Case Type: increase sales/market share; improve profits.
Consulting Firm: IBM Global Business Services (GBS) 2st round job interview.
Industry Coverage: Education; Office Equipment.
Case Interview Question #00229: High-quality, large-format maps constitute about 3 percent of total map market demand. The vast majority of maps are low-cost, foldable items used mostly by automobile drivers. The globe market, however, is about 95 percent geared toward high-quality, educational oriented products. 
Almost all domestic globe manufactures also make educational quality maps.
Your client Cram, a company owned by Herff Jones Education Division, is a mid-sized manufacturer of high quality maps and globes for schools and other educational institutions. The CEO of Cram has hired your because his company is losing market share and would like to increase its profits. How can it do so?
Additional Information:
- There are five major competitors in the educational maps and globes marketplace.
- The client Cram is the third largest among the big five.
- The largest player has a 30 percent market share.
Possible Approach
Losing Market Share and Wants to Increase profits. That means they are looking at both top-line and bottom-line growth. Improving Sales model and sales force effectiveness is one approach. Another possible approach is do a market analyses. What are the markets in which CRAM is well penetrated? Is there a scope to enter new markets and turn the game around and capture an unexplored market.
Another angle to explore is if the customers are moving away from an offline education model. With Internet and virtual reality in school currculum, who needs a map. Cram might need to get ready for an alternative revenue stream or it will risk making itself irrelevant in a fast changing market.