BIRLA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY

INDUSTRY: CEMENT

AREA: DISTRIBUTION AND MARKETING

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT

Study of the Cement market through dealers in various parts of Kolkata

of

CENTURY CEMENT PVT. LTD.

Industry Mentor: Mr. Partha Pratim Roy

Faculty Mentor: Prof. A. K. Biswas

Submitted by:

Abhishek Mishra

Roll no. 09 DM 004

PGDM 2009-11 (Marketing Major)

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REFERENCES

1. Annual yearly balance sheet, corporate profile 2007-08. Pg. 082. Ibid, Pg. 103. Century Cement website.4. Lectures provided by the faculty guide and interaction with other members of the team.5. Ibid.6. Ibid.7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_management

8. Research Methodology, C. R. Kothari, New Age Publications, second revised edition, Pg. 18

9. Ibid. Pg. 1910. http://www.polarismr.com/education/steps_index.html

11. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071007032858AA7J8TA

12. Research for Marketing Decisions by Paul E Green, Donald S Tull, Gerald Al Baum; Eastern Economic Edition; Fifth Edition; Pg 110-121

13. Total Quality Management by Dale H. Besterfield, Carol Besterfield, Glen Besterfield, M. Besterfield; Pearson’s Publication; Eighth Edition; Pg 75-78

14. Marketing Management (Millennium Edition) by Philip Kotler; Prentice-Hall India Publications; Tenth Edition; Pg 175

15. Research Methodology, C. R. Kothari, New Age Publications, second revised edition, Pg. 25-26.

16. http://www.group-mail.com/asp/common/articles.asp?id=21917. Research Methodology, C. R. Kothari, New Age Publications, second revised edition, Pg.

25-26.18. Total Quality Management by Dale H. Besterfield, Carol Besterfield, Glen Besterfield, M.

Besterfield; Pearson’s Publication; Eighth Edition; Pg 75-7819. http://www.rocw.raifoundation.org/management/bba/MarketingResearch/lecture-

notes/lecture-31.pdf

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RESEARCH ORGANIZATION INFORMED CONSENT FORM

Researcher’s Name: Abhishek Mishra

Researcher’s Statement:

Name: Mr. Partha Pratim Roy

Position/Title: Marketing Manager

Organization Name: Century Cement

Location: 12th Floor, 10, Camac Street, Kolkata 700017.

Signature:______________________________ Date:______________________

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The topic for this project is ‘Study of Cement Marketing through dealers’ network in

various parts of Kolkata’. Through this topic I have tried to conduct a survey and find

out the various offerings that the market has in terms of various brands and the

opportunities that they offer henceforth.

Acknowledgements

I thankfully acknowledge the inputs received from my colleagues, my faculty members and Dr. H. Chaturvedi without whom this report would not be possible.

I am grateful to Mr. A. K. Biswas, whose valuable insight has helped me in preparing this report. His generous support and cooperation is something I will always treasure.

A very special thanks to my seniors Mr. Partha Pratim Roy and Mr. Ranjit Pathak from Century Cement who provided me with all the required help and cooperation needed for the project. Without their help, I couldn’t have imagined my first formal stint with industry anyway better.

Last but not the least, a special mention for Mr. A. S. Mishra without whom this project would have been possible.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

Serial No.

Topic Page

1 Executive Summary 32 Introduction

- Corporate Profile- Century Cement Vision- Functional Policies- About Cement- Properties of Cement

4-14

3 Literature Review- Steps in Marketing Research- Bias in Marketing Research- Sources of Marketing Information- Customer Questionnaire- Attitude – from the dealer’s perspective

15-21

4 Statement of the Problem 225 Research Methodology

- Interview Method- Questionnaire- Ethical issues involved in research methodology

23-26

6 Analysis- Cement Industry in India- Distribution pattern in West Bengal- Explanation of questionnaire- Analysis against given set of objectives

27-32

7 Conclusions and Recommendations- SWOT analysis

33-36

8 References 379 List of Appendices

- Appendix I- Appendix II

38-44

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The topic for this project is “Study of Cement Marketing through dealers’ network in various parts of Kolkata”, assigned to me by Century Cement.

The project starts where I have provided a brief introduction where I have discussed the traditional channel that exists in the cement market. Also I have explained the reason as to why I have chosen the particular topic. Then I have gone on to briefly introduce a section on cement.

Then I have brought on the aspect of corporate profile, where I have spoken about the history of Century Cement, its plant capacity and the various technicalities that have gone by in the production. Then I have brought forward the corporate vision, the marketing policy, the HR policy and the career details. In the last part of this section I have brought forward the various properties of cement and the various technicalities that go by in the preparation of the various forms of cement. This part, though technical in nature is still indispensable from my project’s point of view as this is the section where I have been able to learn about certain physical characteristics of my cement.

In the Literature Review section I have tried to link the theoretical aspects of my project with what has been taught. Here I have linked various aspects that range from what marketing and research is all about to various forms of distribution that are prevalent. The topics that are brought about are such that they bring forward both the critical aspect of my research as well they connect to it. The kinds of activities that have been performed have been highlighted by means of the ‘nature of research’ section and so forth. I have also went ahead and discussed various aspects like what are the various forms of attitude and how they are pertinent from the dealer’s point of view. Also the nature of my research has been questionnaire and interviews so I have also mentioned that as a part of my literature review section.

Then in the statement of problem section I have discussed the nature of my problem and the various objectives that were entrusted to me by the organization. All of it has later been dealt with in the analysis section.

In the analysis section, I have worked on whatever data I had collected. Here I start by the nature of the cement market in India which is then followed by the distribution pattern that is followed in West Bengal. Then I have explained the questionnaire and later analyzed the same. Finally I have brought a set of recommendations and conclusions which help in bringing forward the main essence of the work that has been done.

Finally in the appendix section, I have submitted the details of the dealers that I had visited with their respective contact details and their stocking details.

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INTRODUCTION

The topic for this project is “Study of Cement Marketing through dealers’ network in various parts of Kolkata”. This topic has been assigned to me by Century Cement under which I am undergoing my summer internship. The main crux of this topic is discussed as follows.

The cement industry consists of standardised goods where there is not much of a difference with respect to the nature of the goods, against those of the competitors. So in that regards, the organization in order to survive in the market needs to go that extra mile to see that their cement does well. My organization had recently undergone a brand makeover where the name has also changed from Century Cement to Birla Gold. This has not exactly got the best of the responses from the industry and has led to decline in the market share as well.

The distribution channel of cement industry in the generic sense consists of the company as producer on the top. Then right after the chain we have a Carrying and Freight agent who takes care of the main task of transferring the materials to the dealers and the subdealers. In cement industry, the material comes in the goods train and they are concerned with the storage and transportation job only. They personally don’t take any further responsibility of the goods. After the Carrying and Freight agents we have set of dealers which is the most important aspect of my project as my research had mainly centred around them. Next the cement is sold either in the whole sale market or the retail market. Both the sales take place with respect to the dealers only.

Finally the cement is sold to the end customers either by means of the wholesale or the retail route. The end customers are the one who are in the form of individual customer, promoter and industries. The last bit industries are further classified into three forms namely raw materials and by products, grills and pillars and different form of industries like say the cottage industries.

As a intern, my main task will be to meet the dealers and to find out the details about which all cement companies are they dealing in and to what percentage is each of them contributing to the sales of each dealer. When a particular cement company is active for the dealer, my job is to see whether he is convinced to stock cement of some other companies as well. This will in a way let me know about the viable gap which exists in the market and that the dealers have a perception about a particular brand. Also from Century’s point of view, monthly cement that they are dealing in will give an idea about the individual capacity of cement that they handle per month; the greater is their capacity to handle further more forms of investment.

