Internship Report on Activity of ACME Agrovet and Beverage Limited

The purpose of this report is to find out and analyze the current market position and marketing plan of the portfolio “ACME” and stands with different marketing strategies for, ACME’s various new products. Other discussions are to analyze the current market and compare the market shares and find out the comparative position of the company. As well as know about ACME Agrovet and Beverage Company as a whole. Finally, identify some problems and recommend solutions for solving the problems faced by the organization.

Company Overview

Since 1954, The ACME Laboratories Ltd. has been doing their operation in Bangladesh and today, it is one of the most successful business conglomerates having sister concerns and investments in various sectors in lot other areas in Bangladesh.

Historical Background

The history of The ACME Laboratories Ltd. dates back to 1954 when a proprietorship firm was founded to manufacture ethical drugs. It started with the modest introduction of a few oral liquid products. The late Hamidur Rahman Sinha was the founder of the firm and was the main visionary of the organization until his sad demise in 1994.

The firm was converted into a private Limited company in the year 1976. Commercial operation at the modernized plant equipped with sophisticated and advanced facilities began toward the end of 1983. Many challenges were overcome successfully to transform the company from a small unit to what it is today.

ACME continuously seeks to expand its production facilities, add employees and increase its sales and marketing efforts. According to the latest statistics, out of about 300 pharmaceutical companies in the country, The ACME Labs is one of the top four.

ACME has also endeavored to strengthen its network in international marketing operations to export its products abroad. We are optimistic about our continued growth and success.

Over the years our high achievement drive, our hardworking and competent staff and confidence in our quality products have contributed to our growth. We have clear goals that inspire us and we believe to be possible for us to reach. We continuously strive to reach our goal of being the best in our field which indeed is what ACME literally stands for.

Company Background

ACME refers the “the apex” or the “highest point”. Health vigor and happiness is the philosophy of the ACME Laboratories. Its endeavor is to produce, distribute best quality drugs for the society and maintain the quality of the product in every step of production. It also accelerates its activities for materializing the WHO (World health organization) ensuring health for all within 2015.

ACME Group is one of the leading and diversified global conglomerates in Bangladesh, with offices in all major cities, employing over 3000+ employees and dedicated to bringing the highest quality products and services to our customers. ACME continuously seeks to expand its production facilities, add employees and increase its sales and marketing efforts.  According to the latest statistics, out of about 300 pharmaceutical companies in the country, The ACME Labs is one of the top four.

The ACME Laboratories Ltd, the pharmaceutical major and the flagship Company of the ACME Group, is a Manufacturer and Global exporter of Human, Herbal and Veterinary Pharmaceutical products. Our comprehensive Product List ranges from Antibiotics to Histamines to Vitamins.

Historical Achievement of the ACME Laboratories Ltd:

ACME is one of the leading pharmaceuticals company in Bangladesh. The topmost pharmaceuticals company that has a large contribution to the society and controls the drug market possessing a huge market share in Bangladesh ACME is one of those. Late Md. Hamidur Rahaman is the founder of the ACME Laboratories.

1954- ACME Laboratories established as a proprietorship for manufacturing Pharmaceutical items.

1976- ACME Laboratories converted into a private limited company.

1978- Introduces to produce Tablet and Capsule in new premises.

1983 – Commercial operation with the modern facility at Dhamrai, 6 acres land 32 km from Dhaka.

1987- Cream and ointment added in production.

1990-Achieve average 25% growth rate compared to the 13% registered by pharmaceutical sectors.

1992- Introduce injectable products.

1997- Agro vet Division of manufacturing of veterinary and animal healthcare drugs in the independent factory.

About Acme Agrovet and Beverage Ltd.

With a vision to ensure the health, vigor, and happiness for all, ACME began its journey in 1954 with a small pharmaceutical production facility. In the year 2005, ACME celebrated its 50th anniversary of establishment.

Over a little more than 50 years, ACME has become one of the largest conglomerates in the country. In pursuit of excellence, ACME flourished its business in various sectors including pharmaceutical, FMCG/ Agrovet, and Beverages, Textile and Information Technology. With a yearly turn over of $70m, and a workforce of more than 3200 ACME has become a phenomenon in the country.

Using the experience of manufacturing ethical medicine, ACME ventured to establish THE ACME AGROVET AND BEVERAGES LTD. in 2005. Primarily it started with a small range of products like ACME mango and orange juice, which is followed by the introduction of ACME mineral water, ACME Spice, and ACME Tea. Currently, THE ACME AGROVET AND BEVERAGES LTD. is pondering to introduce a wide range of products, some of which are in the process of development.

Mission Statement

Our holistic approach is to ensure Health, Vigor, and Happiness for all by manufacturing ethical drugs and medicines of the highest quality at affordable prices and reaching out even to the remotest areas by the proper distribution network. We view ourselves as partners with doctors, our customers, our employees and our environment. At present, Globalization is our top corporate priority.

Vision

Our Vision is to reach out even to the remotest areas of Bangladesh and improve lives with quality products at an affordable price.The ACME Agrovet and Beverages Ltd. started its venture in 2005 with orange and mango juice. Then it introduced drinking mineral water.Latest of their product is ACME Spice and ACME Premium Gold Tea. It has established a modernized plan in Bangladesh located at Hemayetpur. The plant is equipped with modernized technological facilities and run by qualified personnel in accordance with the stringent guideline of BSTI.

Research Methodology:-

Importance of the Study

This report is very important from the company’s viewpoints as well as me. Besides giving me a real-world exposure, this report would also enable the company to understand the market from a different angle. With a lot of tea products, mineral water and juices in the market, the competition is getting intense with foreign players already playing a key role to shape the perception and choices of the consumers. When it comes to juices, people in Bangladesh do not understand the importance of daily juice consumption, as it is very much visible in the western world. Moreover, Spa, Mum, Fresh and other mineral water brands are capturing market share fiercely. On the other hand, Tea and mustard oil is a newer product for ACME and it is not yet distributed on a large scale. Therefore this research would help the company and allow me to study the current market.

Objective of the Study

Obviously, the report would lead us towards what information we want from the market. Therefore, it is very important for us to have objectives of our own to carry out the report in order to have a proper guideline throughout the report.

Broad Objective

To find out and analyze the current market scenario and marketing plan of the portfolio “ACME” and come up with different promotional strategies for, ACME Sip Mango and Orange Juice and ACME Premium Gold Tea, ACME spices and ACME Mustard Oil.

Specific Objectives

• To analyze the current market and compare the market shares.
• Developing a set of desired traits necessary for a successful marketing plan.
• Find out the comparative position of the company.
• To know about ACME Agrovet and Beverage Company as a whole.
• To know about different activity done in an FMCG.
• To recommend solutions for solving the problems faced by the organization.
• Providing general idea about the spice, juice, tea and mustard oil industry of Bangladesh.

Methodology

This report has been developed using both primary and secondary data collected from the related people including existing vendors, service providers and most importantly the sales force members. The internet was widely accessed to find vital data regarding the current trends and the organizational data. In addition to that, several magazines and journals were used to get the detailed idea about this industry. Most of the data used in this report regarding the company policies and management practices were collected from the employees of “The ACME Agrovet & Beverage Ltd.” at the corporate headquarters.  I have adopted the under mentioned methods to conduct the activity-

Determining the source of information:

In the next step, I determined the source of information that would be required for the study. I used both primary and secondary data to conduct the study.

