274 CHAPTER 10 CHANNELCONCEPTS:DISTRIBUTINGTHEPRODUCT
Conflict
Anytimeindividualsororganizationsmustworktogetherandrelyoneachotherforpe~
sonalsuccess, conflictisinevitable.Conflict,unlikefriendlycompetition,ispersonaland
directandoftensuggestsa confrontation. Becauseit is sopervasiveindistribution,a great
dealofresearchh~$beenconductedmattemptstoidentifyitscauses,outcomes,andsolutions.
Thereisalsoa needtomanageconflictinthechannel.Thiscon:;istsof(1)estab,
lishinga mechani.smfordetectingconflicl,(2)appraisingtheeffectsoftheconflict, and
(3)resolvingtheconflict.Thislastconsiderationis mostdifficulttoimplement.Techniques
suchasa channelcommittee,jomtgoalsetting,andbringinginanarbitratorhaveallbeen
used.Thereareevencaseswhenconflictisnecessary.Suchisthecaseinthee-market-
place.Forexample,AnneMulcahy,PresidentofXeroxGeneralMarketsOperation,notes,
"Thosethatdon't aggressivelyembracemultiplechannelsformultipleproductswillget
leftbehind.Theinherent conflictinthisbusinessmodeiisnotonly a realityofbusiness;
it'sa signof a healthycompany."
Power
Powerisourwillingnesstouseforceina relationship.Itisoftenthemeansbywhichwe
areabletocontrolorinfluencethebehaviorofanothe~party.Inthechannelmechanism,
powerreferstothecapacityofa particularchannelmembertocontrolorinfluencethebehav-
iorofanotherchannel member. Forinstance,a largeretailermaywantthemanufacturel' to
modifythedesignoftheproductorperhapsberequiredtocarrylessinventory. Bothpar-
tiesmayattempttoexerttheirpowerinan attempttoinfluencetheother'sbehavior. T;le
abilityofeithe:-ofthepartiestoachievethisoutcomewilldependupontheamountofpower
thateachcanbringtobear.
MARKETING CAPSULE •
1.Threegeneralalternatives existinorganizingthechannel:
conventional, vertical, andhorizontal.
2.Thestepsinchanneldesignincludethefollowing:
a. Analyzethe consumer
b. Establishchannelobjectives
c. Specifythechanneltasks
d.Selecttheappropriatechannelfromavailable
alternatives
e. Evaluatetheresults
J .Channels mayexhibitseveralhumantraits:
a. Role
b. 2 ommunication
c. Conflict
d.Power