Cement is the binder that concrete mortars together. This is why it is the most important component when it comes to giving solidarity and durability. On a general note, it is used for

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making concrete for slabs, foundations beams, sunshades and mortars for brickwork, plastering, flooring and such similar work.

Three types of cements are used by the customers for their construction:

i. Portland Slag Cement (PSC)ii. Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC)

iii. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)

From a consumer’s point of view this classification is quite meaningless, as for them cements is nothing more than a binder. A detailed briefing about the same is mentioned later in the introduction section.

The current market has the following major brands operating namely A.C.C., Birla Gold, Ambuja, Lafarge, Ultratech, Konark and few prominent mini plants like Durgapur, Bansal, Bengal Super, Pragoti, Bharat Super to name a few. JP, Binani and Rashi Gold are a few entrants in the markets.

The Indian economy is one whose growth economy is largely propelled by domestic demand. With this respect, cement industry is one of the sunrise industries – a direct beneficiary of this growth story. The incessant demand for this vital material places it as one of the more important that is inherent to manufacturing process.

In this project report, I have tried to prepare a set of data that emerges out of the survey that was conducted with dealers and sub-dealers. From the organizational perspective, the most important is the metric tonnes of the dealers, from which they are able to guess as to what is their handling capacity.

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Corporate Profile1

Century Cement is a division of Century Textiles and Industries Limited, a flagship company of B. K. Birla Group. The company is well diversified into having interests in cement, textiles, rayon, chemicals, pulp and paper.

Century Cement is situated in at Baikunth (Tilda) district, Raipur in the state of Chattisgarh. The train route for Baikunth is 35 kms East of Raipur on Mumbai – Howrah (via Nagpur), Southeast Central Railway Main Line. The installed capacity of Century Cement is 1.80 million TPA. Apart from this, the company has two more cement plants. First we have Maihar Cement in Sarlanagar, district Satna, Madhya Pradesh having an installed capacity of 3.50 million TPA. The second one is the Manikgarh Cement at Gadchandur, district Chanderpur, Maharashtra with an installed capacity of 1.50 million TPA. The combined capacity of all the cements plant taken together is 6.80 million TPA. More emphasis is given for production of blended cement that constitutes to about 95% of the total cement produced by the company.

It was around 1969 that managers of M/s Century Textiles & Industries Ltd. thought of diversifying their activities towards other areas and thought of diversifying their activities towards other areas. They decided to establish a cement plant roughly 8 kms from Tilda. Subsequently Baikunth came into existence, which was the place where the present plant and colony came into existence. Baikunth is about 34 kms east of Raipur on Mumbai-Nagpur-Howrah SEC railway main line.

The plant’s first kiln was lighted up somewhere in December 1947 and the second kiln came up in May 1975. The first bag of ordinary portland cement was despatched on 3 March 1975. The license capacity of the plant was originally 6.00 lakh MT per annum while the present plant capacity is 15.00 lakh MT per annum.

Lime stone: The limestone requirement is mostly met through the captive mine that is situated 1.5 kms away from the plant. The present requirement is about 6000 MT/day. Originally reserves were in the tune of 220 lakh tonnes. But with the judicious use of purchased high grade limestone, blending it with more of subgrade limestone and use of purchased high grade limestone, there are not only conserved proved reserves but also almost double the mine life.

Raw mill: There are four close circuit raw mills. Initially the capacity of each raw mill was 65 TPH which has been increased to 75 TPH by means of various modifications. The ground raw mill is stored in blending/storage silos with a total capacity of 14000 MT.

Rotary kilns: There are two dry processes kilns with a size of 64 m length and 4011 m diameter. The initial capacity of the kiln was 1000 TPD each, which has been optimized by installing a prcalcinator (N-MFC) and additional stream of suspension preheater cyclones,

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increasing the capacity to 75 TPH by various modifications. The ground raw mill is stored in blending/storage silos with a total capacity of 14000 MT.

Cement mills: There are five cement mills with open circuit capacity. While cement mills no. 1, 2 & 3 have a production capacity of 50 TPH each, the capacity of cement mill no. 4 & 5 is 80 TPH each. The plant is producing three types of cements namely Portland cement, Portland pozzolana cement and Portland slag cement. Cement produced id stored in six watertight cement silos with total capacity about 21000 MT.

Coal mill: There are four air-swept coal mills of the capacity of 10 MT per hour each.

Packaging: There are four L&T auto rotary packers of 80 TPH capacities with 12 spouts and one 8 spout electronic packer of 100 TPH capacities.

Wagon loaders & Truck loaders: Presently there are 12 wagon loaders and 6 truck loaders in the plant.

Capacity power generation: Presently we have three-diesel generating sets of total capacity of 10.3 MW. In the year 1997 a 15 MW capacity captive thermal plant was installed.

Energy Consumption: Cement manufacturing is an energy intensive industry. About 50% of the total production cost is the energy (electric and fuel). Therefore there is always an attempt to reduce the specific energy consumption. Total electric energy, thermal energy and energy consumption figures are as under:

Year Electrical energy consumption (lakh kwh)

Thermal energy consumption (Mkcal)

Specific electrical energy consumption (Kwh/MT of cement)

Specific thermal consumption Kcal/kg of clinker

2001-02 1407.30 1006580 94.88 830

2002-03 1463.72 961163 94.49 790

2003-04 1509.83 972533 93.20 780

2004-05 1576.95 1000437 91.82 780

2005-06 15212.98 1040060 88.24 770

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Century Cement Vision2

Tradition: Century Cement is a division of Century Textiles & Industries Ltd., belonging to the BK Birla Group of Companies, a leading business house with its presence in core industries like textiles, rayons, chemicals, paper and pulp and cement, which has been vanguard in generating wealth for the nation. Our heritage of being a part of this group carries with it a commitment to quality. All our products meet the most stringent and exacting standards of our growing list of loyal customers that are engaged in building Modern India.

Technology: Our core group’s value of quality has built for us an invincible reputation and for this, the finest technology was sourced from world renowned manufactures and state-of-the-art equipment installed for energy efficient and pollution free large scale cement production. The presence of superior technology is also evinced in our various quality initiatives which have fetched for us the coveted ISO-9001, an international certification for Quality Management System. We have also got the ISO-14001 certification for Environmental Management System which amply reflects our commitment to the environment.

Trust: Our customer is the focal point for all our endeavours and what we value most is their trust in us, whether that is in the aspect of reliability of supply or in the aspect of quality assurance. An extensive distribution network and a retail chain of thousands of outlets stretching across the length and breadth of regions, play a vital role in taking our cement units closer to the customer’s doorsteps. Further, our efficient and responsive technical staff excels in providing quick and expert care so as to enable thousands of users to keep smiling and ever wanting products.

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About:3 The capacity enhancement to 7.80 million TPA is under implementation by carrying out modification, upgradation and debottlenecking of existing plants & machinery and equipments, which is likely to be completed by October-December 2007 quarter. All cement plants are equipped with captive power plant, which not only ensure an uninterrupted power supply but also help company substantially on power cost, as power which is self generated is cheaper than the grid power that is otherwise borrowed.

The company sells its cement under various premium brands like Birla Gold, Birla Faulad, Century Classic, Century Gold and Manikgarh Gold.

Marketing Policy:

Product quality exceeding customer’s expectation

Timely dispatches

Attractive and functional packaging

Quick business response

Prompt after-sales service

Adhering to fair and ethical business practices

Customer Service:

Customer service cells have established at various marketing centres, which are manned by qualified and experienced technical personnel. They provide advice to customer on getting the best value from cement and offer assistance on civil construction related issues.

Influencing the influencer is a plank of our marketing strategy by disseminating information about our product through one-on-one interaction with masons/architects/engineers.

HR Policy:

Developing people to deliver results in changing environment by their training and skills, by their commitment and team spirit, by their foresight and resilience and by their dedication and loyalty.