Primary Data:

I have collected primary data by interviewing employees and clients of ACME Agrovet and Beverage Ltd. Primary data derived from discussion with the employees of the organization. I have collected primary data in the following way:-

• Face to face interview with both employees and clients.
• Observing the operational activities of the organization.

Secondary Data:

Different types of data are used in this study. Sources of secondary data are as follows:

• Internal source.
• Annual report of the company.
• Preceding research report.
• Internet

External Source:

• Different books and periodical related to the marketing plan.
• Newspaper
• Other internship reports
• Friends suggestions
• Supervisors advice

Agrovet & Beverage’s Products

Meat Curry Spice:

ACME Meat Curry is Special types of ready spices mix ready to cook any types of Meat. It is delicious in taste and hygienic in the health point of view. 11 different variant spices are blended here to bring delicious taste in the Meat curry. All types of Meat curry ingredients are in the blend, only oil, onion and salt will be required to prepare the Meat Curry. It saves all types of hassle and time.
ACME Meat curry served in 25 gm pack.

Litchi Drink:

ACME Litchi Flavored Drink is a synthetic drink. These special types of Tasty drink specially prepared to achieve people’s non-carbonated flavored drinks needs. This ACME Litchi Drink fulfills the desire of having Litchi all the year round. Good amount of Vitamin C is in the Drink.

ACME Litchi Drink served in the 170 ml bottle.

Furoot Lychee:

Furoot Lychee Edible gel is a Fat-Free, Cholesterol Free, High in Fiber, Ready to Eat, Pasteurized and 100% vegetarian product.

Each Furoot Lychee is One Mini Gel (15gm) in size and serving per Jar 95 pcs (1425gm) and per pouch 18 pcs.

ACME Tomato Ketchup:

Acme Tomato Ketchup thick and rich taste comes from fresh vine-ripened tomatoes and a special blend of spices – an irresistible complement to favorite foods.

Delicious foods such as Shingara, Samucha, Puri, Peaju, Beguni, Chop, Kabab, Sandwich, Burger, Roll, Noodles, Macaroni, Chicken Fry, French Fry, Cutlet, Hotdog, Meatball and to all your favorite foods ACME Tomato Ketchup adds more taste.

Acme Tomato Ketchup is available in 340 gm glass bottle.

ACME Mustard Oil:

Acme Mustard oil is extracted from the finest grade of indigenous mustard seeds. It brings purity into your home. Acme Mustard oil is available in 80 ml, 200 ml and 500 ml per bottle.

ACME Spices:

ACME Chilli, Coriander, Turmeric and Cumin powders

A little bit of care, A little bit of love, A little bit of happiness, A little bit of hope, A little bit of hospitability, When a little bit of everything means everything. That’s when everything becomes natural and pure. Just like ACME spice.
ACME Spice has the essence of the actual spices pungent taste and aroma, required in small quantity and makes food simply marvelous.

So bring home a pack of ACME Chilli, coriander, Turmeric or Cumin powders. Because for gourmet food, you need lots of quality and a little bit of ACME powder(s). Add the two to delight the mind of others.

• No Colors
• No Additives
• Available in 200gm, 100gm,50gm and 15gm packs.

ACME Juices:

Premium Classic Mango, Orange & Mangorange juice

ACME Premium and Classic mango, orange and Mangorange juices are unique because of their taste and flavor.

The Company’s Competitive Condition and Industry Analysis

SWOT Analysis

Strength:

1. The ACME Agrovet and Beverage Ltd have got the investment backing of The ACME group. The goodwill of the Pharmaceutical business and also the marketing channels and distribution resources are being used as far as possible.
2. The experience, Office premises, Management and manufacture of the ACME group is a huge advantage for The ACME Agrovet and Beverage Ltd.
3. The Quality of the products of The ACME Agrovet and Beverages Ltd. is better than most of the local FMCG companies. Comparing the quality, the prices of the products are within the range of the target segment.

Weakness:

1. ACME group is doing business for more than 50 years. Therefore, this may result in traditional thinking at the top management level. Their experience is rooted in pharmaceuticals which are a totally different product from FMCG. Even the other departments in the group which are providing services to the Agrovet sector, have to understand the dimensions of Agrovet in order to provide the standard of Agrovet that it needs.
2. Maybe for poor salary structure or weak corporate culture, the employee turnover rate is increasing in the whole ACME group. This is also affecting the Agrovet sector. The employees lack motivation and productivity among themselves.
3. At present, there is no specialist Research and Development team in the Agrovet. It has become a barrier to effective and efficient market research, new product development, corporate strategic planning etc.
4. This FMCG market needs a lot of promotional communication in the market. It is an expense for the management. Not only ACME group, every manager should understand how brand triggers sales and they should respond accordingly. This has been the problem of the local companies where they are falling back of the MNCs like Unilever who are doing it better.
5. The Agrovet is fully dependent on either the import or local buying of raw materials depending on the product. We do not have our production facilities.
6. Due to a difference in the business ways, Agrovet is facing poor coordination among chain management from all other departments. Any support Agrovet needs from the other departments, they are not been able to deliver properly because they are trained for a printing press, pharmacy, IT and other departments, Agrovet needs specialists.
7. In order to maintain the product quality, Agrovet lacks competitive pricing and pricing experimentation.

Opportunities:

1. Currently, the government is giving priority in expanding and promoting local agro-based business in the country. This is a huge advantage to any Agrovet business. The bank loans regarding the Agrovet industry has decreased due to government intercept to encourage the business.
2. The society is changing. People are becoming very conscious about what they are consuming. This is a good prospect for the beverage industry. Nowadays, people lack interest in drinks like Coke, Pepsi and are more inclined towards having juice, tea and when they are outside, having mineral water. Maybe now the rate is very low, but it is increasing. It shows the prospect for FMCG products.
3. The number of dual-income families is increasing at an alarming rate. The lifestyle of people is becoming faster and this leaves them with minimum time to cook. Therefore, it is a huge opportunity for spices market.
4. Our country is rich with natural fruits and productive land. This can be used as a source of our raw materials needed for the manufacturing of ACME products. We can build ways to production in our own country.
5. Globalization is a major factor for us to increase our market scope in the international arena. For Globalization, it is much easier now to enter foreign market and increase our exports to earn a higher margin. It would also enable us to set up our office premises and our manufacturing plant elsewhere where it would be sustainable for us to create an MNC.
6. In our country, the supporting industries are also growing at a faster rate. There is a number of local TV channels going international, new competition in the advertising, market tension, and other factors as well. These things would help us in our reach to our customers and also in another part of our business, for example, a number of TV channels and newspapers would mean more promotional activities and decreasing advertising cost.

Threats:

1. Globalization can also backfire. There are many corporate giants which are trying to enter our market. Being a third world country, our country is a marketplace for everything. Terrorists, smuggling, counterfeiting, product dumping and many other things. First world countries use our country by exerting pressure on our governments to sell their low graded products in our country. These products take away the market from our local products. But generally, they are very low in quality.
2. With increasing technology, our country being high in corruption, use those technologies in order to make fake products under different brand names. ACI, ACME, and Coke are victims of such fraudulent activities. These technologies help these people to make similar kind of product packages and sell them by using the reputation and goodwill of those products.
3. The ACME Agrovet and Beverage Ltd is a sister concern of The ACME Laboratories Ltd. Therefore, the goodwill and reputation of the products and services are like a chain that is binding all of them. If there is any problem with the reputation and quality of anyone sister concern, the effect would be on all of them. So all the concerns have to maintain the same standard.
4. The current corporate giants are the biggest threats not only in terms of competition but also in ways of how they are exploiting or using the supplying industries for their own operation. This can be in terms of their cost of raw materials. They can use low quality raw materials and can easily cut their cost of manufacturing. This would give them a price advantage and greater profit margin.
5. The unstable political condition is a big threat to any company. Sudden hartal or blockage may result in the delay or no distribution of products. It can also hamper the regular official work if there are any downtown abnormalities due to political issues.
6. The corruption in the government can result in certain changes of rules and regulations. Any foreign company can easily bribe or can do heavy lobbying in order to enter the market with a product of better brand image.

