英语美文名人励志故事28:Knight创立发展耐克公司的故事
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.
世界主要运动鞋生产商之一，2002年销售额超过100亿美元的企业就是耐克，公司总部位于俄勒冈州的比弗顿。《福布斯》杂志 2004年将耐克总裁菲利浦·耐特列为世界第 53位首富。但是耐克并非一直就是一个身价千亿美元的机构。事实上，耐特创建他的公司是从在田径运动会上，在他的汽车后备箱兜售球鞋开始的。
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世纪50年代末，耐特是美国俄勒冈大学田径队的一位中跑运动员，教练是比尔·鲍尔曼。作为美国顶级田径教练，鲍尔曼还以他善于制造运动鞋而闻名，他企图使鞋子更轻，更好地吸收冲击力。从俄勒冈毕业后，耐特在斯坦福大学继续他的研究生学业;他的MBA论文就是关于运动鞋的营销。他一拿到学位就去日本和运动鞋生产商鬼家虎公司进行了洽谈。耐特使公司官员确信他的产品在美国市场的潜力。在1963年，他拿到了他的第一批虎鞋的运货，共 200双。
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，耐特和鲍尔曼各自拿出500美元创立了蓝带体育用品公司，也就是耐克的前身。在最初的几年，耐特在当地的田径场分配他的鞋子。耐特雇用的第一位员工是前校队运动员。公司没有经费聘请"专家而且在北美没有已成立的运动鞋公司，无法招将到该领域的资深人士。在头几年，公司以反传统的方式，以创新的方式进入该行业。沟通是非正式的;人们在门厅里，在跑步途中，在喝啤酒时交换想法，谈论事实。几乎没有任务分工。没有工作描述，僵化的报告体系，细节化的规则和章程。团队精神和鲍尔曼团队共享的运动价值理念使计划贯彻执行，形成了耐克公司早年的合作式管理特点的基础。
