Course and the proposed Industry Involvment

To enrich the course with inputs from Alumni and others working in Sales and distribution . Currently the plan is ,

1. Include 20-30 Alums as a part of sort of advisory board for the course whose advice can be sought in terms of course structure and content.
2. These 20-30 people can act as a support group for the course to answer queries and questions which students can raise during the course. The linkedin group and this blog are part of this, where all students can register.
3. Support in terms of possible project ideas to be given to students. In the long run the idea would be to involve Alum in the project evaluation/presentations too and also look for live projects which the students can work on.
4. Involve Alumni in guest lecturers during the course, but there is an inherent limitation in terms of number of people who can be involved and their availability. For that I have planned to document the experiences through a series of interviews.
5. In the long run tie-up with a few Alumni to write cases specific to sales and distribution issues within their companies.

This is what I have thought of till now and will look forward to suggestions on improving the design as we go on...

Sales and Distribution Management Course Outline

Course Objectives

To help participants appreciate the challenges confronting the Sales and distribution function in Indian marketplace, with it's inherent difficulties and challenges. Through the course provide them with adequate inputs to help them excel in Sales and distribution jobs (typically their first jobs). The inputs would be a mix of theory , practical experience through the means of projects and interaction with industry though leaders through a series of guest lectuers.

Text Books

Rosenbloom, Bert (2004) Marketing Channel: A Management View, Cenage Publications, Delhi [RB]

Churchill, Ford and Walker’s Sales Force management (2009) 9^th ed, Tata McGraw Hill, Delhi [CFW]

Sessions of 90 mins Duration

DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT MODULE
Session 1
Topic	Introduction to Distribution Channel Management & Strategic Importance of channels
	Lecture
Readings	1) Chapter 1, RB [Textbook] 2) Creating a Distribution Advantage in India, BCG Group. 3). Reinventing Distribution – M S Banga
Session 2
Topic	Channel Design
Case	Aqua Tred
Readings	1) Chapters 6 & 8 RB [Textbook] 2) Stern, L.W., and Sturdivant, F.D. (1987) Customer driven distribution systems, Harvard Business Review, Vol 65 (4), pp 34-41.
Session 3
Topic	Selective Distribution and Franchised channels
Case	Marigold Hospital Network : Selection of New Franchisees
Readings	1) Chapter 7: Selecting Channel Members , RB[Textbook] 2). Hlavacek and McCuiston (1983), “Industrial Distributors – When, Who and how?” Harvard Business Review, March-April.
Session 4	Guest Lecture
Topic	Name of Speaker to be indicated
Session 5
Topic	Positioning, Power and Conflict in Channels
Case	Colgate Palmolive (A)
Readings	1). Chapter RB [Textbook] 2) Channel conflict- when is it dangerous. Bucklin et al, McKinsey Quarterly
Session6
Topic	Evaluating, Motivating and Controlling Channel Members
Case	XYZ Consumer Durables Limited
Readings	1) Chapters 9& 14 RB [Textbook]. 2) Gilliland, D.I., (2004) Designing channel incentives to overcome rejection, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol.33, 87-95
Session 7
Topic	Physical Distribution and Trade Promotions
Case	Lubol India ( A)
Readings	1) Chapter 13 RB [Textbook] 2) Chapter 11- RB [Textbook]
Session 8
Topic	Internet as an Alternate Channel of Distribution
	Lecture
Readings	1) Chapter 15 RB [Textbook] 2) Chapter 10 & 11 of Rangan & Bell(2006) “Transforming your go-to-market strategy
Session 9
Topic	Rural Distribution
Case	HLL Project Shakti
Readings	1) “Distribution Channel Structure In Rural Areas: A Framework and Hypotheses,” Decision 32 (1), Jan-June 2005. 2) A Note on Rural Distribution Realties
Session 10
Topic	Guest Lecture
	Name of Speaker to be indicated
SALES MANAGEMENT MODULE
Session 11
Topic	Introduction to Selling and Sales Management
	Lecture & Video Tom Peters on Sales
Readings	1).Chapter 1:CFW 2) Selling as a systematic process
Session 12
Topic	Sales Management Concepts and Personal Selling Basics
Case	Akili Systems Group
Readings	1). Chapter 2&3: CFW 2). Trailer Barry and Jim Dickie (2006), “Understanding What your Sales Manger is up Against,” Harvard Business Review, July- August. 3). Customer Centered Selling Process.
Session 13
Topic	Reengineering the Sales Process
Case	Hewlett Packard: Computer Systems Organization
Session 14
Topic	Guest Lecture
Session 15
Topic	Sales Force Organization and Territory Design
Case	Syntex Laboratories ( A)
Readings	1) Chapter 4: CFW 2). Zoltners (2006), “Match your sales force structure to your Business Life Cycle,” Harvard Business Review, July- August.
Session 16
Topic	Sales Force Compensation and Motivation
Case	Eureka Forbes Ltd: Managing the Selling Effort (A)
Readings	1) Chapter 7 & 11: CFW
Session 17
Topic	Selection and Training of sales persons
Case	Coral India Ltd. Or Ajax (A)
Readings	1) Chapters 9&10 : CFW 1) Randall, J. E. and Randall, C.H. (2001) A current review of hiring techniques for sales personnel, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Spring, 70-82.
Session 18
Topic	Evaluating Sales Personnel
Case	Kramer Pharmaceuticals
Readings	1) Chapter 13: CFW 2) Gentry, J.W., Mowen, J.C. and Tasaki, L. (1991) Salesperson evaluation: A systematic structure for reducing judgmental biases, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Vol. 11 No.2, 27-38.
Session 19
Topic	Guest Lecture
Session 20
Topic	Project Presentations and Course Review

Agenda for the Course

1. The course has become a 20 session course , which would mean that sessions design has to be changed.
2. Need to develop detailed guidelines for the project in the course. issues like should issue based , broad company-level or case-study based.
3. Need to crystallize the involvement of Alumni in the course both at the visiting lecture level as well as course material building level.
4. Possibilities of trying to get a few live projects during the course.

Will look forward for your suggestions on this issue...