Chen's first task was to understand why BigCity was pursuing a category captaincy. BigCity Grocers was a retailer of considerable size. It had large budgets available for things it needed to do nd was not averse to employing consultants and our hiring staff to provide the information needed to do the job. What could Freezer Foods or TV Meals provide that couldn't be bought on the open market or at least at a reasonable price?

What was BigCity Grocers expecting to achieve by bringing in a manufacturer to manage this central element of its stores? It seemed like a radical change but category captaincy arrangements were common enough across retail that there surely must be some benefits to the retailer.

When he had thought through what BigCity wanted, Chen felt he needed to put together an attractive offer. What effect should he assume category captaincy would have? What should he offer BigCity? Would BigCity pay the winning captain to manage the category, or would the captain pay BigCity for the right to manage the category?