Sporting Goods Industry Research Articles

Dynamics of Corporates and Stakeholders Perspective of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case of Sports Goods Industry Meerut

Problem statement: The Corporate Social Responsibility concerns got global attention in large scale industries but the SME’s which are no less prone to create critical problems for the human, social and natural environments inimical to the society as a whole and survival at large, have not attracted the required attention. The case focuses on the dynamics of the corporate and stakeholder perspective on CSR in Sports Goods Industry Meerut. Approach: This study examined the corporate and stakeholder perspective in purview of CSR on a systematic random sample of hundred each with the help of seven interview schedules. Results: Both the parties affirm that sincere commitments to CSR notions need to be exercised in business. But the mutual interaction in cordial and congenial social environment is manifestly neglected. There is neither any institutionalized mechanism of consultation and participation into decision making process, nor any strategy to incorporate stakeholders concerns in the business process of growth. Of course both the sectors avoid conflict creating situations in their own interests. But there is no positive approach to gratify or even identify the problems of stakeholders. The corporate in SGI Meerut verbalize the awareness and necessity of incorporating CSR concerns in business yet nothing serious is being done in this direction. Conclusion: Predominantly the classical view of maximizing profit and economic concerns of business prevail. The present study recommends for an intellectual debate to vitalize CSR concept in SMEs; institutionalized mechanism to develop a healthy interaction both for the comprehension of CSR, addressal and redressal of needs of various component sectors of this category of industries, particularly the stakeholders; attention to communicate human sensibilities pertaining to natural, social and environmental concerns of the mankind of all sectors engaged in industrial enterprises i.e. production, consumption, supply and sale; economic interests should not alone be given priority at the cost of social and environmental concerns.

Multichannels Strategy Implementation: The Role of Channel Alignment Capabilities*

ABSTRACTA firm's distribution channels represent a key portfolio of resources that can be leveraged for competitive advantage. One approach to this portfolio that has become increasingly important in recent years is multichannel distribution (MCD). While this strategy has important benefits in terms of market coverage and firm performance, the use of multiple channels seriously affects downstream channel roles such as service delivery, as the financial rewards to channel members and the services they offer are separated. A channel member who offers poor or no service can free‐ride on the services offered to the same customer from a different channel. We draw on agency theory to explain these negative consequences. Additionally, the resource‐based view of the firm along with capabilities theory provides two key means of alleviating these consequences: channel tracking capabilities and reward alignment capabilities. The study, conducted in an industry facing serious MCD issues (the outdoor sporting goods industry), used key informant data matched to secondary data. Our results show that managers can reap the performance rewards of MCD strategies while minimizing its negative consequences. In particular, monitoring practices such as frequent site visits and phone contact with customers develop the firm's channel tracking capabilities, allowing managers to better monitor downstream activities. This becomes particularly important as the complexity from having multiple channels increases. Likewise, reward alignment capabilities such as retail price maintenance agreements and cooperative advertising enable the manager to minimize conflict among channel participants by ensuring sufficient profitability for all channel members.

Route selection of sporting goods industry in China based on global value chain

Route selection of sporting goods industry in China based on global value chain

The Global Sourcing and Codes of Conduct Debate: Five Myths and Five Recommendations

ABSTRACTMuch attention has been devoted to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in recent years. Codes of conduct — or the ethical principles that companies use to guide their practices — have been at the heart of the debate about how global companies should manage their supply chains in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. What characterizes the debate today? Exaggerated claims are often made about the benefits that codes supposedly bring to workers and the environment in the developing world. The risk is that codes of conduct may do more harm than good, because much of the academic and policy‐oriented rhetoric on the topic is largely divorced from the realities faced by many developing country suppliers, workers and communities. Using insights from recent fieldwork in the Pakistani sporting goods industry, this contribution attempts to bust five myths that continue to characterize the codes of conduct debate and introduce five recommendations that could lead to a more fruitful engagement with future research, policy, and practice in this area.

