The Ethics Of Sports Apparel - 1798 Words

Founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a former University of Maryland football player, Under Armour is an innovative company in the sports apparel industry. Under Armour’s founder Kevin Plank came up with a ground-breaking idea that changed the way that sports apparel is looked at today. Plank wanted to originate an apparel that would help athletes like him keep cool and dry when they engaged in vigorous activities during high temperature condition, so he created sports apparel using synthetic materials as an alternative to natural fibers such as cotton. Being a former athlete allowed Plank to understand the discomfort of wearing a sweat cotton fiber shirt during sport practice, or work-out, and he worked relentlessly to develop a shirt that†¦show more content†¦Provide a five-forces analysis to support your answer. I believe that bargaining power of customers and threat of new entrants are the three main key forces that have the potential to impact negatively Under Armour’s growth stability. Under Armour relies mainly on Dick’s Sporting Goods and The Sports Authority for more than 20% of its revenues and problems at these retailers could affect its growth pace. While Under Armour faces rigid competition from Adidas and Nike, they could also see the competition go up from other companies as it does not hold process or fabric patents. Furthermore, Under Armour’s hard core competitors, Nike and Adidas Group, are continuously coming up with new ideas in order to fight for that number one spot and to earn the customers’ loyalty to their brand. Five Porter Analysis Competitive Rivalry within the Industry- Nike and Adidas pose threat and Under Armour does not hold patents. Bargaining power of suppliers- Diverse supplier base limits their bargaining power. Bargaining Power of Customers- Wholesale customers such as Dick’s Sporting Goods and The Sports Authority hold leverage. Threat Of New Entrants – Existing sports apparel companies could enter the performance apparel market. Threat of substitute products- Demand for Under Armour’s products is expected to continue. 2) Does Under Armour have any core competencies and, if so, what are they? Under Armour core competencies are to keep theirShow MoreRelatedThe Ethics Of The Sports Apparel Industry3201 Words   |  13 Pagesathletic market world, being the number one is what many athletes strive for—that is what sets the standards for many sport clothing companies, to deliver products that allow athletes increase their performance while striving to take the number â€Å"one† spot. Under Armour works to deliver products that do that and more. Under Armour is currently one of the leading companies in the sports apparel industry whose mission is to â€Å"Make all athletes better through passion, design, and the relentless pursuit of innovation†Read MoreBusiness Pl Mr. Fit Life1457 Words   |  6 Pageswill serve as the business plan for the men’s retail fitness apparel store â€Å"Mr. Fit Life†. The paper will cover the vision, mission, and strategy for this start-up business and delve into items such as: marketing strategy, company logisti cs, and financial planning. The objective of the business plan is to provide sufficient data to have the business considered for funding and mitigate assessed risk. Executive Summary The global sports and fitness clothing market is expected to soon reach over $125Read More jumpman23- the appeal of advertising Essay1331 Words   |  6 Pages It is the most popular form of sports apparel available and the white logo that adorns each article of apparel is known worldwide. Michael Jordan is arguably the most loved and respected athlete of this generation, thus the ad for this company depicted in ESPN The Magazine takes advantage of his immense popularity. In an attempt to expand the companies influence Jumpman23 uses professional baseball player Derrick Jeter to send its message and promote its apparel. In the essay â€Å"Absolution for SaleRead MoreUa Anlaysis970 Words   |  4 PagesThe sports apparel industry is comprised of performance gear, but also includes active wear for casual use. Under Armour produces both performance gear and apparel, so they fall into this industry. The industry is controlled by giant, international companies such as Nike and Adidas. Currently, Under Armour is a small company and is not competing well with respect to the criteria described in the company analysis ETHICS CHECK Products: Under Armour will continue to increase the amount of productsRead MoreAdidas Referee Kits For International Association Teams1035 Words   |  5 Pages  Adidas is a German worldwide corporation that designs and produce sports shoes, clothing and accessories headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second biggest in the world. Football kits and the associated equipment for football has always been Adidas main focus   . Adidas remains a major company in the supply of