A PROJECT REPORT ON Understanding the strategy & requirements for ITC Stationery Supplies, for penetrating ITC offers

into Institutions

SUBMITTED BY Shubhankar Sengupta

Organization Guide Mr. Sanjay Banerjee Area Manager ITC Limited, Kolkata

Institution Guide Prof. Charanpreet Singh Associate Dean Praxis Business School, Kolkata

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Praxis Business School

A PROJECT REPORT ON Understanding the strategy & requirements for ITC Stationery Supplies, for penetrating ITC offers into Institutions Submitted to Mr. Sanjay Banerjee Area Manager ITC Limited, Kolkata

In partial fulfilment of the requirements of the course of the Summer Internship Program (2011-2013) By Shubhankar Sengupta

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CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

The following Summer Project Report titled Understanding the strategy & requirements for ITC Stationery Supplies, for penetrating ITC offers into Institutions" is hereby approved as a certified study in management carried out and presented in a manner satisfactory to warrant its acceptance as a prerequisite for the award of Post-Graduate Diploma in Management for which it has been submitted.

It is understood that by this approval the undersigned do not necessarily endorse or approve any statement made, opinion expressed or conclusion drawn therein but approve the Summer Project Report only for the purpose it is submitted.

Signature

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would, at the very onset, like to thank Mr. Sanjay Banerjee, Area Manager, ITC Classmate, ITC Limited for providing me the opportunity to perform my Summer Internship Program in the Company.

I, would like to, give special thanks and gratitude to Mr. Sujoy Banerjee, Mr. Gautam Saha, Mr. Asim Chanda for mentoring and providing the necessary data and information as and when required throughout the project. Their support and encouragement has been a source of inspiration for me and made my journey in ITC Classmate a delight.

I would also offer my thanks to my Dean Mr. Srinivasan Govindrajan, Praxis Business School, Kolkata.

My thanks also go to Mr. Charanpreet Singh, Associate Dean, Praxis Business School. I would also like to thank my classmates and seniors for extending me their help and cooperation whenever I approached them.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Stationery Industry which is basically my concern industry around which my project has to be revolved is really a very complex industry. The project titled Understanding the strategy & requirements for ITC Stationery Supplies, for penetrating ITC offers into Institutions was basically a research based project. The main motive behind doing this project is to

know the industry, have an overview of how ITC Classmate could penetrate the various Institutions, know the working of distributors and TSIs (Territory Sales In charge) in ITC Classmate.

My project was totally based on primary data. The project started with a visit to various institutions in order to gain information about the stationery they use. This was done thoroughly in order to understand about scope of ITC Classmate to generate leads in those Institutions, before this I was given a thorough overview of different products of ITC Classmate.

My next step was to visit Stationery retail stores and gather information about stocks and problems faced by stores. My basic objective was to find out if the supply chain could be made better. In this survey I had to visit stationery shops with the ITC classmate TSIs (Territory Sales In charge).

My findings through this project were that there is a huge market and there is can be scope of improvement. Institutions have the capacity to give good business to the ITC Classmate and more sales could be achieved if the services given by the TSIs are improved.

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Table of contents

Sl. No.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Acknowledgement Executive Summary Introduction

Particulars
Certificate of Approval

Page No.
3 4 5 7 8-9 10 11 11 12 12 13 14-16 17-18 19 20 21 22 23-24 25-37

Indian Stationery Industry A Brief Overview of ITC Classmate Objective of the Study Relevance Scope of the Study Limitations ITC Profile History of the Company List of Products & Brands Board of Directors Rural Initiatives taken by the Company Corporate Philanthropy Competitors of ITC Ltd Research Methodology The Study Phase 1 Phase 2

25-33 34-37 38 39 40 41

20 21 22 23

Findings Conclusions and Suggestions Bibliography and Reference Annexure

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INTRODUCTION
We dont want satisfied customersWe want delighted customers. It is the new marketing mantra today. The same applies to stationery industry as well. Stationery Industry is a very heterogeneous group of business usually associated with the Schools, Colleges, and Office and plays a very crucial role in working of any organization across the globe. It includes Paper stationery which comprises of a vast collection of products like exercise books, note books, stitch, glued & tape pads, refill pads, flap over pads, subject books, plastic cover books etc. The huge greeting card market, autograph books, party invites etc, is also a part of this segment.

