University of Cologne
Dr. M. Käuferle
Department of Retailing and
Customer Management
SS 15
Channel Management
Syllabus SS 15
University of Cologne
Department of Retailing and Customer Management
Albertus-Magnus-Platz 1
50923 Cologne
Phone +49 221 470-5751
Fax +49 221 470-5191
For further questions on Channel Management, please contact
Dr. Monika Käuferle
Email: kaeuferle@wiso.uni-koeln.de
Phone: 0221-4704364
© Department of Retailing and Customer Management, University of Cologne
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Course Description
This course is about how companies go-to-market. In other words, how and why do
organizations choose various modes of getting in touch with the final consumer?
For example, Starbucks owns its stores. On the other hand, McDonalds franchises most of its
stores. While both chains worry about store performance why do they implement such a
different approach?
Another example: Sony and Apple have started to build their own flagship stores - selling
directly to the end customer (and thereby competing with their own customers like
MediaMarkt and Saturn). On the other hand, Philips only supplies to the retailers and decided
not to sell simultaneously directly and indirectly. Which approach is more reasonable?
This course is designed for students interested in understanding distribution channels and
helping organizations leverage distribution channels for value creation, market differentiation
and competitive advantage. Distribution channels refer to the collective set of organizations
that efficiently transmit products/services from the point(s) of conception to the point(s) of
consumption.
As one of the "4 Ps" in marketing (Place), distribution channels and go-to-market issues are
one of the most dynamically changing issues in marketing. Product proliferation, media
fragmentation, retailer power and the internet among other things have conspired to place a
premium on effective channel design and management. The success of Dell, Wal-Mart,
Carrefour, Dairy Farm, Unilever, P&G, etc., reveals that careful attention to distribution can
have tremendous payoffs.
The organization of this course reflects this newfound interest in channels. It is focused on the
organization and management of relationships between the intermediaries in a distribution
channel.
Course Objectives
An understanding of the interactions between institutions in a channel (all the way from the
point of conception of a product/service to point of consumption and beyond) and its
implications for effective delivery of value to the end consumer
A set of analytical frameworks, concepts and tools for critical thinking about channel design,
channel coordination and overall channel performance.
Required Textbook
-
Coughlan, Anne, Erin Anderson, Louis W. Stern, and Adel El-Ansary (2006), Marketing
Channels, 7/E (International Edition), Upper Saddle River, NY: Prentice Hall.
Coughlan, Anne, Erin Anderson, Louis W. Stern, and Adel El-Ansary (2006), Marketing
Channels, 7/E (Classic Edition), Upper Saddle River, NY: Prentice Hall.
You can either use the International Edition or the Classic Edition.
© Department of Retailing and Customer Management, University of Cologne
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Course Structure
The course Channel Management consists of three complementary types of classes:
Lecture, exercise (discussion of book exercises), and tutorial (discussion of case studies).
It is highly recommended to attend all different types of classes to pass the final exam
successfully.
1) Channel Management (Lecture) – 1100
Instructor:
Lecture Hall:
Language:
Meetings:
Prof. Dr. Werner Reinartz
HS I
English
Tuesdays 08.15 am – 09.45 am, and
Tuesdays 10.00 am – 11.30 am
Period:
02.06.2015 – 14.07.2015
 2 meetings a week need to be attended
 Guest lecture: 07.07.2015, 10.00am-11.30am (Mars)
Chapters in textbook (see course outline).
Required Preparation:
2) Channel Management (Exercise) – 1101
Instructor:
Lecture Hall:
Language:
Meetings:
Period:
Required Preparation:
Dr. Monika Käuferle
Aula 1
English
Mondays 08.00 am – 09.30 am or
Mondays noon – 01.30 pm
15.06.2015 – 13.07.2015
 1 out of 2 meetings a week needs to be attended
 Guest lecture: 22.06.2015, noon – 1.30pm (P&G)
Relevant exercises will be announced before class.
3) Channel Management (Tutorial) – 1100a
Instructors:
Lecture Hall:
Period:
Donya Mirzaee, Dino Scheidt, Pia Söldner
Wiso building, room 310
15.06.2015 – 16.07.2015
 1 meeting a week needs to be attended
Mondays:
04.00 pm – 05.30 pm (Donya Mirzaee)
05.45 pm – 07.15 pm (Donya Mirzaee)
02.00 pm – 03.30 pm (Pia Söldner)
04.00 pm – 05.30 pm (Dino Scheidt)
05.45 pm – 07.15 pm (Dino Scheidt)
Tuesdays:
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Wednesdays:
11:45 am – 13.15 pm (Pia Söldner)
04.00 pm – 05.30 pm (Dino Scheidt)
05.45 pm – 07.15 pm (Dino Scheidt)
Language of instruction for all tutorials: English
Required Preparation: Questions on case studies will be announced online before class
1. Verklar Austria (Session 1 & 2)
2. Invisalign: Orthodontists unwired (Session 3 & 4)
3. Centra Software (Session 5)
Case Studies can be bought in front of the lecture hall (HS I) on:
02.06.2015 (11.30 am), 09.06.2015 (11.30 am), 16.06.2015 (11.30 am)
(€10 in total; no change available; please buy the case studies only during these time slots!)
Final Examination
The final exam (60 min) can be passed on two dates in ST 15:
1. 20.07.2015, 10.30 am (Registration until 29.06.2015)
2. 28.09.2015, 10.30 am (Registration until 27.08.2015)
 You may bring a non-programmable calculator to the exam.
