Mike Francis Reflects on Canadian Experience as New Nike Golf U.S. General Manager
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TORONTO (October 9, 2008)-In his new role as Nike Golf's U.S. General Manager, Mike Francis will draw upon his experience setting up Nike Golf in Canada as a new business that has become one of the country's leading golf companies in only five years.
Nike Golf President Cindy Davis announced on Tuesday that the Halifax native, currently General Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) will succeed her effective December 1, 2008. Stan Grissinger will assume Francis' role.
"Obviously, I'm pretty excited and I feel honoured," Francis said from his Amsterdam office. "I've been at Nike Golf for just over five years-in Canada for two years and here for just over three years-so to be considered for this position in that relatively short amount of time for Nike Golf's largest market is quite something."
A graduate of Dalhousie University, Francis began his 21-year career in the golf industry at Ram Golf and moved to Wilson Golf, where he had ascended through various roles from territory sales to merchandising management, marketing, and ultimately sales leadership.
Francis joined Nike Golf in June 2003 and established the company's business in Canada, which gave him a solid foundation for his career with Nike. The current General Manager of Nike Golf Canada is John Sibley.
"My first year with Nike was setting up Nike Golf Canada as a separate business from Nike Inc. To be authentic in golf, we needed to manage our own business. Golf has a completely different consumer-customer base and business model," he said.
"Doing that provided me with a solid grounding in setting up a business, and managing revenues, costs and earnings. That was a huge move and stepping stone for me.
"One of the biggest things was making sure we have a great team in Canada-talented and skilled people with functional expertise, golf and Nike knowledge-who could drive the business. That Canadian team is outstanding."
Starting a new business in Canada was a challenge, but he faced even greater hurdles in building Nike Golf's business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
"Coming here was more daunting. We deal with close to a dozen different currencies and 20 different countries. You need people with multiple languages and skills to perform at a very high level. There are unbelievable complexities in doing business here."
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