PEST Analysis:

Political Situation:

The political situation is a big factor in any industry. This is a general factor for all of the business entities as well as for the general public. Any political disorder results in problems of the organizations’ daily hazards. For example, hartal, strike etc can hamper the normal product distribution of ACME to the local or regional distribution.

Economic:

It is a general factor that affects any profit-making organization. It explains the market demand-supply, public disposable income etc. ACME would export product to that country which has got people with high disposable income. The prices of the products are to be set accordingly. In the national level, few districts have higher sales, higher profit margin and also higher distributors or trader profit. For example Dhaka, Chittagong, Bogra, Sylhet, it can also be based on area, Dhanmondi, Gulshan, Banani etc.

Social:

This general factor is important because it defines the culture, rules and norms and other influences of the Society that the country is operated in. ACME cannot easily have higher profit margin because our society is not accustomed to the habit of having Juice or Tea in a regular routine manner. They do not understand the importance of juice in their daily diet or having pure refined mineral water on roads. They do not understand how having branded tea is useful to their health. So, it is affecting ACME.

Technology:

ACME is a manufacturing company. So technology is a big general factor for any manufacturing company. The machinery that is being used is a part of the technology. Different machines have different production capacity. They need to train personnel to operate them. So the training facilities come into play as well. The workers of the plant need to be aware of the upcoming technologies and their preliminary education is also a factor. Here comes the question of their payment. This shows how important technology is and how it is affecting the operation of the organization.

An Assessment of the Company’s Current States of Operations and Future Directions 

Government:

The type of government in control is a major general factor. For example, in these days of Globalization, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a general thing. But it depends on the ruling government. If the government welcomes foreign direct investment then it becomes a problem for the local companies because a lot of foreign giants would come to dominate the market which is currently dominated by Pran, Shezan, Starship, ACME etc. Dabur is trying to enter Bangladesh but is not being able to. Government is also important because they can monitor the product prices, product quality and also set up new rules. Government lobbying is a very important factor in Bangladesh. The type of government is very influential and it can also affect the company, for example how corrupted the current government is or how high the transparency is.

Competition:

This specific factor prevails in any industry and for any company. It sets up the prices, shows the quality of the promotional activities of the industry, taste of the product etc. On the other hand, Taaza is so advanced in its promotional activities that are creating a huge gap in a competition where Ceylon tea or ACME tea is not being able to compete.

Regulations:

It is a general factor that is there for every type of markets and products. For example, ACME is a corporate brand. Our brand symbolizes sophistication. That is why the main target of our mineral water customers is restaurants, hotels, institutions, and cafeterias. Sheraton, Four Seasons and other restaurants use our mineral water. Recently, BSTI has announced that every product has to set up packaging in Bengali; we must use Bengali in product bodies. We have to write the product names in Bengali. This can hamper our brand image in that sort of hotels, and now, we have to change our package printing in that way. This is a matter of time and costing and also a determinant factor for the external customers. This external factor is a big issue for any company in any industry.

Target Market:

This specific factor gives the company the narrow direction that is should hold on to. To be specific, this factor gives the organization the phenomena on which to make the profit. It is as important as the name suggests. For ACME, there are different target markets for different products, Juice 150, 250 and 1000 ml have different target markets. Same goes for water Tea and Spice.

Demographics (Population Size):

It is the population size, shape and overall estimation of the general population. No matter it is one of the most influential general factors for every market. It describes the population size and provides an estimation and calculation of the Market size. Dhaka has a population of 20 million, but that does not mean that 20 million is the market size of ACME. Our market size is within the population which is characterized and described by Demographics.

Supporting Industries:

It is specific for specific industries. For ACME, the supporting industries are Distribution, Media, Software, Packaging agencies; Trade Market etc. these industries support the operation of ACME. For example, TV channels, Newspaper, Billboards, and all other media enables ACME to communicate with the target market, packaging companies like tetra park helps us to enhance better packaging for our products. Advertising agencies like paper rhyme and Carrot help us build our product and prepare our communication and marketing plan. These are all different industries but it shows how importantly and closely they are related to our operations.

Supporting industries in general view:

We have talked about the supporting industries of ACME. Now let’s look at it from a general perspective. Supporting industries discussed in the specific factor are different industries which play a very important part in the operations of other companies as well. They may be our competitors or our sister concerns. Now, from general viewpoints, how well or how differently other companies can use them makes a lot of difference in any industry. For example, let us look at how brilliantly they are being used by Unilever or Square, or even Ericsson or Nokia. This is changing the market about the effectiveness and efficiency of how well they are being used. These are difference-making effects on the whole market and the overall business.

Factors Critical for the exchange Rate Movements of Currencies:

This is very important for the companies as well as for countries in the international market. Talking about it in the specific sectors, let us take the case of ACME exporting products to the UK. We have to take consideration of the income level, inflation rate, exchange rate between Taka and pound. When the inflation rate of UK is higher than that of Bangladesh, there would be high prices of UK products in the UK. But compared to the UK local products, the prices of Bangladeshi products would be cheaper. Therefore, there would be an upward pressure on the demand for the Bangladeshi goods which also includes ACME products. This would also enable ACME to earn higher profits. On the other hand, if the exchange rate is high, for example, 100 TK gives £1, then ACME would have a certain amount of profit, but when it is !20 TK to £1, then the profit calculation changes. Now, this exchange rate is influenced by critical factors like Income Level between the two countries, Inflation rate, Interest Rate, and also the economic factors of the two countries.

International Financial Market:

In the Macro view, there are lots of things that can affect the exchange rate movement between two countries and also between the capital flows of the business operated in both the countries. These factors include Balance of Trade, Export, Import, Duty, Taxes, Quotas, Balance of Payments, Financial Aid, Current Account and Capital Account. These things affect any business both internationally and nationally.

Stakeholders:

Customers are the most important stakeholders because they are the key to our purpose of running our business. Directors are the persons who are responsible for the existence and continuation of the business. ACME is a private limited company so there is no question for shareholders. The government is another stakeholder because they are affected by the nature of the product we sell and our tax payment and our operations countrywide. Supporting industries can be our Banks and all other companies that provide their services to us.

Strategic Operational and Legal Issues & Problems 

Prices

All prices contained herein are for the analysis of routine geological samples (water, plant, soil, sediment and rock both barren and mineralized) and are net local taxes. Discounts are available by contract; however, a batch charge applies to each analytical package on batches of less than20 samples. Prices for control assays (heads and tails), concentrates and metallurgical products
are under contract.

Payment

Payment is upon receipt of invoice. All overdue payments are subject to an interest charge of1.5% per month. New clients must include payment with their samples, otherwise, payment will be required before releasing results. Payments can be made by check, credit card, bank draft or wire transfer to our bank. Credit card charges by Visa and Master card will be in either Canadian or US dollars. Payment by American Express can only be made in Canadian dollars. Please contact us for information or if you have any questions about calculating the charges for analysis or the status of your account. Dialtoll free in North America at 1-800 990 2263 or dial 1-604 253 3158. To establish a credit account with Acme Labs, please call us or send your request by e-mail for a credit application form. Acme Labs reserves the right to limit the amount of credit to any client.