국민체육진흥기금 융자제도 지원효과 극대화 방안

본 연구는 최근 타 정책자금 융자제도 현황 및 국민체육진흥기금 융자사업의 운용실태를 좀 더 심도 있게 분석하고, 이를 토대로 스포츠산업 융자제도의 지원효과를 극대화하기 위한 방안을 제시하였다. 본 연구결과를 정리하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 중소기업청, 산업자원부, 정보통신부 등에서 행해지고 있는 정책자금 현황을 살펴보았다. 둘째, 국민체육진흥기금 융자사업 현황을 살펴보았으며, 이에 기초하여 융자 지원현황을 분석하였다. 또한 지원실태를 융자지원 절차, 기금융자 규모, 융자지원 범위, 융자지원 조건으로 나누어 살펴보았다. 마지막으로 타 정책자금 현황과 융자사업 분석결과를 토대로 융자사업 지원효과 극대화 방안을 제시하였다. 융자사업 지원효과 극대화 방안으로 국민체육진흥기금 융자규모 및 범위 확대, 국민체육진흥기금 융자 시 기술담보대출 병행, 국민체육진흥기금 융자자금의 편중현상 완화, 융자대상 별 금액의 탄력적 적용, 국민체육진흥기금 융자 대상업체 선정기준 및 사후평가시스템 구축이 필요하다. Sport industry creates value-added by production and distribution of product or service related with sports or sports. Because this industry shows promise in becoming a major industry area, the government is making an effort to bring up or develop it. The financing to firms of sport industry area(sporting goods industry, sport facility industry, sport service industry) with low interest rate and long-term repayment period on the basis of sports promotion fund is excellent scheme to promote sport industry. Nevertheless, Because many people indicate operational inefficiency of it, it is necessary to check operational efficiency through investigation for loan system of sports promotion fund. The purposes of this paper are to present some directions for the improvement of efficiency by the analysis to public loan system using funds of other government organization and to the current status of loan system of sports promotion fund. The result of this study are as follows. First, we propose enlargement of loan size and range. Second, it is necessary to use mortgages loan to technology in case of sporting goods industry and sport service industry. Third, we suggest the mitigation of loan disproportion and flexible application among loam amount of sport industry areas. Fourth, we suggest the construction of loan practical committee. Finally we propose the establishment of selection criteria to firms and ex-post evaluation system related with loan system of sports promotion fund.

Drilling of Fibre Reinforced Plastic Laminates

The use of fibre reinforced plastics – FRP’s – in structures is under a considerable increase. Advantages of their use are related with their low weight, high strength and stiffness. The improvement of the dynamic characteristics has been profitable for aeronautics, automobile, railway, naval and sporting goods industries. Drilling is a widely used machining technique as it is needed to assemble parts in a structure. This is a unique machining process, characterized by the existence of two different mechanisms: extrusion by the drill chisel edge and cutting by the rotating cutting lips. Drilling raises particular problems that can reduce mechanical and fatigue strength of the parts. In this work, quasi-isotropic hybrid laminates with 25% of carbon fibre reinforced plies and 4 mm thickness are produced, tested and drilled. Three different drill geometries are compared. Results considered are the interlaminar fracture toughness in Mode I – GIc –, thrust force during drilling and delamination extent after drilling. A bearing test is performed to evaluate tool influence on the load carrying capacity of the plate. Results consider the influence of drill geometry on delamination. A correlation linking plate damage to bearing test results is presented.

