d like to think that has always been the case.
is the most egalitarian endeavor on the planet. The quote
seemed fitting. To bring this mission to life, we crafted a
set of 11 operating principles we call Nike Maxims.
They explain our past, celebrate our present, and inform
our future. Part information and part challenge, they
keep us centered as the company evolves.
The Focus: What is your greatest achievement at Nike?
Parker: We’ll see.
Mark Parker answered questions from Brian Reinken,
Egon Zehnder International, Dallas, and Justus O’Brien,
Egon Zehnder International, New York.
The Focus: What parallels do you see between competi-
tion in sports and business?
Parker: Certain principles apply no matter what the endeavor – passion, fair play, teamwork. In sports, just as
in business, there is the added dimension of competition.
There is always somebody younger and faster and
stronger, dreamers who envision themselves at the top of
the mountain, and they can’t wait to knock you off to get
there. I admire that.
This is certainly true for Nike. We play on a wide field
against a lot of teams. Many of our competitors are small
and nimble and aggressive. They are highly focused on
very discreet parts of the market. There is a certain kind
of freedom and power in that position. You tend to take
more risks – victories are bigger and mistakes more
costly. The world loves an underdog in sports and in
business, but the world loves a champion more.
Nike
Success at the sign of the Swoosh
The world’s largest sports and fitness company
started out as an importer of Japanese running
shoes. In 1964, the year Nike was founded,
under the name Blue Ribbon Sports the
company posted sales of US$ 8,000 – a far cry
The Focus: How important is a general aim for a large
from the US$ 16 billion that Nike reported last
organization such as Nike?
Parker: Six years ago, the Nike mission statement read,
“To be the #1 sports and fitness company in the world.”
We did that. It was time to rethink our reason to be.
Rather than focus internally on who we wanted to be, we
shifted our gaze outward. We saw that the athletes of the
world were our reason to be. So we rewrote the mission
statement… “To bring inspiration and innovation to
every athlete* in the world.” We added the asterisk to
represent a quote from our co-founder Bill Bowerman,
who said, “If you have a body, you’re an athlete.” Sports
year. The company’s founders, Phil Knight and
Bill Bowerman, were runners. Knight studied
Business at the University of Oregon where
Bowerman was his running coach. Soon, the
two athletes were no longer content to import
shoes and began to develop models of their
own. Today, Nike employs 29,000 people
worldwide, while a further 650,000 people are
employed at the contract factories that produce
the articles with the Nike logo – the Swoosh.
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