JBIMS ConVoyage August 2011

Page 1

JAMNALAL BAJAJ Institute of Management Studies

ConVoyage

Issue – August 2011


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

Contents: 1. Derivatives Market in India: An Analysis

…. 03

2. Marketing in Pharmaceutical Industry

…. 08

3. Organizational Strategy: Centralization v/s Decentralization

…. 11

4. Case Study on Collins foods

…. 14

5. Word Puzzle – Finance

…. 20

6. Consulting fun

…. 21

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 2


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

Derivatives Market in India: An Analysis conservative country and Indians are very

By

careful and cautious when it comes to matters related to money. It has been traditionally observed that Indians tend to resort to safe ways of making money. For ex: keeping money in bank deposits, PPF, NSC etc. However, that outlook is slowly changing now. With the knowledge base of the people increasing by the day and owing to higher return on the money Abhijeet Gaikwad

in the capital markets, people have started

MMS II, Finance, JBIMS

investing money in it. Derivatives market is no different. As was discussed earlier, derivatives

Background

Derivatives in India are not new. Farmers used to enter into Forward contracts to hedge risk

are primarily used for hedging. With the commencement of options, it is now possible to

against their crops since long. However, there

limit one’s losses to a certain amount. Given

was always a risk of the counter-party

below is a snapshot of the evolution of

defaulting on the contract (which remains even

derivatives market in India.

today in case of OTC markets). India is a Date 14 December 1995 18 November 1996 11 May 1998 7 July 1999 24 May 2000 25 May 2000 9 June 2000 12 June 2000 31 August 2000 June 2001 July 2001 9 November 2002 June 2003 13 September 2004 1 January 2008 1 January 2008 29 August 2008 2 October 2008 7 August 2009 February 2010 29 October 2010

Progress NSE asked SEBI for permission to trade index futures SEBI sets up L. C. Gupta Committee to draft a policy framework for index futures L. C. Gupta Committee submitted report RBI gave permission for OTC forward rate agreements (FRAs) and interest rate swaps SIMEX hose Nifty for trading futures and options on an Indian index SEBI gave permission to NSE and BSE to do index futures trading Trading of BSE Sensex futures commenced at BSE Trading of Nifty futures commenced at NSE Trading of futures and options on Nifty to commence at SIMEX Trading of Equity index options at NSE Trading of stock options at NSE Trading of single stock futures at BSE Trading of Interest Rate futures at NSE Weekly options at BSE Trading of chhota(Mini) Sensex at BSE Trading of Mini Index futures & options at NSE Trading of currency futures at NSE Trading of currency futures at BSE BSE-USE form alliance to develop currency and interest rate derivatives markets Launch of Currency futures on additional currency pairs Introduction of Currency options on USD INR

Source: Compiled from BSE and NSE website

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 3


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

As seen from the above snapshot, deliberations

(USE is the recent exchange which has formed

for trading in derivatives have been going on

alliance with BSE to develop currency and

for quite long and that the derivative products

interest rates derivatives markets)but NSE has

have been introduced in India in a phased

more than 96% of the volumes of the

manner. However, derivative market in India is

derivatives which are traded in India. Let us

still at its nascent stage and has a lot of

now have a look at the products traded in the

potential to expand. BSE and NSE are two

derivatives segment in BSE and NSE separately.

main exchanges on which derivatives are traded

Products traded in Derivatives segment of BSE S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Product Traded with underlying asset Index Futures – Sensex Index Options – Sensex Stock Options on 109 Stocks Stock futures on 109 Stocks Weekly Option on 4 Stocks Chhota (mini) Sensex Futures & Options on sectoral indices namely BSE TECK, BSE FMCG, BSE Metal, BSE Bankex and BSE Oil & Gas Currency Futures on US Dollar Rupee Currency Options on US Dollar Rupee (launched on USE)

Introduction Date June 9 2000 June 1 2000 July 9 2001 November 9 2002 September 13 2004 January 1 2008 N.A. October 1 2008 October 29 2010

