Strategic Control

Among the leaders of the Nike organization, there are twelve members of the Board of Directors, which help to guide the organization to where it wants to go. Some of the main leaders of this organization include Phil Knight, as the Chairman of the Board, and Mark Parker, as the Chief Executive Officer. These two, along with the ten others, represent major leadership positions in company's such as Apple Inc, General Electric, FedEx, and Starbucks, among others. Their leadership positions in many different industries combine to create a vast knowledge pool upon which Nike can use their human capital to propel their organization forward in the sporting industry in which Nike competes. Together, they seek to make decisions that will benefit the company, its employees, customers, and shareholders alike. They help to monitor the performance of the company as a whole, and to redirect focus when things go awry. By engaging in meetings, these people can come together to evaluate the performance and actions of top management, and subsequently propel the success of the organization. 

These twelve Board members serve on various committees throughout the organization including the audit committee, compensation committee, corporate responsibility and sustainability, executive committee, finance committee, and the nominating and corporate governance committee. By splitting up into expert areas and smaller teams of board members, they can more clearly see the successes and areas of needed improvement in different areas of the organization. With many important segments and areas of coverage, Nike can more fully cover the needs of each group of shareholders, which ultimately will make the company more successful. Without these committees, their following would not be as strong and their company not as sound overall. 

In addition to their board of directors being held accountable for corporate responsibility, finance, audit, and corporate governance, Nike has a high expectation of ethical behavior from their employees as well. Their code of ethics, which they call "Inside the Lines", must be read and agreed to by each Nike employee, and includes policies on protection of intellectual property, accuracy in financial statements, fraud and theft, conflict of interest, and other important subjects in which corporations much follow in order to maintain investor confidence. 

Between the board of directors, the committees served on, and the code of ethics all Nike employees and members must follow, Nike has a strong strategic control system in place to avoid all possible violations of investor trust.