ANNIKA AND BRAD AT THE SKILLS CHALLENGE AT FORSGATE'S CHARITY CLASSIC
"MONROE TOWNSHIP, NJ – Annika Sorenstam has still got the magic, as hundreds of delighted fans got to see first-hand when she and PGA Tour star Brad Faxon visited Forsgate Country Club to host the club’s annual Charity Classic last month. Everyone came away deeply impressed by Annika the person as well as Annika the professional golferon every level. She was exactly how golf fans like their Sunday heroes – affable, accessible, and engaging, and she charmed everyone with her grace, class, and sincerity. She had wit, sparkle, and – Man alive! – did she still have game."...Read More. Check out Jay Flemma
Once a large Grade A dairy farm, Forsgate Country Club today, is a privately owned club that gives employees and clients access to fine dining restaurants, two 18 hole golf courses, a fitness center, several swimming pools, tennis courts, shops, and many special events. Chris Schiavone is the current CEO of the Club, which has been kept in the family for over 30 years. Forsgate Country Club has a high ethical system by keeping all aspects of the business very secure. This includes employees, clients, and the business itself. Account information is secured on company computers, which can only be accessible by upper management with a log-in code. In addition, the company uses a focus business strategy by “offering products and services (1) to a particular market segment or buyer group, (2) within a segment of a product line, (3) an/or to a specific geographic market.” The markets they focus on are prosperous families, senior citizens, or business groups. A major business initiative that FCC uses first and foremost is Customer Relationship Management. This system allows Forsgate to “use information about customers to gain insights into their needs, wants, and behaviors in order to serve them better.” Forsgate primarily uses the internet business model of business to business. All purchases for the business are done online from other businesses.
Upon becoming a member of Forsgate Country Club, members are given smart cards. This allows each member to decide on their own desired amount of money they would like to place on their card for future use. They can replenish their card at any time. Cards can be used for a wide variety of services, such as dining or attending special events. Further technology within Forsgate includes shared files, specific databases for different parts of information such as ClubTech and Delphi, and the use of OLAP to search through these databases. Each computer has data marts to give access to employees such as Food and Beverage Director, Director of Memberships, Director of Catering, Golf and Grounds Director, Events Coordinators, Purchasing Director, etc. who are responsible for their own data mining on an operational level. Dell and Micro computers are used throughout the whole club with DSL, and the domain name for the club is Forsgatecc.com. Forsgate Country Club even has its own Facebook page where members can communicate with other members and sometimes staff. Message boards are often set up to inform members, or potential members of events that will be taking place in the near future. Forsgate Country Club is a very high technology based club that provides its customers with any services they need as fast and efficiently as possible.
Aside from finding the history of Forsgate County Club very interesting, we also found the club’s ability to use new technology to their upmost advantage to be very interesting as well. The creation of ForsgateTV is just one example. ForsgateTV allows employees from each department, customers, as well as special events to be filmed on a day to day basis. These videos are later created into humorous, inspiring, and knowledgeable episodes on DVD. These DVDs are available for members to purchase and enjoy, or they are used as a promotion device for the club. Episodes include information on the technology, amenities and other outstanding services Forsgate Country Club has available. These videos have been recently available on websites such as Forsgate, YouTube and Facebook, to help non-members get a taste of what the club has to offer.
STORAGE OF INFORMATION A very important file that is used throughout every computer in management at Forsgate is the “shared file”. The shared file is a basic intranet in which only management personnel can access the software that are stored within this file, mainly software used for financial and inventory purposes. An executive file is also used, which has a collection of confidential information on every one of our members, information on employees, and payroll information for the accounting department. These files are found in Forsgate's databases which hold a specific collection of files for golf, membership, upcoming banquet events, food and beverage, etc. so that each department has their own database so the duplication of files within other departments does not occur. Database warehouses are used for a collection of many databases. The warehouses Forsgate uses hold archives for banquet bills, daily food and wine items within the restaurants and on the golf courses, comparing purchasing orders from previous months, and so on. The two database software that Forsgate uses to keep track of all their databases and files are ClubTech and Delphi, which is a lead router and database diary that holds all of Forsgate’s archives. Every director from each department (accounting, membership, catering, food and beverage, golf, etc.) is responsible for their own department database. These department head managers decipher the information themselves to generate their own reports, depending on the specific function of the report, so they can keep an update on their databases. For example, some types of reports are ones specific for labor to track productivity, attrition reports on members to update any new members that may be coming in or members that may have dropped their membership, and product mix reports. The managers at Forsgate use OLAP to search through all of the different databases for any specific information on members accounts for billing purposes, upcoming events and who they’re billed to, etc. Data marts are used on each computer at Forsgate. Specific shared drives on each of the computers in departments are intranets that anyone in those departments can have access to. On an operational level, every department head is a “piece to the puzzle” that have their own tools and intelligent agents for analytical analysis to keep Forsgate together as a team and have everything running on the same page. On an organizational level, the general manager and CEO of Forsgate, Christopher Schiavone, look at the sales from daily sales reports as their query and reporting to determine forecasted sales for the future months and years to come. Department heads like the Food and Beverage Director, Director of Memberships, Director of Catering, Golf and Grounds Director, Events Coordinators, Purchasing Director, etc are responsible for their own data mining on an operational level. The general manager of Forsgate, Det Williams, and CEO Chris Schiavone are responsible for data mining on an organizational level to compare daily sales with the other country clubs that Chris Schiavone and Det Williams run as well. However, not many specific softwares are used for data mining besides Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel in each department, but one specific software that Food and Beverage Director of Forsgate, Kevin Fitzpatrick, uses is SoftCafe MenuPro which is for the purpose of monthly food and beverage reports.
