Case Study:

It all started with a simple plan to make a superior T-shirt. As special teams captain during the mid-1990s for the University of Maryland football team, Kevin Plank hated having to repeatedly change the cotton T-shirt he wore under his jersey as it became wet and heavy during the course of a game. He knew there had to be a better alternative and set out to make it. After a year of fabric and product testing, Plank introduced the first Under Armour compression producta synthetic shirt worn like a second skin under a uniform or jersey. And it was an immediate hit! The silky fabric was light and made athletes feel faster and fresher, giving them, according to Plank, an important psychological edge. Today, Under Armour continues to passionately strive to make all athletes better by relentlessly pursuing innovation and design. A telling sign of the companys philosophy is found over the door of its product design studios: We have not yet built our defining product.

Today, Baltimore-based Under Armour (UA) is a $1.4-billion company. In 16 years, it has grown from a college start-up to a formidable competitor of the Beaverton, Oregon behemoth (better known as Nike, a $21-billion company). The company has nearly 3 percent of the fragmented U.S. sports apparel market and sells products from shirts, shorts, and cleats to underwear. In addition, more than 100 universities wear UA uniforms. The companys logoan interlocking U and Ais becoming almost as recognizable as the Nike swoosh.

Starting out, Plank sold his shirts using the only advantage he hadhis athletic connections. Among his teams from high school, military school, and the University of Maryland, he knew at least 40 NFL players well enough to call and offer them the shirt. He was soon joined by another Maryland player, Kip Fulks, who played lacrosse. Fulks used the same six-degrees strategy in the lacrosse world. (Today, Fulks is the companys COO.) The strategy worked. UA sales quickly gained momentum. However, selling products to teams and schools would take a business only so far. Thats when Plank began to look at the mass market. In 2000, he made his first deal with a big-box store, Galyans (which was eventually bought by Dicks Sporting Goods). Today, almost 30 percent of UAs sales come from Dicks and the Sports Authority. But they havent forgotten where they started, either. The company has all-school deals with 10 Division 1 schools. Although these deals dont bring in big bucks, they deliver brand visibility.

Despite their marketing successes, innovation continues to be the name of the game at UA. How important is innovation to the companys heart and soul? Consider what you have to do to enter its new products lab. Place your hands inside a state-of-the-art scanner that readsand calculatesthe exact pattern of the veins on the back. If it recognizes the pattern, which it does for only 20 out of 5000 employees, youre in. If it doesnt, the vault-like door wont budge. In the unmarked lab at the companys headquarters campus in Baltimore, products being developed include a shirt that can monitor an athletes heart rate, a running shoe designed like your spine, and a sweatshirt that repels water almost as well as a ducks feathers. Theres also work being done on a shirt that may help air condition your body by reading your vital signs.

So whats next for Under Armour? With a motto that refers to protecting this house, innovation will continue to be important. Building a business beyond what its known forthat is, what athletes wear next to their skinis going to be challenging. However, Plank is utterly determined to conquer that next layer, and the layer after that. He says, Theres not a product we cant build (p.189).

Answer the following questions.

1. What is your opinion of UAs approach to innovation? Do you think it is a successful approach? List 2 reasons to support your opinion. (5 marks - please see Rubric for grading)

2. Describe UAs organizational culture. Include at least one specific example supporting your explanation. (5 marks please see Rubric for grading)

3. Explain Design Thinking and how this relates to the innovative culture of UA. (5 marks please see Rubric for grading)

4. Whats your personal analysis of the companys philosophy posted over the door of its design studio? Do you think that it is influential to the employees at UA? (5 marks please see Rubric for grading)

5. Describe how forces for change may impact UA, and discuss how the organization will deal with these forces. Provide at least two examples to support your ideas. (5 marks please see Rubric for grading)