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Case 2

Adams Brands[*]

CASE SUMMARY

The regional manager for Adams Brands, the confectionery division of Warner-Lambert Canada, needs to hire a key account supervisor for the Ontario region. He has narrowed the list to three candidates, each of whom has reasonable qualifications.

The case provides information on the market and the changing structure of the retail trade in Canada. The responsibilities of the key account supervisor are described and fact sheets have been prepared for the three candidates.

TEACHING STRATEGY

This case can be taught in the "traditional" way or in a "role playing" way.

Traditional Way

A good way to start this case is to have the students declare themselves by "voting" for each of the three candidates. After a few brief comments as to why the students favor one candidate over another, the instructor can focus the discussion on the job requirements. The tasks involved will lead to the individual characteristics desired which can be ranked in three categories; (1) must have, (2) would be nice to have, and (3) other (see Exhibit 1). Then, the three candidates can be evaluated against the criteria.

Students relate to this case because they will be in the job market in the near future. Some will identify with a particular candidate which makes for an interesting and involved discussion.

Role Playing Way

The instructor may wish to use this case for a role playing exercise. To do this, the instructor needs to select three students beforehand and have them prepare to play the roles of Lydia, John, and Barry. The instructor should provide each of them with "their" assessment plus the comments contained in Exhibit 1. With this background (plus a thorough reading of the case and an understanding of the requirements for the job), the students can be asked to role play in one of two different ways: (a) have each make a short presentation as to why they deserve the job, then have the class vote, then provide reasons for their vote, or (b) have the class or a designated member of class interview each of the candidates for 5-10 minutes, then take the vote and have the reasons discussed.

The role playing approach often leads to considerable involvement by students. It also provides the instructor with an opportunity to have students appreciate that the requirements for a job and identifying the best candidate to fill those requirements is an important and challenging task.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.  What are the most important qualities that Adams Brands should look for in a key account supervisor?

2.  Which of the three candidates would you recommend for the job? Why?

ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.  WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT QUALITIES THAT ADAMS BRANDS SHOULD LOOK FOR IN A KEY ACCOUNT SUPERVISOR?

Before deciding which candidate should be selected it is useful to gain an appreciation of the nature of the industry and the marketing objectives of a firm such as Adams Brands. The confectionery business in Canada is in the mature stage of the product life cycle and any sales increases must come from gaining share at the expense of the competition. In this highly competitive business, it is critical to obtain extensive distribution and prominent shelf space. Confectionery products are bought primarily on impulse and these convenience goods are often purchased while people are waiting in line at a store. It is therefore important to seek and gain the cooperation of retailers to obtain display space. For Adams Brands products, the goal is often to get multiple displays, high visibility, and good shelf space.

Retail chains in Canada are changing in the following manner; (1) larger and fewer chains (therefore each chain is more important); (2) changing retail sophistication (in that many buyers are interest in gross margin and other analytic data) and; (3) retailers are not "selling space" in their stores (in that the manufacturer is now "buying" such things as dump bins for a week or space in an advertising flyer from the retailer). These changes suggest a "new breed" of sales representative is required who can handle the social, analytic, and professional dimensions of the job.

Considering the specific job, the most important task is to establish a relationship with buyers so that they (the buyers) will listen to the sales representatives' presentations and hopefully accept some of his/her plans. These buyers meet with many salespeople over the course of a working day and will probably make some decisions based on their "trust" of the salesperson. This suggests that candidates should have a knowledge of the industry so that they have a basic understanding of how buyers operate.

A second aspect of the job is the salesperson's ability to respond to the retail buyers' "offers." That is, the buyer "sells" space in the store or "space" in the stores' ads and the salesperson should have the ability to determine what programs are good for Adams Brands or not. This requires some analytic skills (e.g., translating the "deal" into added business for Adams versus cost).

A third aspect of the job is the social skills required by the salesperson. There is a mix of retail buyers ranging from the "old school" which might be considered the "dinner and drinks" group to the "new breed" who are task-oriented and interested in the profit potential of any presentation. A salesperson needs to recognize that type of buyer he or she is dealing with and respond accordingly. A fourth aspect of the job is the ability to design and install display systems for individual stores. This requires experience, and, as noted, a certain amount of creativity.

Aside from the specific characteristics of the job, two further points should be considered. First, Adams is a division of a successful packaged goods company and wants professional people representing them at all levels. The salary range ($25,000 to $48,200) is sufficiently attractive to ensure that a qualified professional person can be found to fill the position. Second, the job is not likely to lead to a "fast track" at Adams Brands. The regional manager wants an individual who will stay in the position for at least three years (and hopefully longer) to establish relationships with the buyers.

After gaining an understanding of the skills required, the next step is to prepare a list of the characteristics wanted for the key account supervisor. Students will suggest a number of characteristics including; empathy, ego-drive, self-confidence, motivation/initiative, analytic skills, personal selling skills, creativity, knowledge of the industry, professional appearance, and educational qualifications. The list can then be used to discuss the following:

Ø  the importance of the characteristic to the selling task

Ø  how the characteristic should be and was measured by Adams

Ø  an evaluation of the candidates on the characteristics

2.  WHICH OF THE CANDIDATES WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR THE JOB? WHY?

A brief evaluation of the candidates on the major characteristics is provided in Exhibit 1. Further comments on the three candidates are:

Ø  Lydia Cohen — is best qualified for the job in terms of experience (both in the business and Toronto), she has a proven track record, she likes sales, has been involved in sales planning, and has some analytic skills, although not extensive. Her apparent lack of ambition could be viewed as both a plus (is likely to stay in the job for a while) and a minus (will she push for business). As well, the job may not require an overly ambitious individual.

Ø  John Fisher — has experience in the business but primarily in order taking versus order getting. He did well at Nabob (has a standing offer), has worked with others (basketball experience), is an ambitious individual, and has analytical skills (minor in Computer Science). His ambition may be a problem because he probably wants to "fast track" in the organization. It's possible that he could generate more business than the other two candidates because of his ambition.

Ø  Barry Moore —- has extensive experience in the business and has strong interpersonal skills. His work record indicates his promotions have come from moving to a new job, rather than being promoted in the company. His outside activities suggest he may be a "9 to 5" individual but this may be sufficient for the job. He does not appear to have strong analytic skills. He matches up very well against the "old school" of buyers but may be weak in situations with the "new breed."

In summary, each of the candidates has some strengths and weaknesses they would bring to the job. All things considered, Cohen might be the best candidate.


Exhibit 1

Summary Evaluations of Candidates

Candidates

Characteristics

/

Cohen

/ Fisher / Moore
Empathy (1) / reasonable / worked with others / relates well to others
Ego-drive (energy) (2) / sales rep of the year / appears high / may be lower
Self-confidence (1) / reasonable / strong / strong
Motivation/initiative (2) / not overly ambitious / high / not sure
Analytic skills (2) / limited / reasonable / low
Personal selling skills (1) / sales rep of the year / primarily order taking / reasonable
Creativity (3) / can't judge / don't know / not clear
Knowledge of industry (1) / knows business
knows Toronto / knows business
doesn't know Toronto / knows business
knows Toronto
Code: Must have (1); Would be nice to have (2); Other (3)

1

[*]This note was written by Gordon H.G. McDougall.