Q1:

Basic challenge faced by CCBVL in 2012 was lack of sales momentum. This is an operational issue because sales
trends show that Coke has steady growth in terms of sales volume; therefore marketing performance is not an
indicator of concern. The universe of soft drinks was increasing at greater rate than CCBVLs since sales volume
shows increasing trend however deceasing trend can be seen for market share.
Three key symptoms that Thati identified were 1) lack of uniform availability, 2) stock-outs and 3) low fill rate.
Uniform availability referred to percentage outlets that carried at least one of Cokes brand. This matrix was low
nationwide; additionally the rural markets were even lower than urban for availability. Even where Cokes products
were available more often than not it was Coke itself as oppose its other brands. These numbers were significantly
below national average, meaning distribution and logistical issues.
Stock-outs were experienced routinely as monthly demand followed skewed behavior. This resulted in ill-planned
demand planning and erratic supply. Retailers could not trust the order fulfilment to be accurate, due to which Coke
lost sales.
Lastly, the fill rate of the supply was not adjusted to the demand curve. Due to which either CCBVL was either
under-filling or over-filling the orders.

Q2:
Three people management issues faced by CCBVL were 1) morale and attrition, 2) Incentive planning and 3) work
conditions.
CCBVL was experiencing very high attrition rate at all levels management and fleet. CCBVL had 15 GMs between
1994 2011and 72% employee overall turnover rate. This is very demotivating for staff and creates an air of
confusion and loss of direction. Employees had a general dissatisfaction with the management as they seem to
have a communication barrier due to being expats. This can be remedied by conducting open town hall like events
where management and employees can mingle to encourage dialogue. Such events can then address finer issues
like glorifying job roles and building trust and loyalty.
Incentive planning for sales staff seemed arbitrary to the employees, thus suspicion of favoritism prevailed.
Additionally the plan did not factored uncontrollable factors which impacted the sales performance such as of stockouts etc. where sales staff was being penalized for events that were out their ambit. Moreover, staff at times had to
engage in cutting blood to meet targets. This can be remedied by making performance KPIs and their tracking
transparent. Sales uncontrollable factors to be factored in, and exemptions to given when invoked. Increasing bases
salaries and investing in staff learning/training/development/facilitation.
Coke was considered as a hostile workplace, where employees where overworked and underpaid. The working
conditions were not conducive to long-term relationship with the organization. Offices lacked basic amenities, work
hours were long, and staff faced resistance and received little help from management. This can be remedied by
implementing organizational culture guidelines, training managers to behave well and report any performance
related issue via HR. Bringing improvement in office environment will also instill goodness for the organizations
amongst the disgruntle staff.

Q3:
Thatis worry is not about sales performance in isolation rather in comparison to the competition. Other than usual
rival PCI, CCBVL has local competition thats bringing its A-game. Even though CCBVL has increase in sales, it has
lost its market share owing to expansion in the category.
Following four things need to be taken care of, if CCBVL wants to make Vietnam a profitable market: 1) increase in
numeric i.e. more retailers need to be serviced. Increasing number of outlets served will bring in additional sales. 2)
Increase in POS branding, will increase Top of Mind for consumers and result in replacement sales in case
competitive product is out-of-stock 3) introduction of bulk discounts and discontinuation/ reduction of deep
discounts, will prevent retailer from holding their orders till end of month. This will smoothen skewed sales and
result in more evenly distributed order booking. 4) Improved CCBVL infrastructure at bottling sites will reduce
hurdles such as lack of warehousing capacity, troubled forklift operations. Standardizing delivery vehicles will also
reduce product damage and minimize the stock obsolesce/ stock write-offs.

I agree with Duy Tungs assessment of the market Vietnam requires heavy investment in supply chain in order for
CCBVL to reach its full potential and then surpass it. This is because the market is very competitive with multiple
players and defensive/reactive sales will not help CCBVL reach its targets. In order to fully utilize the capacity of
existing infrastructure, more investment is required. However, the investment can be prioritized to see if the
desired results are achieved or not. For eg, Basic infrastructure upgrades such as leveled flooring and extra
warehousing need to be completed first, this will help uneven demand fulfillment. Once existing demand is met,
POS and retailer on-boarding investment should be made to drive additional sales from new and old retailers.