Oakmont Club

Oakmont Country Club 1

Thomas W. Gilligan

University of Southern California

I

t is the summer of 1996 and management must decide whether or not to alter the

process used to trade the club’s 450 memberships. The current fixed price system,

in which management sets the transfer fee for club memberships, offers some

degree of financial certainty for existing and prospective members as well as for the

club’s financial planners. However, the fixed price system promotes chronic

imbalances between the number of members wishing to leave the club and the number

of eligible candidates wanting to enter the club. These imbalances create frustrations

for eligible candidates, hardships for long-time club members, difficulties in

developing suitable new members and problems for club planners. Management is

considering several alternatives.

THE CLUB

Oakmont Country Club is a private golf and social club located along the Arroyo

Verdugo in northern Glendale, California. Established in 1922, Oakmont has long

provided the kind of relaxed social life prized by many Southern California families.

Oakmont’s mission statement reveals the club’s goals and orientation.

. . . to provide its members with a premium golf and country club

experience that includes a well maintained, highly respected and

competitive golf course; an attractively designed and efficiently

operated clubhouse that meets the membership’s requirements for

excellent service, top-quality food and beverages and ample meeting

and banquet facilities; and the maintenance of the Club’s unique

atmosphere of a strong and friendly family orientation.

All contemporary management issues at Oakmont are evaluated through the lens of

this mission statement.

This case was prepared by Thomas W. Gilligan, University of Southern California, as a basis for

classroom discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an

administrative situation. Copyright © 1997 by...