MNMNMNM2610/202/2/2013

Tutorial Letter 202/2/2013

DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT

MNM2610
Semesters 2


Department of
Marketing and Retail Management











Bar code

MNM2610/202


2
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Guidelines for answering assignment 02
3. Concluding remark

1 INTRODUCTION

You are now well on your way with your studies in the 2013 academic year. I trust that you will
attempt to do assignment 03 on your own and then compare your answer to the guidelines given
in Tutorial Letter 101. Merely reading our guidelines to these assignments will not help you at all
in getting to know how to structure an assignment answer and in your preparation for the
examination. Compare the guidelines to assignment 01 given below and make sure you
understand why you have answered some question incorrectly. The lecturer for this module is Mr
Danie Theron. His contact details are as follows:
Office: AJH 3-11
Tel: 012 429 8303
Fax: 086 641 5164
E-mail: marketing@unisa.ac.za

Please note that you should only contact the lecturer if you have academic enquiries (that is,
enquires about the content of the module). The marketing department can be contacted at 012
429 8303. Administrative enquiries concerning fees, receipt of assignments, exam dates, et
cetera should be directed to the relevant administrative departments as indicated in Tutorial
Letter 101/3/2013.

2 GUIDELINES FOR ANSWERING ASSIGNMENT 02

Question 1

The correct answer is 1.

This question relates to section 1.4 in the prescribed book. You will notice that gaps exist
between organisations and their customers that needs to be bridged in order for the customers to
be satisfied and the organisations to reach their market share and profitability goals. There are
six gaps shown in Figure 1.1 of the prescribed book and four utilities that an organisation needs
to deliver in order to close these gaps. These utilities are delivered by performing three sets of
channel activities, namely transactional, physical and facilitating activities. You must know these
three dimensions for the examination. Please note that the heading of section 1.4.2 should read
Channel activities performed by intermediaries. These activities are also discussed in sec 2.7 of
the prescribed book.



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Question 2

The correct answer is 3.

An indirect channel is one where intermediaries are utilised to get the product to the final
consumer, whereas a direct channel implies that the manufacturer sells the product directly to the
final consumers. You may have felt that option 1 can also be an example of direct distribution, but
no mention is made that the importer does not make use of intermediaries to carry the product to
the consumers.

Question 3

The correct answer is 4.

Option 1 is wrong because the channel does not end at the retailer, but at the consumer and
even further down. Option 2 is wrong because value is not only added to the raw materials, but
throughout the value chain. Logistics refer only the physical movement of the product through
the channel to the final consumer and represents only one of many activities performed in the
value chain.

Question 4

The correct answer is 1.

Intensive, selective and intensive distribution and its relationship with convenience, shopping and
specialty products were discussed in question 3 and 4 of assignment 01. Please study the
answers to these two questions in Tutorial letter 201.

Question 5

This question has not been marked. The correct answer is 4.

Although some wholesalers focus on transporting products to retailers and to final customers
(truck jobbers) they do not perform the tasks that are mention in the question header.The parties
in a distribution channel (intermediaries) are discussed in sec 3.2 in the study guide and in sec
1.2, 3.3 and 4.4 in the prescribed book. You must study these sections VERY well as you will
definitely receive a question(s) about these intermediaries in the examination.

Question 6

The correct answer to this question is 1.

This question is taken from section 4.7 in the prescribed book. However, this section should not
read: Techniques to select the best distribution channel option, but rather: Aspects/factors to
consider when selecting a distribution channel option. The focus in this question is on the
constraints placed on the business due to its size, which refers to an internal characteristic.

Question 7

The correct answer is 4.


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The correct answer to this question is obvious. Transport management is a sub-activity of
logistics management.


4
Question 8

The answer to this question is 3. Vertical integration. The only other option that may have been
considered is channel design, but that refers to the development of a new distribution channel (or
also reconstructing an existing one) and is performed by means of the five steps in planning a
distribution channel. Study sec 4.2 and 4.3 in the prescribed book in this regard.

Question 9

The correct answer is 2.

This question is taken from sec 7.9 in the prescribed book. You must know this section well for
the examination.

Question 10

The correct answer is 2 which is not true for internet marketing. However, this question concerns
Internet marketing which focuses more on the promotional/communication role of marketing and
therefore falls outside the ambit of this module. You should rather focus on online distribution
functions and activities, which is what chapter 8 of the prescribed book is all about.

3 CONCLUDING REMARKS

You are once again invited to contact us if you experience any problems with your studies.
Kind regards,

Mr DP Theron
Department of Marketing and Retail Management
Unisa








MNM2610/202