HR Vision:

Objective Selection Method

Continous Training and Development

Competetive Wages and Salary structure

Well defined system, rules and procedures

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Goal oriented appraisal system and counting

Encouraging openness, participation and cooperation

Synchronizing personal aspirations with organizational goals

Enforcing professional values and code of conduct

Providing opportunities for growth and advancement

Prompt grievance redress system

Improving quality of life, both on and off the job

Discharging social responsibilities through the institution of Seva Trust

Reviewing constantly and improving personnel practices

Career with us:

Human resource is valuable asset to our organization. High calibre young professionals with proven talents in diversified will be preferred, who can innovate for tomorrow and will be the face of the company. We offer job enrichment and enhancement opportunities at all levels. Right environment with latest infrastructure matched by knowledge and acumen of our professional make the promise promising future.

Contact Address:

Central Recruitment CellC/o. Maihar CementP.O. Sarlanagar 485772District. Satna, Madhya PradeshTel: 07674-277067/68 Fax: 07674-277806Email:personnel@maiharcement.co.in

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About Cement

Century Cement produces 100% blended cement i.e. Portland Pozzolana Cement and4

Portland Slag Cement. The motivation for the production of blended cement has been primarily with the aim of preserving limestone reserves and environment.

PORTLAND POZZOLONA CEMENT (PPC)

Advantages

Low heat of hydration resulting in resistance to cracking.

Resistance to corrosive water and chemical attacks and thereby longer life to steel/iron structure underneath.

High degree of impermeability and workability for the concrete mix.

Higher ultimate strength at longer duration.

Higher degree of fitness, resulting in –

Complete chemical reaction

Easy workability

Increased plasticity

Reduced alkali aggregate reaction as also free lime expansion and thereby resistance to cracking.

Lower drying shrinkage and low leaching value.

PPC can be used for any kind of construction, which earlier was the forte of OPC. However due to its special attributes, its use is rather imperative for the following construction works.

Hydraulic Structures

Mass concreting works

Marine structures

Masonry Mortars and Plastering

Under aggressive conditions

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PORTLAND SLAG CEMENT (PSC)

Advantages

Avoids premature repairs

Maximizes durability and serviceability

Maximum return on investment

Minimum cost due to nice surface finish & slimmer constructions

Facilitates speed of construction

Uses

All types of constructions like residential, high rise and commercial buildings

Underground construction like foundation, drain, canals, culvert, sewer etc.

Mass concrete works like dams, roads, roof, bridges etc.

Construction under sulphatic environment conditions

Heavy foundations like machine/pile foundations

Sea-shore construction

PROPERTIES OF CEMENT5

Physical properties

Standard consistency of cement – This is the percentage of water by mass of cement which will make a standard paste, which will permit a plunger having 10 MM dia and 50 mm length to penetrate to a depth 33-35 mm from the top of the mould surface when sink into its own weight.

Fineness of cement - Fineness can be defined as a measure of specific surface of cement.

Advantages

o Finer cement offers a greater surface area for hydration and hence faster development of strength.

o Smooth finishing work.

o Better workability

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Disadvantages

o It is more susceptible to air set and early deterioration

o Responsible for drying shrinkage of concrete

Setting Time – In the initial setting time we have the time elapsed between the moments that the water is added to the cement to the time that the paste starts losing its plasticity. On the other hand, in the final setting time, it is the duration after which the cement loses its plasticity and becomes rigid. During this time the peak temperature is reached and finally the cement starts to harden after the lapse of final setting time.

Soundness of Cement – It refers to the volume stability of hardened cement. In particular there should not be any expansion otherwise under restrained conditions cracks may develop. The expansion may take place due to free lime, magnesia and/or calcium sulfate in the cement.

Compressive Strength – It is a measure of strength gain of cement mortar cube (mixed as per standard manner and standard materials) at 3,728 days.

COMPARISON OF COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF CEMENT

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3-D 7-D 28-D 90-D 18O-D 365-D0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

310

370

450

520

550

575

290

360

490

565

600

640

260

320

450

540

570

590

OPC

PPC

PSC

DAYS

Stren

gth kg

/cm 2

Different types of cement6

ORDINARY PORT LAND CEMENT 33 Gr. : IS 269 – 1989 HIGH STRENGTH O.P.C. 43 Gr : IS 8112 – 1989

53 Gr : IS 12269-1987 43 S Gr : IS 8112-1989 (AS AMENDED) 53 S Gr : IS 12269- 1987 (AS AMENDED)

PORT LAND POZZOLANA CEMENT (FLY ASH) : IS 1489- 1991 (PART-1)PORTLAND SLAG CEMENT : IS 455- 1989HIGH ALUMINA CEMENT : IS 6452- 1989RAPID HARDENING PORTLAND CEMENT : IS 8041- 1990SULPHATE RESISTIMH PORTLAND CEMENT : IS 12330 – 1988WHITE PORTLAND CEMENT : IS 8042 – 1989

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Before starting on, it becomes important that we analyze the basics. Marketing mainly concerns with a business discipline that focuses on a firm’s marketing techniques and the firm’s marketing resources and activities. Marketing managers have their roles ranging from providing a holistic view for the entire organization, to study the company in a more detailed manner.

7Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller define marketing management as “the art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping and growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value.”

Peter Drucker has defined marketing as “because the purpose of business is to create is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two – and only these two – basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.”

On a more specific sense, marketing can be defined as the acquisition, retention and enhancement of business from the customers at a profit to the business.

The above talks about the generic nature of the marketing as an activity and how the same can be integrated in the organizational perspective in order to generate the ultimate goal: maximization of shareholders wealth. From this report’s perspective another facet which comes along with marketing is the fact that research also has an exceedingly important role to play. By 8research we mainly mean scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English lays down the meaning of research as “a careful investigation or inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge.”

Well, the report doesn’t exactly has a scientific nature attached to it, but nevertheless it proposes a finite sense of study that is mainly achieved by ways of a detailed analysis of the prevailing conditions that are existing in the market. The report aims at studying the marketing environment that prevails in the particular region and the details that can be derived out of the same.

While working on the project, concepts have been applied keeping in mind the theoretical implication that goes along side with it. However, what is to be noted is the fact that not all form of theory or rather all the facets of a particular proposed logic or idea might apply entirely to the project. This is the reason why there are certain aspects which are more relevant in comparison with those of another. Nevertheless, there is no intention to undermine the nature of anyone’s observation.

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Continuing with the research aspect, the nature of research that has been undertaken is descriptive in nature. 9Descriptive research refers to the description of the state of affairs as it exists in the present. The main element that goes under this form of research is the fact that the researcher has no control over the variables that exists and the main job that exists for him is just to report what is happening and what needs to be happening.

Steps in Marketing Research10

There are mainly six steps that are involved in the process of marketing research. They are

as follows:

STEP 1 - Identifying and defining the problem – Our problem needs to be identified with one or two levels of the management. Sometimes we might need further definitions of the problem as there might be several tools for the particular solution.

STEP 2 - Developing an approach – Our approach should be developed around a clear set of developed objectives. When we are working on our objectives we are assessing our team’s marketing skills, establishing a budget and then understanding the environment and its influencing factors, developing a model and then formulating a hypothesis.

STEP 3 – Research Design – This is arguably the most vital step in marketing research. Based on step 1 and 2 we develop a framework on which this step is apparent. Some also approach the marketing research experts here. This step is most vulnerable to the typical research errors. Here we work on approaches like, incorporating knowledge from secondary information analysis, qualitative research, methodology selection, question measurement & scale selection, questionnaire design, sample design & size and determining data analysis to be used. We might use any of the above methods or a combination of few.

STEP 4 – Collecting the data – After we have worked on our research design, it is here that we use the finalized questionnaire on the respondents.