Sample Quality

The Client bears the sole responsibility for the quality of samples as received by Acme AnalyticalLaboratories Ltd. Acme Labs shall not be responsible for the loss, degradation, contamination and/or tampering of samples whether intentional or unintentional by the Client, shipping company or any other third party prior to the arrival of these samples at our laboratories. Acme Labs is under no obligation to assess and report on the fitness of samples for the intended analysis.

Storage and Disposal

Unless otherwise directed by the Client, Acme Labs will discard all rejects from soil, sediment and vegetation samples immediately after sample preparation. Rock and core rejects are disposed of after 3 months. All pulps are retained for 3 months after which storage charges will apply unless the Client directs Acme Labs to either return or dispose of the pulps. Return of pulps will be charged at cost. Disposal or storage of rejects and/or pulps will be charged as specified in this price brochure. International soil samples cannot be returned and will be charged a disposal charge for incineration according to CFIA protocol.

Statement of Liability

Acme Analytical Laboratories Ltd., including its subsidiaries, will undertake to conduct and report all analyses in accordance with generally accepted analytical laboratory principles and practices unless deemed necessary in the reasonable judgment of Acme Labs to vary from said principles and practices due to the nature or composition of the samples or to comply with regulatory requirements. Acme’s total aggregate liability arising from professional acts, errors or omissions shall not exceed the total fees for the services rendered. There will be no other liability, obligation or responsibility of any kind for losses, costs, expenses or other damages (including without limitation special indirect, incidental or consequential damages) relating to services or results provided by Acme. All results are strictly for the use of the Client; Acme Labs is not responsible for any loss, damage or liability arising from any acts by the Client, its agents, staff or other consultants employed by the Client. All claims shall be deemed waived unless made in writing and received by Acme Labs within 2 years following completion of services.

Disclaimer

All results are the confidential property of the Client. Acme Labs assumes the following liabilities only: Actual cost of the analysis for errors attributable to Acme and $20.00 per sample for loss of samples during processing or during storage up to one month after analysis. Clients must retrieve samples they consider to be of value.

Human Resource Management process:

Human Resource Planning:-

Human resource planning consists of how many and what categories people need for achieving the goal of an organization and performing tusk efficiently.

Importance of Human Resource Planning

• In an organization, there are various types of people works, so it is needed to plan their activity.
• Every organization must have a human resource planning, without it no organization cannot operate its function efficiently.
• Human resource planning helps management find the right people for the right job at the right time. Human resource planning attempt to match demand and supply of the employee in the organization.

Human resource planning is critical to the success of companies because the Human resource is the essence, the lifeblood of an organization.

Recruitment and Selection:-

Recruitment is the selection of a large number of people, how many people needed in an organization that surplus terminated, shortage new employee should be employed. New and qualified people are selected by recruitment. It is an instrument to attract qualified candidates to select right people for right job. Recruitment occurs before selection of the employee.

Recruitment involves searching for and obtaining qualified job candidates in such numbers that the organization can select the most appropriate persons to fill its jobs needs. it paves the way for selection procedures by proceeding the smallest number of candidates.

Recruitment is the set of activities used to obtain the organization most important assets, its human resources.  it has a magnificent role in the organization, it can lead an organization to the path of success by selecting qualified employees. So, the recruitment process must be done in compliance with legal regulations.

Recruitment and selection process of ACME Laboratories:-

Human resource division takes the responsibility to recruit the qualified people for the organization who can contribute most to achieving the goals.

Recruitment is necessary for –

• Meeting the demand the current need of employee for achieving the long-term and short-term goal of the organization.
• Replacement of the vacant position.

Sources of recruitment:

ACME Laboratories recruit in different process –

• Continuous CV receiving process.
• Advertisement in the Daily Newspaper.
• Job website.

Source and method of recruitment:

Internal source: Internal source Include – promotion, transfer, job rotation

Promotion: from within is the practice of advancing current employees to higher level jobs.Internal employees can be better qualified. Even jobs that do not seem unique require familiarity with 

Recruitment process in ACME Laboratories Ltd:-

ACME Laboratories is an ISO Certified company. So every activity relating to recruitment and selection of employee in this company must be documented.

Step -1: Existing vacant position should inform to the Human Resource Division through the divisional head in personnel requisition form referring job specification and job description for recruiting the best person.

Step-2: Head of Human resource Department approved by the Management.

Step -3: Advertise in the daily newspaper, online or internal announcement.

Step -4: Human Resource Division and concerned department receive CV and applications from the interested person.

Step -5: After screening shortlisted candidates are invited for the interview by telephone or mail.

Step -6: Invited for written test for the potential candidates.

Step -7: Concerned departmental Head and Human resources divisional head discuss performance rating and complete recruitment process with the approval of top Management. 

Step -8: Selected candidates informed about their selection and asked to report to the head of the Administration for salary negotiation.

Step -9: Acceptance of offer, candidates will be given all papers or recruitment to that returned to human resources division.

Step -10: Completing recruitment formalities duplicate copy of appointment letter will be signed by candidates and returned to Human Resources Division.

Step -11: Completing recruitment formalities duplicate copy of Appointment letter will be signed by the candidate and returned to Human Resource Division as acceptance.

Step -12: On the joining the incumbent sign joining letter that is returned to Human Resource Division.

Step -13: Head of the Human resources division check original certificates.

Activities In ACME Agrovet & Beverage Ltd

While producing the Products ACME Agrovet & Beverage Ltd. considers something before production.

1. Quality Control
2. Raw material
3. Packing material

Quality Control:

Total Quality Assurance (TQA) is Acme’s premier strength for ensuring the highest obtainable quality. As ACME Agrovet comes from a parent company like ACME laboratories so it is always very much care about its quality control. ACME ensures the best equipment and well-trained staff. All procedures for testing, sampling and inspecting are clearly documented, approved and implemented with pin-pointed precision.

Raw materials:

ACME produces raw materials from the best possible sources. ACME believes that quality of the product depends on the quality of raw materials.

For mango juices, concentrated mango pulp comes from the best sources of India and Pakistan, which are produced from continental mangoes of the best quality.

For orange Juices, the raw materials as concentrated orange pulp are being procured from the best sources of Brazil, which are produced by blending a pool of selected fresh oranges.

ACME collects best raw materials for the spices. ACME normally collects raw materials locally, especially from north Bengal.

ACME Tea is collected from the best sources and best tea leaf producers.

Water treatment plant places a high place in terms of ACME Agrovet division

The water treatment process includes reverse Osmosis which undergoes 20 stages of the filtration process, Ozone and Ultraviolet Ray treatment before the water is bottled as premium drinking water for marketing.

Packing materials:      

Our juice products are packed aseptically using the unique Tetra Pack technology ensuring

1. Longer Shelf Life
2. No deterioration during shelf life
3. Free of preservative related side effects.

Production Process:-

Plant

The ACME Agrovet & Beverages Ltd. established a modernized plant in Bangladesh located at Dharmrai under Dhaka district about 30 km west of Dhaka City. The plant is equipped with modernized technological facilities and run by qualified personnel in accordance with the stringent guideline of BSTI.

Total Sq. ft:  55000 Sq. ft.

Commercial Production: 2005

Facilities 

ACME’s plant is a testimony to its basic commitment to manufacturing the highest standard of ethical drugs. The plant has the most sophisticated imported machinery and equipment.