Source: Compiled from BSE website

Products traded in Derivatives (F&O) segment of NSE S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Product Traded with underlying asset Index Futures – S&P CNX Nifty Index Options – S&P CNX Nifty Stock Options on 233 Stocks Stock futures on 233 Stocks Interest Rate Futures – T- Bills and 10 Years Bond CNX IT Futures & Options Bank Nifty Futures & Options CNX Nifty Junior Futures & Options CNX 100 Futures & Options Nifty Midcap 50 Futures & Options Mini index Futures & Options – S&P CNX Nifty index Long term Option contracts on S&P CNX Nifty index Currency Futures on US Dollar Rupee S&P CNX Defty Futures & Options Currency Options on US Dollar Rupee

Introduction Date June 12 2000 June 4 2001 July 2 2001 November 9 2001 June 23 2003 August 29 2003 June 13 2005 June 1 2007 June 1 2007 October 5 2007 January 1 2008 March 3 2008 August 29 2008 December 10 2008 October 29 2010

Source: Compiled from NSE website

NSE has been very active in the derivatives segment and number of products traded on NSE is more than that traded on BSE. A number of derivative products have been introduced in India as can be seen from the above tables. Index and stock futures and options were the first products to be traded and recently the RBI allowed the trading of currency derivatives in India. consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 4


CONVOYAGE

Index Futures Year

No. of contracts

2011-12

28335422

Stock Futures

Turnover ( cr.) 745169.96

No. of contracts 33363538

Index Options

Turnover ( cr.)

Stock Options

Notional Turnover ( cr.)

No. of contracts

862171.65 160090747

No. of contracts

4531302.96

6653288

Aug ‘11

Total

Notional Turnover ( cr.)

No. of contracts

180998.38

Turnover ( cr.)

Average Daily Turnover ( cr.)

228442995

6319642.87

114902.60

2010-11 165023653

4356754.53 186041459

5495756.70 650638557 18365365.76

32508393 1030344.21 1034212062

29248221.09

115150.48

2009-10 178306889

3934388.67 145591240

5195246.64 341379523

8027964.20

14016270

506065.18

679293922

17663664.57

72392.07

2008-09 210428103

3570111.40 221577980

3479642.12 212088444

3731501.84

13295970

229226.81

657390497

11010482.20

45310.63

2007-08 156598579

3820667.27 203587952

7548563.23

55366038

1362110.88

9460631

359136.55

425013200

13090477.75

52153.30

2006-07

81487424

2539574 104955401

3830967

25157438

791906

5283310

193795

216883573

7356242

29543

2005-06

58537886

1513755

80905493

2791697

12935116

338469

5240776

180253

157619271

4824174

19220

2004-05

21635449

772147

47043066

1484056

3293558

121943

5045112

168836

77017185

2546982

10107

2003-04

17191668

554446

32368842

1305939

1732414

52816

5583071

217207

56886776

2130610

8388

2002-03

2126763

43952

10676843

286533

442241

9246

3523062

100131

16768909

439862

1752

2001-02

1025588

21483

1957856

51515

175900

3765

1037529

25163

4196873

101926

410

2000-01

90580

2365

-

-

-

-

-

-

90580

2365

11

Business growth of Derivatives Source: Compiled from NSE & BSE websites

average daily turnover has increased by 10, 44,

The derivative market has grown quite

469 %. Both the total and average daily

substantially during the last decade. The table

turnovers have shown a slight dip from 2007-

above shows the turnover of the derivatives

08 to 2008-09 when the sub-prime crisis had

segment of the market since its inception. The

hit the US markets and consequently all the

growth is almost exponential and the market

markets world over. A chapter on ‘Analysis of

has grown leaps and bounds from 2000 to

Derivatives turnover’ towards the end has been

2012(an increase of 2, 67, 115 % in the total

devoted to carry out the mathematical analysis

turnover over the specified period). The

of the derivatives market.