STEP 5 – Performing data analysis – All the analysis can be done on the basis of the questionnaires that we have prepared. The simple data can be handled easily while the complex set of data requires various market research software. Types of analysis that might be performed are simple frequency distributions, cross tab analysis, multiple regressions (driver analysis), cluster analysis, factor analysis, perceptual mapping (multidimensional scaling), structural equation modeling and data mining.

STEP 6 – Reporting and Presentation – All the critical information that we have collected is presented in front of the decision makers. They take vital decisions based on this research report.

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From a critical perspective, all the steps that are enlisted have been duly undertaken and care has been taken to ensure that the report is free from any form of human biasness. However forms of externalities like error on part of the respondents or any kind of false information are difficult to both trace and remove, especially since the nature of the report is descriptive.

Bias in Marketing Research11

In spite of its widespread application, marketing research has been often been discussed as an imperfect science. There are certain inherit bias that are involved in marketing research. They are as follows.

i. Poor Selection Criteria – These refer to the people who are selected for marketing research. If the people who are being questioned don’t fit adequately, then the entire research falls flat.

ii. Non-random selection – Bias can come when the survey of population that is selected belongs to only one particular segment of the population. Things get worse if the segment of population doesn’t aims at our target segment.

iii. Study Design – Sometimes the questionnaire who asks the question forms it in such a way that it invariably applies to a particular form of answer. The format of the question might be such that it suggests a particular form of answer and this makes the entire process of market survey gets defeated.

iv. Analysis – In spite of everything going right, the person who studies the data for his analysis might have certain vested interest in obtaining a particular result. This makes the process biased. In order to avoid this we must use someone who is objective in his approach.

As mentioned before, due care has been taken to minimize any form of error whatsoever that might occur during the preparation or working of the project.

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Sources of Marketing Information12

We can mainly identify the following sources of marketing information. They are described below.

i. Secondary Sources of Information – These are the information that is collected by persons for purposes other than the solution to the problem at hand. Also generally no research is undertaken without finding out the available secondary sources of information. This is mainly because secondary sources have lower costs and they might solve the problem without the help of primary data.

ii. Information from Respondents – Here we might work on the behavior of a person for obtaining information where people’s action is investigated or for that matter even predicted. The information can be either communicated or observed. Information when communicated can be in the form of surveys and can be included from various stakeholders. Information when observed is done such that we are analyzing the behaviour of the people. Such information is less error prone than the communicated one.

iii. Information from Natural and Controlled Experiments – Natural experiment is one where the investigator intervenes only till required for experimentation. He doesn’t assume any kind of a casual variable. He just observes what happens. In controlled experiments the investigator intervenes beyond the measured purpose. Here he might manipulate at least one assumed casual variable.

iv. Simulation – Various factors like expenses, time involved doesn’t allow on-field experimentation. It is here that we construct a model of the operational situation and experiment alongside it. This is called simulation. Simulation can be defines as a set of techniques for manipulating a model of some real world process for the purpose of finding numerical solutions that are useful in the real process that is being modelled. These models are less frequently used in marketing, but conceptual models are constructed for obtaining information on combination of variables.

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Customer Questionnaire13

Of all the methods that are involved in measuring a particular form of marketing research, customer questionnaire is one which is arguably the most popular. Questionnaire are one in which we obtain opinions and perceptions about the organization’s products or services. These methods can however be costly and time consuming. In questionnaires, customers are asked to furnish answers on what they think about the organization’s product or services. Normally organizations ask the respondents to grade the answers on a scale of 1-5 or 1-10 against a set of pre-defined questions. However such methods don’t provide a solution to the problem as posted by the consumer. The most detailed and useful information is one which is obtained using a mailed-questionnaire method. However, this method is again awkwardly flawed in nature as the respondents have to invest their time in filling the questionnaire. Also people who take the pain in filling a questionnaire are one who is strongly biased towards a particular issue. Thus, in refinement to the mail questionnaire the organization can engage in phone calls with their respondents.

The most successful form of research being the questionnaire method, in this project all form of data is collected using this method. All the respondents have been personally interviewed and this creates a personal touch to the task.

Attitude14

Kotler has defined attitude as, “attitude is a person’s enduring favorable or unfavorable evaluations, emotional feelings and action tendencies towards some object or idea.”

He says that people have attitude towards almost everything in life-clothing, music, lifestyle, and social ways. People try to either move towards it or move against it. Attitudes make people behave in a consistent manner towards similar objects. Also a person’s attitude tends to get static over a period of time. A person’s attitude is said to be linked with other attitudes. Thus a person’s change in attitude requires major adjustments in those of other attitudes.

Dealer’s Attitude & Survey

When we are discussing dealer’s attitude, we can discuss it in the same light as we have defined attitude above Dealer attitude is one of the many other psychological factors – the others being belief, motivation, perception. While talking about dealer’s attitude we are discussing that some customers may be timid while others may be aggressive. One might have a traditional view of life while others might be comparatively modern. These are just some of the factors that influence the dealer and his attitude while forming a particular decision. It is this dealer attitude that is of vital importance while evaluating the aspect of marketing and its inherent applications.

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A dealer attitude survey is one which helps the organization by means of following

Measure customer satisfaction levels

Improve customer retention

Gauge interest in new products and service offerings

Pinpoint areas for improvement

There are mainly 3 stages of this customer attitude survey design. They are,

Dealer Attitude Survey Design

Dealer Attitude Survey Administration

Dealer Attitude Survey Analysis

Each of these stages is vital in the process of customer survey. Once the process of customer attitude survey is done, we then move on to identifying the solutions that have come up as a part of our analysis.

Importance of Dealer’s Survey16

We can mainly highlight the following important points with respect to the advantages or significance of a dealer’s survey. They are,

Dealer’s survey can help developers of products, services or programs gauge the market's response to new development concepts.

They also help in revealing the audience preferences for design, features and benefits.

Dealer’s survey can help in evaluating the purchasing attitudes of customers.

Dealer’s survey can reveal how the market feels about our competitors’ products and positioning in the marketplace.

Customer attitude surveys measures the effectiveness, clarity or emotional impact of a message to an audience.

Dealer surveys can give insight into market trends and behaviours.

Dealer surveys can communicate what is most important to the dealer in terms of our relationship with them.

The research that is carried out in this report is also inherently descriptive in nature. The descriptive nature of the report is important as here the nature of research will involve the

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questionnaire approach that is me visiting the dealers and finding out the details as and which is necessary from the organizational point of view.

In the above section, we have discussed the basic that is the definition that go along with the basic idea of marketing and research. Next we go on to more detailed concepts like distribution channel.

‘A distribution or marketing channel comprises a set of interdependent institutions and agencies involved in the process of making a product or service available for consumption or use.’

In this respect, my main crux of the topic related to the dealers and sub dealers that were involved. I have briefly discussed the distribution network in my introduction of the report. Adding on to it, I was to work on certain pockets that were mainly in the Kasba region, Kalighat area and the most important Behala-Thakurpukur market. This is the market where I am to operate and had to work on.

‘Business channel management is the process of designing a set of marketing and distribution arrangements that fulfill the requirement and preferences of targeted market segments and customers, creating value through direct sales forces and logistics system, and constructing offerings for the resellers that build marketplace equity.’

From the organization’s point of view, the dealers are the most important point of connection in the supply chain network. A detailed observation of the same will be later mentioned in the analysis section.

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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

My topic for this project is “Study of Cement Marketing through dealers’ network in various parts of Kolkata”.

