Distribution management

Distribution includes all of the activities that are involved in getting an offering to end-users. It confronts firms with major challenges and requires them to design, develop, maintain, and manage effective distribution systems to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.
This course will provide an understanding of key issues in distribution management and covers four major themes. First, this course focuses on basic ideas and concepts underlying the distribution of offerings and distribution management. Then, it presents approaches to analyze the needs of upstream and downstream members of distribution channels and relevant decisions when designing distribution strategies. Following on, it discusses characteristics of some of the most common distribution structures and strategies and compares them with emerging distribution systems to identify opportunities for improvement, in accordance with dynamic business environments. Finally, this course presents key factors for effective channel relationships and distribution management.

Course outline
Fundamentals of distribution and distribution management
Analyzing and designing distribution structures and strategies
Benchmarking traditional and emerging distribution systems
Implementing distribution management

Assessment
The course assessment will be 60% exam and 40% in-class work. The exam will be in the form of a one-hour, closed book, written exam consisting of open-ended and multiple choice questions. In-class work includes group presentations (case studies, article summaries).

Textbook
Palmatier, R., Stern, L., El-Ansary, A., & Anderson, E. (2014). Marketing channel strategy. 8^th ed., Pearson Higher Ed.