Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Channel Management
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Learning Objectives
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Channel Management
Use of power….
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Use of Power Bases
• Channel system has a set of players:
• Not equally motivated to implement the ideal channel design
• Whose expectations from the system differ
• Use of the 5 power bases brings diverse channel partners in line for effective
implementation
• 5 power bases are: reward, coercion, legitimate, expert and referent (French &
Raven)
• Two more power bases in the Indian context are support and competition
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Use of Channel Power
• Channel members are dependent on each other. The power equations between them
keep them working together.
• There are basically 5 types of power bases – reward, coercion, expert, reference and
legitimacy. 2 more can be considered as support and competition.
• Extent of dependence defines the power base which is appropriate.
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French & Raven
“Power” of Motivation
Countervailing power……
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Countervailing Power
• Balances the power exerted by one channel member. It is not a one-sided equation.
• Both the channel member and the principal can have influence on each other.
• Results from interdependence within the channel system.
• Company exerts power on the distributor to get its coverage and revenues
Examples
• Distributor has enough influence on his customers and this is critical for the
company also
• Weaker partners do get exploited – ancillary units
Co-ordination…
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Channel Co-ordination
• Channel system is well co-ordinated if each member understands his role correctly and
performs it to help the system achieve its customer service objectives.
• In a co-ordinated channel:
• Interests of all channel members are protected
• Actions of all are in line with overall objectives
• Flows are streamlined to achieve desired customer service objectives
• Channel co-ordination is an on-going effort
Conflict….
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Channel Conflicts
• Conflict is generated when actions of any channel member come in the way of the system
achieving its objectives
• Three broad categories of channel conflict are:
• Goal conflict – understanding of objectives by various channel members is different
• Domain conflict – understand responsibilities and authority differently
• Perception conflict – reading of the market place is different and proposed actions vary
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Channel Conflict
CONFLICT
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Channel Conflict
• Situation of discord or disagreement between partners in the same channel system – has
negative connotations and is driven more by feelings than facts
• Conflict is part of any social system – getting disparate entities to work together as in a
channel system is also one such social unit
• If any member feels that another is working in a manner as to affect him, conflict results
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Conflicts Result From…
Four stages….
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Four Stages
LATENT
PERCEIVED
FELT
MANIFEST
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Types of Conflicts
• Latent Conflict:
• Some amount of discord exists but does not affect the working or delivery of
customer service objectives.
• Disagreement could be on roles, expectations, perceptions, communication.
• Perceived Conflict:
• Discords become noticeable – channel partners are aware of the opposition.
• Channel members take the situation in their stride and go about their normal
business
• No cause for worry but the opposition has to be recognized
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Types of Conflicts
• Felt Conflict:
• Reaching the stage of worry, concern and alarm. Also known as ‘affective’ conflict.
• Parties are trying to outsmart each other.
• Causes could be economical or personal
• Needs to be managed effectively and not allowed to escalate.
• Manifest Conflict:
• Reflects open antagonistic behaviour of channel partners. Confrontation results.
• Initiatives taken are openly opposed affecting the performance of the channel
system.
• May require outside intervention to resolve
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Channel Conflict Types
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Reasons / Sources of Channel Conflict
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Reasons / Sources of Channel Conflict
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Channel Conflicts – Hybrid Channels
• Higher credit period for key accounts than company permitted to distributors
• More favourable delivery terms to key accounts affecting distribution costs of channel
partner
• Direct sales prices lower than for the rest of the customers
• Company sales people complete sales – distributor used only for delivery
Resolving….