By means of survey conducted in the market, I am expected to find out the following that in a way act as the objectives which gets derived out of my study.

a. The total market volume.

b. The brand wise market share of individual cement brands.

c. Nature of the customers as well as the nature of the dealers.

d. Pocket wise market penetration strategy of various brands.

e. Percentage of wholesalers and retailers.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY15

Before moving on to the methods that are involved in research, it becomes important that we differentiate between research methods and methodology. Research methods can be understood as all the methods or techniques that are used in conducting a research. They are the methods that the researchers use in performing research operations. Since the objective of the research is to arrive at a particular solution, the available data and the unknown aspects of the problem have to be related to each other to make a solution possible. Research methodology on the other hand refers to a systematic way of solving a particular problem. It refers to not only the research methods but also considers the logic behind the methods that we use in the context of our research study and explain why we are not using others so that the research results are capable of being evaluated either by the researcher himself or by others.

When working on the methods of data collection we are to understand that there are two types of data namely primary data and secondary data. Primary data are those which are collected afresh and for the first time whereas secondary data is one which has already been collected by someone else and which has already passed through statistical process.

The collection of primary data can be done through several methods especially through

i. Observation method

ii. Interview method

iii. Through questionnaires

iv. Through schedules

v. Other methods which include warranty cards, distribution audits, pantry audits, consumer panels, using mechanical devices etc.

While working on the research methodology, I will be mainly focusing on the interview method and questionnaire. A detailed explanation about them is given below.

Interview Method17

This form of collecting data involves presentation of oral-verbal stimuli and reply in terms of oral-verbal responses. This method is used in two forms namely personal interview and through telephone interview.

The personal interview form mainly involves the interviewer involved in a fact to face contact with the other person. The investigation can be either direct personal investigation or indirect oral investigation. The former relates to the interviewer has to collect the

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information personally from the sources concerned. Indirect oral investigation on the other hand relates to the interviewer cross examining other persons who are supposed to have knowledge about the problem under investigation.

Merits of personal interview

More information and can be collected.

The interviewer can overcome the resistance of the respondents by his own skills.

Provides greater flexibility.

Personal interview can be obtained easily.

Demerits of personal interview

It is an expensive method.

There is a possibility of bias either form the respondents or from the interviewer

himself.

People of varied income groups might not be easily available.

This method is more time consuming.

The telephone interview method on the other hand involves collecting the

information on the telephone itself. It is not a very widely used method.

Merits of telephone interview

It is more flexible in comparison to mailing methods.

It is faster.

It is a cheaper method.

Recall is easier as call-backs are easier and economical.

Demerits of telephone interview

Not much time is given for the interviewer to answer.

Surveys are restricted to respondents who have telephone facilities.

Extensive geographical surveys are restricted by cost considerations.

Possibility of the bias on part of the interviewer is relatively more.

Questionnaires18

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Of all the methods that are involved in measuring a particular form of marketing research, customer questionnaire is one which is arguably the most popular. Questionnaire are one in which we obtain opinions and perceptions about the organization’s products or services. These methods can however be costly and time consuming. In questionnaires, customers are asked to furnish answers on what they think about the organization’s product or services. Normally organizations ask the respondents to grade the answers on a scale of 1-5 or 1-10 against a set of pre-defined questions. However such methods don’t provide a solution to the problem as posted by the consumer. The most detailed and useful information is one which is obtained using a mailed-questionnaire method. However, this method is again awkwardly flawed in nature as the respondents have to invest their time in filling the questionnaire. Also people who take the pain in filling a questionnaire are one who is strongly biased towards a particular issue.

In addition to the above discussed primary data sources, I might also be working on secondary data which will be provided by company.

The reason why I have chosen the following as my primary data sources is that for my project, it was important that I regularly interact with the dealers and hence personally avail the critical data which is required for the working of my project. The various details are very vital for the company and this collection of these would have been possible only through personal interaction.

Ethical issues involved in research methodology19

When we are talking about ethicality we are denoting morality and matters which are right and wrong. In the same way when we are talking speak of ethics in context of marketing research activities; we are dealing with the judgment that certain types of research activities are inappropriate. Such questionable activities of individuals for testing a new product, attempting to secure information from individuals who are unwilling to respond, and delving into the privacy of an individual who are unwilling to respond. Thus the issue of ethics is very vital in research methodology.

The ethical issues can be classified in two respects - issues with respect to the treatment of respondents and issues relating to treatment of researchers.

Issues relating to the treatment of respondents

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There are mainly two issues that are addressed by American Marketing Association (AMA)

i. The activity must be research and not have as its real purpose the sale of merchandise to the respondent.

ii. If it has been agreed to or promised, the participants’ anonymity must be protected.

Tybout and Zaldman have together suggested the following rights which are important for the participants.

The respondents should have the freedom to choose whether ro or not to participate in a study.

The respondent’s anonymity should be maintained and that he/she should be protected from physical or psychological harm.

The respondents must be informed on all aspects of the research.

The researchers should try to convince consumers that the research activities will ultimately benefit them with products and services that will be more attuned to their needs.

Issues relating to ethical treatment of researchers

There are mainly two issues that are addressed by American Marketing Association (AMA)

i. The first of these obligations is that the user shall not knowingly disseminate conclusions that are inconsistent with or not warranted by the data. The distortion of results not only misleads the audience, but is potentially damaging to the researcher and the firm as well.

ii. It is unethical for users to solicit unique designs or concepts not commonly available and then to deliver it to another researcher for execution. Researchers rightly regard these techniques as being proprietary. Another possibility is that the client will utilize the information obtained from proposals and incorporate the researcher’s ideas into a project that will be carried out by his or her own staff.

However, one thing to be noted is the fact that this report is devoid of any form of descriptive or hypothesis testing research. Thus there hasn’t been any hypothesis proposed, on the basis of which another set of statement that follows can be accepted or refuted. The nature of the study here is exploratory that is objective

.

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ANALYSIS

Cement Industry in India

Cement industry can be considered to be one of the sunrise industries that the country has. Driven by a booming real estate sector, global demand and increased activity in infrastructure development such as state and national highways, the cement industry has witnessed tremendous growth. Production capacity has gone up and top cement companies of the world are vying to enter the Indian market, thereby sparking off spate of mergers and acquisitions. Indian cement industry is currently ranked second in the world.

The origins of Indian cement industry can be traced back to 1914 when the first unit was setup at Porbandar with a capacity of 1000 tonnes. Today cement industry comprises of 125 large cement plants and more than 300 mini cement plants that is again increasing on an everyday basis. The Cement Corporation of India, which is a central public sector undertaking has 10 units. There are 10 large cement plants owned by various state governments. Cement industry in India has also made tremendous strides in technological upgradation and assimilation of latest technology. Presently, 93 percent of the total capacity of the industry is based on modern and environment-friendly dry process technology. The induction of advanced technology has helped the industry immensely to conserve energy and fuel and to save materials substantially. Indian cement industry has also acquired technical capability to produce different types of cements like Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC), Portland Blast Furnace Slag Cement (PBFSC), Oil Well Cement, Rapid Hardening Portland Cement, Sulphate Resisting Portland Cement, White Cement etc. Some of the major clusters of cement industry in India are: Satna (Madhya Pradesh), Chandrapur (Maharashtra), Gulbarga (Karnataka), Yerranguntala (Andhra Pradesh), Nalgonda (Andhra Pradesh), Bilaspur (Chattisgarh) and Chandoria (Rajasthan).

The cement industry in India has gone over a consolidation phase. Some examples are Gujrat Ambuja taking a stake of 14 per cent in ACC and taking over Rassi and Sri Vishnu Cement. Grasim has also acquired the cement business of L&T, Indian Rayon’s cement division ad Sri Digvijay Cements. Foreign cement companies are also picking up stake in large Indian cement companies. Swiss cement major Holcem has picked up 14.8 per cent of promoter’s stake in Gujrat Ambuja Cements (GACL). Holcem’s acquisition has led to the emergence of two major groups in the Indian cement industry, the Holcem-ACC-Gujrat Ambuja Cements combine and the Aditya Birla Group through Grasim Industries and Ultratech Cement. Lafarge, the French cment major has acquired the cement plants of Raymond and Tisco. Italy based Italcementi has acquired a stake in the K.K. Birla promoted Zuari Industries’ cement plant in Andhra Pradesh, and German cement company Heidelberg Cement has entered into an equal joint venture agreement with S P Lohia Group controlled Iondo-Rama Cement.

