CASE ANALYSIS
Situational Analysis:
External Environment:

Critical Factors:
Problem Definition:
Evaluation of Alternatives:
Recommendations:
1. Decision Makers
2. Perspective ( Other actors )
Implementation Plan:

Company lacked resources for the future.
Year 1995, company looking to introduce new shoes.
Pacer’s tight budget
The company had never paid athletes for endorsements.
Number of serious runners who praised the technical excellence of his shoes and who had formed the core of Pacer’s customer base from the company’s early years.

Critical message from a former Boston Marathon winner and a long-time fan of Pacer’s flagship shoe, the Pacesetter.

Sluggish sales for the last few months.

A couple of years ago, the company planned to introduce, a line of walking shoes but did not.

Company started in 1970’s to serve runners.

From making 80 pairs of shoes a day in 1970’s, the company became a $10 million company & produced 1,000 pairs a day

Staff: (46 people, with 35 production workers, two designers, and two pattern engineers.)
The company stopped making its own components, 2 plants in South Korea produced most of its uppers. Competition in 1991:

The athletic-shoe market was booming, and the industry’s largest players were going after all the share they could get. Pacer was a small firm that could be eliminated from the competition by vast resources and marketing abilities of the competitors.

Customers: Holding onto its long-time existing customers and even gaining some younger runners.
10% of the former Pacer wearers were being lured by the flashier shoes of the industry giants.

Decision:
1. Hang onto existing customers (serious runners)
2. Win customers who might be attracted by competitors’ high-performance models.
3. Build a broader market of casual runners and followers.
4. Manufacturing purchase