Application du concept de milieu innovateur dans la filière sports-loisirs : Étude de cas dans l'industrie des articles de sport rhônalpine

Cet article est tiré d’une étude portant sur l’existence de Milieux innovateurs (MI) dans l’Industrie des Articles de Sport (IAS) en région Rhône-Alpes. Ce travail vise à mettre en évidence d’une part, l’application, en état, du concept de MI au secteur des Sports et Activités en Relation (SAR), plus précisément, aux Très Petites Entreprises (TPE) liées à la fabrication d’articles de sport, implantées en Rhône-Alpes ; d’autre part, si ce milieu est une forme d’organisation connexe à d’autres secteurs économiques et industriels (plasturgie, rotomoulage...) et si il y a une coopération efficace entre les différents acteurs de ce secteur. Revenant sur ce travail, nous souhaitons rendre compte de la méthodologie utilisée (GREMI) et proposer les principaux résultats.

Nas teias da economia: o papel das redes sociais e da reciprocidade nos processos locais de desenvolvimento

O trabalho aborda o tema das redes sociais de trabalho sob o ângulo das relações de reciprocidade. A partir de um estudo de caso no município de Veranópolis, Rio Grande do Sul, o artigo procura compreender a importância das relações de reciprocidade para a constituição de redes de trabalho ligadas a comerciantes, a indústrias de fusão de aços e a indústrias de calçados e artigos esportivos. Pretende-se demonstrar que, apesar de uma origem social comum, as diferentes redes de trabalho apresentam distintas características no que diz respeito a formas de trabalho, modo de operação e regulação da concorrência entre os empreendimentos. No caso estudado, o conjunto de relações em rede é responsável pelo dinamismo do mercado de trabalho e pela diferenciação da economia local, uma vez que articula os atores que compõem o tecido social e exerce efeitos relevantes para o desenvolvimento do território como um todo.

The microstructural characterization and simulation of titanium alloys modified with boron

Strength and stiffness of conventional titanium alloys (e.g., Ti-6Al-4V) can be significantly improved while maintaining adequate fracture properties via additions of small amounts of boron. Boron-modified titanium alloys have the potential to expand the usage of titanium and are attractive for a variety of applications in the automotive, aerospace, biomedical, and sporting goods industries. The improvements in the mechanical properties of boronmodified titanium alloys are attributed to the presence of TiB whiskers that precipitate in-situ during processing. Significant progress has been made in representation, modeling, and simulation of microstructure-properties relationships in boron-modified titanium alloys. These findings are reviewed in this paper with emphasis on the latest developments in quantitative characterization, mathematical representation, and computer simulations of microstructures of boronmodified Ti-6Al-4V alloys, and their use in the modeling and simulation of the mechanical response.

Characterisation of Thermal Expansion Coefficient of Anisotropic Materials by Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometry

Abstract: Carbon fibre composites find wide applications in aerospace, sporting goods industry and biomedicine. Mechanical and thermal properties of such materials are highly anisotropic; therefore, adequate experimental measuring methods are requested to determine them. This paper describes the application of electronic speckle pattern interferometry to full‐field, real‐time characterisation of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of anisotropic materials. The topics such as correlation fringes tilt and influence of small rigid body rotation were theoretically described and experimentally verified. A series of measurements was carried out to determine the CTE tensor for unidirectional and bi‐directional carbon fibre laminates and to prove the feasibility of the method. The measuring set‐up developed includes a temperature control unit for cooling and heating and a one‐dimensional in‐plane speckle interferometer.

Line Logic™ on the bow tie

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to present Line Logic™ as a means of developing and building a company's portfolio of products.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a sporting goods company in the USA as a case study to portray the implementation of Line Logic™.FindingsAn extensive analysis of the company and its implementation of the Line Logic™ methodology found that the company was operating in conjunction with a bow tie channel strategy.Research limitations/implicationsA case study does an excellent job of capturing phenomena at a particular company. The Line Logic™ framework needs to be explored and reported in various companies, thus allowing multiple sources of data to highlight strengths and weaknesses of the Line Logic™ methodology.Practical implicationsThere is no magic formula or prescription for managing a company's line of product offerings. Line Logic™ offers a disciplined approach to creating and presenting a full complement of product choices. As shown here, the implementation of Line Logic™ assists companies in understanding both strategic and tactical issues related to competitors and channel members.Originality/valueWhile there are companies that execute some of the Line Logic™ system, this paper illustrates the importance of line logic in the sporting goods industry. Additionally, the paper introduces the concept of the bow tie in product line planning.

