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Case Study

Adidas: How to keep running fast in a post-Covid-19 world?

By Niccolò Pisani and Ornella Lupoi

22 pages

September 2020

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Reference: IMD-7-2222

By the end of 2019 the adidas Group was solidly the world’s second largest multinational in the sportswear manufacturing industry. Following the successful implementation of a digital transformation initiated in 2015, the company enjoyed years of sustained growth and high profitability in the 2016-2019 period, strengthening its brand desirability and increasing sales volumes, especially in the online space. It ended fiscal year 2019 stronger than ever and its chief executive officer (CEO), Kasper Rørsted, was very optimistic about what the future would hold. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020 radically changed the business landscape. adidas was severely hit by the lockdowns imposed by governments. The new measures of social distancing were expected to have a lasting impact on consumer habits and consequently on the operations of companies such as adidas. Thus, unimaginable only few months before, the company’s first earnings call of 2020 led by Rørsted focused on the negative results obtained in the preceding few months and the high degree of uncertainty looking forward. Aware of the many challenges facing the company, Rørsted had to decide which strategic initiatives he should prioritize to future-proof the company and keep it on a steady growth trajectory in a post-COVID-19 world.

Learning Objective

Analyze the extent to which digitalization has changed the retail sector.
Analyze the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized the business operations of companies such as adidas.
Explore the need for a retailer’s strategy to be adjusted in view of the pandemic and the ongoing digital disruption of the retail world.
Explore strategy in an environment characterized by a high degree of uncertainty associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords

Strategy, Sports Equipment, COVID-19, Pandemic, Shoes, Retail, Disruption, Digital Disruption, Digitization, Sustainability, Uncertainty, Digital

Settings

World/global, Germany
Adidas, Consumer Goods, Sports Equipment, Consumer Goods, Sports Footwear, Consumer Goods, Sportswear
2015-2020

Type

Published Sources

Available Languages

English

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Teaching note

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