Abstracts Category : Other

Hawthorne CAT

by Griffin Lemaster

The California State University ??? San Marcos, College of Business collaborated with a local Caterpillar dealer, Hawthorne Machinery Company to initiate a consumer study as it pertained to their Hydraulic Parts and Services business sector. Hawthorne Machinery Company and current CSUSM Masters of Business Administration (MBA) students identified four objectives for the study: 1. Assign customer segmentation; 2. Determine decision-making factors; 3. Identify actionable trends; and 4. Recommend business strategies. The Hawthorne Machinery Company team provided an initial data set to the MBA team. This initial data set included 397 customers known to have purchased Caterpillar equipment over the previous twelve-month period. The Hawthorne Machinery Company team eliminated 17 customers. Following the elimination, the MBA team first segmented the data into five categories.This segmentation led to an initial contact list of 100 customers. The MBA team then contacted all 100 customers by telephone to obtain data via interview. Thirteen set-answer and free response questions made up the interview administered. The initial data collection effort yielded 21 responses. The MBA students attempted 24 additional contacts in addition to an on-site interview to yield an additional nine interviews for 30 total responses.The MBA team analyzed and observed the captured data by question, tabulating the set-answer questions and codifying the free-response questions. The team presented the data via tabulation or graph depending on the information to be illustrated. Data not illustrated in the body of work is available in the appendices. The data obtained yielded previous relationships as the top driver in the decision-making process when choosing where to source parts or service.The segmentations were cross-referenced with the data obtained, revealing some actionable trends including but not limited to:??? High response rate from customer with a sales potential of more than 50% of the sales or potential sales greater than $50,000 ??? Previous relationships were shown to be the top driver for decision makingBased on these findings the MBA team recommends the following actions:??? Nurture and seek to improve existing relationships with top tier companies??? Create new or leverage existing relationships to communicate the value Hawthorne Machinery Company provides to its customers with zero sales in the last 12 months??? Use existing data to create and propose value added services on a consistent basis to high potential customersAdvisors/Committee Members: Sciglimpaglia, Don (advisor), Oskoorouchi, Mohammad (committeemember).