• While designing and constructing the plant, proper attention was paid to the latest
• Concepts of cross-contamination,
• High efficacy of air circulation handling,
• Particle-free finishes,
• Equipment layout,
• Process flow,
• Hygiene and safety.
• Special care has also been given in selecting
• Machinery and laboratory instruments.
• The plant has the most sophisticated imported machinery and equipment.

Physical Supply Channel:-

1. Placing orders (by the company):

Many companies nowadays have indulged in the use of the internet to carry out their order placement for their supply chain management due to reduced cost and time, but ACME follows a strategy which contributes to managing their supplies in a more productive way which basically focuses on building and maintaining a strong relationship with their supply chain partners. They usually place their orders over telephone and fax, as they believe that direct and/or face-to-face contact with their suppliers will help to build a stronger personal relationship, which will motivate them to supply their materials efficiently and in a timely manner reducing the risk of delayed supply or the possibility of wastage of the materials. After placing the orders,

2. Inbound Logistics Activities and Parties:

ACME Premium and Classic Mango and Orange Juice- The juice products are packed with the unique Tetra Pak technology. It ensures longer shelf life, No deterioration during shelf life and free of preservative related side effects. To ensure the quality of the product, ACME does the procurement from the best source available. The company gives the greatest emphasis on the quality of their products, for which they also give high importance to the quality of raw materials. The raw materials of Mango juice, mango pulp, are imported from India and Pakistan. These are continental mangoes of the best quality. For Orange Juice, the concentrated orange pulp is procured from the best places in Brazil, produced by blending a pool of selected fresh oranges.

After the supply of raw materials is received from external sources, the import process is finished. Then freight forwarders load all the shipments in specific containers. Then the freight forwarders forward or transport all raw materials to their factory Dhamrai.

Premium Drinking Water

ACME premium drinking water symbolizes Purity. As per guideline and standard set by BSTI, it is bottled in environment-friendly PET bottle. It contains proper mineral balance and is for all age groups. ACME buys machinery from China but they buy ‘mould’ from any local company. It’s very important to labeling bottles. That is why for labeling purpose they have bought a high-quality machine from German and China. For better perforation, ACME has also imported the best machinery in our country.

After the Supply of water from deep Tube well it is processed, purified and bottled into the factory which is located in Dhamrai. Then all products are sent to the central sales center using mini trucks.

Terms and Conditions:

To ensure smooth product movement and storage efficiency, it is very crucial while making the contract with the suppliers to specify in the contractual documents the conditions in which the goods are to be supplied and method by which they will be handled.

• Credit Purchase: As ACME purchases their raw materials in bulk amounts so it is necessary for them to buy these materials on credit instead of in cash. So they specify the terms and conditions for the credit purchases through various written documents such as Bill of Lading, Letter of Credit.
• Delivery Cost: There are various methods of allocating delivery expense of a shipment e.g.; FOB shipping point, FOB destination, CIF etc. ACME usually follows FOB destination method in its transactions. Thus the expense of hiring the vessel to ship the product up to Bangladeshi port is borne by a shipper that is foreign suppliers and from there on the expense of transporting the shipment to the factory warehouse via truck or trailer is borne by ACME.
• Insurance: The cost of the insurance premium is borne by ACME but the insurance policy is purchased by the carrier (that is shipping vessel). The insurance policy comprehensively includes who will bear the liability in case of all possible incidents.

Determining Supply Requirements (Vendor Selection):-

The vendor selection process has undergone significant changes during the past twenty years. These include increased quality guidelines, improved computer communications, and increased technical capabilities. In today’s competitive operating environment it is impossible to successfully-produce low cost, high-quality products without satisfactory vendors. Thus one of the most important purchasing decisions is the selection and maintenance of a competent group of suppliers.  Vendor selection decisions are complicated by the fact that various criteria must be considered in the decision-making process.

• Quality Assurance: ACME gives most emphasis on providing superior quality products to their customers. In order to ensure this, they look for the suppliers who can provide the best quality raw materials i.e. mango pulp and orange concentrations. That is why they use foreign sources like India and Brazil instead of local sources. But they also have to purchase their equipment all the process include.

• Price Considerations: As ensuring superior quality is the topmost priority of ACME, it has to somewhat sacrifice in terms of cost of raw materials. However, as a beverage (fruit juice and mineral water) falls in the FMCG category, the consumer market extremely prices sensitive. The bottom-line of becoming successful in this industry is to offer the product at the lowest possible price to ensure the highest volume of sales, with a low per unit margin. This can only be achieved if the raw materials are purchased in bulk quantities and at a lower cost.

• Order fulfilling: While selecting vendors, ACME also considers the past records of the suppliers in terms of order filling, less backorder, etc.

• Shorter lead-time: ACME considers not only the order filling rate and a number of back orders while choosing suppliers, but they also consider whether they are delivering on time or not.

Physical Distribution Channel:-

• Forecasting of Market Demand:

The volume of the product and services to be handled by the supply chain, more specifically the demand level, provides the basic inputs for the planning and control of all the functional areas, including logistics, marketing, production, and finance. This planning and controlling of supply chain activities require accurate estimates of demand. These estimates are typically in the form of forecasting and predictions and that is why forecasting demand levels or supply requirement is vital to a firm as a whole.  Demand levels and their timing greatly affect capacity levels, financial needs, and general structure of the business. But usually, the logisticians alone do not bear the responsibility to produce the general forecasts for the firm. Marketing, economic planning, or a specially designated group is more likely to be assigned to do the task. Under certain circumstances, especially for short-term planning such as inventory control, order sizing, or transport scheduling, the logisticians often finds it necessary to take it up to him or her to produce this type of information.

In ACME Agrovet & Beverages Ltd., sales forecasting is done by the company’s central logistics department- part of the marketing department. Their marketing officers estimate the future market demand with the help of the Planning Procurement and Inventory Control (PPIC) section. PPIC is completely separate from ACME’s logistics department. It works for the ACME Laboratories, not a part of Agrovet & Beverages Ltd, but it still helps the Agrovet & Beverages in forecasting supply requirement since its main task is to maintain liaison between the production and sales department. After reviewing marketing officers’ report, and making adjustments if necessary, PPIC sends the report to the top management for approval since all decision making is centralized and they are the only authority to take the decision.

ACME uses both quantitative and qualitative forecasting. At first, they use quantitative techniques. Here, the sales trend of previous years is analyzed to predict the future demand for products. Although in most of the times the market demand for ACME juice and mineral water exceeds ACME’s production capacity, still this forecasting is necessary to estimate what will be the demand in future and how much to produce for the time. To reduce the high demand uncertainty, they also consider the seasonality and festivity of our country. People consume more drinks in summer season than any other season while they consume least during the winter season. And it will be also high during various religious and cultural festivities such as Eid, 1^st Day of Bengali year, etc. So seasonality and festivity are the important consideration for forecasting. But stock out situation may still happen when the demand increases in more percentages then they have forecasted, and vice versa. For example, the long summer in this year was highly unexpected which certainly resulted in huge lost sales, that is, there must have been excess demand then the supply provided by ACME. Then again, the late rain must have also created a bad effect on sales since people would consume much less in wet weather. Besides, our economic and social environment is very unpredictable, highly fluctuating too.