HARDWARE Forsgate uses all 6 categories of hardware. Input devices are used such as keyboards on every computer in the building and scanners for a few of the upper management computers. Cameras are also used as input devices so that pictures and videos can be uploaded to update FCC's website and ForsgateTV. Output devices that recognize the results of any information-processing requests throughout building, like a few main printers that are located throughout the building and fax machines are located at the front desk and in the copy machine room. Managers use their own storage devices (flashdrives, CDs, personal DVDs) to store their own information for use at a later date. All computers throughout the building have a central processing unit (CPU) and random access memory (RAM) so that a sufficient amount of memory on each computer is available. Telecommunication is used from office to office such as telephones, fax machines, networks, so that crucial information can be sent from one department to the next. USB ports are used to connect computers to their personal printers or personal fax machines and firewire are used for connecting the computers. The brands of computers that Forsgate uses are Dell and Micros computers throughout the building. All of the Dell computers are PC desktop computers and then there are the Micros terminals (which could be categorized as a minicomputer because of the constant information about food and liquor costs and also the processing power that these terminals have) are used for POS purposes (point of sale). Forsgate's IT manager, Pablo Conteras is responsible for all hardware and software throughout the country club.
SOFTWARE The types of system software that the computers at Forsgate use is Application Software such as those applications in Windows XP Office. Forsgate also uses Micros 8700 which is considered a "stone age" software, but it's the best that works with all of the Micros systems throughout the club that helps with inventory purposes. Forsgate also has Operating System Software such as Microsoft Windows and Linux. Utility Software are also used throughout the building's computers because they all have anti-virus software, spam blocking software, and installing and uninstalling software. Linux is used for our Micros computers because it helps provide a successful operating environment for the network servers that Micros uses for their high-end workstations. Some types of application software that are used are spreadsheet applications, database management applications such as Microsoft Access and SoftCafe MenuPro, communication applications such as Outlook, desktop publishing, graphics applications such as Photoshop, and presentation applications such as Powerpoint are all used within the departments computers. The brands of all of these applications are Microsoft's Office Package (Excel, Access, Word, etc), Microsoft Outlook, SoftCafe Menu Pro, Adobe (photoshop, flash).
NETOWRKING Forsgate uses LAN (local area network) so that the near-by buildings within the property near the clubhouse can still connect to each other and use the same network, and so that buildings that are not near Forsgate cannot use our network for their own uses. Forsgate uses Windows NT Network as their network interface to connect each computer to the network. They also have Wi-Fi set up throughout the building and a wireless access point (WAP) such as Linksys for the computers with broadband routers so that a slew of extra cables are not lying around the office just to be connected to the network. As far as communication software is concerned, Forsgate uses Windows Office XP so that applications such as Microsoft Outlook can be used to communicate from one department to the next department, even if the other department is in a different building located on the premises. To connect these computers to each other routers are used throughout the building so that information and network traffic are passed to smaller subnetworks of the main network. For example any information from a computer in the main clubhouse can be sent to a computer that may be located in the Golf Shop building or the Accounting and Human Resources building. Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is used at Forsgate so that the telephone extensions to that particular department can be used while being connected to the network on that departments computer. Although the speed isn't as fast as most managers would like it to be at Forsgate, 2Mbps is the general speed that Forsgate's DSL has. They do not currently use Voice over IP, but it has been something that has been considered for the past year because it would be a lot easier to move a manager into a different office without having to reprogram the phone system every time that happens. Instead they can be easily moved and send voice communications without the extra charge.