Product wise turnover of F&O at NSE

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 5


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

Most of the derivatives market in F&O is

index futures which saw a y-o-y growth of

dominated by Index options. This is followed

29.41% and 22.27% respectively (in 2009-10

up by stock futures, index futures and stock

compared to the previous year). This trend

options. Index options are the clear leader in

continued in the first-half of 2010-11 with

the product-wise turnover of futures and

Index options constituting around 58% of the

options segment in NSE during 2009-10. The

total turnover in this segment. The turnover of

turnover in the index options category was

index options zoomed by 111% during the

45.45% of the total turnover in the F&O

first-half

segment of NSE, followed by stock futures and

corresponding period in the previous fiscal.

of

2010-11

compared

to

the

NSE Cash & Derivatives Segment Turnover (In Rs. Cr)

Year

Cash Segment

Derivatives Segment

2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 2003-04 2002-03 2001-02 2000-01

41, 38, 023 27, 52, 023 35, 51, 038 19, 45, 285 15, 69, 556 11, 40, 071 10, 99, 535 6, 17, 989 5, 13, 167 13, 39, 510

1, 76, 63, 666 1, 10, 10, 483 1, 30, 90, 477.75 73, 56, 242 48, 24, 174 25, 46, 982 21, 30, 610 4, 39, 862 1, 01, 926 2, 365

Source: Compiled from NSE website

From the above table, it is pretty clear that derivatives segment has grown at a much faster pace than the cash segment. While the increase in the derivatives segment from 2000-01 to 2009-10 is an astonishing 7, 46, 778 % (Yes, it is seven lakh forty six thousand seven hundred and seventy eight percent!!) it is only 209 % for the cash segment. This is a clear indication of the dominance of the derivatives segment over the cash segment.

Product wise Derivatives Turnover at NSE and BSE (In Rs. Cr)

Year

Index Future NSE BSE

Index Option NSE BSE

Stock Option NSE BSE

Stock Future NSE BSE

2009-10

39, 34, 389

96

80, 27, 964

138

0

51, 95, 247

0

2008-09

35, 70, 111

11, 257

37, 31, 502

9

1, 40, 16, 270 1, 32, 95, 970 94, 60, 631 52, 83, 310

0

34, 79, 642

9

15 6

75, 48, 563 38, 30, 972

7, 609 3, 516

38, 20, 667 2, 34, 660 13, 62, 111 25, 39, 575 55, 491 7, 91, 913 Source: Compiled from SEBI Annual reports

2007-08 2006-07

39 0.06

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 6


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

The product wise Derivatives turnover shown above re-iterates the fact that turnover of Derivatives at BSE is far less than the turnover of Derivatives at NSE. A closer examination of the table reveals that Index option has grown the most over the given years: be it on NSE or on BSE. Also, BSE is becoming less and less inactive in the derivatives segment.

Number of Contracts traded at NSE & BSE Derivatives Segment Year

Number of Contracts BSE

NSE 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 2003-04

67, 92, 93, 922 65, 73, 90, 497 42, 50, 13, 200 21, 68, 83, 573 15, 76, 19, 271 77, 017, 185 5, 68, 86, 776

9, 028 5, 15, 588 74, 53, 371 15, 45, 169 103 5, 31, 719 3, 82, 258

Source: Compiled from SEBI Annual reports

BSE Cash & Derivatives Segment Turnover (In Rs. Cr)

Year

Cash Segment

Derivatives Segment

2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 2003-04 2002-03 2001-02 2000-01

1, 37, 881 1, 10, 008 15, 78, 857 9, 56, 185 8, 16, 074 5, 18, 715 5, 03, 053 3, 14, 073 3, 07, 292 10, 00, 032

234.13 12, 266 2, 42, 309 59, 006 9 16, 112 12, 452 2, 478 1, 922 1, 673

Source: Compiled from SEBI Annual reports

As is mentioned earlier, the Derivatives segment is more pronounced on the NSE than on BSE. From the tables above, it is seen that the Derivatives segment of BSE has grown by 14, 383 % (till 2007-08) whereas it is in lakhs of percentage increase for the Derivatives segment on the NSE. In fact, from 2007-08 onward, the Derivatives segment on BSE has actually declined in value terms. However, it is very clear that the Derivatives market has a huge potential in India. consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 7


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

Marketing in Pharmaceutical Industry makes your drug sell more than other drugs?

