Sourcing shoes in the low-cost Far East was a cornerstone of Knight’s original concept, and
this remained the dominant practice as the company grew through the 1970s. The key to making this
system work, executives believed, was the company’s ability to find and develop contract factories,
closely monitor them for quality, and forecast production needs effectively.
Contract factories in South Korea and Taiwan emerged as the major suppliers (see Figure D),
although NIKE had continually sought to diversify sourcing to minimize political risk and to reflect