meljun cortes telfer duffercove

7/30/2019 MELJUN CORTES Telfer DufferCove

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Case Study: Duffers Cove


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Introduction This case revolves around the definition of a market segment

and operational management that provides customerexperiences required to satisfy the needs of this segment

Students should use a logic model or strategy map to betterunderstand the linkages between outcomes (i.e., meetingcustomer expectations and thus increasing revenue growth)and key operational activities in the organization

Other techniques such as Quality Function Deployment couldalso be used to better articulate the specific linkages betweencustomer experiences and operational management


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OverviewDuffers Cove Golf CourseSituated in a mid-size city

Owned by the municipality as a means of ensuring that residents had access toreasonably priced golf

City council has been considering privatizing the course


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Duffers Cove Golf Course (contd)

Previous GM (10 Years)

approach was to build strong relationships within the city administration to secure

resources when needed (such as additional funding, speedy decisions and so forth)

very successful

contacts at City Hall led directly to tournaments being held at Duffers Cove (agreat way of introducing new golfers to the course)

Current General Manager, Jim Kane

joined Duffers Cove in January of 2006

concerned about privatization

focused on cutting costs in an attempt to increase the year-end surplusfinancial surplus yearly = difficult case for privatization


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Golf Industry industry in the country is steadily growing

Recent studies indicate: there are almost 6 million golfers (participation rate of 21% of the population)

- the highest of any country in the world

participation has grown at a rate of 16% over the past five years

On a region-by-region basis: the region in which Duffers Cove is situated has the highest total number of

golfers

another region has the highest participation rate by population at 29%

The key barrier to golfers taking up the sport was price....

The key driver for participation growth is the expansion of the segment ofthe golfing market known as core golfers.


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Golfer SegmentationCore golfers

play > 8 rounds per year

usually understand how to play the game

enjoy courses offering variety and challenge

Occasional golfers

play 7 or fewer rounds per year

enjoy the game

not necessarily looking for an overly challenging course.

social aspect is often more important


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key barrier to taking up the sport is price

Duffers Cove - low-cost alternative for occasional golfers

Long course with all par 4 holes measuring over 400 yards from the white tees

wide fairways, many sand traps on the course

2004 and 2005 golf course operation reports suggest savings could be realizedthrough reductions in the amount of time spent on maintenance

wide fairways along the course were being made even wider through regulartrimming of the rough lining the fairway

allowing the rough to grow naturally could save hundreds of hours of labour eachseason

from a marketing perspective, he could sub-segment the market to cater to golferswho played approximately 8 to 15 rounds per year

money saved on maintenance => promotional initiatives (an effectivesupplementary tool)

word-of-mouth a key influencer of where golfers played

Golfer Segmentation


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Results - 2006

2005 season was very good

in 2006, the number of golfers was notkeeping pace with 2005

Was a mistake made?

The information provided by the golf pro, Jane

French, seemed to confirm that the addedchallenge provided by the newly grown roughmight be causing issues.


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Duffers Cove Dimensions And Measures In The Data Set


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Duffers Cove Dimensions And Measures In The Data Set


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Discussion Points

Discussion 1

Define the critical outcome for Duffers Cove (DF).

Is revenue more important than profitability?

What trends are evident in revenue and profitability?

What source of revenue appears to be the most

challenged?

How is DF maintaining profitability? Does this approach augur well for their long term

viability?


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Discussion 2

Discuss the targeted market segment.

How would you evaluate the target segmentdefined by the new General Manager?

What do trends in number of golfers suggest?

Are the current operational tactics alignedwith the needs of the segment targeted?

Discussion Points


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Discussion 3

Next steps

Given the conclusions drawn about expectedoutcomes and market segment, what should

the GM do?

Discussion Points


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ConclusionThis case highlights:

linkages between the needs of a market segment and thetypes of experiences provided by a service organization

It also suggests that targeting one segment at the expense of

others might put such an organization in jeopardy Core concepts applied would include:

defining organizational outcomes (i.e., is revenue orprofitability more important?),

the role of external stakeholders (i.e., expectations ofpoliticians), and

buyer behaviour (i.e., the experience expected by corecustomers).

meljun cortes telfer duffercove

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