PRINCIPLES OF NETWORKING In terms of confidentiality, specific information such as employee evaluations, credit card reports, business plans, etc. can only be accessed by the General Manager of Forsgate, the Food and Beverage Director, the Human Resource Manager, and any RDC managers that may be on the premises. Specific passwords are used so that no unauthorized individuals can access that information. As far as authenticity is considered, the IT manager Pablo Conteras monitors any foreign emails or website spams that may be trying to come into the network to be sent as an email to the specific computer that department manager is using. The managers have a large amount of trust and integrity to the staff that may be using the computers on downtime or the receptionists, since they are the only personnel to use a computer other than a manager. It is not easy to sit and watch what websites they may be using but the level of trust is there so they do not download any faulty software that may corrupt the network for the other computers. For availability, Pablo Conteras tries to keep blockages on the computers to a minimum so that no outside business is lost.
Forsgate Country Club's domain name is Forsgatecc.com.
Out of the three generic business strategies, Forsgate Country Club uses the Focus strategy. The focus strategy is defined as, “offering products and services (1) to a particular market segment or buyer group, (2) within a segment of a product line, (3) an/or to a specific geographic market.” Forsgate definitely focuses on a particular market segment or buyer group, which are prosperous families, senior citizens, or business groups. When Forsgate first opened, memberships were open to the public for only $25. However, as of 2003, the country club had become a full-service, private club, no longer offering annual golf memberships. An application for membership must be granted and accepted by the club in order to have any affiliation with Forsgate and their amenities.
Porter's Five Forces Model contains buyer power, supplier power, threat of substitute products or services, threat of new entrants, and rivalry among existing competitors. The buying power for the Forsgate Country Club is low because the customer only has three choices of membership which are detailed within what parts of the country club they have access to. As a buyer to other organizations. the supplier power is low because there are many different companies that Forsgate can order from such as food, linen, tables, silverware, glassware, golf clubs, fertilizer, etc,. Forsgate is not limited to one supplier of a specific product. The threat of substitute products or services are high because although the country club offers many different sports areas such as tennis courts, gyms, and swimming pools, etc., other gyms in the area may offer the same things with a much cheaper monthly bill without having to be apart of a country club. Another threat is that not all country clubs are a members only organization, so anyone could go golfing at a public golf course at country clubs if that's the type of sport they are looking for. If the buys enjoys the dining, sports area, and golf all into one there are very few other places that provide that all in one area. The threat of new entrants is low because it is very unlikely, especially in our economy, for more country clubs like Forsgate to open. Country Clubs are very expensive and offer many products and services. Rivalry among existing competitors is a medium low, because country clubs are spread widely among different locations and counties within the state. They can create switching costs by offering special discounts, like to make an offer that every time you enter the country club and use their services and can gain points that could deduct the price of your membership each month. They can create entry barriers by offering a free first month by just signing up for a membership or a buy one get one free membership.
A major business initiative that Forsgate uses first and foremost is Customer Relationship Management. As defined in the textbook, CRM systems is all about gathering information on the consumers as to what their wants and needs are so your company can serve them better. Almost every single employee from every department at Forsgate interacts with their customers. Whether they’re a server or bartender in the restaurants, one of the golf professionals working with a customer about lessons, or someone getting trained at the gym, every piece of advice or comment that a customer makes is reported back to the superior to learn on how to make their department better. Besides interacting face to face, our members can also interact with us through multi-channel service delivery. Every member has a list of email’s, phone-lines, and fax numbers of every head of each department, and they are more than welcome to approach them in any way to give any feedback they feel the need to. Forsgate also has a Board of Governors, in which certain members who interact the most with every department of the club and interact more importantly with other members are elected and these certain elected members meet once a month at the club to discuss their views and opinions on any changes or any way that we can make the club better for them. The Board of Governors gives Forsgate that Focus Strategy edge because they are the customers and they know exactly what can be changed to make our product better for the targeted group of people that we supply. The Board of Governors also makes our CRM approach a top-line initiative because their meetings are brought to our E-Team meetings (which is Forsgate’s head of each department meeting) and that’s where we decide which are the best ideas from the members that could increase our technology to bring in more revenue and keep our existing members happy.