ACME also uses qualitative techniques of forecasting, which includes the use of subjective judgment, intuition, surveys or comparative techniques to produce quantitative estimates about the future. The information relating to the factors affecting forecasts are typically non-quantitative, soft, and subjective. The nonscientific methods nature of the methods makes them difficult to standardize and validate accuracy. But they are usually used when historical data are not available or may be of little relevance to the forecast at hand. However, these methods are usually may be all that is available when trying to predict the success of new products, government policy changes, or impact of new technology. These qualitative methods are likely to be methods of choice for medium-range to long-range forecasting. For example, since there has been very little rain this year, it can be straightforwardly predicted that this year’s winter will be much colder than usual, for which beverage consumption will be much lower during that season. So, ACME Agrovet & Beverages Ltd should produce less in this winter compared to previous year’s winter.

• Information system and order processing:

The major purpose of collecting, retaining, and manipulating data within a firm is to make decisions, ranging from strategic to operational, and to facilitate the transactions of the business. The logistics information system should be comprehensive and capable enough to allow for communication not only between the functional areas of the firm but also the members of the supply chain. Now ACME is sharing selected information about sales, shipments, production schedules, stock availability and order status and the like with vendors and buyers, in order to reduce uncertainties throughout the supply chain as the users find ways of benefiting from information for doing their logistic functions. For better performance, to do activities effectively and successfully, ACME uses software like Oracle, SAP, C++ and many more. Within the logistics information system, the major subsystems that ACME more or less uses are Order Management System, Warehouse Management System and Transportation Management System. Each contains information for transaction purposes but also decision support tools that assist in planning the particular activity. Information flows between them as well as between the LIS and the firm’s other information systems to create an integrated system. The information systems are typically expressed in the form of computer software packages.

1) Order Management System:

Invoicing: ACME checks whether a party can avail product due to his high credit records or not.

Fulfillment Location: ACME allows location status to compare how much time will require fulfilling an order.

Product Allocation: ACME follows proper sequence of next order processing or fulfillment.

Credit Checking: ACME keeps a record of each and individual parties past record regarding loan status, credit score etc.

2) Warehouse Management System:

Receiving: ACME puts record both in Dhamrai and Hemayetpur central warehouses information regarding ‘check in’ from the inbound dock.

Put away: ACME maintains proper placement of products by their nature into stores, departments, and warehouses.

Inventory Management: ACME monitors the product stocking, suggests replacement quantity etc.

Order processing and retrieving: ACME picks the product, accessories, and packages for order filling.

Shipment Preparation: Finally after final packaging and labeling, ACME prepares product for final delivery.

3) Transportation Management System:

Mode Selection: ACME stores data on multiple modes, freight rates, availability, frequency and time.

Freight Consolidation: ACME also keeps tracks for economical loads.

Routing and scheduling shipments: ACME maintain proper track of route scheduling, selecting stop offs and restrictions on the route.

Claims processing: ACME provides autoprocessing of claims for their distributor and retailers.

4) Inventory Management and Warehousing:

Inventory management can be referred to as the total of those activities necessary for the acquisition, storage, sale, disposal or use of the stock of materials/finished goods. Managing inventories involve deciding about- what to order, when to order and how to order- so that stock is available on time and at an efficient cost

To measure how much stocks have to be kept in which warehouses (factory, intermediary or retail) for which period (immediate, midterm and long-term), estimates from both quantitative and qualitative forecasting methods are used by the company. The stocks or material held by ACME can be divided into three basic forms-

Raw materials/components: input or materials stored in advance for industrial and production processes for ACME includes

• mango pulp and orange concentration for juice
• water pumped out from underground via deep tubewell
• resin (mold) for Plastic bottles
• Tetra packs for juice packaging

Work-in-progress: input awaiting processing, packaging or operation

• Diluted pulp and concentration
• Empty bottles blew up from the resin to be filled with juice
• Purified water in the reservoir

Finished goods: stocks at the end of value addition process are in factory warehouses

• Packaged juice ready to be shipped
• Bottled water ready to be delivered

Stock Keeping:

• ACME maintains proper placement of different juice and mineral water, according to their demand level, in near places, or further behind the stores, departments, and warehouses
• ACME monitors the product stocking, decides on reorder point or replenishment quantity etc

Inventory at the stocking points are maintained and managed by the intermediary distributors themselves, ACME just manually monitors and suggests on how much to keep.

The barcode:  ACME does not use any barcode system for its own inventory management, rather they do it manually. ACME uses barcode system for the products they export and for those products they supply to the superstores like Nandan, Agora etc. They attach the barcode labels on the products which later scanned the receiver’s detectors and data stored in the database. ACME does not use any barcode system for its own inventory management, rather they do it manually.

Outbound logistics of product transportation

Although inbound logistics is different for juice and mineral water, outbound logistics is same for both types of products. They use the same transportation system and distribution channel for both types. As a mode of transportation, ACME uses just the roadway that includes trucks and vans. Distribution starts from the factory warehouse at Dhamrai, from which goods are sent to Central Sales Centre in Hemayetpur using trucks. From there, the goods are then sent to their 18 sales centers (depot) situated across the country. The goods are then sent to the local distributors and retailers, to avail the products to the customers.

To manage the distribution properly, they have categorized their distribution workforce into Area Manager (AM), Territory Manager (TM) and Sales Representative (SR). they have also divided the regions into different zones which vary according to the regions. For example, in Dhaka region, ACME has appointed 2 AMs (Area Manager) for 2 zones- Dhaka North and Dhaka South. Each AMs has 3 to 5 TMs (Territory Managers), which vary according to the market demand of each region. But each of the TM has exactly 5 Sales Representatives working under him. Each sales representatives go retail store to retail store they are assigned to, to get the order from the retailers. Retailers may also give an order to the distributor’s delivery man. TM does not go to the retail shop to retail shop like SRs has to, he monitors the work of SRs, while the TM is monitored by the AM. But a critical point in Acme’s distribution is that the point of sale (POS) is when the goods reach the distributors. ACME outsource their goods to the distributors, ACME just monitors their activities through their SR and TMs.

On average, ACME incurs a total of 10-12,000 TK (BDT) for all trucks and vans. They have their own carriers (trucks & vans) for transporting goods from one place to another. But when there is excess demand, they sometimes have to hire other transportation service provider.

Vendor selection:

A vendor is any person or company that sells goods or services to someone else in the economic production chain. Parts manufacturers are vendors of parts to other manufacturers that assemble the parts into something sold to wholesalers or retailers. Retailers are vendors of products to consumers. The term is commonly applied to suppliers of goods and services to other companies

Though ACME doesn’t have any exclusive or any other authorized dealer, they have some criteria to select their supplier. They give huge importance to select their distributor, as they are the people who work as an intermediary person to reach the customer with their company’s product. ACME has the vision of becoming the best; so the company also needs good supply partners to achieve their goals.

• When they select their distributors they always check out some issues about the distributor, those are:

• Transportation Capabilities: ACME chooses those suppliers who have the proper transportation service and which is cost effective for the company.

• Integrity: The right vendor provides the right product, the right quality, on time, at the right price with the right level of service. If the supplier doesn’t keep its promise and supply other competitor’s product instead of Acme’s product then it will be disastrous for the company. And it can check the suppliers’ past performance.

• Past Performance: checking past performance of the supplier can be helpful in the decision-making process that who will be the vendor.  For example, checking the performance of the supplier on previous orders and comparisons of lead time which the supplier takes before delivery of the product.

• Storage Capacity: the supplier must have the warehouse, where they can hold the Acme’s product according to the market demand. The warehouse must have to full fill some other criteria. As the Acme’s juice and water are a perishable item so it must have to keep at a standard temperature otherwise damage rate will go up.