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Distribution pattern in West Bengal

In West Bengal Century Cement distributes its cement through handling agent and direct sales. Century Cement has got its dump in Cossipore, Shalimar, Kalighat, Kalaikunda, Burdwan, Bandel, Malda, Siliguri, Saithia, Berhampore.

The following are the handling agents for the dump:

DUMP HANDLING AGENT

Cossipore Jagannath Paul.

Shalimar Ramtech Industries Ltd.

Kalighat Ramtech Industries Ltd.

Kalaikunda Ramtech Industries (P) Ltd.

Burdwan Maa Kali Agency

Bandal Agragami Distributors

Malda R. Basak

Siliguri S. Basak

Saithia Maa Kali Agency

Berhampure A. K. Distributors

As soon as the rack has being placed at the damp/railway siding, few of the materials are being delivered directly to the dealers on the basis of programmed of dispatch given by the company. Through the authorized transporter of the dealers, the balance materials are stored at the godown. Again, deliveries are made from the godown to the appointed dealers as per their requirements. The dealers give the transport charges to their authorized transporter. Materials are delivered on the basis of companies challan issued by the carrying and forwarding agent and the challan is then counter signed by the authorized transporter of the respective dealer. As soon as the transporter acknowledges the materials and signs the challan, the company’s liability ends. Hence the entire responsibility of the material goes to the dealers. One copy of the challan is sent to the company’s sales office for the preparation of invoice.

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Explanation of the Questionnaire

In the start of the questionnaire, first there are general questions that are in the form of name, address and who is the owner of the shop. Next we have the phone no. of the organization. Here both the office and residential no. were sought by, however the respondents normally replied with only the office no. There is a column of ‘person met’, which is done to show that it might not always be such that the owner is available at desk. They might also have a manager concept prevalent.

Next we see a column that is probably most important from the organization’s point of view. It contains all the details that are important from Century Cement’s point of view. It has a detailed bifurcation with respect to the amount that is purchased and sold. In the purchase column, we see whether sales are made directly from the co. or from someone else. Simply put, it is done to find out whether a particular dealer purchases directly from the co. or from some other that is acts as a sub dealer of sorts. In the quantity sold portion, we have the sales that are what percentage of sales is in the form of wholesale and what is in the form of retail. The security deposit part is mentioned to find out what amount the dealers had to pay in order to get the agency. Also there is a section to find out the interest that the dealer expects out of the security deposit. Rarely has this interest exceeded the rate of interest provided by the banks. Then we have something in the form of credit period that the dealer provides, and finally we have the volume target scheme which mentions whether the co. provides some kind of such scheme or not or rather whether the dealer has availed any of such scheme or not. Then the duration of dealership provides how long has the dealer been in business which is provided to bring forward the experience element of the dealer.

The next column which talks about the main dealers in the area is done in order to cross check on the materials handling capacity of the other dealers in the area. Thus this kind of provides a statistical check, without getting into the details. Note that this information proved to be quite helpful as confirming the details of the dealers with other dealers gave away the falsifying information that would have otherwise occurred.

Next the questionnaire asks the dealers as to what are the brands that he personally prefers out of a given set of brands that he stocks. This is done with the reason of finding the dealer’s biasness for a particular brand and to what extent. The reason for such biasness is normally because the dealer might be getting more commission from a particular brand.

The next question asks about the whether the dealer wants to take an agency of some brand in the future. This will not only let us know about the popularity of a particular brand, it also lets us know about the gap that exists in the market and how can it be duly taken care of.

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Next question asks about the fact that who influences the purchase of cement customers. For those who are preparing their own houses and hence are more involved in the raw materials that go in, the ‘mistri’ is very important. On the other hand for people who purchase flats and are less involved, the contractor becomes a more vital reason for purchase. Few of the shopkeepers have also said that they themselves have helped the cement customers decide on the industry.

About the question of mergers in the industry and how it will affect their operations, none of the dealers had any idea and this in a way made the question kind of redundant.

The next question asked about the fact that whenever the purchase of cement occurs, what are the various parties that are there as customers. Almost the entire dealers quoted that about 60-90 percent of their parties were the customer themselves while there were quite a handful of parties that said that customers come along with the mason as well and that the contractor himself comes along for the purchase. One reason why most of the dealers said that the customer himself comes along is that the nature of the residences that were going on was surprisingly individual homes instead of the normal high-rise apartments that Kolkata is so used to.

The next form talks about the various forms of promotion techniques that are possible for the various cement brands. There were many instances when the dealer used to stock certain brands of cements while for the wall hoarding they show only a particular brand. The dealers however didn’t bother much about this as the company representatives themselves later got the wall done in various time periods. Wall painting is an important aspect as the same is the most visible feature of any cement market. Similar importance is given to the sign boards as well.

The next aspect talks about the intangibles that are involved with respect to the cement that the dealer is using. Here the availability of cement with regards to an unforeseen demand is important that is during a particular month if the demand for cement exceeds the normal average for the dealer. The next set of options talks about the behaviour of company representatives and how frequently they visit them. Also the accounting system that each company has separately with the dealer is kind of vital from the organizational point of view. Finally I got quite a varied response when it comes to the packaging of materials. The dealers were normally impressed with ACC’s packaging while on the other hand they were not so impressed with Lafarge’s packaging. This was owing to the fact that cement takes up a huge space when it comes to the inventory and if some of it is left in the open, then slightly miscalculation on part of packaging from the company’s side makes a huge difference. This is true especially during the rainy season.

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Analysis with respect to the set of objectives

The main aspect of the questionnaire that is vital from the organizational point of view has been discussed in the annexure. It mainly consists of the purchase capacity of the individual dealer and the credit period that is involved. It also mentions the full address of the dealer and their contact details. Then there are the details that belong to the credit period of the dealer with the companies involved.

The total purchase that is involved gives us an idea about the total market volume for that particular dealer. If we add up the total volume of a particular set of market then we get the total volume for a particular market. The reason why I have not done the same is because of the fact that I was unable to cover all the shops that were there in a particular region. This was owing to a few limitations that had come up while working on the questionnaires.

The next objective consists of the brand wise market share that was worked on during the market. Well, each market was dominated by certain individual brands. For example, there was Lafarge that was dominant in the Behala and Thakurpukur region owing to the fact that the C&F of Lafarge was nearby and this made transportation easy. Lafarge was on the other hand not a dominating player in the Kasba region.

The nature of the customers was in a way a mixed lot. There were elements of customers coming for either construction of their own house or for that matter construction of the flats. In the former the customer involvement is arguably more. The dealers on the other hand were also a healthy mix of both the wholesalers and the retail dealers. The wholesale dealers are one who operates in bulk and from whom the dealers later purchase the materials, for probably further selling. Also the idea of wholesaler also kind of generates from the fact that these lot deal in bulk. It might not necessarily refer to the traditional idea of wholesale that exists in the distribution channel.

There is something called as the market penetration strategy that relates to all the brands that have been covered. The penetration strategy that has been concerned with mainly concerns with market where there is some form of gap that has been existing and henceforth is a more or less maturing market. This form of market is one where there is a chance for other cement companies to enter. Well one thing to be noted is the fact that all the markets that I had operated under didn’t have any kind of or rather negligible presence when it comes to Century Cement. My study is not to be confused with some kind of survey in the way Century Cement was operating in the market. It was more of an analysis of the existence of other cements in the market and how Century Cement can make a foray into the same. These markets are also one that has reasonably matured over a period of time and as such there is intense competition that needs to be crossed before Century can do the required amount of cross hold. The way in which the same can be achieved is by overcoming the negative points that has been pointed out so well and henceforth creating

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an unparallel cement company that is inherently devoid of the usual flaws that exists in other cements.

