- Elephantine developed a new computer terminal but failed to sell 500 units per month as planned due to a lack of understanding of the market and who the potential customers were.
- The GM and engineering manager blamed the sales team for not selling the superior product, but neither of them understood the market or target customers.
- When the product design was sold to Whiz-Bang Computer Company, they were able to make it a "roaring success" through better marketing and understanding where opportunities existed.
1. Elephantine Case Presented By :- AnkurRajput AnkurPrabhakar AnkitSodhiya PrateekPuriGoswami PrateekSrivastava B.Vijay
2. The engineering manager of this company one day conceived of new computer terminal that do everything but peel potatoes, a slight exaggeration perhaps, but the concept was widely applicable, broadly compatible device. Since the manager enjoyed excellent rapport with the firm’s General Manager, who was also an engineer, it was easy to conceive GM on the merit of the idea & a product development program was vigorously undertaken. When the prototype was complete & functionally proven, a product line was set up & manufacturing was begun. About this time, the sales manager & his sales force were called in for a product presentation. After the new device was explained & demonstrated, they were told to “GO SELL IT”. Since the new product line was capable of producing 500 units a month, this was established on average sell goal. The sales manager & sales force went optimistically forth into the market, but six month later they reported back to GM that they were unable to move this wonderful new product in anything approaching the target volume.
3. After firing the Sales Manager, the GM & the Engineering Manager commiserated with one another about the incompetence of Sales people who couldn’t sell a product that is obviously superior to anything else available & right for the market. Neither of them knew quite where the market was or who it was & unfortunately even the ex Sales Manager hadn’t know either. Since the mountain wouldn’t come to Mohammad & Mohammad didn’t know where the mountain was, so he could go to it, a lot of time & money were wasted for practically nothing. It was certainly too bad Elephantine was so unlucky, because when the product design was eventually sold to Whiz-Bang Computer Company, it was a roaring success.
4. Q & A Does your group feel that Elephantine is really unlucky? If so, why? If not, why not? Ans:- Yes, Elephantine is really unlucky. They created wonderful product for the customers but they failed to market it. At the same time Whiz Bang converted the product in to a roaring success. Also the sales department lacked experience.
5. 2. What do you think Whiz-Bang would have done to make it a roaring success? Please explain the process & the step-by-step activities carried out by Whiz-Bang to make it success? Ans:-Following may be the reasons due to which whiz Bank made a roaring success and their step by step activities carried out by them:- Good marketing department Experienced employees. Innovation and better ideas. Well coordination between the departments.
6. 3. What is wrong with Elephantine? What is right if any? Ans:-There is a gap between the departments in the Elephantine case. Their product failed to reach the customers. Sales manager does not have the calibre. No coordination between the departments. Monthly or weakly reports should have to be presented to the marketing department. Lack of planning and execution. Low motivation.
7. 4. Do you think Elephantine Management did right with firing Sales Manager? Why? Why not? Ans:-No, Elephantine doesn’t have the Ethics so GM fired the sales manager. 5. Who else in Elephantine deserve to be fire? Why? Why not? Ans:-No one else deserves to be fired. The engineering manager and the GM are the technical personal and knew the fact the product is going to be revolutionary. Also the top level management agreed with the product when the engineering manager and the GM explained the product in presentation.
8. 6. Do you think Elephantine Management would have learnt any marketing or business lesson before & after firing sales manager & before & after selling the design? Ans :- Yes, Elephantine learned lessons after selling the design to the Whiz Bang. Elephantine doesn’t know the do’s and don’ts and fired the sales person is not proper according to the ethics of company.
9. 7. What marketing lesson did you get from this case? Ans:- We first know where the marketing mountain is present .Identify the consumer needs and demand. Major function is delivering the product to consumers. 8. What business philosophy or orientation or concept or belief system has driven with efforts & result of Whiz-Bang? Elephantine? Ans:-Actually the philosophy used by Whiz bang is that they know the marketing strategy to whom they have to market and where they have to market and In Elephantine case they haven’t done.
10. 9. What is the moral of the case? Ans:-Knowing that the new product is going to be a great success is not sufficient. The coordination between the various departments of the company as well as the right knowledge about the product is necessary. The sales person should know all the features of the product and also conduct survey To find out the target markets i.e. following the right marketing strategy.