Case

You are an analyst at ZS associates. Agriculta has

engaged ZS to help design the incentive
compensation for their sales force:

Situation:

Agriculta is a market leader in producing and selling

farm equipment in a particular country. It had a
revenue of $50 million in 2007
Agriculta employs sales representatives, who
promote specific product or item to farmers and
other agricultural businesses within a specific
geographic location
Agricultas major product is Drum-seeder equipment
which is used extensively by farmers during the
process of sowing the paddy seeds. The cost of a
Drum-Seeder is $2,000
Each state is assigned to a single sales
representative to promote the Drum-seeder
equipment. Hence, all the sales in each state for the
equipment is credited to the concerned sales
representative only
Joe Smith is the new VP of sales at Agriculta. Joe has
engaged ZS Associates to help him in deciding the
performance metric(s) for calculating the sales force
incentives

Complication

Agricultas recent financial performance has not met

investor expectations. Joe is under pressure from the
board to improve the sales force motivation through
a bonus program
 While, Joe understands the boards concerns, he
would like to make changes only after he
understands the business

Key Questions
1.How can you help Joe get a view of the business?

1.1 Analyze the sales distribution data and observe

any trends being followed. What could be the
reasons for these trends?

1.2 Do you agree that the recent performance by the

company is dismal and below expectations?

2.What would your recommendation be on

the incentive compensation design?

2.1 What factors should Joe consider while deciding

the metrics for performance based incentives given
to the sales representatives?

2.2 Are there any other data feeds that Joe should
request to help make this decision?
Supporting
Data Tables
Product Sales Trends (In $):
Representative Product Market
Information Sales Sales
Rep id Rep Name Stat Jan-Mar Apr- Jul-Sep '07 Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr- Jul-Sep Oct-Dec
e '07 Jun'07 '07 '07 Jun'07 '07 '07
101001 Michael Ariland 353710.0 2146620. 966000.00 722561.0 798581.0 5435080. 2415000. 1806403.
McCalister 0 00 0 0 00 00 00
101002 Marcie Mcllrath Baseland 20073.00 125680.0 57600.00 57346.00 28392.00 175952.0 80640.00 80284.00
0 0
101003 Dennis Goetz Cosaland 126325.0 766650.0 345000.00 258058.0 176855.0 1073310. 483000.0 361281.0
0 0 0 0 00 0 0
101004 Luanne Morris Direland 3093.00 108700.0 40620.00 40366.00 4330.00 152180.0 56868.00 56512.00
0 0
101005 Kendrick Eupland 143710.0 1936620. 756000.00 512561.0 201194.0 2711268. 1058400. 717585.0
Carpenter 0 00 0 0 00 00 0
101006 Anthony Searcy Firoland 140075.0 873368.0 398500.00 316644.0 154083.0 960704.0 438350.0 348308.0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
101007 Marsha Brawley Goland 129418.0 875350.0 385620.00 298424.0 181185.0 1225490. 539868.0 417793.0
0 0 0 0 00 0 0
101008 Steve Briseno Hireland 43663.00 299793.0 131133.00 96356.00 61128.00 419710.0 183586.0 134898.0
0 0 0 0
101009 Garrett Iroland 13206.00 80105.00 50733.00 50479.00 18488.00 112772.0 71026.00 70671.00
Feldman 0
101010 Kristina Bugle Jenland 90366.00 698360.0 304326.00 238475.0 99403.00 768196.0 334759.0 262323.0
0 0 0 0 0
101011 Kristin Velis Kirland 56869.00 418600.0 181866.00 146835.0 79617.00 586048.0 254612.0 205569.0
0 0 0 0 0
101012 Shamsur Lonland 38530.00 294660.0 126000.00 91223.00 53942.00 412524.0 176400.0 127712.0
Rahman 0 0 0 0
 Product Sales Trends (In $):
Representative Product Market
Information Sales Sales
Rep Rep Name State Jan-Mar Apr-Jun'06 Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Apr- Jul-Sep Oct-Dec
id '06 '06 '06 '06 Jun'06 '06 '06
10100 Michael Ariland 335650 2089829 926000 734090 391580 2048951 3 880908
1 McCalister
10100 Marcie Mcllrath Baselan 20200 127000 56300 54469 22220 139700 61930 59916
2 d
10100 Dennis Goetz Cosala 119875 499718 N/A 187175 136250 610000 N/A 128093
3 nd
10100 Luanne Morris Direlan 2880 110020 39320 37489 6870 121022 43252 41238
4 d
10100 Kendrick Euplan 125650 1879829 748160 524090 138215 2067812 822976 576499
5 Carpenter d
10100 Anthony Searcy Firoland 146398 892330 402600 315404 336715 2052359 925980 725428
6
10100 Marsha Brawley Goland 123095 856388 381520 299664 110786 770749 343368 269698
7
10100 Steve Briseno Hirelan 41083 291680 130013 98003 45191 320848 143014 107803
8 d
10100 Garrett Iroland 13333 120133 49433 47602 14666 132146 54376 52362
9 Feldman
10101 Kristina Bugle Jenland 95399 713266 307866 238058 171718 1283879 554159 428504
0
10101 Kristin Velis Kirland 54416 411813 179446 145605 59858 452994 197391 160166
1
10101 Shamsur Lonland 23950 286547 124880 92870 40845 315202 -89815 102157
2 Rahman
Forecast Data:
States per capita income from agriculture relative to total per
capita income (in %)

State Year Year Year Year Year Year Year

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Arilan 40 42 42.4 43.3 44 45 45.5
d
Basela 38 38.4 38.40 38.50 39.00 40.00 41.00
nd
Cosala 42 42.5 43.40 44.10 45.10 46.30 47.20
nd
Direla 45 45 45.50 46.00 47.00 48.00 48.50
nd
Euplan 32 33 33.50 34.00 34.20 34.20 35.00
d
Firolan 48 48 47.70 45.00 40.00 38.00 32.00
d
Goland 54 55 56.00 57.00 58.50 58.50 59.00

Hirela 42 42.5 43.40 44.10 45.10 46.30 47.20

nd
Irolan 38 38.4 38.40 38.50 39.00 40.00 41.00
d
Jenlan 35 32 30.00 29.50 29.00 25.00 20.00
d
Kirlan 45 45 45.50 46.00 47.00 48.00 48.50
d
Lonlan 34 34.3 35.20 36.20 37.50 38.00 38.30
d
 General Instructions:
1. Last day for submission is 28th February, 2017.
2. The solution must be submitted in form of a
Microsoft PowerPoint presentation file (max 7 slides
in total, excluding the title slide) to
submissions@bclub.co.in with 'GBAC Round 1
Submission_Team name' as the subject.
3. Individual clarifications on the case asked to B-
Club or ZS Associates will not be entertained.
4. You are not expected to come up with a creative
strategy but with an analytical solution (based on
only the data given in this presentation) to the
question(s) at hand.
5. No plagiarism will be tolerated.

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