Finally, the percentage of wholesalers and retailers can also be derived out of this data that has been provided. It is nothing else but an extension of the earlier data that has been derived.

This has been pointed out but again needs to be strengthened that the idea of this survey is to find out the installed capacity that exists with respect to dealers that is they are operating to what level of their capacity and to what extent.

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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This project has been prepared keeping in mind the format as prescribed by the college. While the survey was being conducted, there were quite a no. of issues and observations that had invariably led to certain recommendations, as part of changes that I found were necessary and needed to be looked into. What needs to be noted is that these changes are merely suggestive in nature and I sincerely hope that a few of them could be seriously considered.

There was a sense of resentment amongst the cement dealers that they don’t have that much of power in their hands when it comes to making decisions that are in a way slightly strategic in nature. E.g. they need to be consulted when there is a shift in the way the packaging needs are taken care of.

The business model of cement industry needs a big overhaul. For instance, the return on investment in the cement industry is as low as Rs. 5 for Rs. 500 that a dealer invests. That is abysmally low and again it would make sense if the same could be taken care of. Lesser amount of investment on part of the investor as a part of the cement model would probably make a bit more sense as compared to the high rate or investment that is currently followed now.

The price determination of the cement industry is not something that is completely determined by the owners themselves. There is a huge element of demand supply determinance that is the price being determined by the interaction of the market forces. This is the prime reason why there has been a huge no of cement shops that are located in or around a particular area, and this makes the competition associated with it kind of extremely cut throat. I had proposed a business model in which the no of shops that are operating in a particular location be brought down. This is done on the basis of say people who don’t deal with ‘x’ no of tonnes of cement are not allowed to work on the same. This will make the dealers market a lot more cartelized, but at the same time one thing to be noted is that since they will start dealing in bulk, they will be able to book higher profits and accordingly be able to make the necessary adjustments that are otherwise so difficult at the sales part. On the part of the company, it is not that much of an issue, as there they are still having their profits guaranteed, no matter what. They can always control the supply side of the model by limiting the supply in case any kind of problem arises.

On account of the physical properties, there was a marked difference that was noted in the packaging that was provided by ACC and say Lafarge Concreto. This is owing to the fact that the company is so particular about the packaging that is done in the bulk that they are not much concerned about the cement that is dealt in smaller quantities. There

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were very few people who had spoken about Century Cement, but the overall impression about the packaging was good.

Even though my survey was to centre with the fact that I wasn’t to show any inherent bias towards any particular brand of cement, I made it a point to find out about the performance of Century Cement. The reason for Century not doing well is because some time back it had went into a brand makeover and this had led it to losing some of its credibility. Plus there were other instances where cements with Birla names were coexisting and this made it kind of difficult for Century which now had existed as Birla Gold to make its own name. There was no set rationale which was derived out of this move of brand makeover. Thus a lot of advertising and other form of promotion is necessary in order for Birla Gold to make a mark. The good news is that Century still hasn’t been forgotten and had an excellent reputation. In this way, whatever is done from their side will be taken in a positive direction only. The fact that the real estate and infrastructure market is here to stay makes it extremely promising from the organizational point of view.

There is a rising concern over the gradual rise of the mini plant dealers in the state. These manufacturers are the one who don’t follow all the traditional methods that are involved in the manufacturing process – especially when it comes to the extracting process. Thus on account of the fact that they have discounted a part of the processing stage and hence have not incurred any capital expense, they are able to make considerably higher amount of margins as compared to their other counterpart. In accordance to the same, there is a rising issue that has come up with regards to the issue of quality. Cement is one commodity on whose quality people are not willing to compromise. Still the question of profits is something that has interested a lot of dealers in stocking these cements which are a ready hit in the suburban areas of West Bengal.

Cement industry is something that is dependent a lot on other natural resources that are present in the nation. Thus if there could have been ways by which the same could have been controlled then it would have made a significant impact to the way the raw materials was handled.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Thus in accordance with all that has been discussed; there is a brief SWOT analysis that has been done for Century Cement.

STRENGTHS

o The production capacity utilization is over 90 percent.

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o Presence of ‘bleakness’ makes it a preferred brand, especially since it carries an important functional attribute.

o The packaging is well received as compared to many popular counterparts, which makes it kind of preferred.

o The demand of cement has been excellent in the recent past acknowledging it to be nothing short of a sunrise industry. They are much sought after in the infrastructure and housing sector.

o It is a qualified ISO: 14001 certified company.

WEAKNESS

o The marketing team of the Birla Gold doesn’t have a very good relationship with their channel partner members. What is needed is that they must be a lot more proactive and responsive from their side.

o The competitors are much ahead with their promotional activities as compared to Birla Gold that makes things extremely difficult for them.

o The brand name is not perceived to be something great, especially when it comes to Ambuja and ACC as their counterparts. Thus what is required is that they create a superior brand perception and further more for brand recall to occur, high sets of advertising is a must.

o Cement when ordered in small parts turns out to be a low order commodity and hence long transportation adds on to the cost of the commodity, which is again largely market deterministic.

o The low cost of return that is involved in the cement market that again makes it highly unattractive, especially for small players.

OPPORTUNITY

o Cement industry has no signs of slowing down in the near future and this makes it an extremely viable industry.

o The Indian core industry is clocking excellent growth over the last year, quarter after quarter so that is also a positive sign.

o The FDI in the infrastructure sector is going to increase in the coming years, again making the cement industry a direct beneficiary.

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o The no. of people who are aspiring to buy houses is on the rise. Plus with the softening of the interest rates from the unusual high that they were in has once again made financing a viable option.

o The brand name of Century isn’t exactly diluted so if Birla Gold stems up the promotional activity they do have a healthy chance.

THREATS

o There have been talks of Government walking in to adjust the price of the cement.

o The prices of coal increasing on a perennial basis and this might again hamper the prospects as coal is an important commodity as a raw material.

o The small players in the market have more than just been giving the big houses the regular headache. Mini plants are slowly making their presence felt.

o Other brands like ACC have an extremely high percentage of brand loyalty, something that was evident from the survey that was conducted.

o A huge amount of small players are grabbing a large chunk of lower income cement base.

A brief note

This project was done with the intention of finding the nature of the cement market by means of visits to the dealers. However the project has certain inherent limitations as well. Not everyone was willing to talk when I had approached them. That brought the question of conversion rate being extremely low when it comes to the no. of people who were willing to respond.

The nest aspect was the fact that there was no physical address given to me by the project guide. The entire project was done on the basis of something called as a broad location contour that was mentioned that made things again extremely difficult for me. I had to physically go and search for all the shops that were around and this in a way made things slightly complicated. The nature of the cement shops is something like that of a small unit, simply owing to the fact that the infrastructure cost that is involved in setting up a shop is at its bare minimum. Often this fact made the spotting of the dealers a bit difficult. A good look at the annexure points out that there are substantial fractions of the people around that are nothing else but just small dealer.

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APPENDICES

APPENDIX I

SERIAL NO

NAME & ADDRESS

PERSON CONCERNED

& PHONE NO.

DEALER/SUBDEALER/RETAILER OF

QUANTITY PURCHASE

(MT)

DAYS OF

CREDIT

REMARKS

01. K.C. Builders.1716/1A Bosepukur Road. Kol-42

Krishnendu Chatterjee.Ph No. (033) 2441-3502

ULTRATECH (R)DURGAPUR CEMENT (R)

10 7 GOOD

02. Joy guru Builders.45 Purbachal Main Road. Kol-78

Haripadu Das.Ph No.

