The organization I chose for this case study
was Nike, Inc. Nike has had several instances that required crisis management throughout its years as a leading athletic brand. However, the particular instance that I studied occured in February of 2019 during a televised, college basketball game between Duke University and the University of North Carolina. During this incident, a Duke player, Zion Willimas, was playing the game when his Nike PG 2.5 shoe blew out, resulting in him suffering a knee injury. I learned about this incident from an article by Shep Hyken in Forbes Magazine. (Hyken, 2019). The key issues of this crisis involved a star basketball player for Duke University being injured during a televised game due to a malfunction of one of his Nikes. This was a key issue because Zion Williamson was injured and unable to play for several games, and it called Nike’s reputation as a quality, athletic shoe into question. In this crisis, Nike, Zion Williamson, and Duke University were all involved. Nike was involved because the incident stood to damage its reputation and business without an immediate response. Zion Williamson was involved because it was his shoe that caused the incident. Finally, Duke University was involved because it happened to one of Duke’s players at a Duke basketball game. Duke also is involved because of its contract with Nike as an athletic supplier, and because Nike is a sponsor for Duke’s basketball team.
To be more specific, this crisis occurred on Wednesday, February 20, 2019. Zion Williamson, Duke’s rising star player and the NBA’s No. 1 draft pick (Widlich, 2019), was just beginning to play in “one of the most anticipated college basketball games of the season,” (Hatcliffe) when he planted his food hard into the floor before cutting to the side. Immediately after that move, Williamson’s shoe malfunctioned and his foot blew straight through the shoe. After the shoe malfunctioned, “Williamson was seen sliding to the floor and clutching his right knee in pain.” (Hatcliffe). Williamson was immediately taken off of the court and was unable to return to play for the rest of the game. It was later discovered that Williamson suffered from a mild knee sprain, and he would be unable to participate in five games until he returned from his injury in mid-March. The day after the incident, on February 21, 2019, “The company’s stock closed down 89 cents at $83.95 ... for a $1.1 billion drop in market value.” (Hatcliffe). Though, by February 22, 2019, Nike’s stock had already made up for the previous loss of 1.1 billion dollars. (Widlich, 2019). However, the company was also facing a multitude of negative criticism in the media, with the event being labeled “Shoegate.” (Hatcliffe).
In response to the incident and the media’s criticism, Nike quickly made a statement on February 21, 2019. In the statement to the public, Nike said, “‘We are obviously concerned and want to wish Zion a speedy recovery, the quality and performance of our products are of utmost importance. While this is an isolated occurrence, we are working to identify the issue.’” (Hatcliffe). Furthermore, on the same day their statement was released, “Nike officials met with Duke personnel - again, highlighting the seriousness with which it was taking the situation.” (Widlich, 2019). Furthermore, the quickness of Nike’s statement was important because “Nike has had an exclusive deal with Duke University Athletics, providing their uniforms since 1992. In 2015, they signed another contract that would make them the athletic supplier for Duke for another 12 years.” (Coates, 2019). I think that the organization did really well with their response. The organization was very quick to respond to the situation. The speedy response, shows that the organization is not just sitting around. It shows that they are paying attention and are working to resolve this issue. The organization began by stating their concern about this issue, and wishing Zion Williamson a speedy recovery. The organization then addressed the issue; the organization then stated that they were working to figure out why this happened so that it would not happen again. I think that Nike took the appropriate steps in crisis management in response to this issue. Nike acknowledged the problem and showed empathy for the individual affected. Nike also discussed that steps were being taken to find a solution. Nike owned the situation, they did not try to brush it under the rug or place blame on anyone. Nike also acted with urgency to respond and resolve the issue. (Hyken, 2019). Also, while Nike acknowledged the issue in their statement, they “did not speak beyond the facts it knew at the time.” (Widlich, 2019). It was also a smart move for Nike to actually meet face-to-face with Duke personnel to discuss this issue, rather than only providing a statement in the media which might have felt like a slap in the face to Duke. This move shows that Nike cares about Zion Williamson, the situation, and their relationship with Duke University. Furthermore, Nike continued to show that they cared by going the extra mile for Zion Williamson. “Nike flew a team to Durham to measure and make shoes for Williamson.” (Bates, 2019). Also, to ensure that this incident would not occur again, Nike officials “traveled all the way to China to oversee the manufacturing of a stronger shoe for Williamson.” (Bates, 2019). After sitting out for five games with his knee injury, Williamson returned in March with a new, custom pair of Nike Kyrie 4s. (Bates, 2019).
