Mahindra Electric Case Study

Other firms Over the course of 2000 and 2001, Osinski and Winskowicz talked to representatives of many of the remaining ball manufacturers, including Taylor Made, Wilson, Nike, and Callaway. None seemed interested in pioneering the technology, though all felt the basic premise was sensible. Wilson expressed concern that the ball might prematurely color in wet climates. Nike worried about undermining the “free trial” effect that used balls have on capturing customers for a smaller brand. Callaway viewed the technology as a tool for quality assurance—that is, as a way of protecting the consumer from playing a less-than-perfect Callaway product. However, before moving forward, they wanted to better understand the effects of water on the performance of their brands by conducting additional research of their own.

In general, Osinski and Winskowicz observed that there was little sense of urgency on the part of any of the manufacturers, large or small, around the adoption of the Performance Indicator technology. Management from all of the companies seemed to be constantly fighting fires in manufacturing or marketing—scrapping for market share, trying to meet the expectations of Wall Street, and launching new SKUs within existing product lines—leaving little time or attention for the consideration of a radical new technology like that of Performance Indicator.

The press Osinski and Winskowicz waged a tireless campaign to educate the industry, through discussions with the press and meetings with retailers and golf pros, as well as through the individual meetings with manufacturers. This effort began to pay off, with industry interest spurred in part by the Nitro lawsuit, as the used ball problem garnered extensive coverage in industry magazines in 2002. PGA Magazine, with 30,000 readers who mostly worked as pros at golf courses, had run an extensive article on used balls in its April 2002 issue, with a sidebar detailing the Performance Indicator idea. Golf Digest, with a readership of 6,000,000 golfing enthusiasts, was set to run an article on Performance Indicator in its June 2002 issue.

The Dilemma

In the middle of 2002, Osinski and Winskowicz found themselves in a peculiar position. They had clear legal ownership of an idea that industry participants largely acknowledged would increase industry profits by hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Nonetheless, in their five years since quitting their jobs, they had yet to book a single penny in revenue. Funds and patience were wearing thin as Osinski and Winskowicz sat down to work out their next steps.