Bulk metallic glasses

Amorphous alloys were first developed over 40 years ago and found applications as magnetic core or reinforcement added to other materials. The scope of applications is limited due to the small thickness in the region of only tens of microns. The research effort in the past two decades, mainly pioneered by a Japanese- and a US-group of scientists, has substantially relaxed this size constrain. Some bulk metallic glasses can have tensile strength up to 3000 MPa with good corrosion resistance, reasonable toughness, low internal friction and good processability. Bulk metallic glasses are now being used in consumer electronic industries, sporting goods industries, etc. In this paper, the authors reviewed the recent development of new alloy systems of bulk metallic glasses. The properties and processing technologies relevant to the industrial applications of these alloys are also discussed here. The behaviors of bulk metallic glasses under extreme conditions such as high pressure and low temperature are especially addressed in this review. In order that the scope of applications can be broadened, the understanding of the glass-forming criteria is important for the design of new alloy systems and also the processing techniques.

Postmodern Puma

Postmodern Puma

INTERNATIONALISING SPORTS TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND EDUCATION IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

Sports technology and in particular sports engineering is a relatively new scholarly discipline although it has been around in terms of research and business for many years. The sporting goods industry and sport services industry have been more proactive in organising their respective sectors and in networking across sectors compared to the academic or research organisations. There is currently a void in the level of international networking at academic level in the area of sports technology, especially in the Asia-Pacific region which is the focus of this paper. The paper presents an overview of existing international and national sports organisations and reflects on the reasons sports technology research and education do not fit well in this context. A personal perspective is offered on how sports technology research and education could be enhanced through more appropriate networking at international level, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

The correlation between economic underdevelopment and sport

This paper demonstrates the strong relationship that exists between the level of economic development in a country and the level of its sporting development. In particular, developing countries are plagued with a shortage of physical education and sport for all programmes, a lack of financing for sport, few sport facilities and little equipment, a “muscle drain” to developed counties, and no capacity to host major sporting events. An ordered‐logit model estimation shows that the probability for a country to win medals at the Olympics increases with GDP per capita and population. On the other hand, sport in the Third World cannot escape to professionalism, multinational sponsors, media and corruption, nor to the relocation of the sporting goods industry in low cost labour areas. Economic development is the only basic recipe against sporting underdevelopment. However, other solutions such as: the UNESCO effort in favour of physical education, sport for all and traditional sports in developing countries; foreign aid for participation in international sport events; and fines for instances of corruption in sport and the use of child labour in the sports goods industry are presented. The main suggestion is a “Coubertobin tax” which is designed to hinder the transfers of teenage and younger athletes from developing countries, the tax income would reside in a fund for sports development in the home developing countries. “No queremos goles, queremos frijoles”

Multinationality and Corporate Ethics: Codes of Conduct in the Sporting Goods Industry

The international operations of firms have substantial impact on the formulation and implementation of business ethical principles such as codes of conduct. The international sporting goods industry has been a pioneer in setting up codes and thus provides much relevant experience. Different sourcing strategies, degrees of multinationality and national backgrounds affect the contents of codes. Moreover, international (non-governmental) organizations prove equally effective in triggering sophisticated codes.

わが国の戦後復興期におけるスポーツ用品業界とスポーツ競技団体との関係

The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship between the sporting goods industry and sports athletic organizations in the postwar recovery period in Japan, from the view point of the system of officially recognized sporting equipment. The items of the trade paper "Nihon Undogu Sinpo" from 1948-1956 were used as historical materials for this study.The conclusions of this study are as follows: 1. The relationship between the sporting goods industry and sports athletic organizations in the postwar period was to work in close cooperation. Both had problems of getting good sporting equipment and financial guarantees. 2. The system of officially recognized sporting equipment was developed to remedy these two problems. Table tennis is a good example of this, but the case of volleyball shows a conflict among the sporting goods industries. 3. Unity among three sporting goods industry organizations was achieved in about 1953. This unity began to demand a fair system of officially recognized sporting equipment for the development of sports, with the raising of official recognition fees for volleyball. 4. This Unity influenced the revision of amateur regulations in 1957.

