Situation

Agnes Klondyke is excited. As chief sales officer $($CSO$)$ for Blue Tern Mills, a major manufacturer of traditional salty snacks $($nuts$,$ chips, and crackers$),$ she knows that new product development is the lifeblood of the business. But wow $...$ the e$-$mail she got this morning from Blue Tern$$s CEO Max Pugh really takes the cake $($no pun intended of course$).$ Max reports that Blue Tern$$s acquisition of the Hello brand of healthy grain cereals and packaged healthy snacks has been completed. Beginning in about six months, Blue Tern$$s sales force will begin selling the new line, which has previously been sold by manufacturers$$ agents.

Later that afternoon, Agnes got a call from Max to discuss gearing up for selling the new line. Blue Tern$$s sales force has been organized geographically, with each salesperson selling the entire line of $211$ Blue Tern snack products. The problem is that the Hello line adds $117$ new products to the mix, and many of these products are sold in different kinds of outlets from Blue Tern items$$for example, while some supermarkets, drugstores, and discount stores might sell both Blue Tern and Hello products, the Hello line is also sold in health food stores, in some gyms, and over the Internet. Agnes is quickly realizing that she has a major reorganization task ahead for the company$$s sales force.

Max has asked for a new organization plan for selling both lines, and he wants the plan on his desk in two weeks. Agnes calls Alan Knorr, West Coast regional manager for Blue Tern, and Penny Pugsley, director of sales for Hello, to a meeting to discuss ideas for the transition and development of a new organizational scheme for Blue Tern$$s sales force. Penny is cooperative, as in the acquisition she has been promised the vacant East Coast regional manager slot at Blue Tern. Vital facts about Blue Tern$$s current sales organization: $(1)$ it is organized geographically, with $212$ salespeople, $20$ district managers, and two regional managers; $(2)$ all the salespeople sell the full Blue Tern product line to all types of retailers; and $(3)$ there are no major account salespeople.

Max has made it clear that he will financially support whatever changes this decision team recommends, including adding some salespeople where needed to support the additional anticipated sales volume from the Hello line. The key question of course is: Is their current simple geographic approach optimal for the new situation?

Characters in the Role$-$Play

Agnes Klondyke, chief sales officer $($CSO$)$ for Blue Tern Mills

Alan Knorr, West Coast sales manager for Blue Tern Mills

Penny Pugsley, currently the director of sales for Hello Healthy Grain Foods and soon to be East Coast sales manager for Blue Tern Mills; note that Penny$$s job at Hello has been to supervise its network of manufacturers$$ reprepresentatives $($Hello does not have its own sales force$).$

Assignment

Break into groups of three, with one student playing each character. It doesn$$t matter what the actual gender mix of your group is$.$ Before you stage the meeting among Agnes, Alan, and Penny, work separately to come up with a proposed new organization plan for Blue Tern$$s sales force and a transition plan for making the change happen. Remember, Blue Tern must be ready to start selling both lines in six months. Then get together and role$-$play the meeting. Share your ideas, especially discussing the pros and cons of different new organization schemes for the sales force. After the discussion, come to agreement among yourselves on what will be the best type of sales organization for the firm and list key aspects of implementing the change so that the transition with customers is as smooth as possible.