By

We never see any advertisement of drug on TV then how these doctors come to know about these drugs? All these questions used to pop up in my mind also till I worked on a project in a Pharma co. (say HTL). I will tell you my story of summer internship and in that flow I will tell how I learned pharma marketing so you also learn in same way as I did. Sunil Singh Choudhary MMS II, Marketing, JBIMS Before I tell you about Pharma marketing you need to understand that this is a completely different field when we compare it with other types of markets. Here product is highly specialized and makes a lot of difference in

First day of internship, I was told I will have to

consumers’ life. Customer (Doctor) cannot be

work with Oncology division with another

fooled as he is highly knowledgeable and active

intern Rahul. I was allotted a guide and a

in finding out what’s new in medical field.

mentor. Project was to find out how big is

Only need which works here is ‘rational need’

market

in case of a doctor and ‘physical need’ case of a

confidential project so I cannot reveal much)

patient.

about

and my co-intern was given project to make a

because

database for Drug X, Y and Z and had to do

everything comes in medical journals and in

segmentation of oncologists. Why the hell do

public domain because of many regulatory

you need to segment oncologists and on what

bodies.

basis you will do this segmentation considering

You

performance

cannot of

your

exaggerate product

Oh, then how do you market a drug and how do you differentiate between your drug and competitors’ drug? If your drug is a generic drug and market works on rationales then what

for

molecule

Zozzu

(It

was

a

the fact that they are already a rare species? These questions came to my mind but then I started working on my project of finding out market potential of Zozzu.

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 8


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

Week 1

4- Doctors can be divided according to their

I was given a lot of literature to read and had to

influence over their peers, no. of years of

give presentation on it. So,Lesson 1: one need

practice, no. of patients they see and their

to be through in science before showing face to

loyalty to a company. This information may

a doctor. Let’s find out what Rahul was doing

look useless but this information is in mind of

all this time. Hmmm! He was studying

everybody in sales team about a doctor because

different type of markets that’s Lesson 2: one

it helps in easy profiling and strategizing before

need to understand whether one is working in

approaching a doctor.

Mass market (M.B.B.S.), Mass specializations (Pediatrics, Gynac etc), Specialized market (medicine, surgery, dermat, psychiatry etc) or

Week 3 I was ready with my questionnaire, which was

highly specialized market (neuro, onco etc).

best according to me. But then I was sent to a

For

pharma

scientific advisor of HTL in a renowned

background will it difficult to understand these

hospital of Mumbai and there after interacting

terms ( so please google them).

with the scientific advisor I realized that how

those

who

are

not

with

ignorant I was. Here comes Lesson 5: Always be

Week 2

receptive because you never know what you

I started working on questionnaire and found

don’t know. Now I met Rahul in lunch hall and

myself in a big trouble because it was difficult

we discussed our progress as usual. We also met

to decide which question to ask and which

other interns working in various divisions and

question not to. Later I understood that first I

came to know a lot about mass marketing,

should design whole research and I should

specialized marketing, and new trends in other

know clearly how I am going to estimate

marketing. While interacting with them I came

market potential of Zozzu. So, Lesson 3: One

to know that how sales force confidence in their

should clearly know and should plan out

company can be a game changer. Lesson 6:

everything about the market research before

Sales force should believe in the company and

designing questionnaire. Then I went to Rahul

the product more than anybody else. Their

and found out that he was busy dividing

confidence gets reflected in sales. Eg: Ranbaxy

doctors according to their influence over other

medical representatives (MR) used to say,

doctors or whether they are ‘thought leader’ or

“Prescribe our product because we are from

‘follower’, years of practice and how loyal they

Ranbaxy”. This may look stupid or innocuous

were to HTL and no. of patients they see in a

to other companies but in sales it got reflected

year of a particular disease. Here comes Lesson

as the best strategy.

