International Management Group is a business venture that was rapidly expanding with Southeast Asia being its latest phase of tremendous growth. Its founder and president Mark McCormack was reflecting on the journey the company had taken to become one of the most popular group in the entire globe.
As for the year 2000, the corporation’s market value of American sports stood at $200 billion and with this making it the nation’s eleventh largest industry. Among IMG’s achievements was the fact that the business was a representative of talented and powerful athletes.
These include tennis players Venus and Serena Williams and golf superstar Tiger Woods. In an effort to develop, the company had ventured in to other kinds of business such as owning and managing sporting events, television production, operating sports training academies, and engaging in other businesses apart from sports related ones.
At the age, of 71 years, McCormack was on the verge of preparing for retirement, but, this was not the main issue at hand. The first issue was for the founder and president of IMG- McCormack to prepare the following board on ways to add value to the company’s clients and strengthen the company’s competitive position.
The company having already broadened its scope of business the next crucial step is to maintain and preserve the current clients. At the same, the business needs to attract more top talent to the business. The new leadership that will come in place together with the current administration should focus on bringing on board more sports celebrities.
This recruitment will be an indication of their excellent work and development. For instance, bringing on board other top golfers aside from Tiger Woods will be beneficial to the company, as it will enhance their credentials. Sports and musical fields are areas that grow with time meaning that today Tiger Woods could be the greatest golfer, but, in the next two years, someone else will have the title.
Having some top golfers on board will broaden their scope of activities and, therefore, maintain the company on the market. On the other hand, restricting the size and diversity of IMG’s portfolio will only work against the company’s already popular name.
There are several competitors in the sports market for instance; the formation of Octagon was through merger of Advantage and API and its time IMG cemented its roots by employing various management tools. For instance, re- structuring the company’s management team will help boost the business’s idea, as most people will be on the management board.
Since the business is focusing on expansion and growth through venturing in to other businesses, it is essential that it consider obtaining highly trained and experienced specialists who will be responsible for guiding the business team in the other areas of business. For instance, the thought of venturing in to a new sport apart from golf and tennis will call for experienced people in those fields that the founder McCormack is not familiar.
The employment of experienced people will minimize cases of agents stealing clients, as was the case in 1999 when agent Jeffrey Schwartz quit IMG and left with three tennis stars. Experienced legal firms with specialization in entertainment and sports contracts would have been critical in the above situation.
The re-structuring of the business management will allow other people to contribute towards the administration of the business and avoid the aspect of the company trying to work out everything on its own. In as much as the venturing into other sports is a questionable step, the company will take necessary measures to ensure there is no divergence of interests in its services.
This will avoid cases such as the 1991 lawsuit by Dorothy Hamill. The expansion approach that the IMG has taken by exploring untapped international market in sports and entertainment will sustain the company in the business for another longer period. The broader the business it enters in the international market the more they require highly trained and experienced specialists to help them handle the international business affairs.