Callaway's strategy from 1988-1997
Research and Development
From its initial existence R&D and innovative products had been the lifeline of CGC. When Callaway bought into the company his first initiative was to develop original products. Innovation and superior performing products are important in golf because equipment is thought to have a significant impact on player performance. Moreover, innovation was important because CGC had to be the technological leader to sell its products at premium price and continue to exceed customer expectations. The industry was also characterized as being driven by new product development because manufacturers were trying to bet each other to the next "best club" so CGC had to manufacture products that were differentiated from its own existing products as well as those of its competitors.
Helmstetter wanted to come up with products before consumers knew they needed them. To cultivate an environment of modernization, Helmstetter had team of scientists, engineers, and golfer working on 400 RCH Tough Questions. While trying to answer RCH questions the team was able to create the following new products :
S2H2- introduced in 1988. This club redistributed weight to the striking area of the club head by eliminating the hosel.
Big Bertha metal woods introduced in 1991. The innovative feature of Big Bertha was that it provided a larger "sweet spot". The oversized head made it easier to make contact with the ball so in turn made drivers more widely used by average golfers and revolutionalized the way clubs were manufactured.
Great Big Bertha Titanium- launched in 1995. Titanium clubs increased the moment of inertia by moving material away from the clubhead center.
Technologically superior products reinforced CGC's high quality brand and kept customers from switching brands.
Advertising
CGC targeted "average golfers" defined as golfers that played a minimum of 10 rounds per year and generally had handicaps above 18. Moreover they purchased new equipment roughly every two-three years and purchased premium equipment to boost their performance. Other market segments included beginners, occasional, and experienced or avid golfers. Beginners and occasionally golfers played one-seven rounds per year and were not targeted because they were price-sensitive. Experienced golfers kept their equipment for extremely long periods of time and when they did purchase new equipment their purchase was based mostly on brand. Experienced golfers were also not targeted because they relied more on their skill then the performance of their equipment.
The International Harvester Company began experimenting with tractors in 1905. International Harvester’s first tractor was the Mogul 8-16. (About Farmall and IH) The International Harvester company then went to the F series until 1938. In 1939 the International Harvester Company paid Raymond Loewy to reshape the F series. These tractors had more sheet metal, such as the hood and grill. These reshaped tractors became known as the Letter series. International Harvester made the letter series till 1954. International also made the “Super” tractors from 1952 to 1954. (Farmall Letter Series) This leads me to the Super M-TA which was made from 1953 to 1954.
Crandall, Abbey, and Daniel Green. "Chicago Inventions." Chicago World's Fair. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2013.
As with many things, breakthrough of any kind can be traced back to a mistake or a situation forcing people to think things through differently. The modern suspension of today’s vehicle is made of different components including those due to different circumstances. According to Motorera.com, a car crash that occurred when Alanson Brush’s brother wrecked his car, forced Alanson to rethink the suspension on the vehicle in order to make sure it could not happen again. Therefore he came up with the idea to add front coil springs along with shock absorbers. This was unheard of at the time and
Speaking of the golf cart, it is wild symbol in this game. It will substitute for all other symbols in order to complete any active paylines you may have. If you really want to win big in Closest to the Pin, you’re going to need the wild symbol on your side.
Martin, Linda, et al., eds. 1000 Makers of the Millenium. New York: DK Publishing, 1999.
Avid golfers know all too well the elusive nature of the golf club’s sweet spot. It is a mystery they spend hours trying to solve on the links, usually to no avail. What sets apart amateurs from the professionals is the ability to consistently strike the highly critical pinpoint portion of the club. It is easy to see the difference between the consistency of an amateur and a professional with the definition of the wear spots on the pro’s golf club located where the sweet spot should be (see figure 1 below). Although many complex factors influence the path of a golf ball, the sweet spot has proven essential to maximize the final distance. The sweet spot is all powerful because of its ability to compress the golf ball. The transfer of energy that occurs through the perfect strike produces the largest velocity of the ball and therefore the greatest distance. The reason that mastery of hitting the hot spot of the clubface is close to unmanageable for the average amateur golfer is simply because of all the factors at play. Focusing on the most important part of the golf swing, impact with the ball, narrows the whole motion down into a split second of action. For golfers, the swing has little to do with success on the course, it is how efficient players are at the moment of striking the golf ball. In other words, it all comes down to that moment of impact. This allows people with a variety of body types and ages to excel at the sport throughout their life. Strength has a small role in lowering scores on the course and sending the ball farther down the fairway. An example of the small role that the golfer’s physical size plays, in relation to mastery of the sweet spot, is that I, at 5’7”, consistently drive the ball further than my 6’2”, considerably larger father. Researching and perfecting the sweet spot remains an important field of study in all the big name club manufacturers, as well as in the United States Golf Association (USGA).
