IIM ROHTAK

SDM PROJECT GUIDELINES

General
The purpose of the project is to provide the students with an opportunity to integrate and apply the
concepts of Sales and Distribution Management to the development of a real world experience in the
Indian environment.The class will be divided into ten groups and will carry out a detailed analysis
through market visits and interviews of the following industries:
CATEGORY Group Section A Section B Section C
Air Conditioners 1 LG Voltas Hitachi
BISCUITS 2 Britannia ITC Parle
Home Care/Personal Care Products 3 HUL P&G Dabur
Newspapers and Magazines 4 Times of India India Today Hindustan Times
Electric Appliances, Fans 5 Usha Havells Bajaj
Television 6 Samsung Videocon LG
Mobile handsets, smartphones, tablets 7 Apple Micromax Samsung
Soft drinks 8 Coke Godrej Pepsi
Paints 9 Asian Kansai Nerolac Berger
Pharmaceuticals 10 Dr. Reddy's Lupin Glenmark

Overall (5 to 7 pages)
o Industry growth over the last five years and changing market shares.
o Industry and Company forecast for next three years.
o Identification of major changes in target market profile and consumer behaviour
Sales (12 to 16 pages)
o Sales organisation and territory design. Please go through complete sales organisation at Head
Office, Regional Office, Branch Office and Area Office to understand span of control and
workload at different levels. Is the sales organisation geographic, market driven, product driven
or a suitable mix?
o Do they have separate teams for rural, modern and/or institutional sales?
o Ranking of skill sets required for sales staff by supervisors and sales staff to see whether they
match.
o Recruitment and selection of sales people.Effectiveness of different induction and training
methods for sales staff at front line and supervisory level.
o Compensation structure with aim of finding ratio of fixed and variable and effect on morale at
different levels.
o Policy of promotion from within. Under normal circumstances, in how many years does a sales
person move to the next level?
o Method of prospecting and reporting with degree of sales force automation.
o Sales force evaluation methods.

2
Distribution (12 to 16 pages)
o Trace the route back from retailer to manufacturer to determine levels and intensity of
distribution at each level. Trace any major changes in the distribution policies over the last 5
years and their impact.
o Trade margins and other discounts for general trade, modern retail and the Internet.
o Are there separate channels for rural? Areas of difference with urban.
o Policies for Canteen Stores Department.
o Concept of franchising, if applicable.
o EBO vs. MBO especially in durables.
o Service organisation
o Identify areas of vertical and horizontal conflict and possible solutions.
o Impact of modern retail on distribution.
o Impact of internet on distribution.
o Promotional support given and expected
The emphasis will be on the specified companies. All groups are expected to visit adequate number of
retailers, wholesalers, distributors, modern retail outlets to collect practical information. Similarly they
should meet adequate number of sales persons at distributor level, front line, supervisory level and
branch manager levels for companies.
Timeline
The date for the submission of the first report covering the general portion is the start of the 4 th session.
The sales portion should be submitted by the start of the 10 th session and the distribution portion and
the overall report by the start of the 17 th session.
Each group will make a presentation of 15 minutes in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth sessions.
Evaluation
o General portion 3 marks
o Sales portion 6 marks
o Distribution portion 6 marks
o Power point 2 marks
o Presentation 3 marks