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 9


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

Week 4,5,6,7

most read medical journals, skills upgradation

I did data collection from Mumbai, Pune,

and motivation of MRs, better distribution

Ahmedabad, New Delhi and Kolkata. I started

(keeping in mind Jagdeep Kapoor sir’s line-‘Jo

empathizing with MRs because it is really

dikhta hai, woh bikta hai’) but nowhere came

difficult to break the ice with many doctors and

recommendation of giving free Bangkok trip or

to start building up repo with them. Lesson 7:

other freebies because that’s against my

Every doctor is different and different tricks of

companies policies. Then how come this

selling are to be applied with different doctors.

company is one of the world top 5 pharma co.

After finishing my data collection part I came

and still growing. Lesson 10- One need not give

back to Mumbai for data analysis. In Mumbai

freebies to doctors to sell drugs because this

again we all interns used to meet for lunch and

market works on rational and if you are smart

used to share our experiences in various cities

enough to make doctors realize that they will

with various doctors but Divya never said

also gain if they prescribe your drug then your

anything. She must be a haughty female…huh

drug will be taken readily. But for that you

who cares. One day when I had to go to her

have to put your own rationale in line.

cubicle to discuss one matter related to, my batch mate, Mukul’s ITC issue and I came to know one more important entity in pharma its ‘Stockist’. Lesson 8: In pharma, stockists are very powerful part of supply chain and they can make or break any brand by playing with distribution of the drug in question.

Week 8 Finally my presentation was ready but then my guide wasn’t there in India and here comes another shocker; Lesson 9: Sales stint never ends in pharma. One has to go in field and talk to doctors even when one has reached highest echelon of a company. I looked at my presentation and started mulling over my recommendations. It was divided into various part like providing literature, putting articles in consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 10


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

Organizational Strategy: Centralization v/s Decentralization but these can form a base for discussion

By

between centralization and decentralization.

Saurabh Kumar MMS II, Finance, JBIMS One of the most strategy issues which organizations work on, is their organizational structure. Whether organization distributes governance among various groups and make it closer to people (Decentralization) or keep it confined to a particular group (Centralization) is an important aspect to be looked from strategy point of view. The article tries to focus on understanding what should be taken care by organizations before taking this decision regarding structure. There are basically 3 questions which need to be answered by each and every organization which is considering centralizing the structure. At least one of the questions

needs

to

be

yes

for

making

organization a centralized one. Well these questions are not the only ones to be answered,

Q1. Is centralization mandated? First check is to be done if there are some other ways to avoid centralization from coming into play. If there are other ways, explore all of them one by one having a proper discussion over each. For e.g. - The job of accounts and financial reports can be given to each of the business divisions. But this division of work will be a huge cumbersome task. Since we need to prepare a consolidated report to be signed by CEO and to be presented to shareholders, it is always better to centralize this division of the organization. Now taking example of health and safety division, it is better to decentralize this as each and every division will have different rules of safety which it follows.

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 11


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

Q2. Does centralization add significant value—10 percent?

should not be chosen. For e.g. – An initiative to

If first question turns out to be no, we should

question. The risks of bureaucratic inefficiency

adopt it after checking that it adds significant

and distraction turn out to be a minimum in

value to the organization. The bigger problem

this division if it is led by a competent expert

here is how to find out if value is being added

instead of sub-division.

centralize payroll might get an approval for this

to the organization or not as corporate strategies don’t reveal anything about the additional synergies which might come into play when different business activities are brought together in a group. One way to solve this

issue

is

checking

the

benefits

The case studies where the above framework of 3-Questions has been applied are discussed in further pages. The first one is European Automation and second is Extreme Logistics.

of

centralization with respect to a benchmark set very high which will prove that the risks which are being taken are worth it. For e.g. – It is

European Automation European Automation is a manufacturer of automated cutting and welding-equipments.

suggested to have a 10% hurdle rate as the

Q1. It failed the first test as centralized product

additional

management was not mandated.

improvement

in

profits

of

organization. This benchmark being high, will avoid unnecessary discussions on small matters and will bring focus directly on activities which have the ability to create significant impact on the decision thus improving efficiency of management.

