CASE STUDY

One Monday morning Sanjay Nagpal, a recent recruit from a reputed management institute in
Manipal walked into the sales office at Chennai as a new sales trainee. Raghavan, the Zonal
Sales Manager for a large computer hardware firm was there to greet him. Raghavan's job
consisted of overseeing the work of sales officer, field executives & trainee salesman numbering
over 50 of three areas namely Chennai, Bangalore, Trivendrum. The sales growth of computers,
parts and other office equipment in his area was highly satisfactory especially in recent years -
thanks to the developmental initiatives taken by respective State Governments in spreading
computer education in offices, schools, colleges, banks and other institutions.
Raghvan had collected several sales reports, catalogues and pamphlets detailing the types of
office equipment sold by the company for Sanjay’s reference. After short chat with Sanjay,
Raghvan assisted him to his assigned desk and provided him with the material collected.
Thereafter Raghvan excused himself and did not return. Meanwhile, Sanjay scanned through the
material given to him till 5:00pm before leaving office.
QUESTIONS
1. What do you think about Raghavan's training programme?
2. What type of sales training programme would you suggest?
3. What method of training would have been best under the circumstances? Would
you consider OJT(On-the-Job Training) simulation or experiential methods?

CASE STUDY
One Monday morning Sanjay Nagpal, a recent recruit from a reputed management institute in
Manipal walked into the sales office at Chennai as a new sales trainee. Raghavan, the Zonal
Sales Manager for a large computer hardware firm was there to greet him. Raghavan's job
consisted of overseeing the work of sales officer, field executives & trainee salesman numbering
over 50 of three areas namely Chennai, Bangalore, Trivendrum. The sales growth of computers,
parts and other office equipment in his area was highly satisfactory especially in recent years -
thanks to the developmental initiatives taken by respective State Governments in spreading
computer education in offices, schools, colleges, banks and other institutions.
Raghvan had collected several sales reports, catalogues and pamphlets detailing the types of
office equipment sold by the company for Sanjay’s reference. After short chat with Sanjay,
Raghvan assisted him to his assigned desk and provided him with the material collected.
Thereafter Raghvan excused himself and did not return. Meanwhile, Sanjay scanned through the
material given to him till 5:00pm before leaving office.
QUESTIONS
1. What do you think about Raghavan's training programme?
Answer: The training method adopted by Raghvan is not apt for a new trainee employee like
Sanjay. Even though from a reputed management institute, Sanjay’s skill and knowledge are
limited to his learning in the institute. The material collected in relation to the products of
the company only provides an insight as to what the company sells and not what Sanjay is
desired to perform as a part of his job. his thus justifies that the training programme followed
by Raghvan doesn’t suffice for imbibing the required job instructions required for performing
the job. This type of training may in general be of no benefit to both Sanjay’s performance
and Company’s productivity and also waste of precious resource and time. Human Resource
Management
2. What type of sales training programme would you suggest?
Answer: The factors that need to be kept in mind while suggesting an apt sales training
programme would be: Sanjay being a newly recruited trainee. The nature of the job (sales).
The level of performance desired. Awareness about how to do the job.
Identifying the Trainee: - In this case Sanjay being a new recruit, he must be given an
entry-level training.
Identifying the Trainers: - It would be essentially suitable that training must be imparted by
immediate experienced supervisor of the trainee.
Method and Technique of Training: - Training may be imparted by means of on –the job
methods as Sanjay is from a management college of good repute where he has already learnt
a lot via off- the-job techniques.
Level of learning: - As it is an entry level training more emphasis must be given to
development of basic understanding of the field, becoming acquainted with the language,
concepts and relationships involved in the job.
Conduct of training: - Suitably the training programme should be on the job itself so as to
provide sufficient exposure and real time supervision to the trainee. Human Resource
Management 
3. What method of training would have been best under the circumstances? Would
you consider OJT(On-the-Job Training) simulation or experiential methods?
Answer: The method suitable for training would be On-the-Job Training (OJT). In this
method the trainee would receive firsthand experience of the job conditions. This method is
economical since no additional personnel or facilities are required. The trainee learns on the
actual equipment in use and in the true environment of his job. The trainee also learns by
day-day observation the applications of the rules, regulation and procedures. It is also
appropriate for teaching the skills and knowledge which can be acquired in short term. Since
the nature of the job is of sales, hence hands on experience is a must for gaining experience
of the job. The training must be done in stages in situations varying from easy to the toughest
conditions. This way the trainee will build up his experiences and learn the decision-making
process and strategies. Human Resource Management