team kits for international association football teams and clubs. Adidas makes referee kits. Adidas referee kits   are usedRead MoreHigh School Athletes And Sports905 Words   |  4 PagesHigh school athletes who want to get recruited by a college need to get noticed by the right coach. Although in some cities, athletes in Class and football, basketball and baseball may have scouts come to their games, and in metropolitan areas, many sports are frequently covered in widely distributed newspapers or newscasts, every year, thousands of other outstanding athletes are overlooked for one simple reason: the coaches didn’t know they were out there student athlete. Equipment and shoe for athleticsRead MoreInternal and External Factors1553 Words   |  7 Pagesfunctions of management. Ethics Established by founders of Nike, Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman have established and maintain an internal ethics standard across the global community (Nike, 2011). Nike, wanting more profit became a global company and outsourced to suppliers in third world countries. Nike manager’s promote Ethics Training for employees on a yearly basis and has established a global toll-free alert line for employees to report suspected code of ethics violations in the globalRead MoreOutsourcing Practices of Adidas, Converse, Nike, and Reebok1079 Words   |  4 PagesOutsourcing Practices of Adidas, Converse, Nike and Reebok Introduction Apparel and shoe manufacturers continued to offload the more costly yet easily replicated part so their business models to concentrate on brand building, marketing, sales and attaining greater distribution channels globally. These are the pressures all apparel and shoe manufacturers face, and it is particularly challenging in the athletic show industry (Kynge, 2009). Adidas, Converse, Nike and Reebok have been outsourcingRead MoreAdidas Economics1717 Words   |  7 Pagesoligopolistic market of athletic apparel in world scale together with other brands like Nike ©, Puma © and Fila ©. National and international tax policies, employment laws, trade restrictions and regulations have major effect on the company operation. Microeconomic factors The sports industry is an oligopolistic market and the competition is highly competitive. Rivals to Adidas © like Nike ©, Fila © and Footlocker © are all trying to keep up with the rising demand for sports products. Some of them have createdRead MoreInternal Analysis Of Equipment Division At Nike Essay2077 Words   |  9 Pagesobvious of a way businesses differentiate their products. Nike allows for collaboration among footwear, apparel, and equipment product engines. With minimal hierarchy, a well-diversified culture, and collaborative environment Nike finds strength with their links between functions of the organization. One way in which all employees, suppliers, and buyers link together is through the code of ethics, creatively titled, â€Å"Inside the Lines†. It speaks in a tone that is receptive and tailored to an individual

Essay on Supplements in Sports - 1725 Words

When you are involved in athletics, you have to be competitive. You have to want to win more than anybody else. Athletes these days, however, are really taking winning to the extreme. Athletes today are using various supplements to increase their size, muscle mass, and their potential to perform well. Athletes have been taking all kinds of supplements to gain an edge on their opponents. Little do they know, these supplements are not FDA approved. No one knows the long-term effects of these supplements on the human body. The use of non-FDA approved supplements should be banned from sports. Supplements are supposed to be taken to make up for a deficiency in some aspect of a person’s diet. For example, if someone does not like milk and does†¦show more content†¦Andro is taken orally and goes to the liver. The liver destroys most of what is ingested, but the small amount that does survive combines with various enzymes and temporarily boosts testosterone levels.(Hawken 8) This boost in testosterone allows an athlete to perform at a level above what he usually does. If an athlete takes andro before he goes to the gym, he will be able to lift more, and thus increase strength and size. Although it is not legally considered an anabolic steroid at this time, andro acts exactly as they do. If anabolic steroids and andro have the same effects, and steroids are illegal, then andro should also be illegal. The American College of Sports Medicine says anabolic steroids such as androstenedione as well as other dietary supplements should be reevaluated and considered drugs. Although they do make people better athletes, they are illegal and athletes should not use them. DHEA is a supplement in the same family as 3 andro, called prohormones. DHEA also raises the testosterone levels in the body. There is very little scientific support of these prohomones. In fact, some preliminary evidence suggests that they