The only problems I found with Nike’s response to the crisis was when they called it “an isolated occurrence.” (Hatcliffe). According to Hatcliffe, the Wall Street Journal released an article after the incident that included several instances of Nike’s shoes failing or malfunctions for other athletes. A few of these athletes include Eliud Kipchoge in September of 2015 (a Kenyan long-distance runner), Manu Ginobili in February of 2014 (an NBA player for the San Antonio Spurs), Andrew Bogut in March of 2014 (an NBA player for the Golden State Warriors), and Aaron Gordon in February of 2016 (an NBA player for Orlando Magic). (Hatcliffe). These incidents, along with several others, have occurred where Nike’s shoes malfunction for athletes. While this did not impact the organization’s credibility this time, it definitely could have caused serious damage to the company’s professional reputation and had some serious blowback with the company’s affiliates. In the future, Nike should be more careful with their word selection in efforts to reduce the risk of negative reactions to their statements. Their choice to say the incident was “an isolated incident” could have made it seem like they were not taking full responsibility for the incident. Also, if the other incidents had resurfaced, that phrase in their statement could have made it seem like the organization was not being fully transparent with the public about the incident. (Hatcliffe).
I think that this ciris can be classified as a technical-error product harm type. According to the textbook, technical-error product harm is “when the technology utilized or supplied by the organization fails and results in a defect or potentially harmful product.” (Coombs, 2019). Also, I think that Nike incorporated the use of Boyd’s OODA Loop in their crisis management plan. According to the textbook, Boyd’s OODA Loop “is about human reaction to stimuli - the time from when a person recognizes a stimulus to when they respond.” (Coombs, 2019). Nike observed the crisis. Nike analyzed what went wrong with the shoe. Nike decided to quickly release a statement and meet with Duke officials. Nike also decided to create a custom pair of shoes for Williamson, as well as watching the new pair of shoes being manufactured. Nike then put this decision into action by actually doing what was planned and delivering the new pair of shoes to Williamson before he went back to games.
Overall, Nike was very successful in their response to this crisis. Despite the possibilities of a negative response to their statement, Nike’s statement and actions were well received by the public. Nike quickly responded to the situation. Nike did not place blame or try to escape responsibility for the situation. Nike showed empathy for the individual, Zion Williamson, and wished him a speedy recovery. Nike addressed the issue head on and began investigating the shoe malfunction. Nike also did not speak out of turn, they only stated what they knew at the time of the response, nothing else. Nike also showed that it cares about its affiliates and customers throughout the process of investigating and solving this issue. First, Nike met face-to-face with the university to discuss the issue. Then, Nike flew to the university to measure and make custom shoes for Zion Williamson. Lastly, Nike flew to China to oversee the manufacturing of this new show for Zion Williamson. Nike’s response to this incident proved to be successful in maintaining the company’s stellar reputation. Nike’s response also proved to be successful in maintaining relations and sponsorship with Duke University. Also, because of their successful crisis management, Nike still remains as one of the leading athletic brands today.
Works Cited:
Bates, D. (2019, March 15). Nike Treated Zion Williamson Shoe Fiasco Like an
International Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.12up.com/posts/6320705-nike-
treated-zion-williamson-shoe-fiasco-like-an-in ternational-crisis
Coates, C. (2019, November 16). Nike Responds to Zion Williams Shoe Blowout.
Retrieved from https://medium.com/@thecolleycoates/
nike-responds-to-zion-williams-shoe-blowout-9391 578a78c1
Coombs, T. (2019). Ongoing Crisis Communication: Planning, Managing, and Responding.
SAGE Publications, Incorporated.
Hatcliffe, M. (n.d.). Crisis case study: How well did Nike handle 'Shoegate'?
Retrieved from https://www.rockdovesolutions.com/blog/crisis-case-study-
how-well-did-nike-handle-shoe gate
Hyken, S. (2019, February 22). Nike: A Real-Time Lesson In Crisis Management.
Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken
/2019/02/22/nike-a-real-time-lesson-in-crisis-man agement/#6d875c552206
Widlich, T. (2019, February 28). Nike Reacts Fleet-Footedly to Zion Williamson
Incident. Retrieved from https://prcg.com/blog/nike-reacts-fleet-footedly-zion-
williamson-incident/
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