• Financial and Organizational Capability: The suppliers need to have some minimum level of financial capacity. Because if a retailer wants to purchase the product on credit but the supplier refuses to give them on credit, then the retailer will purchase from other competitors product and ultimately ACME will be in a loss in future. Therefore, ACME chooses those distributors who have the stronger financial condition.

• Selection of vendors also depends on the geographical basis. In different districts, the numbers of dealers are different; dealer’s number mainly varies with the market demand. ACME has around 100 dealers in Dhaka whereas the company has only 12 vendors in north Bengal as people have low purchasing power in that area.

The selection process does not always follow the same path and is not always applied in the same way because circumstances differ and product and services required differ.

Purchasing policies of the organization also influence the process of selecting a specific vendor.

Dealer & retailer motivation:

As ACME is not using any authorized or exclusive dealer, so if the company cannot make them happy then the dealer and retailer will be demotivated and switch to other company and will not distribute Acme’s products anymore, the rather only product of other companies to the market. In this case, the company will lose out it’s more of its market share.

Acmes follows both push and pull strategy to sell their product to the distributor as well as the retailer.

How pull strategy works for ACME:

ACME always maintains the quality of their juice item and water and keeps the priceless. So the customer gets the quality product at less price compare to other competitor’s product. For this reason, always Acme’s juice and water have market demand. Therefore, automatically distributor purchase Acme’s product to fulfill the market demand, and also retailer purchase from the distributor.

How push strategy works for ACME:

As maximum suppliers, the main concern is expected the return. So where the distributor and retailer have more profit they switch over to that company. For this situation, ACME has some incentive and motivation policy for the distributor and retailer. Those are:

• ACME arranges a training program for the dealer or for the delivery man. Because they don’t know properly how to deal with the retailer and what information they have to provide regarding the product. Thus distributor can maintain easily a good and longtime relationship with the retailer.
• In case of retailer’s motivation the sales representative goes physically to the retailer shop and tell them if they can increase the sale of ACME’s juice and water up to 50% then the company will give them “refrigerator or lightbox” for their retail store as a prize.

When the company gives them this kind of highly priced prize then retailer psychologically becomes brand loyal to the company and they become very much interested to purchase ACME’s beverage.

Sales Force of ACME Agrovet & Beverage Ltd:–

ACME manages a great number of sales forces in order to ensure smooth selling. It is proven that if a sales force is effective then the company can earn the satisfactory market share. That is why ACME spends higher on personal selling than on any other promotional method

ACME carefully considers how to design and manage its sales force in order to be successful in the marketplace. When designing a sales force, ACME thoroughly considers several issues in order to establish an effective sales system.  These issues are:

• Objectives,
• Strategy,
• Structure
• Development of sales force
• Compensation

ACME works on those issues and tries to develop a successful sales force.

• Objectives

Understanding the objective is the core of the sales force of ACME. The objective of maintaining the huge sales force should be clearly transmitted from top to bottom.

Objectives commonly defined by ACME are prospecting, targeting communicating, servicing, information gathering, and allocating. ACME clearly defines the specific objectives they want their sales force to achieve.

Strategy

With respect to strategy, ACME uses sales representatives strategically so that they approach customers at a time when they are most likely to buy.  There are several approaches that can be used by salespeople depending upon which best fits the situation.  Once ACME decides on a sales approach, it maintains a market focus.  This means that salespeople know how to analyze sales data, measure market potential, gather market intelligence, and develop marketing strategies and plans.  Finding the right resources to accomplish these goals is something that ACME take into account when designing a sales force. To develop a right strategy management of the sales force is really important-

• Designing the Sales Force

Big Companies spend over millions annually on personal selling.  This is more than ACME spending on any other promotional method.  Furthermore, majorettes of part-timers are employed in sales and related occupations.  Sales forces are found throughout the business environment from the insurance industry to college recruiting and just about everything in between. Therefore, ACME carefully considers how to design and manage its sales force in order to be successful in the marketplace. This paper will discuss how businesses should design a sales force and how managers can effectively manage their sales force. When designing a sales force, a company must thoroughly consider several issues in order to establish an effective sales system.  These issues are the development of sales force objectives, strategy, structure, and compensation of the sales force. Salesforce objectives are the specific goals that companies expect their sales representatives to achieve. Sales quotas inform a salesperson of exactly what their objective should be for a given period of time.

Additionally, besides quotas, there are other ways of delineating sales objectives.  For example, objectives commonly defined by companies in addition to quotas are prospecting, targeting communicating, servicing, information gathering, and allocating.  Essentially, companies must clearly define the specific objectives they want their sales force to achieve and, if these objectives are met, it will lead to product sales for the company.  With respect to strategy, ACME uses sales representatives strategically so that they approach customers at a time when they are most likely to buy.  There are several approaches that can be used by salespeople depending upon which best fits the situation.  For example, an individual sales representative can approach a particular individual buyer or a buyer group.  Or, a sales team can approach the individual buyer or buyer group.  Also, sales representatives can employ a technique called seminar selling, where a company team conducts an educational seminar for the customer company about state-of-the-art developments.  Once ACME decides on a sales approach, it maintains a market focus.  This means that salespeople know how to analyze sales data, measure market potential, gather market intelligence, and develop marketing strategies and plans.  Finding the right resources to accomplish these goals is something that ACME take into account when designing a sales force.

• Management of the sales force

In any organization or company, there must be an effective management to let the goal achieved by using the employees. Without having a very strong and clear management procedure; it is next to impossible to survive in the business industry. This is true for all the industries of the world.

Once the sales force foundation of ACME has been effectively designed, the next step on the road to building a successful ACME is successfully managing the sales force.  There are various procedures and steps that they utilize to effectively manage a sales force.  For example, there are four main steps involved in ACME for managing a sales force: training of the sales representatives, supervising the sales representatives, motivating the sales representatives, and evaluating the sales representatives. Training is the first essential step in managing a sales force in ACME.  New sales representatives who are sent directly into the field with little or no training beforehand are rarely successful.  Customers expect a sales representative to be knowledgeable about not only the product they are selling but also about the customer’s needs. Thus, for ACME proper training is a crucial step in managing an effective sales team. Supervision of sales representatives is also a critical area in managing a sales force.  In general, sales representatives who work on commission in ACME can be supervised less closely than those who are salaried. Motivating sales representatives is another area where ACME is successful. Evaluating sales representatives in ACME is another step in successfully managing a sales force.  Evaluating salespeople frequently involves the use of sales reports, which tells the manager exactly how competent the sales representative is in selling the product.

Manpower planning

The penalties for not being correctly staffed are costly in ACME. This is because:

ACME realizes the Understaffing loses in the business economies of scale and specialization, orders, customers, and profits.

ACME believes Overstaffing is wasteful and expensive if sustained, and it is costly to eliminate because of modern legislation in respect of redundancy payments, consultation, minimum periods of notice, etc. Very importantly, overstaffing reduces the competitive efficiency of the business.

Planning staff levels require that an assessment of present and future needs of the organization be compared with present resources and future predicted resources. Appropriate steps then are planned to bring demand and supply into balance. Thus the ACME takes a ‘satellite picture’ of the existing workforce profile (numbers, skills, ages, flexibility, gender, experience, forecast capabilities, character, potential, etc. of existing employees) and then to adjust this for 1, 3 and 10 years ahead by amendments for normal turnover, planned staff movements, retirements, etc, in line with the business plan for the corresponding time frames.

