Abstract

This case is about Hawkins Cookers Ltd (Hawkins) founded in 1957. Hawkins flourished initially under the guidance of H D Vasudeva to become one of the leading kitchenware manufacturing companies in India. It sold the majority of its products through its dealer network in India apart from exporting and direct selling. In 2003, the new CEO of Hawkins, Brahm Vasudeva (Brahm), faced a major problem when the dealer sales started dropping suddenly. Brahm found himself under a lot of pressure as initially, he had no clue what was causing this loss and how to deal with it. It was only after a year that he discovered the cause, after which he devised a new sales strategy.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand how changing industry dynamics affects companies with respect to framing their distribution policy
• Understand the need for a long-term distribution strategy.

Keywords

Distribution strategy, Loss-leading, Dealer network