Abstract

By the early2000s, Nike, Inc. (Nike), one of the world’s leading footwear and apparel companies, had became well-known for continuously churning out innovative products and building up traffic to the stores through its advertising. However, the company realized that the customers’ purchase decision was influenced by the sales associates they interacted with on the stores. So, training these employees was very necessary, but the fact that most of the sales associates were in their late teens or early 20s posed a challenge as this group brought their own unique characteristics to the workplace and was not very receptive to the traditional forms of training. Moreover, the turnover of the sales associates was very high. This meant that the company always had new associates who needed to be trained on selling skills and product knowledge. But providing them with training through traditional means was not a viable option due to the high turnover rate. To address these challenges, a team at Nike designed an e-learning program in 2003 called Nike ‘Sports Knowledge Underground’ (SKU) for the thousands of sales associates stationed in its own stores and that of other retailers that kept Nike inventory. The interactive web-based training program closely resembled a video game, and immediately caught the attention of industry observers.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand entry behavior in designing and implementing a training program
• Analyze the Nike ‘Sports Knowledge Underground’ program and how it enabled training of Nike’s front-line sales force
• Understand the issues and challenges in designing and imple-menting an e-learning program
• Discuss the pros and cons of using an e-learning program
• and Discuss how training can be imparted through modes such as video games and over the mobile phone (m-learning) and the viability of this.

Keywords

Training, Sales training, Training design, Entry behavior, e-learning, m-learning, Simulation, instructional design, product training, Communication, Generation Y, Digital generation, Sports Knowledge Underground, retail, Nike