A recent article, "Country Club of the Future" talks about the new technology that country clubs having been adding to increase Customer Relationship Management within their organization. The economy today is making it harder and harder for country clubs to attract new members and keep their revenues going, which is why clubs are turning to new technology to attract new customers. The article lists types of the new technology, such as GPS installed golf carts to allow you to get the perfect swing on the course by knowing the wind speed or yardage, updated software throughout the club that better recognizes their members as soon as they pull their car into the parking lot, updated technology on better maintenance care and sprinkler systems for the greens, and other technology updates. The article relates highly to Forsgate Country Club's manner of Customer Relationship Management, because FCC is one of those country clubs that is updating internal software’s in every area of the club to better attract new members, young and old, like the new ForsgateTV.
New and improved ways of E-Collaboration within Forsgate are being used as well, mostly social networking. Forsgate has begun to create its own Facebook group, in which members who have Facebook accounts can keep up on any message boards that Forsgate puts up, and it’s the best way where our members can communicate and relate to other members they may not have met before. It also gives them a chance to speak with members from one our cousin country clubs that are operated by Chris Schiavone as well. With that knowledge from other members at other clubs, they can decide to join our reciprocal clubs program and bring in more revenue for our company.
The type of IT organization being used within Forsgate is the matrix approach. In a matrix approach, you will still find a separate IT department or function, but the goal is to maintain IT personnel within the IT department but matrix them across the other functions. In this case, the technologies used are done in concert with significant input from the other functions. This makes everything more collaborative across the organization. For example, Forsgate uses a new technology with in making online videos and DVDs for members to enjoy and keep up to date on important upcoming events and messages from managers of every department throughout the club. The video displayed is a clip from one of Forsgate’s latest episodes of ForsgateTV on their upcoming First Annual Charity Poker Tournament:
The horizontal axis provides a spectrum of philosophy ranging from organizations that are early adopters of IT to organizations that “wait and see: whether emerging technologies prove themselves before adopting them. Along the vertical axis structural placement of the IT function ranges from greatly decentralized, such as the fully integrated approach, to greatly centralized, as in the top-down silo approach. Overall, the IT culture within your organization should match its overall culture and be developed keeping in mind the industry in which your organization competes.
Forsgate Country Club primarily focuses on e-commerce through the internet. Purchasing from other companies on the internet is their biggest accomplishment in e-commerce. Forsgate's website allows a member or guest to browse through a catalog of prices and then make an appointment to try and negotiate with us an ending price in the service they wish to have presented for them. New trends are also starting form in e-commerce at Forsgate, like cell-phone notifications for members on last minute "deals" (event reminders promoting a reduced price on wine or special dinner offers). ForsgateTV has also hit new technology to promote e-commerce to the members as well.
Forsgate has one primary type of internet business model, the most important one, business to business. All purchases that Forsgate makes to other business are through the internet. A lot of different companies provide the country club with the necessary means to put everything together at Forsgate to better suite the members and customers of the club. For example, they purchase from specific food companies through the internet, and receive the shipments of supplies to put the ingredients together for fantastic meals for the restaurants, snack foods for the members on the course, and dinners for banquet functions. Forsgate also orders all their linen products online from a specific business such as any colored napkins or tablecloths they need. Any parts we need for our Micros systems in the restaurants are ordered through the internet so we can have the maintenance to fix the computers and keep the restaurants running, same goes for any parts in the kitchens we need fixed. Those are just a couple of the "behind-the-scenes" business to business interactions that help them interact better with the customer and the suppliers.
Some marketing mix tools that Forsgate could adopt are registering with specific search engines like Google. When someone types in the search for anything related to hospitality, country clubs, golf courses, banquet halls in New Jersey, etc., an ad will also pop up about Forsgate Country Club with special offers about joining, having a function planned, or setting up golf outings for your company. Forsgate mainly uses viral marketing and affiliate programs. Social networking helps FCC to reach out to new members by online word of mouth through their current members. Any members that belong to our cousin clubs (such as Tuscawilla Country Club in Winter Springs, Florida or Olde York Country Club in Chesterfield, New Jersey) will also see ads through social networking as well recommending joining Forsgate or with a reciprocal program through their existing club. That is their main way of an affiliate program.
Forsgates current e-commerce payment system is by way of their "Smart cards" which is the customer’s member card. These cards are used to charge the member with anything that is purchased within the club from either the restaurants, the golf shops, or gym and pool supplies. Every time a member is charged something, their card gets swiped, and our Micros systems will send that information to the main computers in the accounting and membership department. Only these computers will then put together the member’s monthly payment, and send it to their Forsgate email, which then the member can pay through their online account with FCC.
