Case 16 Callaway Golf Big Bertha’s Team Hits a Long Ball

case 16 CALLAWAY GOLF: BIG BERTHA’S TEAM HITS A LONG BALL â€Å"Callaway Golf Company designs, creates, builds and sells Demonstrably Superior and Pleasingly Different golf products. That means that any club, ball or putter in the Callaway Golf family must be a significant improvement not only upon the products of our competitors, but also our own.† (1) How does Callaway Golf achieve its goals of manufacturing and distributing Demonstrably Superior and Pleasingly Different golf products? Callaway’s DSPD Philosophy In 1982, after a long business career in textiles and wine making, Ely Callaway purchased and bought a 50 percent interest in Hickory Stick USA, a small pitching wedge and putter manufacturing operation. Callaway’s†¦show more content†¦The sales team spans the world to provide golf retailers with the latest innovations in golf equipment and the highest quality service. The general/administrative team ( consisting of accountants, legal experts, artists, human resource generalists, receptionists, writers, and others ( helps to build and grow the company by supporting the activities of the other teams. (8) While the members of these teams reflect considerable diversity of backgrounds, all of the team members share some common characteristics. Callaway Golf looks for â€Å"integrity, honesty, daring, enthusiasm, accountability and hard work† in its employees. In addition, the company seeks to keep a â€Å"healthy balance between career and play,† recogn izing that this results in â€Å"happier people who are more productive in every aspect of their lives.† (9) Thus far, Callaway Golf has used both similarities and differences among it employees to forge five very effective teams. Will Callaway be able to maintain this balance in the future, or will diversity be sacrificed for commonality, or commonality for diversity? Review Questions 1. What is the DSPD philosophy? Explain how the operations of the different teams reflect the DSPD philosophy. 2. What team member characteristics does Callaway Golf consider to be important? Why do these