Q2. There was no scope of cost reductions leading to savings and thus improving profit margins. increasing

So,

the

sales

or

options higher

left

included

prices

or

a

combination of both. It was estimated that after choosing the integrated product range, it might result in additional sales volume to customers

Q3. Are the risks low? Most of the organizations will not be able to qualify the above 2 questions. For those organizations, we need to work to find out if

thus boosting profit margins. It was felt that hurdle rate of 10% will be crossed easily. Company passed the test.

the risks with the new organization structure

Q3. The organization failed this test also as the

are low or not. If the negative effects of risks

negative side effects of risks were found out not

(business

motivation,

to be low. The risks of delays, additional costs

bureaucracy, distraction) are greater than the

and uncompetitive products outweighed the

additional value being generated, this method

synergies. Also the commercial flexibility was

rigidity,

reduced

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 12


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

being lost and it could have de-motivated

motivate managers. Also, the head of HR, the

managers in the businesses on losing their

CEO, and the CFO all lacked experience

existing authority over activities.

running a centralized system. Hence, they

After 2 years, analysis of European Automation says that they are doing as what they expected. Their market share is up and products are better aligned with market serving large number of customers. But the results don’t only point to above 3 questions, it also throws light on hard-work and real risks involved.

provider of food services to drilling, mining, operations

centre from the earlier identified areas of value addition. In this case, the 3 questions framework led to meaningful conversations that took managers in unexpected and beneficial directions. They demanded setting up business improvements

Extreme Logistics has business as a global other

bureaucracy and will distract the corporate

went to work on second question and

Extreme Logistics

and

feared that the new system will adopt

in

out-of-the-way

locations.

targets for each division or changing of bottom 20% of management talent. By seeing the above cases and analyzing the ideologies both put in favour and against of

Q1. The initiative did not turn out to be a mandated one. So this test failed.

centralization, we can say that these questions help companies strike the right balance between centralization and decentralization

Q2. The additional values being added seen

today and to evolve their organizations

were

successfully as conditions change over time.

like

initiative,

encouraging coordinating

entrepreneurial

global

customers,

managing local governments, and centralizing common operating activities. But these values did not seem to add more than 10% and thus failing to pass this test. They could only cross this hurdle rate of 10% if they followed 5% cost reduction and 10% improvement in quality of managers which was not possible with centralization.

References www.mckinsey.com

Q3. The proposal failed this hurdle also. Some

www.epa.gov/records/tools/central.htm

of the business presidents thought it would deconsultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 13


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

CASE STUDY ON COLLINS FOODS Collins Foods is a company that sells hot dogs and other packaged meat products, such as salami and lunch meats, in the United States. Collins Foods’ products are primarily sold through grocery stores. While not a very large company, it has strong brand recognition in the packaged meat market and a reputation for high quality products. Collins Foods’ customers are large grocery store chains or grocery distributors, who sell to smaller chains or independent grocery stores across the US. The prices, which Collins Foods presents to these chains or distributors, are negotiated individually and depend on many factors. Some of these factors include the volume to be purchased, whether the customer is a new customer or an existing one, and any promotional or marketing arrangements that have been agreed upon with the customer. The stores then sell the products to consumers at a higher price in order to make a profit. Table 1 shows Collins Foods’ data on this year’s sales revenue and the average annual revenue growth over the last 5 years. The data in Table 1 is broken down by major product category.

Table 1 Recent Revenue and Revenue Growth Data for Collins Foods Revenue this year

Average annual revenue growth over last 5 years

All beef hot dogs

$366.7m

4.2%

Other packaged meat

$65.3m

1.5%

Sliced meat

$55.3m

1.2%

Other products (e.g., pickles, sauces)

$15.1m

-7.0%

Collins Foods manufactures all of its own products and invests significantly more resources than its competitors to ensure superior quality. This is especially valuable to them because this type of product has a poor overall reputation for quality in the United States.