Forsgate Country Club is a private, full-service club with many facilities for members to enjoy by having one of the three primary membership accounts. A Social Member account offers the ability to eat in one of the restaurants, The Grille Room or the fine dining Stirlings Room, and also to be able to participate in any monthly events the club offers. A Sports Member account allows access to the restaurants along with access to use the newly constructed Sports Complex, where they can use the gym or swimming pool, and also have access to the tennis courts and locker rooms. A Golf Member can enjoy all of the facilities including access to the two 18 hole courses, the Palmer and the Banks course, along with the amenities of the golf shop, private lessons from the golf professionals on site, and access to the indoor golf practice facility. Among having a membership, the public can enjoy the highly noted Catering and Banquet staff to hold weddings, sweet 16’s, proms, birthday parties, business meetings, showers, any party of the customer’s choice!
Although not always just for private members, or just for the pleasures of golf, Forsgate was first introduced as Forsgate Farms back in 1913, when all there was to see was grass and dirt roads. Around 1930, Edith Forster and husband John Abeel take over running the farm and club from John Forster. It was when the clubhouse and Banks course were first constructed. Around 1940, John Forster Abeel became the Chief Executive of Forsgate Country Club and Farms. Fifteen years passes by and Forsgate Farms becomes the largest GRADE A dairy farm in the state, yearly golf memberships were only $25, and the fine dining Stirlings Room was opened to the public. Around 1970, Abeel sells the dairy business to Welsh Farms, and John’s son, Jack Abeel, becomes the new President and Chief Executive Officer of Forsgate Country Club. The late 1970’s comes around and Forsgate begins to see more and more popularity hosting three LPGA tournaments. In 1989, FCC undergoes an extensive $8.9 million restoration that added 4,500 square feet to the clubhouse. In the 1990’s, three new tennis courts were added, the golf shop was expanded with the addition of a practice range, and all courses were upgraded and celebrity tournaments began to take over. Finally around 1997, RDC Golf Group and National Fairways purchased FCC, and then 2 years later, RDC became the sole owners of Forsgate, adding on another 1,300 square feet to the clubhouse. Lastly, in 2003 FCC became an exclusive, full-service, family-oriented and private country club, no longer offering Annual Golf memberships.
Chris Schiavone is the CEO of Forsgate Country Club and the founder and president of RDC Golf Group. RDC was founded in 1994, and currently owns and manages 5 courses in 4 different locations in Florida and New Jersey. Chris Schiavone went to Dartmouth College and received a Bachelor’s Degree of Arts in Government, and was named Entrepreneur of the Year in the hospitality industry by Morris County. Mr. Schiavone has gained his highly regarded experience in operating golf courses simply by the familiarity his family had offered him by having more than 30 years of their own experience by running New Jersey’s largest and most successful country club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Other experiences come from his advantage as a member of the Board of Directors of the Odyssey Golf company, which is company that has based its success off of making top of the line golf clubs. Besides having the intelligence of knowing a thing or two about golf courses, Mr. Schiavone completes his hospitality career by being the co-founder of a company that New Jersey Business Magazine named “one of Northern New Jersey’s Top 20 Privately Held Corporations”. Dartcor Food Service owns and operates corporate food service facilities and full-service restaurants.
“Customer perception of value cannot be easily created with well-manicured turf and fine facilities alone. Consistent commitment to service and attention to market trends are vital in our industry…Today more than ever our goal is to make the experience of every member and guest a memorable one from “bag drop” to “19th Hole’”. -Christopher R. Schiavone.RDC GOLF GROUP
The ethical and social responsibilities at Forsgate Country Club are taken very seriously not only by the management of RDC, but also by the staff members in every department at Forsgate alone. First and foremost to ensure the protection of all of our employees and all of our members of the club, every computer in the building has a specific log-in code for the manager that is operating that machine. These computers have information such as every members account information and status, information on employees, information on billing the public for an upcoming event at the club, etc. Not one person who isn’t considered upper management cannot access that information. All of the computers throughout the building are connected to a main computer in the General Manager’s office. If any new software that could be used to menu making, billing and shipping to other companies or members, payroll, etc, that are uploaded through the main computer and cannot be copied from any other computer, that way no one even able to copy the software that could hold all of the information on our computers. Practicing risk management at Forsgate is just like any other hospitality industry. When any sort of unproductive operational procedure occurs, our management staff is highly trained to reduce any risk that could potentially decrease cost effectiveness and reputation due to the result of poor service and quality.