 Dictionaries are only allowed if you carry a permission of the WiSo-Prüfungsamt.
Please keep in mind that you need to register for this exam online on the website of the
WiSo-Prüfungsamt (http://www.wiso.uni-koeln.de/pa).
For all students:
 Please keep in mind that you need to register for the exam within the given
registration period. It is NOT possible to register after the respective registration
period!
For all exchange students:
 Please note that it is required to take the course exam in Germany, at the
University of Cologne. We do NOT offer fax exams!
Course Schedule and Readings
 Unless otherwise noted, all stated page numbers refer to both, the international and the
classic edition!
© Department of Retailing and Customer Management, University of Cologne
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Topic 1
Overview of the Course
 This class provides an introduction to Channel Management and an overview of the
course. You will learn what exactly a marketing channel is, and why it exists.
 Required reading: Chapter 1 in textbook (7th edition)
Topic 2
Segmenting for Channel Design: Service Outputs
 Customers differ in their demands for product characteristics and services. Aiming to
maximize profits, a firm tries to meet each customer’s demands by segmenting the
customer base into homogeneous subgroups that can be targeted individually.
You will learn about the process of segmentation and take a closer look at the major
service outputs that are demanded by customers.
 Required reading: Chapter 2 in textbook (7th edition)
Topic 3
Supply Side Channel Analysis: Channel Flows and Efficiency Analysis
 A product’s way from the manufacturer/supplier to the end-user entails various tasks
(called channel flows) that need to be fulfilled by the members of the marketing channel
to satisfy the customers’ demands (e.g. storage, order- and delivery-processing, etc.).
In a perfectly fair world, the resulting profits should consequently be distributed among
the channel members involved according to their contribution to the channel tasks.
You will learn to identify the type and amount of work each channel member has to bear,
and to evaluate the importance of each channel flow for the provision of service outputs.
You will finally be able to identify the corresponding share of profits each channel
member should collect.
 Required reading: Chapter 3 in textbook (7th edition)
Topic 4
Supply Side Channel Analysis: Channel Structure and Intensity
 Different firms pursue different distribution strategies. Some try to make their products as
widely available as possible; others maintain an air of exclusivity by offering them in a
selected number of points of purchase.
This topic deals with the evaluation of different levels of distribution intensity and their
effects on the market.
 Required reading: Chapter 4 in textbook (7th edition)
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Topic 5
Gap Analysis
 Purchase strategies of firms are a challenging tradeoff between a firm’s aim to satisfy its
customers’ demands and to minimize costs at the same time. Any deviation of this
optimum, which could be the over- or undersupply of service outputs, or service outputs
supplied at too high costs, is called a channel gap.
We will discuss about sources of channel gaps and ways to close discovered gaps. You
will learn to evaluate firms’ channel management by implementing a so called gap
analysis.
 Required reading: Chapter 5 in textbook (7th edition)
Topic 6
Channel Power
 Power is a critical feature of the functioning of marketing channels. Working together on
a product’s way to the market channel members face several situations of disagreement as
each party tries to maximize its own profits. The existence of between-channel member
dependencies usually provides stronger negotiation power to one of the channel members.
Using this power, one party is usually able to alter the other party’s behavior for its own
advantage.
We will identify different sources and kinds of power and discuss about positive and
negative effects of playing on unequal dependencies.
 Required reading: Chapter 6 in textbook (7th edition)
Topic 7
Channel Conflict
 The word “conflict” is very often used in a negative sense. But it can actually even help to
improve the achievements of a channel. You will take part in a group exercise, which will
help us to identify different kinds of conflict and their effect on cooperation results.
 Required reading: Chapter 7 in textbook (except: sidebars; p. 271-281 resolution
strategies; 7th edition)
Topic 8
Vertical Integration
 Vertical integration refers to a firm’s ownership and control in the vertical value chain. In
this class you will learn about different kinds of vertical integration. We will take a closer
look at some contemporary vertical integration strategies, why they occur, and what their
impact is on a channel strategy.
 Required reading: Chapter 9 in textbook (except: sidebars; p. 367-369 VI as
observatory; 7th edition)
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Topic 9
Multichannel Management
 The identification of a product’s most efficient route to the market has become a
sophisticated challenge for managers. Using several different routes to the market a firm
risks escalating intrabrand competition. But as a firm needs to be able to challenge its
competitors, it is at the same time important to satisfy the customers’ demands for wider
availability, greater convenience of purchase.
The goal of this class is to identify drivers of channel choice and discuss about the
development of multichannel strategies.
 Required reading: pp. 141-144, 257-263 (7th edition), and 412-415 in textbook
(7th edition, international edition only) and 460-463 in textbook (7th edition, classic edition
only) resp.
Topic 10
Retailing
 A dominant channel format in all economies is the retailing format. This Topic will
provide you with an overview of the retailing domain. We will take a closer look at the
strategic planning process in retailing as well as trends and current issues in retailing.
 No required reading
Topic 11
Franchising
 Another widely used (and growing) channel format is franchising. Franchising refers to
the methods of practicing and using another person's philosophy of business. In this class
you will learn about different types of franchising, about advantages and disadvantages,
opportunities and risks.
 Required reading: Chapter 12 in textbook (international edition only), Chapter 13 (classic
edition only)
Topic 12
Summary and Wrap-up
 No required reading
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