Paper and paper related products are tremendously gaining demand in the market. Out of which paper stationery market over the years has gained immense popularity in the school and office segment throughout the world. Revolution for these products has come to birth from the past few years majorly in developing nations and it's having immense value in terms of export and import. It is expected that Stationery industry has a flourishing future in its coming years in India and over a period is estimated to grow at 10 to 15% p.a. To achieve this objective, one can actually see that how acceptance of Internet technology has opened plethora of opportunities of sourcing the desired supplier in any part of the world. The manufacturers of various countries including India, China, Indonesia etc have started building new product strategies, which helps in reducing their overall cost without compromising on quality thus producing a good quality product at competitive price.

Falling under the category of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in majorly most of the countries, this sector has lot to offer in terms of employment, tax revenues, it can be an important source of new innovative products, extensive local knowledge of resources, and can be a major service provider to the larger organizations. However, this sector like other sectors have certain bottlenecks which hinder the growth of this sector like Burdensome regulatory frameworks, Lack of tax incentives and subsidies, Absence of investor-friendly environment, Lack of access to finance, Lack of capacitybuilding programs and inadequate provision of vocational training etc.

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Indian Stationery Industry: Opportunities and Challenges

In the international arena India is providing more scope for development and trends; however, with excellent quality, the Indian products are very much in demand. The Indian SMEs associated with stationery market has witnessed tremendous dynamic changes. In the last decade the Indian market has increased varieties to be exported in markets and has produced big market percentage. Indian Paper Stationery Industry, which is a part of the huge and scattered Indian stationery Industry, has been going through tremendous alteration in recent years. Despite fierce competition from neighbouring markets, its scattered nature and the constantly changing trends, the paper stationery industry makers continue to make every effort, due to which the fruitful results are coming slowly and steadily. Indian companies have learnt that innovation, performance and versatility are the key area to be focused upon. Taking the points under consideration, the businessmen are now researching and developing new products, as the market is now more of consumer oriented which is always looking for cost effective prices. This is because of the attitude of buyer which is now ready to spend more if are liable product is offered to him.

With seasonal export market which stays from April-June major importing countries like U.S.A., Australia, Canada, major African countries and Middle East are the ones which accept Indian designs and style comfortably. With extreme precautions, and the good quality products offered and new marketing strategies are followed, the government has also come out with various incentives for SMEs. Particularly for stationary industry if we quote would be the education enhancement schemes which are giving growth to this sector. The Indian stationery market is also influenced by macroeconomic development, national income and lasts but not the least the ever-growing Indian population. The Indian stationery Industry is highly unorganized and the organized players are estimated to be less than the unorganized sector players due to which unorganized stationery players are expanded throughout the industry and controls major market share.

However, Indian stationary industry is facing major competition from the Importer especially Chinese manufacturers are the most competitive among all the otherworld market players as they have an advantage of mass production capacity, aggressive favourable government export policy, simplified low taxation and well developed infrastructure.

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Stationery Industry: Introspection Time

Indian businessmen involved in the business of stationary items needs to work on proper research and development of the sector. Design, Colours, Quality, Themes, reaching the right partners and to find out new markets for their products should be on their agenda. Government at their level is taking initiatives; however, to bring in a spurt in the trade there is a need to focus on providing assistance to businessmen for buying good machinery, necessary infrastructure should be provided, to enhance export activities, workshops, conferences and training programs should be conducted at state and national level. Logistics is also a key concern that goods should reach on time which helps in maintaining a relationship with various customers across the globe.

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A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF ITC CLASSMATE:

Classmate is the lead provider of all student stationery needs. ITC launched its Classmate brand in 2003 with the notebooks category. Subsequently, Classmate added new products to its portfolio which now consists of pens, pencils, mechanical pencils and geometry boxes, erasers and sharpeners. Classmate aspires to partner young minds in discovering, nurturing & believing in ideas that reside inside each one of us. Have fun exploring, creating & believing in your ideas, in classrooms & beyond. Ideas that defy & change beliefs; ideas that allow you to lead rather be led; ideas that are inside each one of us but only await self recognition & belief. Your belief makes your ideas work for you & become big; allowing you to be all that you can.