The result is a series of crude supply situations as would be the outcome of present planning if left unmodified. (This, clearly, requires a great deal of information accretion, classification and statistical analysis as a subsidiary aspect of personnel management.) What future demands will be is only influenced in part by the forecast of the personnel manager, whose main task may well be to scrutinize and modify the crude predictions of other managers. Future staffing of needs in ACME is derived from:

• Sales and production forecasts
• The effects of technological change on task needs
• Variations in the efficiency, productivity, flexibility of labor as a result of training, work study, organizational change, new motivations, etc.
• Changes in employment practices (e.g. use of subcontractors or agency staffs, hiving-off tasks, buying in, substitution, etc.)
• Changes in Government policies (investment incentives, regional or trade grants, etc.)

What should emerge from this ‘blue sky gazing’ is a ‘thought out’ and logical staffing demand schedule for varying dates in the future which can then be compared with the crude supply schedules. The comparisons will then indicate what steps must be taken to achieve a balance. That, in turn, will involve the further planning of such recruitment, training, retraining, labor reductions (early retirement/redundancy) or changes in workforce utilization as will bring supply and demand into equilibrium, not just as a one-off but as a continuing workforce planning exercise the inputs to which will need constant varying to reflect ‘actual’ as against predicted experience on the supply side and changes in production actually achieved as against forecast on the demand side. Ultimately, managing a sales force in ACME is to the effectual training of the sales representatives, supervising the sales representatives, motivating the sales representatives, and evaluating the sales representatives.

Sales Force Management is discussed in detail in the following segment:

Recruiting and Selection procedure

Recruitment refers to the process of finding right people for the right job or function, usually undertaken by recruiters. It also may be undertaken by an employment agency or a member of staff at the business or organization looking for recruits. Advertising is commonly part of the recruiting process and can occur through several means: through online, newspapers, using newspaper dedicated to a job advertisement, through professional publication, using advertisements placed in windows, through a job center, through campus graduate recruitment programs, etc. Suitability for a job is typically assessed by looking for skills, e.g. communication skills, typing skills, computer skills. Evidence for skills required for a job may be provided in the form of qualifications (educational or professional), experience in a job requiring the relevant skills or the testimony of references. Employment agencies may also give computerized tests to assess an individual’s “off-hand” knowledge of software packages or typing skills. At a more basic level, written tests may be given to assess knowledge and literacy. A candidate may also be assessed on the basis of an interview. Sometimes candidates will be requested to provide a résumé (also known as a CV) or to complete a Job application form to provide this evidence.

Recruitment and selection of employees:

Recruitment in ACME is preceded by an analysis of the job (i.e. an analytical study of the tasks to be performed to determine their essential factors) written into a job description so that the selectors know what physical and mental characteristics applicants must possess, what qualities and attitudes are desirable and what characteristics are a decided disadvantage;

In the case of replacement staff, a critical questioning of the need to recruit at all is prepared (replacement should rarely be an automatic process).

Effectively, the selection is ‘buying’ an employee in ACME (the price being the wage or salary multiplied by probable years of service) hence bad buys can be very expensive. For that reason, ACME uses external expert consultants for recruitment and selection.

Equally, ACME exists to ‘headhunt’, i.e. to attract staff with high reputations from existing employers to the recruiting employer. However, the ‘cost’ of poor selection is such that, even for the mundane day-to-day jobs, those who recruit and select are well trained to judge the suitability of applicants.

The main sources of recruitment for ACME Agrovet and Beverage Ltd. are:

• Internal promotion and internal introductions (at times desirable for morale purposes)
• Careers officers (and careers masters at schools)
• University appointment boards
• Agencies for the unemployed
• Advertising (often via agents for specialist posts) or the use of other local media (e.g. commercial radio)

Where ACME does its own printed advertising it has some identifying logo as its trademark for rapid attraction and it takes care not to offend the sex, race, etc. antidiscrimination legislation either directly or indirectly. The form on which the applicant applies (personal appearance, letter of application, completion of a form) varies according to the posts vacant and numbers to be recruited. It is very desirable in many jobs that claim about experience and statements about qualifications are thoroughly checked (the latter is not necessarily injurious to the applicants’ chance of being appointed as firms are required to employ a percentage of disabled people). Before letters of appointment are sent, any doubts about medical fitness or capacity (in employments where hygiene considerations are dominant) should be resolved by requiring applicants to attend a medical examination. This is especially so where, as for example in the case of apprentices, the recruitment is for a contractual period or involves the firm in training costs.

Interviewing in ACME is carried out by individuals (e.g. supervisor or departmental manager), by panels of interviewers or in the form of sequential interviews by different experts and can vary from a five-minute ‘chat’ to a process of several days. Ultimately personal skills in judgment are probably the most important, but techniques to aid judgment include selection testing for:

• Aptitudes (particularly useful for school leavers)
• Attainments
• General intelligence
• (All of these need skilled testing and assessment.) In more senior posts other techniques are:
• Leaderless groups
• Command exercises
• Group problem solving

(These are some common techniques – professional selection organizations often use other techniques to aid in selection.)

Training in interviewing and in appraising candidates is in practice in ACME recruitment. Largely the former consists of teaching interviewers how to draw out the interviewee and the latter how to rate the candidates. For consistency (and as an aid to checking that) rating often consists of scoring candidates for experience, knowledge, physical/mental capabilities, intellectual levels, motivation, prospective potential, leadership abilities etc. (according to the needs of the post). Application of the normal curve of distribution to scoring eliminates freak judgments.

Employee Motivation through Compensation:

Some employees are motivated by money. In fact, most are motivated by money; at least for their basic needs. Employee motivation through compensation can come in the form of raises, performance bonuses, commissions, profit sharing, or any number of “extra benefits” like automobiles, vacations, or other tangible items purchased and used as rewards.
During our visit to the ACME Agrovet and Beverage Ltd. corporate HQ, we noticed an interesting program there. They have a sophisticated system for rewarding employees based on customer feedback. On a regular basis, ACME Agrovet and Beverage Ltd. conduct customer feedback surveys to determine the level of satisfaction among its customers. When customers comment on the performance of selling personnel, the employee accumulates points that can be used to purchase rewards like trips, gifts, and other incentives. Besides these secondary compensation packages, ACME provides the acceptable salary among other FMCG to its employees which is why the best salespeople go to ACME.

The effectiveness of sales force of ACME Agrovet and Beverage LTD:

Before starting this report, we conducted a survey of Territory Manager, sales to find out the factors that determine the success of a salesperson in this sector. These are the findings:

• A rational rather than emotional appeal
• An empathetic attitude
• A unique style of communication
• Thorough idea about the product
• A positive body language
• Superb product demonstration
• Answering the queries and questions of the client
• Repeated sales calls
• Honesty and Trustworthiness
• Corporate image of the organization
• Sense of humor
• Excellent educational background and energetic physic
• Listening attitude
• Soothing appearance and spoken skills

From our survey, these factors emerged as success factors for the salespeople in the pharmaceutical industry. However, this report shows a very close relationship between the management of sales force at ACME and these factors. The whole management of sales force is targeted towards achieving these factors or traits in the selling people. Some of these traits are gained by nature, but ACME strives to train up their salespeople in these aspects to develop their deficiencies. From that point of view, it can be said that ACME is perfectly aware of the market needs regarding the sales people and they have a consistent sales force management technique that ensures the availability of the right type of salespeople. Perhaps, this is the main reason behind ACME continuous dominance in the Bangladeshi FMCG industry, being able to recruit, nurture and retain the right type of sales people desired by the customers.