You won’t have any ace ideas if you WFH, Nike boss tells his designers
THE boss of Nike has admitted allowing staff to work from home has hit its ability to deliver innovation and bold new designs.
John Donahoe is the latest corporate boss to identify remote working as a drag on staff’s creativity.
Nike continued with a WFH policy for long after the Covid pandemic and lockdowns were ended.
Mr Donahoe told CNBC: ‘In hindsight it’s really hard to do bold, disruptive innovation – to develop a boldly disruptive shoe – on Zoom.’
He said the company realised what had been lacking after its teams returned to inperson work 18 months ago.
He added Nike have been ‘ruthlessly focused’ on building a new approach and will showcase its efforts this summer when top athletes sport the brand’s shoes and apparel during the Olympics in Paris.
There are already signs that some of the kits may be a little too bold, however, attracting backlash on social media for being too skimpy on female athletes.
One person commented that while the male kits appear to support their performance, ‘women now have to worry about getting a bikini wax’. And long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall went as far as to complain ‘my hoo haa is gonna be out’. The boss of JD Sports, Regis Schultz, last month blamed Nike’s lack of product innovation for weaker sales.
This has allowed rivals, such as Adidas, to steal sales. Morgan Stanley analysts Edouard Aubin and Grace Smalley said in a note sent to investors that a ‘lack of recent product innovation’ at Nike could benefit Adidas.
They added: ‘The fashion pendulum in sporting goods footwear has swung in Adidas’ favour over the last year, with fashion trends having notably shifted from chunkier basketball shoes to terrace shoes, favouring Adidas’ Samba, Gazelle and Spezial product categories.’
Nike said in December it planned to cut costs by $2 billion over the next three years as part of a restructuring plan caused in part by weaker consumer demand. And in February it announced a 1,500person cut to its workforce. The brand’s recent sluggish performance has led to a
‘It’s hard to do bold innovation’
slump in shares which are down by some 26 per cent over the past year.
Mr Donahoe also said: ‘We’ve done more to advance running than any brand in the world over the past 50 years and we continue to lead with elite runners.’ On the kit design, the company said there are various options that athletes can choose to wear.