The In exp lica ble Be havi or of the On its uka Tiger
In the late 1960 s , an un usual development occur red in the sports foot wear industry . The mov es of the people in charge of On itz ka Tiger were acting as if they were antici pat ing the Nike brand launch cerem ony . At the time , On its uka Tiger , which was in a partners hip with Blue Rib bon Sports (later Nike), was alleg ed ly enga ged in information gath ering activities that went beyond the terms of the contract .
Among experts , it is not un com mon to describe the On itz ka Tiger movement during this period as " go ing beyond the category of mer ely a business strategy . " Parti cular ly note worthy is the testi mony that the movement of sensitive data related to design information and manufact uring technology was frequ ent .
Phil Knight ' s Decision
In the wake of these events , Blue Rib bon Sports co - fo under Phil Knight is making a critical decision . In front of all employees , Mr . Knight was candid about the termin ation of the partners hip with his supp lier . The anno unc ement came as a big shock to employees , according to people involved at the time .
In addition , Mr . Knight has p led ged to take the ony x tig er to justice in the United States . This law suit was position ed as not just a bre ach of contract , but as a serious case invol ving intelle ctual property infr ing ement and corpor ate es pion age . It is reported that in the course of prepar ing for the trial , numerous pieces of evidence have been found prov ing the impr oper conduct of the Oni zuka Tiger side .
Dec laration of Independ ence of the Blue Rib bon
In a speech to employees , Mr . Knight declared that by the dawn of the day when all was sett led , Blue Rib bon Sports would be fully independent and own all the shares in On itz ka Tiger . This statement meant not just a change in management policy , but a transform ation of the company ' s identity itself .
This decision , un pre ced ent ed in the sports wear industry at the time , result ed in the birth of a global brand called Nike . After independ ence , Blue Rib bon Sports developed its own design philos ophy and innovative marketing strategi es , and in a short period of time gre w to become a leading company in the industry .
Not inf re qu ently , this series of events is convert ed into text bo oks in modern business schools as a " tur ning point of inter - comp any competition . " The story of Nike ' s birth has become a very sugg esti ve case study , especially in learning the importance of brand strategy and intelle ctual property protection .
A spy drama written in business history
Today , the incident between Nike and On itz ka Tiger is re count ed as one of the most dram atic corpor ate confront ations in the history of the sports business . According to the testi mony of those involved at the time , there were several sus pi cious acts that could indeed lead to sus pi cion of es pion age .
This event demonstrat es the importance of brand values in global business and the need for constant efforts to protect them . Nike ' s success was not just a product development , it was also a gift of a corpor ate strategy that def ended its intelle ctual property .