Growth of NBA

The biggest resource that the NBA has is branding. NBA is synonymous with basketball all over the world. This branding enables the NBA to engage in merchandizing of NBA products all over the world.

Another big resource that the NBA has is Visibility. The global network of NBA offices ensures that though the NBA is based in the US, fans from the other continents can still identify with the NBA through regional offices. The regional offices offer information about the NBA to the local fans thus maintaining the fan base.

International players are another resource because they give the NBA an international look while garnering support from the countries from which these international players are acquired. A case in point is China the country of birth of Yao Ming where the NBA is the third most googled site which is a big success for the NBA given the large population of China.

The fact that an organization is striving for global success does not make it more difficult to develop unique resources and distinctive capabilities. In fact, it is this exercise that makes the organization to develop unique resources and distinctive capabilities. The NBA has managed to sell itself to the international community by enrolling players from the international scene. These players then become regional ambassadors of basketball and by extension ambassadors of the NBA.

A SWOT analysis can be used to determine what could be the future Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to the NBA. The SWOT Analysis is a strategic approach and would prove useful to the NBA in planning how it will handle future occurrences. A Value Chain Analysis can be used to determine which activities should be given more emphasis so as to ensure continued growth. A Resource Based Value Analysis could also be employed to identify the resources that the NBA has in hand to use against any future competition that may arise. Of the three analysis, the Value Chain Analysis would be the most appropriate to adopt for the NBA. This is because the NBA already has a head-start against all competition in terms of resources available at its disposal. Correct utilization of these resources will ensure growth and the resources can then be used to stifle any competition in the future.

The growth of the NBA has to a great extent occurred unchallenged. Strategic initiatives implemented by Stern were mainly successfully due to lack of competition. An example is the idea of going after foreign players. If this initiative was challenged by another association by taunting the initiative as an effort that would deny good American basketball players a chance, the idea would have flopped. The idea would have failed because the American fan base was responsible for generating money for the “international player shopping” which obviously did not augur well with local talent. Then again that might be exactly what Stern envisioned: a world wide appeal before the arising of any opposition.