48 pages • 1 hour read
Phil KnightShoe Dog
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 16-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary: “1976”
Dispirited after the death of Prefontaine, Bowerman offers to sell Knight two-thirds of his stake in Blue Ribbon. Knight reluctantly agrees but convinces Bowerman to stay on as a vice president and member of the board.
Knight sees enormous success throughout 1976 with Bowerman’s waffle-trainer shoes. He redefines his sales goals to accommodate such success. The waffle trainers give Nike “something [it had] always lacked—an identity. More than a brand, Nike was now becoming a household word” (284).
To meet growing demand, Knight looks to Taiwan to open new factories. He flies there with Jim Gorman, a trusted employee. They find one factory in the small town of Douliou that shows promise. They meet with a man named Jerry Hsieh in Taipei, who offers to connect them with factories in Taiwan.
At the 1976 Olympic Trials in Eugene, the top three finishers in the 10,000-meter race wear Nikes. Shorter wins the marathon, and a runner named Craig Virgin wins the 5,000, both in Nikes. At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, however, Knight is surprised and disappointed to discover Shorter toeing the line in Tigers.
After considering going public several times, Knight brings the possibility up at the biannual meeting he holds with Woodell, Strasser, Hayes, and Johnson. Knight calls these meetings “Buttfaces” and usually holds them somewhere in Oregon. There are a number of pressing issues at the meeting in 1976, but the most important is the “going public” question. A consensus forms around the belief that the best way to sustain growth might be going public.
Chapter 17 Summary: “1977”
In March 1977, Knight meets with a man named M. Frank Rudy. Rudy pitches the idea of injecting air into running shoes for greater cushioning. Knight at first rejects the idea, but after fitting a pair of “air soles” into his running shoes and going for a jog, he changes his mind. He and Strasser make a deal with Rudy and begin experimenting with air soles at their factory in Exeter.
Knight begins a campaign to sign college basketball teams and individual players to Nike. Nike shoes also begin appearing in some films and TV shows, such as Charlie’s Angels. Nike airs a new ad campaign with the slogan, “There is no finish line” (313).
Facing the problem of debenture holders who want to cash in, Knight turns to a man named Chuck Robinson for advice. Robinson is a former World War II commander and a savvy businessman. He tells Knight that going public is “mandatory.” Knight puts the decision up for a vote with Hayes, Woodell, Johnson, and Strasser, but the vote is split.
Around Christmas 1977, Knight receives a bill from US Customs for $25 million. Knight’s competitors, Converse and Keds, have exploited an “archaic law” that retroactively managed to increase Nike’s import duties by 40%. Knight decides that Nike must “fight this with everything [it’s] got” (317).
At the end of 1977, Nike has made sales of nearly $70 million. Although Knight worries about the pending battle with US Customs, he decides to buy a bigger house to accommodate his growing family. He tries to spend more time with his two sons, Matthew and Travis, although neither shows a dedicated interest in sports.
Chapter 18 Summary: “1978”
Strasser hires a lawyer named Richard Werschkul to help Nike with its upcoming legal battle with US Customs. Werschkul is described as a “dark, wiry, sarcastic, bespectacled” man with an “eccentric streak” (323-24). Strasser sends him to Washington, DC, to begin working on the case.
Nike is on track for sales of $140 million. At the same time, the quality of their product is finally deemed by some industry insiders to be better than Adidas. Nike moves its headquarters to a large space in Beaverton, Oregon.
Knight announces at the last “Buttface” meeting in 1978 that Nike will begin focusing on a line of clothes. To head the apparel division, he at first hires a young accountant named Ron Nelson, but Nelson proves inexperienced and “naturally unstylish.” Knight puts Woodell in charge of the apparel line.
At the end of 1978, Nike releases the Tailwind shoe, which incorporates Rudy’s air sole technology. Although the Tailwind has a successful debut, customers report that the shoe falls apart quickly, and Nike issues a recall. Strasser, who oversaw the shoe’s development, takes the failure hard.
In Washington, DC, Werschkul writes up a long document about Nike’s case and petitions politicians for support. Knight sends Strasser to the East Coast to calm him down. When Strasser returns, he seems cured of his depression, but it becomes clear that Knight will need to go to Washington, DC, to deal with Werschkul and the US Customs situation himself.
Chapters 16-18 Analysis
The question of whether to go public looms over Knight and Nike as the memoir approaches its climax. This is a question that Knight and his most trusted colleagues return to again and again. They understand that they could use the quick infusion of cash, yet they also worry going public could change the company culture. As Knight puts it, “Going public would generate a ton of money in a flash. But it would also be highly perilous because going public often meant losing control” (282). Time and again, Knight decides that maintaining control of Nike is more important than generating money quickly, and so every time the conversation comes up, Knight ultimately decides not to go public.
In Chapters 16-18 (which cover 1976 to 1978) Bowerman’s role at the company changes. While he has been a co-owner of the company since its inception and has remained a cornerstone of its identity, he decides to sell most of his shares and take a more passive role in the company following the tragedies of the 1972 Olympic games and the death of Prefontaine. Bowerman also steps away from coaching during this time. Despite such changes, however, Bowerman remains involved in Nike through his endless shoe experiments, many of which he continues to send to factories for production. Moreover, despite being retired, Bowerman shows annoyance when he feels he is being left out of decisions pertaining to Nike. In Chapter 16, for example, he berates Knight and Johnson for failing to send him materials, when in fact they have been sending him the materials he needs to experiment. In the end, Knight realizes, Bowerman’s frustration “wasn’t about uppers and outer soles. This was about retirement. And time. Like Pre, time wouldn’t listen to Bowerman” (294). In this way, Bowerman continues to embody The Desire for Victory as Nike’s Binding Spirit: He feels compelled to keep going even when he tries to stop.
Knight’s commitment to growing Nike comes at the cost of time spent with his sons, Matthew and Travis. Knight feels considerable guilt over this but does not see much opportunity to change the way he spends his time. One of his sons, Travis, seems to understand and forgive him, while Matthew seems to harbor a grudge toward Knight. In the end, Knight questions how much of a difference “a few more words” or “a few more hours” would make in his sons’ lives (303). He says, “Time and again I’d vow to change. Time and again I’d tell myself: I will spend more time with the boys. Time and again I’d keep that promise—for a while. Then I’d fall back to my former routine” (303). Whereas Knight has his colleagues to help him face business decisions, he struggles alone when it comes to the challenges related to raising Matthew and Travis, and those challenges reveal the cost of pursuing success so single-mindedly.
