Callaway Essay

777 Words4 Pages
2. What factors contributed to its success? Ely Callaway, CEO of CGC, was and will continue to be one of the factors to the company’s success. He made the company successful because of the clarity of his vision: “If we make a truly more satisfying product for the average golfer…and make it pleasingly different from the competition, the company would be successful”. CGC sales increased from $5 mil in 1988 to over $800 mil by 1997 because of the company’s commitment to his vision. Richard Helmstetter, V.P. and Chief of new products, is also a factor to CGS’s past and future success. He not only contributed to their success significantly, but he had a unique approach to R&D, which was an ongoing project called “RCH Tough Questions”. Questions that usually led to bright ideas and products that consumers did not know they wanted. Innovation and technological breakthroughs was also the key to the company’s success. In 1988 CGC introduced the first of 3 revolutionary new club designs. S2H2, a design that transferred weight in a golf club efficiently, was the first new club design. It became the base concept for CGC’s future products. In 2 years, the company’s sales reached $22 mil. The second was the Big Bertha, which was an oversized metal wood that provided a larger “sweet spot” allowing more room for error to a golfer. This design, introduced in 1991, was critical to CGC because it not only reshaped the entire industry, but they were the first to introduce such a design to all golfers everywhere. The Big Bertha was the only one of its kind for 1 year before competitors had a similar product, but it also took its competition and additional 6 years for performance to challenge CGC. In 3 years, CGC sales reached $449 mil. The third of CGC’c primary technological breakthroughs were Titanium golf clubs introduced in 1995. They were not only more

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