may be counterproductive. In a well-controlled study recently published by the American Journal of the American Medical Association, androstenedione failed to boost muscle mass, strength and testosterone levels; instead, it boosted estrogenShow MoreRelated Sports Supplements Essay1837 Words   |  8 Pages Sports Supplements Athletes are competitive. They go out there to win. But, at all costs? Why are athletes willing to sacrifice their long term health in order to have one outstanding season? Will it be worth it when they are hooked up to machines in order to stay alive? Many athletes do not think that taking a supplement will harm them. They are strong, tough athletes, nothing can harm them, right? So, they start taking creatine or andro, or both. For most, they lose body fat, gain strength andRead MoreThe Sports Supplement Industry Is Rapidly Growing And Making An Huge Profit Off Of Their Products910 Words   |  4 PagesThe Sports Supplement industry is rapidly growing and making an enormous profit off of their products when most of them don’t even work anyway. Forbes has stated that the supplement industry took in $32 billion dollars in 2012. The Nutritional Business Journal projects that the number will jump to $60 billion dollars by the year 2021. The reason I want to share this is because you can save so much money by not buying supplements or if you do then just p urchase the ones that have actual scientificRead More Creatine Essay1591 Words   |  7 Pages Creatine nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Creatine is one of the primary things an athlete will do to put supplements into their body. These supplements range from protein shakes to illegal anabolic steroids. Some sports supplements are incredibly safe and effective, yet others work for a while and then fizzle out, while others still work well but do more damage than good in the long run. In the past athletes had to turn to such things as anabolic steroids or blood doping (the process of takingRead More The Effects of Creatine on Athletes Bodies Essay examples1480 Words   |  6 PagesBodies From a very early age sports are introduced upon both young boys and girls. Although it begins with sportsmanship and teamwork, it begins to evolve into new objectives when these young athletes enter high school. In fact, high school sports are vastly different. Your mind is trained to obliterate the opponent and win at all costs. This mentality can often lead many young athletes to turn to supplements to assist in muscle building. The most common supplement in use currently is Creatine.Read More Use of Performance Enhancing Substances by Athletes is Wrong708 Words   |  3 Pagesgracefully after their sports careers are over. So perhaps the question should be what wouldn’t you be willing to do to become a professional athlete? Would you be willing to cheat to be a professional athlete? Hopefully you are asking the question â€Å"What do you consider cheating?† because then you are really considering my question. Cheating is different everywhere, in every culture and even more in every sport. One of the most common, well-known and least spokenabout, issues in sports is that of supplementationRead MoreThe Use of Ergogenic Compounds to Improve Athletic Performance1609 Words   |  7 Pagesphysiological processes that occur naturally in the body. Training includes methods like interval training. Nutritional aids provide natural ways of enhancing performance. Nutritional Ergogenic aids are foods, drinks, herbs and other supplements which are said to improve and increase strength endurance and overall performance. Mechanical aids improve energy efficiency and skill developments. Pharmacological aids represent a wide range of designer hormones and transmitterRead MoreThe Modern Supplement Market Has Many Characteristics That Leave Room For Improvement Essay1594 Words   |  7 Pagesmodern supplement market has many characteristics that leave room for improvement in user knowledge, label quality, and user base. Often times the users of supplements will lack sufficient knowledge to make personal supplement choices. Navigating the increasing number of supplement brands and commercial strategies can prove difficult, even to athletes. Athletes in elite levels of their sport, who have more readily available access to supplemental guidance, will still often times make supplement decisionsRead MoreThe Use Of Anabolic Steroids And How Athletes Are Cheating1482 Words   |  6 PagesThe athletic sports world has drastically evolved since the beginning of the creation of sports. Athletes are becoming bigger, faster and stronger. The competitive edge has started to increase and guys are looking for ways to enhance their performances. Many turn to repetitive practices and healthier diets, while some turn to protein powder. No matter the method the average athlete is trying their best to propel his or her efforts past previous marks. 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History Essay for Intelligence Team of America - MyAssignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theHistory Essay for Intelligence Team of America. Answer: Introduction The attack on Pearl Harbor has kept many Americans in wonder as they were not warned and they could not even detect or predict the act before it had already occurred. Even many scholars have wondered that how the Pacific Fleet on America could happen without any prediction. The joint congressional committee had investigated the attack while putting the question in a sharp manner that even if there were finest intelligence teams available in the American history who could gain knowledge of any war in the contemporary times, it could not contemplate regarding the Pearl Harbor attack that had been executed by Japan on a December morning in the year 1941 (Prange, Goldstein and Dillon 2014). This surprise attack at the Pearl Harbor had taken more than two thousand lives of American and damaged around twenty one ships with the US Pacific fleet. As the nation was stunned with the attack and could do nothing but mourned at its losses, many demanded to know why the country was underprepared o r entirely unprepared for the attack (Feis 2015). There were numbers of rumors that kept on circulating, although no one provided an infallible answer to the question. This report will try to explore the answer from the American context. Discussion The Intelligence Team of America The best form of intelligence is like a hostile power. America had the best intelligence team even though it could not break the Japanese code. The primary job of the intelligence team of any country is to solve the secret messages of the other countries or the enemy countries. This is like putting a mirror behind the cards of the player. Historically the effort of the intelligence team has been considered the trustworthy and faster than the spies who are to transmit their messages through various means to the home country however, the spies have already been suspected due to failing in their effort or of dishonesty (Hayashi 2014). Spying generally views the future occurrences from an aerial investigation and detects the future from the present scenario. However, solving the underground messages of the enemy countries has a broader scope than spying or interrogating the prisoners who mostly know way less than they are initially expected from them. Moreover this procedure is also chea per and has less conspicuous and it is also an underground method within the country. However from the historical evidences it can be indicated that the code breaking process also has the chances of failure (Pape 2014). The code breaking system could not catch or provide the messages that have not been put through the airwaves and the process being apparently omniscience tends to portray the fact that the other countries are already getting the messages. From the Pearl Harbor incidence the American Intelligence Team has gained an insight to the entire code breaking system from the Pearl Harbor attack that even the finest intelligence team of the country could not break the secret codes of Japan and was unable to notify the country regarding the secret intention of Japan. The importance of code breaking has been noticed during World War I, where the usage of radio machines met this code breaking complexity for the first time. However the navy and army had sent strong ciphers and codes, but the codes were encrypted easily and the mathematicians and linguists could break those as they had already learnt the cryptanalysis (Asada 2013). This code analysis has helped various countries at the time of war; for instance it had significantly helped France in blocking the extreme German power. The United States had targeted Japan from the time of World War I. Before the war Japan had defeated China and Russia and became the most influential power in the western Pacific. Therefore it had targeted the United States while it had occupied the islands and put a serious threat on the ocean routes to Philippines (Morgenstern 2017). The US Army could feel that Japan has formed a serious threat to the country, however they could not realize or warn the danger that was about to come to the country. However US Army had set up a conjoint department named the Cipher Bureau in the year 1919 under the leadership of Herbert O. Yardley who was the head of the code breaking department of the military intelligence of the US Army in World War I. The Cipher Bureau was working with the all the rudimentary knowledge regarding the Japanese Army and it was successful in cracking the diplomatic codes of Japan. A bewhiskered follower of the organization was able to crack the messages into English an d informed the American representatives before the Washington naval disarmament conference regarding the positioning of Japan on the capital ships (Wirtz 2017). Therefore the American representatives were able