Tiger was 11-months old when he first started swinging a sawed off golf club in
The globalization of golf is demonstrated by five different cities: Santiago, Chile; Beijing, China; Nairobi, Kenya; Awali, Bahrain; and Munich, Germany because they all contain golf culture diffused from Scotland even though they are situated in entirely different parts of the world; this particular example of globalization can also be described by the terms: place, region, scale, space, and connections. The origins of golf can be traced back to the 15th century, when a sport resembling golf was first played with a bent stick and a stuffed ball. It is widely accepted that the foundations of golf started in Scotland; one of the oldest and most honored golf clubs, The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, is located in Scotland. At
The agency I chose to do is the Hillandale golf course, which is located in Durham North Carolina. The reason why I chose to do my project on Hillandale golf course because since the beginning of the semester I have been traveling over to the golf course twice a week for a class learning the rules and the way the game of golf is played. Hillandale golf course is named the “Granddaddy golf course of Durham/ Research Triangle golf”. Hillandale was donated to the Durham area back in 1911 through the philanthropic interests of long-time Durham resident John Sprunt Hill. Donald Ross and Perry Maxwell originally designed the course. Donald Ross had designed the first 9 holes and Perry Maxwell came up with the last 9 holes. Since 1960 over 1.7 million rounds of golf have been played that being an average of 45,000 yearly. This public golf course provides a challenge from each level of players in the game of golf. In 1960, the Hillandale Golf Course was moved to its current location in Durham and was redesigned by George Cobb, who is also the designer of the Surf Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Imagine the sun bursting through the trees for the first time of the new day, the smell of freshly cut grass still potent to your nose as you tee the ball up for a round of golf in the cool mist of a spring morning. "That is what brings you back every time, the smell of the air, the coolness of the whether and the beautiful surroundings that make every shot enjoyable." (Suess, PI) This is the game of golf in its finest and most exquisite time to many people and many people it has touched in its long history. Golf is a lifestyle and not just games to people that are avid in playing. The game of golf has a history that is rich in technological advances and personal accomplishments, which through time has shown to shape the sport into what it has become today.
The Titleist brand was inspired by an event which occurred in 1932. An amateur golfer, Phil Young, missed a putt while playing in a match with his friend. Convinced that it was the ball 's fault, Young and his opponent went to the hospital, x-rayed the golf ball in question and found that its core was, in fact, off-center.
Callaway Golf Company began to take form in 1983, after Ely Reeves Callaway Jr. sold Callaway Vineyard and Winery for a $9 million dollar profit. Shortly after the sell of the winery, Callaway ventured in to the golf equipment industry and bought 50 percent of Hickory Stick USA. Callaway knew from the very beginning that this company’s profits were limited as long as the product line wasn’t changing. “Callaway noticed that most golf equipment had changed very little since the 1920s and believed that , due to the difficulty of the game of golf, recreational golfers would be willing to invest in high-tech, premium-priced clubs if such clubs could improve their game by being more forgiving of a less-than-optimum swing.” (Thompson, c205) Callaway then purchased the company outright and changed the name to Callaway Hickory Stick USA and then hires Richard Helmstetter as the companies’ chief club designer. With the help of five aerospace engineers, Helmstetter developed line of clubs that was set apart form competing brands by its technological innovation. In 1988, the S2H2 was launched as well as another name change to Callaway Golf Company. In 1992, sales are more than double recent years and Callaway Golf Company goes public and begins trading on the NYSE. Throughout the 90’s, Callaway leads the golf equipment industry with ongoing new lines of clubs and eventually adds golfing apparel. Donald Dye, Callaway’s new CEO, took the much of the blame for the downturn in Callaway Golf Company. Dye was ultimately responsible for initiatives that took managements focus off golf clubs. The company’s financial and market performance suffered immensely in 1998 causing Ely Callaway to return to rebuild the company. The textbook states on page c208, “Ely Callaway’s first efforts upon his return to active management at Callaway Golf were to ‘direct resources---talent, energy, and money--- in an ever-increasing degree toward the creation, design, production, sale and service of new and better products.’” In Callaway’s turnaround strategy, he initiated a restructuring program and operational improvements. By the end of 1998, Callaway’s strategies allowed the company to regain it s technological leadership.
Golf Magazine’s Encyclopedia of Golf. The Editors of Golf Magazine. New York, NY: Harper-Collins 1993.
Golf is a great sport for people to get into because of the health benefits it has on people. I have researched the effects that golf has on people and the results were surprising and interesting. For a sport that is so peaceful and easy to understand the benefits you get from it can change lives and help people. As a golf player I really enjoyed learning and now I know how to improve my game the knowledge I have obtained through my research. You will walk away with this knowing how the mind and body is affected by playing a round of golf and the benefits of just playing.
designed by the engineers. It’s Vital and in the previous days there wasn’t many designs for the