英語美文名人勵志故事28:Knight創(chuàng)立發(fā)展耐克公司的故事

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28. The Early Years of Nike

28. 早期的耐克公司

One of the major producers of athletic footwear, with 2002 sales of over $10 billion, is a company called Nike, with corporate headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Forbes magazine identified Nike's president, Philip Knight, as the 53rd-richest man in the world in 2004. But Nike has not always been a large multimillion-dollar organization. In fact, Knight started the company by selling shoes from the back of his car at track meets.

世界主要運動鞋生產(chǎn)商之一，2002年銷售額超過100億美元的企業(yè)就是耐克，公司總部位于俄勒岡州的比弗頓?！陡２妓埂冯s志 2004年將耐克總裁菲利浦·耐特列為世界第 53位首富。但是耐克并非一直就是一個身價千億美元的機構(gòu)。事實上，耐特創(chuàng)建他的公司是從在田徑運動會上，在他的汽車后備箱兜售球鞋開始的。

In the late 1950s Philip Knight was a middle-distance runner on the University of Oregon track team, coached by Bill Bowerman. One of the top track coaches in the U.S., Bowerman was also known for experimenting with the design of running shoes in an attempt to make them lighter and more shock-absorbent. After attending Oregon, Knight moved on to do graduate work at Stanford University; his MBA thesis was on marketing athletic shoes. Once he received his degree, Knight traveled to Japan to contact the Onitsuka Tiger Company, a manufacturer of athletic shoes. Knight convinced the company's officials of the potential for its product in the U.S. In 1963 he received his first shipment of Tiger shoes, 200 pairs in total.

在20世紀(jì)50年代末，耐特是美國俄勒岡大學(xué)田徑隊的一位中跑運動員，教練是比爾·鮑爾曼。作為美國頂級田徑教練，鮑爾曼還以他善于制造運動鞋而聞名，他企圖使鞋子更輕，更好地吸收沖擊力。從俄勒岡畢業(yè)后，耐特在斯坦福大學(xué)繼續(xù)他的研究生學(xué)業(yè);他的MBA論文就是關(guān)于運動鞋的營銷。他一拿到學(xué)位就去日本和運動鞋生產(chǎn)商鬼家虎公司進行了洽談。耐特使公司官員確信他的產(chǎn)品在美國市場的潛力。在1963年，他拿到了他的第一批虎鞋的運貨，共 200雙。

In 1964, Knight and Bowerman contributed $500 each to form Blue Ribbon Sports, the predecessor of Nike. In the first few years, Knight distributed shoes out of his car at local track meets. The first employees hired by Knight were former college athletes. The company did not have the money to hire "experts", and there was no established athletic footwear industry in North America from which to recruit those knowledgeable in the field. In its early years the organization operated in an unconventional manner that characterized its innovative and entrepreneurial approach to the industry. Communication was informal; people discussed ideas and issues in the hallways, on a run, or over a beer There was little task differentiation. There were no job descriptions, rigid reporting systems, or detailed rules and regulations. The team spirit and shared values of the athletes on Bowerman's teams carried over and provided the basis for the collegial style of management that characterized the early years of Nike.

1964年，耐特和鮑爾曼各自拿出500美元創(chuàng)立了藍(lán)帶體育用品公司，也就是耐克的前身。在最初的幾年，耐特在當(dāng)?shù)氐奶飶綀龇峙渌男?。耐特雇用的第一位員工是前校隊運動員。公司沒有經(jīng)費聘請"專家而且在北美沒有已成立的運動鞋公司，無法招將到該領(lǐng)域的資深人士。在頭幾年，公司以反傳統(tǒng)的方式，以創(chuàng)新的方式進入該行業(yè)。溝通是非正式的;人們在門廳里，在跑步途中，在喝啤酒時交換想法，談?wù)撌聦崱缀鯖]有任務(wù)分工。沒有工作描述，僵化的報告體系，細(xì)節(jié)化的規(guī)則和章程。團隊精神和鮑爾曼團隊共享的運動價值理念使計劃貫徹執(zhí)行，形成了耐克公司早年的合作式管理特點的基礎(chǔ)。