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Answers To End Of Chapter Learning Aids
Marketing Applications
1 Describe marketing channel management by identifying the major activities that it involves.
Identify several ways that marketing channel management adds value to a company’s offerings, with
regard to both consumers and business partners.
A marketing channel is the set of institutions that transfer the ownership of and move goods from the
point of production to the point of consumption. A marketing channel consists of all the institutions
and marketing activities in the marketing process.
2 In what ways can the flow of information be managed in the supply chain? How can the ready
flow of information increase a firm’s operating efficiencies?
3 Describe how B2B transactions might employ EDI to process purchase information. Considering
the information discussed in Chapter 6 about B2B buying situations, determine which buying situation
(new task, modified rebuy, or straight rebuy) would most likely align with the use of EDI technology.
Justify your answer.
4 What are the differences between the use of a traditional distribution center and one that relies on
cross-docking? Discuss the extent to which one is more efficient than the other, being sure to detail
your reasoning.
After the merchandise is received and checked, it is either traditionally stored or cross-docked. When
merchandise is stored, the cartons are transported by a conveyor system and forklift trucks to racks
5 Discuss the advantages to a retailer like Macy's of expending the time and effort to get
merchandise floor-ready at either the point of manufacture or in the distribution center rather than
having retail store staff members do it in the stores. Provide the logic behind your answer.
6 A just-in-time (JIT) inventory system appears to be an important success factor for retailers like
American Apparel and Forever 21. Choose a local retailer and examine the advantages and
disadvantages of its use of a JIT system. Do you believe it should use JIT? Why?
A JIT system is an inventory management system designed to deliver less merchandise on a more
frequent basis than traditional inventory system. Firms get the merchandise just-in-time for it to be
7 Give an example of a retailer that participates in an independent (conventional) supply chain and
one involved in a vertical marketing system. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.
An independent supply chain is one in which several independent members-a manufacturer, a
wholesaler, and a retailer- attempt to satisfy their own objectives and maximize profits, often at the
8 For each of the following consumer products, identify the type of vertical marketing system used,
and justify your answer: (a) Bertolli pasta sold through grocery stores, (b) Krispy Kreme donuts sold
through franchises, and (c) www.polo.com by Ralph Lauren.
9 Why might a big company like Dell want to develop strategic partnerships with locally owned
computer stores? Describe what Dell would have to do to maintain such relationships.
10 You are hired as an assistant brand manager for a popular consumer product. One day in an
emergency meeting, the brand manager informs the group that there is a problem with one of the
suppliers and that he has decided to send you over to the manufacturing facilities to investigate the
problem. When you arrive at the plant, you learn that a key supplier has become increasingly unreliable
in terms of quality and delivery. You ask the plant manager why the plant doesn’t switch suppliers,
because it is becoming a major problem for your brand. He informs you that the troubled supplier is his
cousin, whose wife has been very ill, and he just can’t switch right now. What course of action should
you take?
Net Savvy
1 Zappos.com, an online shoe seller, has received praise for its stellar supply chain management.
Go to http://about.zappos.com/zappos-story/fulfillment-facility, look through the warehouse tour, and
see how a shoe ultimately reaches the customer. How does its distribution center enable Zappos to
adhere to its marketing communications message and provide excellent customer service?
2 The case study for this chapter examines how Zara International, a division of Inditex,
successfully manages its supply chain. Visit Inditex’s Web site (www.inditex.com) and go to
“Corporate Responsibility,” then review the company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility,
particularly the section that pertains to its Internal Code of Conduct. Considering the discussion in this
chapter about strategic relationships, how does Inditex address the factors necessary for mutually
beneficial partnerships, according to its code of conduct?
Case Study: Zara Delivers Fast Fashion
1 How does an individual firm like Zara manage a supply chain? How does it get new products
from design to store so quickly?
2 What are some of the ways that Zara’s supply chain management system has helped create value
for its customers? Provide specific examples.
3 What challenges did Zara’s focus on supply chain efficiency create? Are all such systems
destined to suffer such “growing pains”?
Additional Teaching Tips