to push Japan on that issue. The US Army did not have the code breaking unit throughout however after hiring Agnes Meyer Driscoll was the code analyst was a significant step for the US Army. Soon she has been proved to be an exceptional cryptanalyst. She had mostly broken all the Japanese codes into English and showed her aptitude in both the language learning and in code breaking . Even though there were a lot of issues with the language and the machine could not break all the Japanese word, yet the code breaking system of the US Army had improved with the course of time. The Purple Problem By the year 1937, the encrypted messages and the solutions of the overseas messages started going to the President of the country. Soon the messages have noticed the potential adherence of the Japan- German Anti Comintern Pact in the year 1937 and it was reported to the American representatives and the diplomats. Therefore the issue was also solved with the cryptanalysts. However in the next year the code braking unit of America had replaced the older machines with the newer ones and within 1939, three new messages were broken, however the messages for the next few months started disappearing (McDermott and Bar-Joseph 2016). The significant messages of Japan have started being unreadable; therefore it faced a severe loss for the paramount intelligence of the nation. Furthermore facing this loss the intelligence team concentrated more on solving the new machine, where the higher diplomats exercised the allover supervision himself. The new code was called Purple also due to its fit to the profound mystery of the Japanese codes. Due to the purple problem the United Stated had employed more cryptanalysts and provided the best intelligence team in solving the issue (Dockrill 2016). After a long analysis and the code could be analyzed and contrasting to that the purple messages were solved and the US army could concentrate on breaking the other codes. However, the US intelligence could not encrypt the messages before December 7, when the attack on Pearl Harbor actually took place. The Conspiracy Theories Even though there are several conspiracy theories regarding the attack on Pearl Harbor, but according to the intelligence team the messages did not provide any message regarding the surprise attack. Several researchers have suggested that there were several messages that dealt with the ship movements out and in the Pearl Harbor; therefore it should have prepared the US military about an approaching attack, however the cryptanalysts had suggested that similar messages were also being transmitted to Philippines, Seattle, San Francisco and the Panama Canal (Sarmiento 2017). However the US intelligence did not put much significance to those messages and did not consider those to be an indication of the approaching attack. The authorities had considered it to be the mere evidence of the abbreviated communications. Several other studies and researchers also suggest that the messages were already intercepted before the Pearl Harbor attack yet it was not solved. However the conspiracy theori es debate an entire different thing regarding the attack on Pearl Harbor. It has been claimed that the US Government officials have the knowledge of the attack in advance yet it was not revealed. Several other studies have also claimed that the British and the US governments have known the attack and the British Government have informed the US government but it was claimed that the US government might have let the attack happen and encouraged the attack for enforcing the US military into the World War II (Powaski 2017). However the conspiracy theory has been considered as the fringe theory but several historians have rejected the idea. However the conspiracy theory states that as the US intelligence team has improved impressively within the year 1941 and it had already intercepted several other messages and performed an incredible job in shutting down other attacks yet it could not break this code. Several researchers consider this to be an unreasonable idea. By the end of the 1941 the intelligence team of US already broken the other Japanese ciphers and even it had intercepted the highest diplomatic code with higher security yet it could not break the code. In the conspiracy theory, few researchers find the diplomatic political context where the attack has been considered as a back door to war (Kass and Phillip 2014). The theorists have suggested this view challenging the conventional theory of considering the Pearl Harbor attack to be a surprise one and indicated that Roosevelt primarily wanted the United States to join the war against Germany. However it was never stated officially. The famous novelist and histo rian Thomas Fleming had argued that President Roosevelt had wished to join the war and for that reason he wanted Japan or Germany to blow the strike at the first place (Hess 2014). Furthermore after the attack on Pearl