Peer Review

Channel Conflict Challenges

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Jan 24, 2023 by Business

Bookmark

Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

This activity highlights several common channel conflict situations, across three different industries. For each situation, your task is to determine how you could minimize the level of conflict. Pharmaceutical (drug/medicine) companies make a broad range of products. Some must be sold via chemists/pharmacies (such as medicines), whereas some can be sold in supermarkets (such as headache tablets). Obviously, supermarkets offer significantly greater sales potential. This channel conflict challenge revolves around the distribution of a range of popular vitamin tablets. Traditionally, they have been sold only in chemists. However, as the overall market has become more health conscious, the major supermarket chains have approached the pharmaceutical firm, as they now want to also sell this product.

Type of Material:

Assignment/Discussion Activity

Recommended Uses:

In-class, homework.

Technical Requirements:

Safari, Google Chrome, Mozilla Fire Fox

Identify Major Learning Goals:

This activity highlights several common channel conflict situations, across three different industries (drugstores/supermarkets, insurance companies, and franchisees). For each situation, the learning goal is to determine how to minimize the level of channel conflict.

Target Student Population:

College Lower Division, College Upper Division

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Marketing, sales.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: The module covers many different areas of marketing including marketing channels, channel conflict, B2B marketing, and distribution/place. The three scenarios represent different industries to help students see how conflict also differs based on the situation.
Concerns:: Each scenario is not too long, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage. As an advantage, the scenarios are clear and direct, so students won't get overwhelmed with too many details. As a disadvantage, students may not have enough information about other important variables (products, communication, market, positioning) to make fully informed recommendations. The brevity is more of an advantage of a disadvantage since the module is designed for some basic class discussion rather than an in-depth case analysis.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: The learning goal is very clear -- how can one reduce channel conflict in a given situation. The modules should promote higher-order critical thinking whereby students have to consider many known and unknown variables to assess and provide recommendations for each situation.
Concerns:: The free instructor solution is available online here: https://www.greatideasforteachingmarketing.com/channel-conflict-challenges-solutions/ Students may cheat.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

The activity is available directly from the website here: https://www.greatideasforteachingmarketing.com/channel-conflict-challenges/ or as a .pdf download here: https://www.greatideasforteachingmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Channel-Conflict-Challenges.pdf which can be printed and completed during class. A printed hard copy in class, with no advance notification, may deter cheating.

There are clear and accurate instructions for use

Concerns:

None.

Other Issues and Comments:

None.

Creative Commons: