Prepared by
Bobby Grech, Mac Farber, Matt Rakowich
Smeal College of Business
Pennsylvania State University
August 7, 2013
Introduction
As society continues to evolve it is essential for companies to expand upon their business practices and communication techniques in order to remain profitable and expand upon their success. Due to the current state of the economy, a business must act strategically in order to operate at the best of its potential. Although you, the Penn State Golf Courses, are currently a profitable business, this recommendation report will present innovative ways for you to improve your business practices and better your company as a whole.
The purpose of this report is to provide effective solutions to the particular problem areas that you are encountering at the golf courses. These problem areas begin with overall involvement at the courses, as the amount of golfer activity has been on the decline. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of participation from the Penn State community. Also, you have expressed a disappointment in the effectiveness of your Facebook page as well as in the sale of your merchandise. In this report we will recommend and provide particular initiatives and deliverables that will support the solution to these problems.
Background
The problem involving overall participation at the golf courses is one that is industry-wide, as the amount of golfers throughout the United States has been on a decline since 2003 (The Golf Consumer). Although this problem may continue to exist due to the struggling economy, we have realized through research and discussion with your staff, that there particular problems that are specific to your golf courses here at Penn State.
Being located just down the street from Penn State’s campus, home to over 40,000 students, your golf courses do not see nearly enough interest from the Penn State community. After communicating with your staff we learned that there are only about 100 student memberships per semester and the courses see roughly 25 students per week other than those members. The courses have not only been disappointed by these student levels of participation, but have also been unable to attract Penn State parents and alumni. The Penn State community as whole lacks interest and awareness of your courses.
The Facebook page for your golf courses has been improving in the recent past, but it can definitely still be improved upon. The 510 “Likes” that the Penn State Golf Courses page has been able to obtain is less than half of that of your largest competitor, Toftrees Golf Resort. Your Facebook page could definitely be more insightful with the addition of more information and frequent updates. The visual appearance of the page can also be improved by adding more pictures and making some minor adjustments. As your staff has shown interest in renewing its page, Facebook can become a more effective tool in gaining awareness for your courses.
Lastly, through communication with your staff and observation of your clubhouse, we have noticed you are having trouble when it comes to selling merchandise. As a result, the clubhouse is overstocked with products that see little interest and you are being forced to offer products discounted over 70%.
Deliverables & Business Initiatives
While being in contact with your staff over the past few weeks, we have been able to develop some physical deliverables as well as certain business initiatives that we believe will help solve your current problems. These include:
A completely revamped Facebook page
Flyers and Coupons
Direct advertising within the Penn State community
Offering incentives and selling merchandise at highly populated events
Expanding merchandise to more lucrative retailers, such as McLanahan’s
We will now go into to detail- considering costs, benefits and feasibility- on how we feel that you should utilize our proposed
