Going to Market: Distribution Systems for Industrial Products

Peter Drucker once referred to the distribution infrastructure of business as "the economy's dark continent." Going to Market maps this territory for managers and scholars. The study approaches channel management as a marketing system and a key dimension of corporate strategy. Based on extensive field research on more than 50 companies, including IBM, GE, Control Data Corporation, and U.S. Steel, it considers channel issues related to sales organization, pricing, salesforce/reseller relationships, inter- and intrachannel rivalry, and gray markets. The book also discusses the historical and legal contexts for channel policies in the United States. Going to Market offers managers valuable guidance in this increasingly important aspect of competitive strategy.