Thursday, March 6, 2014

Intellectual Capital

When analyzing intellectual capital and intellectual property, Nike is among the top companies that comes to mind. Between brand recognition, brand loyalty, social capital and human capital, Nike is among the leaders in the industry.

One of their biggest forms of intellectual capital includes their logo, the Nike Swoosh. Customers perceive this as having value and are willing to pay extra money to have this logo on their clothing. It is recognized worldwide, and is one of the easiest to distinguish, which adds huge value to the company and to each of their products. With such a wide industry, and so many specialty products, the Nike Swoosh, and the Just Do It slogan combine to create enormous value for the company. Without these, Nike wouldn't be where it is today.

Another important part of their intellectual capital includes their human capital. They have millions of workers worldwide that combine to create a unique workforce who communicate with each other and hold similar values aligned under the company business model. Between the people who come up with the new product ideas, those that help with innovation technology, and those that specialize in each type of sport or activity that Nike covers, the employees are invaluable to the organization.

Lastly, the social capital that Nike has within and surrounding the organization is extremely important to them. They have influential and beneficial relationships with college athletic departments and professional athletes who wear their products and give the company great exposure. They also have partnerships for sponsoring events, and other networking opportunities that they take advantage of in order to get brand recognition and brand loyalty.

The combination of these factors help to provide Nike with a highly reputable, recognizable product that customers are willing to pay for, and competitors are unable to copy. Both of these significantly improve the chance of survival and success within the industry, which is easily seen in the case of Nike.


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