Practice Case Study Assignment

Mitch Monroe, general manager of Life Core Fitness Club in Oakville Ontario, was in a bad
mood that morning as he asked his assistant to schedule a meeting for him later that day with
his senior staff. In the morning mail Mitch received a letter from a club member, and the letter
was not complimentary, to say the least. Mitch had been the general manager at Life Core
Fitness Club seven years, and he had never received comments such as this member had
written.

Life Core Fitness Club had opened for business 9 years ago and was successful from the
beginning. It was the brainchild of a former professional athlete and Olympic gold medalist
Donovan Bailey and for many years this athlete had operated the club himself. However, over
time and as the club grew in membership, he realized that it would benefit from professional
management. He decided to maintain sole ownership [corporation], hire Mitch Monroe, and
move on to other opportunities. Of course, he kept an eye on the business, but Mitch proved
to be as good at his work as his job interview had suggested, and within a couple of years
Donovan had left the operation largely in Mitch’s hands.

Under Mitch’s leadership the club had been agile in taking advantage of changing trends in the
marketplace such as population growth given the GTA’s urban sprawl and trends within the
fitness community. Life Core was now quite a different place to what it had been when the
owner had been running the day-to-day operations. Its target market, young professionals of
both genders in the Oakville/Burlington area, had never changed. These consumers continued
to demonstrate their attractiveness as a target market: they consistently showed an interest in
fitness and wellbeing, they had the money, and importantly, they were willing to spend it on a
club membership. However, what this segment wanted and needed from a club had not
remained a constant, and Mitch had been very good at grasping this fact and responding to it,
thus leading the market in that regard.

In the past, members were primarily interested in working out with good equipment either in a
class or by themselves and relaxing informally afterward in a casual lounge area – and very little
more. Now, however, they showed a stronger interest in one-on-one (personal) training,
dietary counselling, while developing a more holistic sense of wellbeing, and in using the club
for socializing as well as working out. These trends had become more pronounced over the
past year and, thus, had been the impetus for the most recent set of club changes. The
members were willing to pay more for receiving these additional services, and Mitch and his
team provided them. The club was thriving.

The meeting with his senior staff was scheduled for 3:00 P.M. that afternoon to accommodate
those employees who were on duty later in the day and into the evening for members’
convenience. Mitch started the meeting by distributing the letter.

He proceeded to read it aloud. He skimmed over the first part where the complainant wrote, “I
have been a member for many years…” and went straight to the heart of the problem. “I was
strongly in favour of the most recent set of planned changes and was one of the most

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Case Study Prepared by Professors Jean Beauchemin and Brian P. Vendramin ©2018
 Practice Case Study Assignment

enthusiastic supporters of a more personalized, member-friendly approach to club

operations. I was looking forward to booking with a personal trainer.

I was also pleased with the club’s decision to hire a registered dietician part-time to provide
health counselling and with the decision to add more spa-type services, such as massage
therapy. The redecorating contributed to a more welcoming, warmer atmosphere for
example, the covered chairs are a marked improvement to those ghastly straight-backed
chairs we used to have – and helped create a more social environment. I, for one, wanted to
stay and have a drink in the licensed lounge whereas before the lounge was a bit of a turn
off. In short, Mr. Monroe, I was delighted with these recent changes! BUT the changes have
not turned out as I had expected, and I am deeply disappointed, so disappointed, in fact, that
I am seriously considering terminating my membership – and it would take a lot for me to
quit. After all, I have been a member almost from the beginning.” Mitch took a deep breath
and looked around. No one looked happy.

The remainder of the letter went into every unpleasant detail of the inadequate and
unsatisfactory implementation of the most recent set of changes Mitch had initiated. When
the woman tried to book an appointment with the personal trainer, the staff person seemed
confused and uncertain about the trainer’s availability. When the club member arrived, sure
enough, the trainer was not there due to some misunderstanding about scheduling. When the
woman finally did have her personal training session, she was alarmed to see many other
members milling around in the gym area, using the same equipment she and her trainer were
trying to use, and even interrupting the training session once or twice. Although it was
supposed to be “personal” training, the woman said, it felt as though she was part of a large
group. The part about this incident that distressed her the most was that it appeared that the
trainer was herself unsure how to handle the awkwardness of the situation. Once, apparently,
the trainer said, “Sorry, I am new here, and I’ll have to check on the rule about equipment use
by other members.” Another time a member interrupted simply to say, “You know, there used
to be signs around with all the rules listed. That made it easy. Now I am unsure what to do.”

The complainant also raised a concern about the dietician. She said that the dietician seemed
very knowledgeable but was unable to communicate effectively; she used a lot of technical
jargon, according to the letter of complaint. As well, she seemed subject to mood swings, so
that in one appointment the dietician was very helpful and supportive and in the next
somewhat sullen and indifferent to the member.

At this point in the meeting, one of the staff suggested that perhaps it was the complainant
who had emotional problems, not the dietician. Everyone laughed – except Mitch who pointed
out that whatever the truth was, the complainant’s perception was truth enough for her.