Harbor the public anger of the United States would be expressed to Japan. Nonetheless on another note while Hitler had declared war, it had brought the United States into the war of Europe as they were unforced by treaty. This attack was also described by the sitting duck theory which stated that the British government along with the Roosevelt government wanted America to intervene into the European conflict; therefore they had deliberately let the Pearl Harbor attack to take place and made it successful while apparently it was considered to a surprise one. The sole intention behind the attack was to take the United States into the European conflict. Several historians also claim the attack to be a preplanned one from the signal intelligence context. Considering this context, the historians have made five claims. In the first place they had claimed that as the US administration intercepted the purple code by the end of 1941; they could guess the Japanese aggression. Therefore the purple code had sufficed the US administration with particular clues which indicated that the attack is being planned on the Pearl Harbor (Reyes 2015). In addition to that the Japanese fleet code JN 25 had also been intercepted, therefore it was known that there was a force which was being sent against the United States (Ford 2015). The government had also taken effectual steps that could hinder the Japanese force in Hawaii. However, the next claim also indicated that the Kido Butai or the Japanese task force was detected travelling towards Hawaii but there was nothing that could be done with it. However, several historian state that there is no fundame ntal base of the conspiracy theory, whereas it could be proved that the US military and the administration did their part to detect the Japanese force yet there was not much time left while something could be done to stop the attack on Pearl Harbor. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be said that Pearl Harbor to be a conspiracy and a preplanned attack could not be proved, however it can be indicated that the finest intelligence of the US team had decoded the message, however they could be quick enough to prevent the attack on them. Many indicate that the intelligent team was fine however it was not fine enough to understand the Japanese code languages. Japan had effectively closed all the doors that could help the United States to gather information regarding their intentions. Therefore the Pearl Harbor attack can be considered as the intelligence failure and this could be the fundamental reason that the American were not aware of the possible attack beforehand. Reference List and Bibliography Asada, S., 2013.From Mahan to Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States. Naval Institute Press. Dockrill, S. ed., 2016.From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima: The Second World War in Asia and the Pacific, 194145. Springer. Feis, H., 2015.China Tangle: The American Effort in China from Pearl Harbor to the Marshall Mission. Princeton University Press. Ford, D., 2015. A Statement of Hopes? The effectiveness of US and British naval war plans against Japan, 19201941.The Mariner's Mirror,101(1), pp.63-80. Hayashi, B.M., 2014. Kilsoo Haan, American Intelligence, and the Anticipated Japanese Invasion of California, 19311943.Pacific Historical Review,83(2), pp.277-293. Hess, G.R., 2014.The United States at War, 1941-1945. John Wiley Sons. Kass, L. and Phillip, J., 2014. Surprise, Deception, Denial and Warning: Strategic Imperatives.Orbis,57(1), pp.59-82. McDermott, R. and Bar-Joseph, U., 2016. Pearl Harbor and Midway: the decisive influence of two men on the outcomes.Intelligence and National Security,31(7), pp.949-962. Morgenstern, G., 2017.Pearl Harbor: The story of the secret war. Pickle Partners Publishing. Pape, R.A., 2014.Bombing to win: Air power and coercion in war. Cornell University Press. Pastorello, M. and Testa, M., 2017. Intelligence failures: between theories and case studies.SICUREZZA, TERRORISMO E SOCIET, p.49. Powaski, R.E., 2017. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the State Department, and the Navy: US Policy Toward Japan, 19371941. InAmerican Presidential Statecraft(pp. 169-218). Springer International Publishing. Prange, G., Goldstein, D.M. and Dillon, K.V., 2014.December 7, 1941: the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Open Road Media. Reyes, M.B., 2015.Waking The Sleeping Giant At Pearl Harbor: A Case For Intelligence And Operations Fusion. Pickle Partners Publishing. Sarmiento, K., 2017.Events That Changed the Course of History: The Story of the Attack on Pearl Harbor 75 Years Later. Atlantic Publishing Company. Wirtz, J.J., 2017. The Cyber Pearl Harbor.Intelligence and National Security, pp.1-10. Zaromb, F., Butler, A.C., Agarwal, P.K. and Roediger, H.L., 2014. Collective memories of three wars in United States history in younger and older adults.Memory cognition,42(3), pp.383-399.