Solution Manual For Contemporary Strategy Analysis 10th Edition By Robert M. Grant

Solution Manual For Contemporary Strategy Analysis 10th Edition By Robert M. Grant

CASE 1

Tough Mudder Inc.: The Business of Mud Runs

TEACHING NOTE

■ SYNOPSIS ■

Established in 2010 by Harvard MBA graduate, Will Dean, Tough Mudder was market leader in

organizing endurance obstacle races (“mud runs”). Dean’s challenge is to extend the popularity

of mud runs among a growing range of endurance sports and to reinforce for Tough Mudder

initial competitive advantage over its many rivals.

The case explores the formulation and implementation of an entrepreneurial strategy in an

emerging industry where there are few barriers to entry. The key issues this case addresses are:

 Where to position a new firm in an emerging industry;

 How to build a sustainable competitive advantage over rivals through exploiting early-mover

advantages;

 How to attract and deploy the resources and capabilities needed for the strategy to be effective.

■ TEACHING OBJECTIVES ■

The case is intended as an introductory case in the analysis of firm strategy. The learning

outcomes are the development of expertise in:

 The identification and articulation of a company’s strategy

 Understanding the role of strategy in a competitive market

 Positioning a new company’s product in relation both to established substitutes and direct

competitors

 Developing strategies to exploit early mover advantages in an industry with few entry barriers

 Choices over acquiring and deploying resources and capabilities in order to implement an

entrepreneurial strategy

 Identifying and addressing future competitive threats.

■ POSITION IN THE COURSE ■

Copyright © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 6

Tough Mudder is a small, start-up company with an easily understood product offering. The

case is short, and most business students are likely to fall into Tough Mudder’s target customer

demographic. Hence, this case is a suitable launch pad for a strategy course.

■ ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS ■

1. What is Tough Mudder’s strategy? In particular, how has Tough Mudder positioned its product

in relation to other endurance sports and direct competitors?

2. Assess Tough Mudder’s strategy in terms of its fit with its business environment—particularly in

relation to its customers’ needs and preferences and its competitors’ offerings and internal

resources/capabilities).

3. If Tough Mudder is to reinforce its leadership in the mud runs industry, what are the key

priorities that Will Dean should attend to?

■ READING ■

R. M. Grant, Contemporary Strategy Analysis (10th edn.), Wiley, 2019, Chapter 1.

■ CASE DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS ■

What is Tough Mudder’s strategy?

This question typically elicits the story of Tough Mudder’s foundation and development. This

provides useful background, but at some point I intervene to ask: “But what is Tough Mudder’s

strategy at the time of the case?” (i.e. mid-2018). Here, I encourage the students to describe

some of the key attributes of Tough Mudder’s product and the functions which support it

(operations, marketing, R&D, etc.). This should elicit some of the following points:

Product Attributes:

• Toughness—endurance run with multiple challenging and fear-inducing obstacles

• Non-competitive: team event; untimed

• Option to by-pass individual obstacles

• Community—pledge, values

Marketing:

• Intensive use of social media

• Emphasis on warrior imagery and military associations (e.g. partnership with Wounded

Warrior)

• Customer engagement/market research

Copyright © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 7

Operations:

• Meticulous event planning and operations management to ensure a quality experience

R&D:

• Continual development of new obstacles

Finance:

 Reliance on internal cash flows to fund growth. No venture capital finance. No plans for

stock market floatation

Growth strategy

• Rapid domestic and international expansion to pre-empt imitators and establish a

standard. Diversification to access additional sources of revenue: franchising its “Boot

Camp” fitness centers, seeking a wider TV audience for its events.

Some of the key elements of Tough Mudder’s strategy are evident in the company’s own

depiction of its positioning in the market for endurance sports (see Figure 1 of the case

reproduced below).