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Objective of the Study:

My project entitled Understanding the strategy & requirements for ITC Stationery supplies, for penetrating ITC offers into Institutions aims at studying the scope of ITC Classmate.

The objective of doing this project is defined as under.

1) To study the know the industry, 2) To study working of distributors and TSIs in ITC Classmate, and 3) To study how ITC Classmate could penetrate the various Institutions.

Relevance of the Study:

The stationery market in India is driven by not only growth in the education sector but also industrial growth. Due to the increase in organized retailing and trends towards creating stronger visibility, Indian stationery market is poised for further growth. India is an emerging economy with a huge population base. Rising income levels coupled with the Governments impetus on educating the masses will lead to the development of the stationery market. Rising literacy rate is a chief pointer towards growth in the education sector. Hence, it is essential to evaluate different factors impacting the stationery business of India.

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SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

To achieve the above objective I have not restricted my study to just ITC Classmate. In order to study about the stationery business in India, and to understand the scope that ITC Classmate has in this business, I have extended my project to do a detailed study of stationery market of the competitors of ITC Classmate. Through a comparative study between the competitors and ITC Classmate, I could arrive to a conclusion of the scope of ITC Classmate in India in Institutions.

Limitations:
To make mistake is human nature and Im no exception. I have tried to make this project approachable and helpful for the company, but at the same time I accept the occurrence of intermittent mistakes and do accept them sincerely.

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ITC PROFILE
ITC Limited or ITC is an Indian public conglomerate company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Its diversified business includes four segments: Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Hotels, Paperboards, Paper & Packaging and Agri Business. ITC's annual turnover stood at $7 billion and market capitalization of over $33 billion. The company has its registered office in Kolkata. It started off as the Imperial Tobacco Company, and shares ancestry with Imperial Tobacco of the United Kingdom, but it is now fully independent, and was rechristened to India Tobacco Company in 1970 and then to I.T.C. Limited in 1974.

The company is currently headed by Yogesh Chander Deveshwar. It employs over 26,000 people at more than 60 locations across India and is listed on Forbes 2000. ITC Limited completed 100 years on 24 August 2010.

ITC has a diversified presence in FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), Hotels, Paperboards & Specialty Papers, Packaging, Agri-Business and Information Technology. While ITC is an outstanding market leader in its traditional businesses of Hotels, Paperboards, Packaging, AgriExports and Cigarettes, it is rapidly gaining market share even in its nascent businesses of Packaged Foods & Confectionery, Branded Apparel, Personal Care and Stationery.

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HISTORY OF THE COMPANY

ITC was formed on August 24, 1910 under the name Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited. Later the name of the Company was changed from Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited to India Tobacco Company Limited in 1970 and then to I.T.C. Limited in 1974. ITC contains a wide range of businesses - Cigarettes & Tobacco, Hotels, Information Technology, Packaging, Paperboards & Specialty Papers, Agri-business, Foods, Lifestyle Retailing, Education & Stationery and Personal Care. Finally the company changed its name to 'ITC Limited on September 2001.

The earlier decades of the Company's existence were mainly depending on growth and consolidation of the Cigarettes and Leaf Tobacco businesses, In the Seventies it started to transform into a corporate. In 1975 the Company launched its Hotels business with the acquisition of a hotel in Chennai which was rechristened 'ITC-Welcomgroup Hotel Chola'. The objective of ITC's entry into the hotels business was rooted in the concept of creating value for the nation. In 1979, ITC entered the Paperboard business by promoting ITC Bhadrachalam Paperboards Limited, which today has become the market leader in India.

In 1985, ITC set up Surya Tobacco Co. in Nepal as an Indo-Nepal and British joint venture. Since inception, its shares have been held by ITC, British American Tobacco and various independent shareholders in Nepal. In August 2002, Surya Tobacco became a subsidiary of ITC Limited and its name was changed to Surya Nepal Private Limited (Surya Nepal). Also in 1990, leveraging its agrisourcing competency, ITC set up the Agri Business Division for export of agri-commodities. The Division is today one of India's largest exporters. ITC's unique and now widely acknowledged eChoupal initiative began in 2000 with soya farmers in Madhya Pradesh. Now it extends to 10 states covering over 4 million farmers. ITC's first rural mall, christened 'Choupal Saagar' was inaugurated in August 2004 at Sehore. On the rural retail front, 24 'Choupal Saagars' are now operational in the 3 states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