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 14


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

Collins Foods was founded almost 100 years ago, and until recently, was run as a family business. However, after almost a decade of poor sales growth, the company was acquired last year by a major conglomerate, FoodInc, with the goal of increasing sales. The CEO of Collins Foods has asked a McKinsey team to help him identify ways to improve sales growth while maintaining good levels of profitability. He states that a 10% annual sales growth should be the target. In five years time, he wants to be able to look back and see an annual sales growth of 10% or more for each of the previous 2 years, or Collins Foods will no longer be part of FoodInc. Exhibit 1 represents four potential scenarios for Collins Foods’ future sales growth, with Year 0 representing this year.

Questions continued from previous edition The team decides to focus more on the all beef hot dog product category, as it is by far Collins Foods’ largest percentage of sales. As part of the work, the team decides it is worthwhile to investigate Collins Foods’ current consumer base for this category. This consumer base is thought to consist mainly of Jewish households because the product satisfies their Collins food requirement.

The team decides to investigate the potential impact of different types of marketing efforts on sales of Collins Foods’ hot dogs. In particular, the idea of a 5% retail price reduction coupled with mass consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 15


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

media advertising of the reduction is suggested, especially for cities known to be more pricesensitive. Los Angeles is an example of one of these cities and the team decides to estimate the potential of this strategy in Los Angeles. The head of sales for Collins Foods gives you the following information: •

The advertising campaign would cost $2.1 million

Collins Foods has 1 million hot dog purchasers in Los Angeles, who buy one pack of six hot dogs per month on average

The average price to grocery chains and distributors of a pack of six hot dogs is $10

The retail price of a pack of six hot dogs is $11

Collins Foods makes a 20% profit margin on hot dogs

This campaign will not impact the profit in dollars made by the store per pack of six hot dogs sold

5. Which of the following statements, if true, would best support an argument AGAINST implementing this price reduction campaign in Los Angeles? A) Consumers purchase Collins Foods’ hot dogs because they believe they taste better than other hot dogs and are made from fresher ingredients B) Collins Foods has never used a price reduction marketing strategy on hot dogs in the 100 years of its existence and many of the senior management would feel that such a move would not suit the brand values C) All large grocery chains stock one premium, one mid-range, and one economy hot dog product and the 5% reduction would move Collins Foods’ hot dogs from premium to mid- range D) A similar strategy was attempted for one of Collins Foods’ pickles products recently and only resulted in a 2% growth in sales volume, which translated to a 3% reduction in sales revenue

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 16


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

6. What is the average profit, in dollars per hot dog, made by Collins Foods before implementing this campaign? A) $0.33 B) $0.67 C) $1.67 D) $2.00 7. FoodInc requires all marketing campaigns to pay back the initial investment within the first year. What percentage increase in the number of hot dogs sold would be required in the first year of the Los Angeles price reduction campaign in order to pay back the advertising investment? A) 20% B) 30% C) 40% D) 50%

The marketing manager of Collins Foods expresses concern about the impact of this price reduction campaign on consumer perceptions of the brand. He states that a price reduction of 5% is pretty significant and may in itself be detrimental to the premium brand image, which drives a lot of sales.

8. Which of the following statements, if true, would best support the marketing manager’s assertion? A) In a recent survey, Collins Foods’ consumers quoted “price” as the second most important indicator of quality in a list of ten factors B)

In a recent survey, Collins Foods’ consumers quoted “price” as the eighth most important factor out of ten in their decision to buy a product

C) In a recent survey, 78% of Collins Foods’ consumers said they would still buy Collins Franks’ hot dogs even with a 10% price increase D) In a recent survey, 34% of Collins Foods’ customers said they would never consider buying another brand of hot dog

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 17


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

Solution to July 2011 Convoyage 1. According to the CEO of Collins Foods, which of the scenarios presented in Exhibit 1 would satisfy FoodInc’s requirements?

