It was mid-January 2011 and Elmer Enns, sole owner of Double E Grain Corporation, a 6600-acre farm in Saskatchewan, Canada, was reflecting on the past year, during which he had completed the canola harvest ahead of schedule. Helped by strong commodity prices, Double E had experienced successive years of prosperity (as shown by the financial statements in the case). Elmer, in his mid-50s, was optimistic about the industry and content with the current state of his operation. Despite being the sole owner of Double E, Elmer understood that he was not the only stakeholder to consider in planning for the future. His five-year plan was made more complex by his joint-venture partner, Jim Flath; Chad, a farmer with whom Elmer worked closely; and Elmer’s son Matt. Elmer also had to consider changing industry dynamics, including global food demand, and what resources he had available if the circumstances at Double E were to change. He had been in the business of farming long enough to know that lengthy periods without change were fortunate and rare. External changes (such as volatile commodity prices or the elimination of the wheat board) or internal changes (such as Jim or Matt’s evolving interests or Chad’s growing business) could have a drastic impact on Double E. In the face of many potential and unknown challenges, Elmer sat down to begin the complex task of envisioning where his farm would be in five years, both operationally and financially.
Lamont, a private golf club, had survived another year, but things weren't like the good old days, when waiting lists to join were long, environmental issues were not front and centre, and outside tournaments as a source of revenue were plentiful. The general manager has to work through a changing environment and the current situation at Lamont to set a new direction for the club. How is the club to grow, given old and new clubs drawing existing and potential members away from Lamont, declining corporate budgets to support golf outings, and competition for charity tournaments and events such as weddings? How could the general manager deliver the expected profits with costs increasing by at least 10 per cent per year?
The general manager at the Islington Golf Club (Islington) was facing a challenging context. This private equity club in the west end of Toronto, Ontario, had been in existence since 1923. Membership waiting lists had been the norm and the finances had been in good shape. However, the context was changing. The economy was working against the relatively high-cost and time-consuming game of golf. Green fee revenue was down and club food and beverage revenues were down. Capital to update the clubhouse and course was required. Older members had different ideas as to what the club should become than younger members. Competition was heating up with new clubs being built. Islington was being forced to ask some fundamental questions. What was the general manager to recommend to the member board to sustain the club into the future? The case can be used as a general management or general marketing case as it forces students to think through not just what the manager should do, but the process or framework(s) that would be helpful in getting to the decisions.
A recent MBA graduate was about to return to the family business, Biomed Co., Ltd. as its general manager. Biomed's parent company, Thai Drugs Co., Ltd. has just revised Biomed's market strategy, a change that created the need to align the sales compensation system to fit with the new strategy. The new general manager was charged with this responsibility. Students will work through the path from strategy to a powerful sales compensation plan that will support the strategy and encourage to execute the role of the salesforce within this strategy.
In 2005, the vice-president of sales and marketing for the Canadian division of Spectrum Brands Inc. must determine his next steps regarding the structure of his sales force. Spectrum Brands (Spectrum), a global consumer products company formerly known as Rayovac Corporation, had made a number of acquisitions to diversify and expand its product and brand portfolio. With these changes, Spectrum had become a leading supplier of consumer batteries, lawn and garden care products, specialty pet supplies, and shaving and grooming products. The vice-president of sales and marketing was charged with the task of creating a national sales force from the teams of the newly merged companies. Knowing the importance of the sales function to each of these companies, he wanted to ensure; despite the differences among the diverse groups, that he still maintained a team which would effectively and efficiently continue to increase the sales of each business unit.
The vice-president of sales and marketing was contemplating how to grow the Rayovac Battery Division of Spectrum Brands Canada Inc. (Spectrum). Spectrum, a global consumer products company, owned a variety of brand name products. The vice-president of sales and marketing knew that, with effective marketing, the rechargeable battery market was one that would likely grow within North America as it had in Europe. Major competitors were not focusing on this product category, fearful that it would cannibalize sales of their non-rechargeable products. Rayovac could use this opportunity to increase its presence and brand name recognition by entering the back door instead of competing head-to-head against the well-established market leaders - Duracell and Energizer. The vice-president wondered whether this was a business worth pursuing and, if so, how he would market the Rayovac line within Canada. Students will assess opportunities and develop marketing strategies to pursue these opportunities. The case also shows students how building one segment of the market might lead to building other related segments.
