ANNAPURNA SALT CASE STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS:

 

1. What is the role of NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) in BOP markets according to Prahalad? Do you agree with this position?

 

The role of NGOs in BOP markets is that they are the ones who are helping the people which are in need of help. Yes, I agree because relying on the government would sometimes prove useless compared to NGOs.

 

 

2. According to Rekha Balu of Fast Company, "poor people ... can become just as discerning about brands as rich customer". Do you agree with this statement? Is this applicable in the Philippines?

 

Yes, because every people have their own preferences in life. There are poor people who are trying their best to purchase something with good brand for them to dissipate the notion that they are less fortunate than others. Absolutely, this is applicable in the Philippines because there are also less fortunate people in the country.

 

 

3. What is the nature of the breakthrough of K15 Technology in your own words?

 

The nature of K15 Technology is that it stores longer than other kinds of salts and it also protects itself from the external environment conditions.

 

 

4. What are the issues/difficulties in branding something like salt according to Vishal Dhawan?

 

The difficulties from branding something like salt is that it is a consumable product. As a said product, people who purchase consumables are looking for something that is trusted and in high or good quality.

 

 

5. Why is the Annapurna evolution necessary according to Vishal Dhawan?

 

Annapurna evolution is necessary because the product has only a life time of 18 months. It also needs to strengthen its trust with its customers for it to be something that people buy with confidence.

 

 

6. What would the nature of the "differentiator" for Dr. Amitava Pramanik?

 

The so called differentiator is that the salt should not lose its iodine content that people need to be healthy. The iodine helps people avoid diseases such as IDD.

 

 

7. What is the effect of advertising for the marketing strategy for Annapurna with K15?

 

When people obtain the knowledge that consuming salt with K15 will help them prevent diseases greatly increases its sales. Especially to countries which is plagued by IDD, people who live in these countries would definitely purchase K15 salt for their family and loved ones.

 

 

8. What are the innovations of HLL with regards to transporting salt?

 

The innovations of HLL in transporting salt is through rails. Rail transportation gave them advantage against competitors and helped them greatly.

 

 

9. What is Project Shakti and what are its goals?

 

Project Shakti is development training for people who are in need. Its goals are to increase its reach to their market, customer awareness, and change customer attitude about product categories to compel growth to the market.

 

 

10. How would you imagine SANGA, an "e-tailing program for daily ordering and delivery"? If you were its designer how would you describe it?

 

I would be putting an inventory system for the e-commerce site and obviously with a payment gateway. It would also be having a delivery system for easy acquisition of products. On the other hand, can people poor people purchase these products via internet?

 

 

11. Project Shakti caters exclusively to men. There have been requests for men to become Shakit dealers but HLL turned them down. If you were the decision-maker, would you allow men to become Shakti dealers? Why?

 

Yes, I would allow men because as long as the person can persuade customers to purchase and be effective, I can’t see any reasons why not to do it.

 

 

12. What is i-Shakti? As an IM student how can you improve i-Shakti?

 

i-Shakti is something that helps people understand more about the product in rural areas.

I can improve i-Shakti by implementing it with a user-friendly design and having feedback forms to know what the customers think about it. The customer is always right as they all say.

 

13. HLL's would-be competitors decided to have a watch-and-wait policy. If you were a would-be competitor for HLL would you decide to get into HLL's market? Why? How?

 

If I would be a competitor, I would make use of HLL’s weaknesses and use it for my advantage. If it’s a competition, things are meant to be done.

 

 

14. Should HLL keep their K15 technology proprietary? Why?

 

Yes, because they are the ones who made it and they should have the right over it. If they would not keep it, they could let others use it but with a price to pay.

 

 

15. Do you think a program like Project Shakti would succeed in the Philippines? What do you think would be some of the anticipated difficulties?

 

Yes, it would succeed because the poverty here in the Philippines is also common. There are a lot of people who will need the job that the project would offer. The difficulties might be the training and performance of the people.