Turnaround management in the tractor dealership business in Romania: Case Study

Purpose/Aim – This case study aims at understanding dealership management in emerging countries which strongly depend on public subsidies. It further shows the effects of poorly conceived incentive systems for the sales force and aspires to understand that sales incentive systems have to be adapted to the different market and economic conditions. The case study is dedicated to courses in marketing, sales or distribution management of business programs. Short summary – A single-brand tractor dealer faces problems in costs and revenues due to the freezing of EU funds for Romania. The company further suffers from overstock, wrong product-portfolio and a wrongly designed incentive system that decreases motivation and leads to breach of compliance rules and a focus on volume rather than on performance. Design/Teaching outline – The case study can be used in four standard 45 minutes faculty sessions. In the introduction the case study storyboard is followed by an analysis of the performance issues. Participants will be then invited to read the article of Steenburgh and Ahearne (Motivating Salespeople: What Really Works) to gain more details about these issues. In the third session they work out and answer case study questions in groups. Finally, students are asked to present their observations with particular reference to performance improvement opportunities which are then discussed in plenum.