Due to differences in incentive compensation, work experience, and objectives, sales and marketing, in many organizations often clash. At Microsoft Canada, the national sales manager, Home & Entertainment Division and the group product manager for PC marketing are considering investing a recurring $1 million a year - 10 per cent of their combined promotional budget - to produce and maintain a consumer-focused website, Microsoft Home Magazine. This proposed investment comes at a time where sales growth is slowing in the firm's PC business. As a surprising twist for students, this case is unique in the sense that it highlights an example where sales and marketing work together to achieve a common goal.
The founder and chief executive officer of Global Source Healthcare was struggling with how to allocate sales resources among acquiring new accounts, penetrating existing accounts and up-selling existing accounts. Global Source Healthcare provided domestic and international staffing services to healthcare facilities. The company had been operational for a year and growth had been considerably slower than expected. What made this decision especially important was that the healthcare staffing market was experiencing a substantial downturn. Consolidation was occurring in the industry. Given the limited sales and financial resources of the company, this decision was critical to ensure the very survival of Global Source. Other issues that may be raised include understanding the sales strategy in the business and marketing strategy, motivating a sales force in a difficult, limited-resource environment, and understanding the trade-off between the length of the sales cycle and the size of the potential account.
An entrepreneur was contemplating leaving his job at Goldman Sachs to start Global Source Healthcare, a healthcare outsourcing company focused on international nurse recruitment. He had researched the healthcare staffing market extensively, written a business plan and raised some funding. While this appeared to be an excellent opportunity, there were some very real risks that had to be considered. His greatest concern was the limited amount of funding at his disposal. Since international recruitment required a considerable amount of working capital, the lack of funding brought the long-term feasibility of the business into question. Students will learn about screening the business venture in terms of the entrepreneur, the resources and the opportunity; determining the strategic direction of the company and balancing the long-term vision with short-term cash flow needs; assessing different business models to determine which is the best fit for the company; and the importance of executing the business plan and selected strategy.
Lexmark Canada is the Canadian arm of Lexmark Inc., the global manufacturer of computer printers and related products. Lexmark Canada had reorganized its salesforce into teams of salespeople to manage regions of Canada. This was a fairly dramatic shift from an individual-based structure and compensation system. There was mixed reaction to the change with the Quebec team recently losing two of its three team members. The case addresses salesforce organization and deployment issues, and the factors that need to be considered in making these decisions. It also demonstrates the linkages between sales management decisions, since in this situation reward and recognition, recruitment and selection, and training all needed to be revisited. Finally, it highlights the current shift to team selling in many industries.
From a strategic perspective, the Bank of Montreal, a major Canadian bank, has committed to entering the 'virtual banking' marketplace in Canada. There is also the potential to launch later in the USA and Mexico. They plan to do this in a preemptive fashion to gain first mover advantage. This means no extensive pilots and a short time to launch. The decision makers are charged with developing a complete launch strategy. They have two years of tentative ideas to work with, but a number of major decisions on product line, pricing, communications, salesforce, etc. are still to be made. The purpose of the case is to introduce students to the entire scope of marketing decisions to be made in such a situation, including fundamental decisions around targeting and positioning. It also drives students to make decisions in the face of incomplete information and short time horizons. To date, the case has been successfully used to set the stage for marketing management courses, and to kick off marketing management modules in executive development programs. (A nine-minute video can be purchased with this case, video 7A98A025.)
The rapidly changing environment of the pharmaceutical industry has lead to the acceleration of a rift between marketing and sales in a pharmaceutical firm, and to a stronger need to tightly integrate these two functions. The case is a vehicle to initiate discussion around potential structural, systems, and informal approaches to building bridges between marketing and sales.