THE WALL STREETJOURNAL.
INPRACTICE
Marketingchannelsconnectpro-
ducersandconsumersbymoving
finishedgoodsthatareavailable
forconsumption.Channelmanage-
mentisa processinvolvingcareful
planningandmonitoring. Aswith
othermarketingfunctions,market-
ingchannelshaveobjectivesthat
guidetheiractivities.
Tosuccessfullymanagedistri-
butionchannels,marketersmust
analyzeendconsumers, establish
channelobjectives,specifychannel
tasks,selecttheappropriatechan-
nel,andevaluateresultsofthe
process.Ifthesestepsareexecuted
successfully,marketerscanhelp
theirorganizationssavecosts.
Severalprofessionalandtrade
associationsexistforchannelman-
agersandthoseinvolvedinthe
process.TheAmericanSocietyof
TransportationandLogistics
(www.astl.org)isa professional
organizationfoundedin 1946 bya
groupofindustryleaderstoensure
a highlevelof professionalismand
promotecontinuingeducationin
thefieldoftransportationand
logistics.
TheNationalAssociationof
V\'holesalers-Distributors
(www.naw.org)comprisesover 100
nationalline-of-tradeassociations,
representingvirtuallyallproducts
thatmovetomarketviawhole-
saler-distributors.
TheNationalRetailFedera-
tion(www.nrf.com)conductspro-
gramsandservicesinresearch,
education,training,information
technology,andgovernmentaffairs
toprotectandadvancetheinterests
oftheretailindustry.NRFalso
includesinitsmembershipkeysup-
pliersofgoodsandservicestothe
retail industry.
Marketingchannelscanmake
orbreakInternetcompanies.Many
Internetcompaniesattempttodif-
ferentiatethemselvesbyproviding
fastdeliveryofcustomerorders
anywhereintheworld.Toachieve
this,thesecompaniesmustsuccess-
fullymanagetheirmarketingchan-
nels.TheInteractiveJournal'sTech
Centerisanexcellentsourceforall
issuesrelatedtotechnology.
Keepapprisedofemerging
technologies, developmentsinspe-
cificcompanies,andindustrytrends
byreadingarticlesin TechCenter
and Marketplace.DELIVERABLE
Useth e InteractiveJournalto
searchforarticlesaboutoneorgan-
izationthatsuccessfullymanages
channelsandoneorganizationthat
doesnot.Comparethestrategiesof
bothcompaniesanddiscusswhat
worksandwhatdoesnotworkfor
eachorganization.Supportyour
conclusionswithconceptsfTOmthe
chapter.DISCUSSIONQUESTIONS- Whydoorganizationsneedto
effectivelymanagetheirchan-
nelsofdistribution?Whathap-
penswhentheydonot? - Howdoesineffectivechannel
managementaffectcon-
sumers?Anorganization'srev-
enuestream? - Whatroledoestechnology
playinchannelmanagement?
Whattypesoftechnologycan
organizationsusetoimprove
channelmanagement?
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