A.) Scenario A B.) Scenario B C.) Scenario C D.) Scenario D Ans.) B – Observation of Exhibit 1 shows that Scenario B is the only scenario involving a 10% or greater sales growth for each of the previous two years (Year 3-4 growth is approximately 12 points on a base of approximately 104 = 11.5% growth, while Year 4-5 growth is approximately 14 points on a base of 117 = 11.9% growth). 2. Which of the following measures, if done alone, would definitely NOT help address the objectives of the CEO of Collins Foods? A) Lowering the price of select Collins Foods’ products B)Introducing new products into the Collins Foods’ range C) Removing a category of products from the existing Collins Foods’ range D) Increasing the advertising of Collins Foods’ products in the mass media Ans.) C – From Table 1, there is no single product category that, if removed, would improve annual sales growth to the level of 10% required by the CEO. Options A, B and D all have the possibility of generating additional sales growth. 3. Which of the following statements is valid based on the data in Table 1? A)Revenue for “Other products” was more than $20 million five years ago B)Hot dog revenue was more than $350 million five years ago C)Sales of sliced meats grew by no less than 1.2% in each of the last five years D)Total sales for Collins Foods did not grow at all in the last five years Ans.) A – Using the information on current revenues and growth rates in Table 1, it can be calculated that this response is the only one that is valid. Since the average revenue grew - 7.0% every year, the revenue five years ago was approximately $21.71 million, which is more than $20 million.

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 18


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

4. Which of the following values is the best estimate of Collins Foods’ revenue in Year 4 under Scenario C A) $441m B) $495m C) $549m D) $603m Ans.) 4. D – From Table 1, total revenue this year is $502.4m. According to Scenario C in Exhibit 1, Year 4 revenue will represent 120% of this year’s revenue. The closest figure to this is $603m.

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 19


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

WORD PUZZLE Theme: Finance Find the words below in the grid. All words are related to Finance. Words can go horizontally, vertically and diagonally, backwards or forwards

G

F

Y

R

E

K

O

R

B

K

M

H

N

Z

C

M

D

N

E

T

F

P

S

R

O

Y

A

L

T

Y

T

G

N

T

Z

T

R

K

P

H

M

M

T

S

D

P

Z

L

U

X

R

O

C

N

G

P

S

E

D

N

U

D

J

R

F

B

F

O

V

K

E

R

E

T

E

R

R

A

N

T

P

I

T

G

R

A

L

X

C

D

K

B

T

G

M

Y

T

S

E

H

Z

C

C

N

I

N

M

X

P

E

M

T

T

S

W

D

M

H

G

V

A

H

Y

N

M

N

N

T

N

E

M

Y

A

P

I

B

Q

Y

I

E

I

T

Y

K

T

P

W

N

Z

D

H

I

N

V

E

S

T

M

E

N

T

B

G

D

D

H

H

L

J

X

L

M

N

L

L

L

N

E

E

Y

J

O

X

M

K

D

D

L

B

P

G

D

B

C

L

S

M

C

K

R

V

Z

Q

B

Q

M

T

L

N

J

K

W

M

V

I

A

B

L

E

X

T

K

Y

Z

B

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 20


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

CONSULTING FUN

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 21


CONVOYAGE

Aug ‘11

The Consulting Club -Enhancing Quality… Contact us- consultingclub@jbims.edu Web Site: https://sites.google.com/a/jbims.edu/consultingclub/ Members

Mayank Goel

Parinita Jatkar

Cell - +91 9920018159

Cell - +91 9867798948

Email id - mayankgoel12@jbims.edu

Email id - parinitajatkar12@jbims.edu

Pramod Kanojia

Kush Tandon

Cell - +91 9867393620

Cell - +91 9987442845

Email id - pramodkanojia12@jbims.edu

Email id – kushtandon12@jbims.edu

consultingclub@jbims.edu

Page 22


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.