Under Armour is in a very interesting place. The company has been extremely successful with almost no overseas presence. For the case, you are to develop a global strategy presenting a couple of alternatives for the company. Consider where the clothing is being sourced and manufactured and by whom. Should the company internalize its manufacturing instead of outsourcing it? Where should it locate the manufacturing facilities? Should the company expand into different foreign markets? Which ones and why? During your analysis, focus on the impact your recommendations have on each of the functional areas that you covered in your common body of knowledge courses: accounting; administrative studies; economics; finance; legal; management; marketing; and MIS. Examine each of those areas of the case for evidence to use during your analysis and consider the following questions for each area:
• Accounting – What are the economics of the alternatives?
• Administrative Studies – Assign a probability to each alternative and calculate an expected value for each alternative. Which alternative has the highest expected value?
• Economics – What is the state of the various global economies where you suggest expansion? What is the potential impact of the economies on the alternatives?
• Finance – What impact will your suggestion have on the evaluation of the stock and the financial reporting of the company?
• Legal – What are some of the legal and environmental concerns surrounding the options?
• Management – What is the impact of your suggestion on the structure and staffing of the company?
• Marketing –What would be your target markets? Develop a basic marketing strategy for the markets.
• MIS – Are there any systems that Under Armour can use to help it manage the new effort(s) and better integrate?
As you craft your arguments, think of the functional areas for evidence to support your claims/arguments, ask yourself the following questions:
– What claims am I making? This could take the form of the central theme of the case – think about the issue or issues faced by the company and whether or not they take the form of claims.
– What evidence do I need to present to justify those claims?
– Was it adequate to establish a causal link?
– Did the evidence presented come from credible and reliable sources?
– Was the source of the evidence an authority on the topic?
– Was the evidence presented clearly expressed?
– Did they provide enough evidence to adequately establish causality?
– If so, explain. If not, what evidence needs to be presented that establishes causality?
– Were there any underlying assumptions that I missed?
– What persuasive techniques can I use to get the reader to agree with me?
– As you write your response, focus on the tips presented earlier on persuasive writing techniques.