LAFARGE (R) 70 7 GOOD

03. Friends Enterprise.114 Purbachal Main Road Kol-78

Biswanath Adhikari, Paritosh Dutta.Ph. No. 9836012831

ULTRATECH (D) 45 14 V. GOOD

04. Maity Hardware.58 Rajdanga Gol Park Kol -107

Sukhdev Maity.Ph. No. (033) 2442-0636

ULTRATECH (D)KONARK (D)

130 21 GOOD

05. Swapan Biswas.Sarat Park, Kol - 107

Swapan Biswas.Ph. No. 9830187009

ACC (D) 70 7-15 OKAY

06. BT Enterprise.1392 PM Road, Kol-99

Tapan Kumar Das.Ph. No.

ULTRATECH (D)AMBUJA (D)

300 14 V. GOOD

07. Chandra Hardware.189C/1A BB Chaterjee Road. Kol-42

Sukumar Chandra.

ULTRATECH (D)AMBUJA (D)

100 14 OKAY

08. S. Prasad.198 Gusanpur Kol-107

S. Prasad AMBUJA (D)ULTRATECH (D)

120 21 GOOD

09. Roy Traders.166 DH Road. Thakurpukur Road Kol-63

Joyonta RayPh. No. 24976248

LAFARGE (D)KONARK OCL (D)ULTRATECH (R)

340 14 OKAY

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10. Nacto Enterprise.182 DH Road. Kol 88

H. K. Dutta ACC (D)AMBUJA (D)BIRLA GOLD (D)LAFARGE (D)ULTRATECH (D)

100 7 OKAY

11. A. K. Roy Choudhary.133/2 DH Road. Kol-08

Arun Kr. Roy ChoudharyPh. No. (033) 2447-4175

ACC (D)BIRLA GOLD (R)LAFARGE (R)

70 21 V. GOOD

12. Roy & Co.533 A DH Road. Kol-34

K. RoyPh. No. (033) 23478138

ACC (D) 50 5 GOOD

13. DB Construction.Thakurpukr, JL Sarani Joka. Kol-104

Dilip Kumar Biswas.Ph. No. 9433662146

AMBUJA (D)LAFARGE (D)

100 7 GOOD

14. Pal & Sons.JL Sarani Thakurpukur. Kol-62

C. Pal.Ph. No. (033) 2467-3543

BIRLA GOLD (D)LAFARGE (D)

45 14 GOOD

15. Chakravorty Enterprise.79 Daspara Road. Thakurpukur. Kol-63

Sushant ChakravortyPh. No. (033) 240737659433446008

ACC (D)AMBUJA (D)LAFARGE (D)

110 14 V. GOOD

16. Ringtu Kundu.29/4 Satyen Ray Road. Kol-38

Ringtu Kundu.Ph. No. 9433084502

AMBUJA (D)ULTRATECH (D)

170 21 OKAY

17. MS Iron & Co.274 Sarsuna Main Road. Kol-61

Bapi DasPh. No. (033) 24931032

BIRLA GOLD (D)ULTRATECH (D)LAFARGE (D)AMBUJA (D)ACC (D)

350 variable GOOD

18. Das Enterprise.12 Sarsuna Main Road.Kol-61

Tamal Das ACC (R)AMBUJA (R)LAFARGE (R)

60 7 OKAY

19. Das Enterprise.Ramnagar Gangarampur Road, Maheshtala.Kol-141

Nilanjan Das.Ph. No. 9331952234

AMBUJA (D)LAFARGE (D)ULTRATECH (D)

60 variable GOOD

20. A. Ray A Roy DURGAPUR (D) 30 None V. GOOD

Page | 41

Choudhary.187 DH Road, Thakurpukur.Kol-63

Choudhary.Ph. No. 93311745713

21. Lokenath Builders.9 SN Ray Road.Kol-38

Kanti Ghosh.Ph. No.9831420610

ACC (D)AMBUJA (D)LAFARGE (D)

300 21 GOOD

22. Das Trading.67 Majedpada Post Office, Thakupukr.Kol-66

Narayan Chandra Das.Ph. No. 9231693583

LAFARGE (D) 60 15 OKAY

23. Economic Traders.160E Bhupen Roy Road. Kol-31

Pranab Roy.9051295227

LAFARGE (R)BANSAL (D)PRAGATI (D)

30 21 GOOD

24. BD Enterprise.Nabapally JL Sarani, Kol-104

Bijay K Das, Nilima Das

AMBUJA (D)KONARK (D)

30 10 GOOD

25. Partha Builders.10, Bosepara Road. JL Sarani.Kol-8

Partha Das.Ph. No. 9433573401

ACC (D)AMBUJA (R)LAFARGE (R)DURGAPUR (R)

110 15 GOOD

26. Mahalakshmi Stores.642 DH Road, Thakurpukur.Kol-08

Khadiram Rit LAFARGE (D) 60 15 OKAY

27. Ramesh Mallick.Sivarampur, Maheshtala, Kol-121.

Ramesh Mallick.Ph. No. 033-24880054

ACC (D)CENTURY (D)LAFARGE (D)ULTRATECH (D)KONARK (D)BANSAL (D)

2000 variable V. GOOD

28. Southern Builders.92/1 Bidhan Roy Road (West).Kol-61

Subir Majumdar.

ACC (D)AMBUJA (D)LAFARGE (D)

100 15 GOOD

29. Industry Raju Ghosh ACC (R) 40 7 OKAY

Page | 42

Builders.133/2 Ho Chi Min Sarani. Kol-61

CENTURY (R)LAFARGE (R)

30. Paul Enterprise.406 Ho Chi Min Sarani. Kol-61

Sunil Paul ACC (D)CENTURY (D)LAFARGE (D)ULTRATECH (D)

500 variable GOOD

Page | 43

QUESTIONNAIRE ON CEMENT MARKET

Appendix II

Area

1 a) Name

b) Name of the dealing person Mr. /Ms.

2. Address

3. a) Phone No. i) Residential

ii) Office

b) Mobile No.

c) Person met

4. Fill in the blanks with appropriate answers

Name of the

company

Quantity purchase (mt)

Quantity selling (mt)

Security

Deposit (Rs.)

Interest of

Security

Deposit (%)

Credit Perio

d

Volume

Target Schem

e (if any)

Duration of

dealership

Directly from

co.

From othe

r

Whole sale

Retail

ACCAmbujaCenturyLafargeUltraTechJPBinaniRashi GoldOclBirlaSamrat OthersOthersOthersTotal

5. Who are the main dealers of this area

Name of the dealer

ACC Ambuja

Century Lafarge Ultratech JP Binani Rashi Gold

OCL Birla Samrat

Others Total

Page | 44

6. When a customer asks for a particular brand do you try selling other brands?

Yes ( ) No ( )

If yes, then which are those brands? Why?

7. Have you ever thought of taking dealership of any other company in the future?

Yes ( ) No ( )

If yes, then which are those brands? Why?

8. According to you, who influences a cement customer purchase most?

9. What have you got to say about the mergers in the cement industry?

10. What percentage of your cement customers are

Reseller Contractor Individual Customer

Individual customer accompanied by mason

Mason

11. Advertising / Sales Promotion (Write poor/ok/good/very good in the appropriate blank)

Name of company

TV Radio Wall/Shop Painting

Sign Board

Press Gifts Any Other

ACCAmbujaCentury

Page | 45

LafargeUltraTechJPBinaniRashi GoldOclBirlaSamrat OthersOthersOthers

12. Service (Write poor/ok/good/very good in the appropriate blank)

Company Name

Regular availability of cement

Behaviour of company

representatives

Visits by company representatives

Accounting system

Packaging

ACCAmbujaCenturyLafargeUltraTechJPBinaniRashi GoldOclBirlaSamrat OthersOthersOthers

13. Any other remarks / Opinions?

Date: ………………………………

Place: …………………………….. …………………………………...

(Surveyor’s Signature)

Page | 46