CASE STUDY Tough Mudder

Case study

Case n°1 “Tough Mudder inc.”

Write a report with a complete situation analysis based on the following usual components:

• The firm’s goals and values;
• Its resources and capabilities;
• The structure and management system;
• The environment (market, competitors, etc.)

And its actual competitive advantage.

Give some recommendations on how to strengthen this competitive advantage and/or establish a new one for Tough Mudder Inc. over a now large number of other organizations with similar offerings.

The firm’s goal and values

Though Mudder Inc. is a Brooklyn-based company of sports event, especially of Mud Runs. Though Mudder organize about 50 two-day events a year, all around the world (America, Europe and Oceania). Though Mudder is the premier adventure challenge series in the world, to do this the company develop many strategies:

First, Tough Mudder’s strategic priority is to establish leadership within an increasingly crowded market. Currently, the company is the leader of the market, but the real challenge is to keep the position in the long term.

Tough Mudder has a good position today. In fact, it decided to stand out from the concurrence thanks to the creation of runs as much collaborative as high risky with many values.

Moreover, it has another strategy about the product: put in relation both to other endurance sports and to other obstacle runs. In this way, it organizes 3 types of run with different mile and difficulty in order to develop its sense of identity, the company wants to “create life-changing experiences”.

Lastly, the important element of its strategy concerns the marketing because Tough Mudder works on the spirit unity and collaboration between the participants. Moreover, it expands its partners and encourages participation from business enterprises and organizations to build trust, morale and motivation among teams of employees.

Thanks to the strategies, values emerge as the collaborate dimension:

The consumer will unlock a true sense of accomplishment, have a great time and discover a camaraderie. In this way, Tough Mudder write a pledge which brings to light the notion of teamworking, camaraderie, and spirit unity.

The market become to mature, so the company is leading because of an astute strategic positioning, effective brand building, careful product design, meticulous operational planning, and obsessive focus on the customer experience.

Its ressources and capabilities

First, Tough Mudder has financial resources thank to a good management: it was able to attract sufficient participants to cover their costs. The company has a financial policy which consist to invest on the product development with new and improved obstacles each year. In fact, since 2011 Tough Mudder is expanding the product range and introducing several new products as the World’s Toughest Mudder and Fruit shoot mini Mudder.

Moreover, Tough Mudder has a human resources policy matches with its values and spirit. Thus, human capital, a real resource for the company, is regulated by a list of core values to guide the actions and behavior of the management team.

Lastly, Though Mudder has an important expertise in this sector: the company is rentable, has competences and a good network. To do that, it has a good management and building community close to the public. For instance, Tough Mudder encourages people to participate with its “sponsored stories” thanks to the marketing tools (target specific locations, demographics, “likes”, etc.). Moreover, its network is developed with the partners, a real factor of success.

The structure and management system

“We aspire to become a household” that is the goal of Though Mudder. The company has management system which spotlights an ambition to become a brand-name. To do that, the CEO meets the entire five-person strategy team once a week. There is a real team cohesion with the realization of events, for the example with the organization of retreat every quarter to a house in the Catskill Mountains for a total disconnection to get everyone thinking about the future. Tough Mudder has established a list pf core values to guide the actions and behavior of the management team.

The structure of the company progressed since 2010. In 2010, Tough Mudder allowed about eight employees and at the end of 2014, there are around 250 employees. For the CEO “a business is only as good as the people who build it”. The might of Tough Mudder is its human capital.

The environment

  The market of muds runs knows a rapidly growing and a lot of actors tries to penetrate the market.

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