Agricultural commodities are often characterized by two aspects, namely, seasonality, and shelf life. In addition, in countries such as India, there are significant public policy dimensions (government regulation of pricing and markets, etc.), which critically affect the production, distribution and sale of a number of agricultural commodities. In addition, in contrast to their counterparts in the industrial, agricultural supply chain are usually not very well organized in such countries. Thus, the prevalence of cooperatives as an organizational structure to manage multiple activities of the supply chain is also a common feature. This case contextually were installed in these conditions, and it deals primarily with the problem of marketing of tea. In addition to the above issues, the marketing of agricultural products, tea poses unique challenges arising from the many varieties / grades. With several of these aspects of understanding of the factors affecting the profitability of a company engaged in purchasing, manufacturing, marketing and creating brand tea makes an interesting study for the student government. The case thus offers a multi-dimensional perspective to the problem of improving profitability and indicates the various alternatives in the hands of management to address the same. The case can be used in the course of marketing the core, possibly as a capstone event to highlight the end of the relationship between the various elements of marketing. The case can also be used in other courses to introduce cooperatives management problems, the use of an auction mechanism for procurement, and also illustrate the use of the Internet as a primary sales channel. "Hide
by Seema Gupta, B. Mahadevan Source: Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore 14 pages. Publication Date: July 1, 2011. Prod. #: IMB345-PDF-ENGIndcoserve Stirring Up Case Solution