Channel Management (Harvard Business School Hbs Note)外语英文电子书.pdfVIP

Harvard Business School 9-590-045 October 26, 1989 D Channel Management ìChannelsî refers to the ways in which a product reaches its end users. Some products are O sold directly to their ultimate buyers, while others pass through one or more intermediary or (indirect) channels on their way to end users. A common channel arrangement is: Manufacturer → wholesaler → distributor → retailer → consumer In managing customer encounters, an important task facing many companies is channel N management. While textbooks often use the term ìsales managementî to refer solely to the management of a direct sales force, the fact is that most products are sold through a combination of direct and indirect distribution channels. Managing these multichannel arrangements affects all aspects of sales management and is often a key dimension of organizing and implementing a firmís overall marketing effort. O This note discusses: a) reasons for the growing prominence of multichannel arrangements in marketing efforts; b) key components and choices of channel management; c) major factors that affect producer-reseller relations; and d) trade-offs between control and resources inherent in most distribution systems. T Growth in Multichannel Systems During the past two decades, the share of sales volume attributable to distribution intermediaries has grown significantly in many industries.1 According to U.S. Commerce data, C wholesalers increased t