BAT Central America
British American Tobacco-Central America is the cigarette market leader in the Central America region. Increasing competition from Philip Morris and RJR Tobacco Holdings, combined with deficient management of sales and marketing have contributed to a loss of market share in the years 1997 and 1998. The company has decided to implement an integrated, region-wide, sales force automation solution. The existing Telxon460-based system is no longer sufficient to support the complexity of customer relationships as merchandising and promotion activities demand a great deal more from the field sales personnel. Management is evaluating two PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) hardware products-Husky and HP Jornada--, and considering the necessary process changes to support the new Sales Force Automation tools.
The case offers a rich context to study the role of technology solutions in the management of sales and marketing activities. It describes the challenges of managing integrated marketing programs in an increasingly competitive environment, and across countries and national markets.