SLCC Inc$\mathrm{.}1$

Background information:

$$Chris$,$ we make the world's highest

quality grass seed and fertilizer. Our

brands are known everywhere!$$ stated

Caroline Ebelhar, the vice president of

manufacturing for SLCC Inc. $$Yeah$!$ But

the customer doesn$$t have a Ph$.$D$.$ in

organic chemistry to understand the

difference between our grass seed and

fertilizer compared to those of our

competitors! We need to also be in the

lawn care application service business,

and not just the manufacturer of super

perfect products,$$ responded Chris

Kilbourne, the vice president of

marketing, as he walked out of Caroline$$s

office. This ongoing debate among SLCC

Inc.$$s senior management team had not

been resolved, but the chief executive

officer, Mr$.$ Steven Marion, had been

listening very closely. A major strategic

decision would soon have to be made.

SLCC Inc., a fertilizer and grass seed

manufacturer with almost $$1$ billion in

sales, sold some of its products directly to

parks and golf courses. Customer service

in this goods$-$producing company was

historically very narrowly defined as

providing $$the right product to the right

customer at the right time.$$ Once these

goods were delivered to the customer$$s

premises and the customer signed the

shipping documents, SLCC Inc.$$s job was

done. For many park and golf course

customers, a local subcontractor, or the

$1$ Adapted from: David A$.$ Collier, and James R$.$ Evans $(2020)$: Operations and Supply Chain Management;

$2$nd edition; Cengage; $686$ pages

customers themselves applied the

fertilizer and seed. The application

personnel often did the job incorrectly,

using inappropriate equipment and

methods. The relationship between the

application service personnel, SLCC Inc.,

and the customer was not always ideal.

When claims were made against

SLCC Inc. because of damaged lawns or

polluted lakes and streams, the question

then became who was at fault? Did the

quality of the physical product or the way

it was applied cause damage? Either

way, the customer$$s lawns or waterways

were in poor shape, and in some cases,

the golf courses lost substantial revenue

if a green or hole was severely damaged

or not playable. One claim filed by a green

advocacy group focused on a fish kill on

a stream near a golf course.

One of SLCC Inc.$$s competitors

began an application service for parks

and golf courses that routinely applied

fertilizer and grass seed for its primary

customers. This competitor bundled the

application service with the primary

goods, fertilizer, and grass seed and

charged a higher price for this service.

The competitor delivered and applied the

fertilizer on the same day to avoid the

liability of storing toxic fertilizer outside on

the golf course or park grounds. The

competitor learned the application

business in the parks and golf course

target market segment and was

beginning to explore expanding into the

residential lawn care application service

target market. SLCC Inc. sold the

$$highest quality physical products$$ in the

industry, but it was not currently in either

the professional park and golf course or

the residential $$application service$$ lawn

care market segments. SLLC Inc.

considered their value chain to end once

they delivered their products to the job

site or non$-$lawn application service. The

competitor sold the customer $$a beautiful

lawn with a promise of no hassles.$$ To the

competitor, this included an application

service bundled with grass seed and fertalizer. Skip to main content

EN$-$US

Provide a new or revised strategy and

associated customer benefit package

and value chain that are best suited

for SLCC INC to compete in today

$$

s

marketplace. What are some options

that SLLC INC. should consider for

implementing the revised strategy?

Which option do you recommend, and

why