Will the titanium golf club be tomorrow’s mashy niblick?

In the sporting goods industry, the application of game-improving advanced materials has resulted in titanium golfclubs attaining near-mythical status. These improvements have not come cheaply, however, and titanium clubs are losing ground to creative designs that employ combinations of lower cost materials. As a result, unless the cost of titanium can be lowered, the metal will see its share of the market become significantly reduced by the judicious use of lower-cost materials.

The Brand Management Efforts of a Niche Specialist: New Balance in the Athletic Footwear Industry

Introduction One per cent per year--the overall US market share growth goal recently stated by New Balance CEO Jim Davis (Steven David, Product Marketing Manager, New Balance, personal interview, August 18, 1998). Such a goal would be quite modest for one of its larger publicly owned competitors. But for New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc, a privately-owned manufacturer in the highly-competitive athletic footwear industry, this represents a significant management challenge. No longer can the company be content to serve its loyal base of baby boomers (40- to 55-year-olds), it now must court Generation X (25- to 35-year-olds). This study illustrates the management efforts of a niche specialist, New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, New Balance is a privately-held corporation whose 1998 estimated revenues of $550 million amounted to less than industry leader Nike spent on advertising in that year. While particular interest is paid to the branding efforts of New Balance, its efforts are analyzed in comparison to those of the three market leaders, publicly-owned corporations Nike, Reebok, and Adidas. This case study is comprised of five sections. The first section provides a brief overview of theory. The second section highlights the current status and trends of the athletic footwear industry in the United States. Using theory, the third section presents a summary of the management practices of Nike, Reebok, and Adidas. Based on this analysis, the fourth section provides a detailed account of how New Balance manages its to differentiate itself from its competitors. The case study concludes by offering conclusions about the management efforts of a niche specialist in a fiercely competitive industry. While derived from the athletic footwear industry, these conclusions are also salient for the broader sporting goods industry. An Overview of Brand Management The effort to create and manage brands is a practice widely studied by marketers throughout the world. Keller (1998) defines a as a name or symbol attached to a product that allows for differentiation from similar product offerings. For example, both the Nike name and the ubiquitous swoosh logo are components of the overall Nike brand. The goal of management is to continually build on the strength associated with a brand, thus developing strength, or equity. The set of assets (both positive and negative) that consumers attach to a particular constitute brand (Aaker, 1991). Many researchers have undertaken efforts to dissect equity into different components and dimensions. Perhaps the most widely-accepted model for understanding equity was presented by Aaker (1991), who suggested equity is comprised of five components: 1) Brand awareness 2) Perceived quality 3) Brand loyalty 4) Brand associations 5) Other proprietary assets The remainder of this section will focus on describing these five components as a basis for analysis of management practices in the athletic footwear industry. Brand Awareness Brand awareness is the starting point in the development of equity. It represents the consumer's ability to recall a name when given a product category (Aaker, 1991). For example, when a person is asked to name a of basketball shoes, they are more likely to mention Nike, Reebok, Converse or Adidas than they are to name LA Gear or Spalding. According to Keller (1998), awareness is important to strategy for three reasons. First, awareness of the ensures the enters the consumer's consideration set when looking to make a purchase. Second, awareness can affect choices within the consideration set. If one has a larger presence through advertising, it may be considered more favorably. …

The ABC Trust: A Chapter in the History of Capitalism in the Sporting Goods Industry

The ABC Trust: A Chapter in the History of Capitalism in the Sporting Goods Industry