The complainant also mentioned that although the new lounge was beautiful, staffing was
sporadic. Other members commented that they did know when the lounge was open, what
products were offered at which time and how to order when patronizing the facility.

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Case Study Prepared by Professors Jean Beauchemin and Brian P. Vendramin ©2018
 Practice Case Study Assignment

The letter concluded with, “I pay good money and I expect the new club services to be better
than this. Please let me know how you plan to improve them.”

Mitch went on to say that, although the letter by itself was extremely concerning, the main
reason this letter bothered him so much was because several other, small things had happened
at the club recently. Taken separately, these incidents did not seem significant, but together,
they led him to suspect that there were indeed some problems that he and his staff needed to
address as a result of the changes that he had initiated.

The meeting continued for another hour during which time Mitch solicited ideas for more
effective implementation of the changes. He had an excellent track record in club
management, but somehow, he had really taken his “eye off the ball” on this one. He knew
that the club members wanted the service improvements he had introduced. That much he
had verified, so he knew that was not the issue. It was the implementation of the
improvements that he had to remedy.

Steps 1- Analysis

In order to properly answer the questions in section 2, your group submission must include the
following:

1) SWOT analysis [A Template is included below]

2) 1 What are the 1.
. strengths of the
2.
current Life Core
offering? 3.
(List top 5)
4.
5.

2. What are the 1.

weaknesses of the
2.
current Life Core
offering? 3.
(List top 5)
4.
5.

3. What are the 1.

emerging
2.
opportunities facing
Life Core in the 3.
current
4.
marketplace?
(List top 5) 5.

4. What are the threats 1.

facing Life Core in
2.
the current
marketplace? 3.
(List top 5)
4.
5.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Case Study Prepared by Professors Jean Beauchemin and Brian P. Vendramin ©2018
 Practice Case Study Assignment

Step 2 – Case Related Questions:

 What are the main issues/problems facing Mitch Monroe and Life Core?
Please list and define the main issues and the associated symptoms.

 Hindsight being 20/20, how could have Mitch and his team better handled the
implementation of changes?

 What changes to the business model took place and what impact on delivery would this
have caused?

 What recommendations for improvement would you suggest?

Step 3
Define Life Core’s Marketing Mix – Inclusive of your proposed changes and information
provided in the case

 The Product – What is Life’s Core Overall Offering?

 Price - Determine the membership pricing options that meet Life Core’s needs and aligns with
its target market, and differentiation strategy [as per section 1]. Please also evaluate secondary
revenue streams drawing an average monthly spend per member.

 Place Determine all the places where member can experience the club and its services. Current
or with proposed changes.

 Promotion –Do your best to present some promotional ideas that Life Core will use to
communicate to their target market and align with their brand positioning and differentiation
strategy. [as per section 1] Traditionally promotional tools include advertising, sales promotion,
public relations, direct marketing, and personal selling. Make sure to use an integrated
marketing strategy.

When describing the Marketing mix, please provide rationale for all of your ideas
recommendations relating to the promotion, please.

Sections

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Case Study Prepared by Professors Jean Beauchemin and Brian P. Vendramin ©2018
 Practice Case Study Assignment

Title Page
- Assignment name
- Group members’ names and email addresses
- Professor’s Name
- Submission Date

Executive Summary
The executive summary is typically short (less than one page), and should contain three basic
sections:
1) A brief introduction to the firm/product/situation;
2) An indication of the key problem(s) you have defined; and
3) Your final recommendation(s) and/or plan of action.

Table of Contents
- Use major and Minor headings [to be discussed in class]

Description of Ideas | Recommendations | Decisions

- Provide your detailed rationale for all of the areas outlined to the SWOT Analysis and the
Marketing Mix [4 P’s]

Bibliography

Detailed list of all information used for the assignment.

http://www.plagiarism.org/citing-sources/whats-a-bibliography/

Please Note

This assignment is subject to the School of Business spelling and grammar policy, whereby you will
receive a 2% deduction for each unique spelling, punctuation and grammar error, up to a maximum of
20% of your final grade. It is imperative that you spellcheck and proofread your assignments before
submission.

Sample ++ONLY++ Marking Scheme – additional criteria may be added depending on

the assignment.

Title Page
Assignment Name | Group Members + e-Mails Addresses | Professor’s Name| 5 marks
Submission Date
Table of Contents
Use of Major and Minor Headings
Executive Summary 10 marks
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Case Study Prepared by Professors Jean Beauchemin and Brian P. Vendramin ©2018
 Practice Case Study Assignment

Description of Ideas and Recommendations 65 marks

SWOT Analysis [20 marks]
Associated Questions [25 marks]
Marketing Mix [4 P’s] [20 marks]
Spelling and Grammar Errors
Please note that this assignment is subject to the School of Business spelling and
grammar policy, whereby you will receive a 2% deduction for each unique
spelling, punctuation and grammar error, up to a maximum of 20% of your final
grade. It is imperative that you spellcheck and proofread your assignments
before submission.
Total 80 marks
Evaluated at 20%

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Case Study Prepared by Professors Jean Beauchemin and Brian P. Vendramin ©2018