RESTRUCTURING BUSINESS OPERATIONS IN GERMANY: A CASE STUDY
Küblbeck, Andreas (2011)
Küblbeck, Andreas
Savonia-ammattikorkeakoulu
2011
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 1.0 Finland
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201105137797
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201105137797
Tiivistelmä
Various export strategies and methods can be used when entering foreign markets. When using intermediaries, the company has to choose which sales representatives are best suited for them. One alternative are distributors, who are buying the products from the company and selling them to the end-users on the target market. The goal of this thesis was to study what is demanded from a distributor to be a profitable partner and how the distribution network should be developed in the target market to be more efficient and successful. The case study was done in a SME company from Eastern Finland which is already operating on the target market but wants to improve the performance.
Qualitative research methods were used. These included interviews and discussions with the staff as well as current and potential distributors, as well as an analysis of the current market situation and company material. A major research tool for this case study was observational research using empirical data collected by the author.
The research findings indicate that the general development of product sales on the target market is positive. Three different categories of distributors emerged on the target market: 1) Distributors who are responsible for a larger area and prioritizing to the products of the Case Company, 2) Distributors who have a larger selection of products on the same field but promotes the Case Company's products and 3) Distributors who simply have the products in their portfolio but who are not promoting the product actively and/ or permanently. Different levels of training and especially discount are offered to the different groups of distributors.
The aim for the Case Company should be to implement further distributors of category one, while getting rid of distributors of category three and splitting up the category two distributors among the category one distributing partners.
Qualitative research methods were used. These included interviews and discussions with the staff as well as current and potential distributors, as well as an analysis of the current market situation and company material. A major research tool for this case study was observational research using empirical data collected by the author.
The research findings indicate that the general development of product sales on the target market is positive. Three different categories of distributors emerged on the target market: 1) Distributors who are responsible for a larger area and prioritizing to the products of the Case Company, 2) Distributors who have a larger selection of products on the same field but promotes the Case Company's products and 3) Distributors who simply have the products in their portfolio but who are not promoting the product actively and/ or permanently. Different levels of training and especially discount are offered to the different groups of distributors.
The aim for the Case Company should be to implement further distributors of category one, while getting rid of distributors of category three and splitting up the category two distributors among the category one distributing partners.