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Resolving Conflicts
A 4 Stage Process
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Conflict Resolution Styles
Accommodation
Compromise
Collaboration
Kenneth W Thomas
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Avoidance
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Aggression
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Accommodation
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Compromise
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Collaboration
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Channel Policies
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Channel Policies
• Markets to be covered
• Customer coverage
• Pricing
• Product portfolio to be handled
• Selection, termination of channel members
• Ownership of the channel
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Managing International Distribution Channels – Clara
Lu
• After prior research, choosing the right markets for the company products
• Local logistical concerns to be understood – local retailers or on-line, physical reach
• Shipping goods direct to customers – freight, insurance, goods lost in transit
• Distribution to international retailers – delivery, payments, communication
• Managing international currencies, risk of value fluctuations
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Developing a Channel Strategy – Ian Linton
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Channel Optimization – Mark Harvey
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The Services Sector
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5 Characteristics of Services
• They are intangible – can only be felt. No visual features like size, style.
• They are inseparable from their service providers – a 3P cannot deliver
• They cannot be standardized – custom made and delivered
• Customers are involved to a great degree – define the services
• They are perishable – cannot be stored for delivery later. Salvage value of an unsold service
is zero.
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Channels Used
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Unique Distribution Examples
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ITC e-Choupal
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E-Choupal Working
• Kiosks set up in villages with computers and internet connectivity (phone-lines or VSAT)
• Kiosk run by a trained farmer known as a ‘sanchalak’
• Kiosk serves about 600 farmers from 10 villages within a radius of 5 kms.
• Collection of agri-produce by ITC in warehouse hub
• Presently covers 6500 kiosks in 40,000 villages of 10 states servicing 4 million farmers
(growing)
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HUL Project Shakti
• Meant for empowering rural women
• Creates income generating capabilities in under-privileged rural women
• Provides a small scale enterprise opportunity
• Members of women self-help groups (SHGs) become Shakti entrepreneurs
• Direct to home distributors of HUL products
• Offers high returns and low risks
• Supports popular rural brands of the company
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Shakti Working…
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Vending Machines
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Direct Selling – Eureka Forbes
• First company to directly sell domestic water purifiers and vacuum cleaners in India
• Selling new concepts – company decided to use the direct selling route
• Presently works with over 5000 salesmen touching about 1.3 million homes directly
and converting about 1500 new customers every day
• The dynamic and highly motivated sales people are called as ‘Eurochamps’
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Amway – Multi-level Marketing
• Founding principles based on freedom, family, hope and reward. 450 products and 6000
employees world-wide.
• Manufactures and sells world-class consumer products
• All products covered by a 100% money back guarantee
• In India, sources products locally and helps set up manufacturing facilities
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Amway Features
• Four product categories – Personal care, Home care, Nutrition and Wellness and
Cosmetics
• Distribution and selling network – independent sales consultants who recruit similar sales
people. Each salesperson earns income on his own sales and on the sales made by
salespeople ‘recruited’ by him.
• Presently in India, has provided business opportunities to 450,000 active and
independent business owners.
• Company reaches 3000 locations through a host of logistics service providers
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Mumbai Dabbawalas (MD)
• Every day in Mumbai, 5000 dabbawalas deliver 200,000 meal boxes to customers without
any mix-up
• Collects the food box from the house of the customer
• Deliver the food box at the workplace of the customer
• Returns the empty food box back to the customer house
• Use simple, alpha-numeric codes for identity of boxes
• All this is done using bicycles and public transport
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MD Core Values
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Key Learnings
• Channel management is done by: use of power bases, identifying and resolving channel
conflicts and co-ordination
• Channel conflicts could occur due to: goal conflicts, domain conflicts and perception
conflicts
• Channel conflicts pass thru’ the 4 stages of latent, perceived, felt and manifest.
• Conflicts are avoided with the use of power bases of rewards, coercion, expertise,
legitimacy and reference.
• There are 5 styles of conflict resolution: avoidance, aggression, accommodation,
compromise and collaboration
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Key Learnings
• Channel conflicts are resolved by joint membership of associations, exchanging personnel
or arbitration
• Channel management involves the four steps of planning, organisation structure, control
of the channels and measuring performance for continuous improvement
• Services are distinguished by 5 characteristics of being intangible, inseparable from
service providers, cannot be standardised, customers are involved in service delivery and
are perishable. Distribution channels should take these into account.
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Key Learnings
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