In 2000, ITC forayed into the Greeting, Gifting and Stationery products business with the launch of Expressions range of greeting cards. A line of premium range of notebooks under brand Paperkraft was launched in 2002. To augment its offering and to reach a wider student population, the popular range of notebooks was launched under brand Classmate in 2003. Classmate over the years has grown to become Indias largest notebook brand and has also increased its portfolio to occupy a greater share of the school bag. Years 2007- 2009 saw the launch of Children Books, Slam Books, Geometry Boxes, Pens and Pencils under the Classmate brand. In 2008, ITC repositioned the business as the Education and Stationery Products Business and launched India's first environment 14 | P a g e

friendly premium business paper under the Paperkraft Brand. Paperkraft offers a diverse portfolio in the premium executive stationery and office consumables segment. Paperkraft entered new categories in the office consumable segment with the launch of Textliners, Permanent Ink Markers and White Board Markers in 2009.

ITC also entered the Lifestyle Retailing business with the Wills Sport range of international quality relaxed wear for men and women in 2000. The Wills Lifestyle chain of exclusive stores later expanded its range to include Wills Classic formal wear (2002) and Wills Clublife evening wear (2003).

In 2000, ITC spun off its information technology business into a wholly owned subsidiary, ITC Infotech India Limited, to more aggressively pursue emerging opportunities in this area. Today ITC Infotech is one of Indias fastest growing global IT and IT -enabled services companies and has established itself as a key player in offshore outsourcing, providing outsourced IT solutions and services to leading global customers across key focus verticals - Manufacturing, BFSI (Banking, Financial Services & Insurance), CPG&R (Consumer Packaged Goods & Retail), THT (Travel, Hospitality and Transportation) and Media & Entertainment.

ITC's foray into the Foods business is an outstanding example of successfully blending multiple internal competencies to create a new driver of business growth. It began in August 2001 with the introduction of 'Kitchens of India' ready-to-eat Indian gourmet dishes. In 2002, ITC entered the confectionery and staples segments with the launch of the brands mint-o and Candyman confectionery and Aashirvaad atta (wheat flour). 2003 witnessed the introduction of Sunfeast as the Company entered the biscuits segment. ITC's entered the fast growing branded snacks category with Bingo! in 2007. In just over a decade, the Foods business has grown to a significant size with over 200 differentiated products under six distinctive brands, with an enviable distribution reach, a rapidly growing market share and a solid market standing.

In 2002, ITC's philosophy of contributing to enhancing the competitiveness of the entire value chain found yet another expression in the Safety Matches initiative. ITC now markets popular safety matches brands like iKno, Mangaldeep, Aim, Aim Mega and Aim Metro. ITC's foray into the marketing of Agarbattis (incense sticks) in 2003 marked the manifestation of its partnership with the cottage sector. ITC's popular agarbattis brands include Spriha and Mangaldeep across a range of fragrances like Rose, Jasmine, Bouquet, Sandalwood, Madhur, Sambrani and Nagchampa. ITC introduced Essenza Di Wills, an exclusive range of fine fragrances and bath & body care products for men and women in July 2005. Continuing with its tradition of bringing world class products to Indian consumers the Company launched 'Fiama Di Wills', a premium range of 15 | P a g e

Shampoos, Shower Gels and Soaps in September, October and December 2007 respectively. The Company also launched the 'Superia' range of Soaps and Shampoos in the mass-market segment at select markets in October 2007 and Vivel De Wills & Vivel range of soaps in February and Vivel range of shampoos in June 2008.

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LIST OF PRODUCTS & BRANDS

In FMCG, ITC has a strong presence in:

Cigarettes:

W. D. & H. O. Wills, Gold Flake Kings, Gold Flake Premium, Navy Cut,

Insignia, India Kings, Classic Verve, Menthol, Menthol Rush, Regular,Citric Twist, Mild & Ultra Mild,

555, Benson & Hedges, Silk Cut, Scissors, Capstan, Berkeley, Bristol, Lucky Strike, Players and Flake.

Foods:

Kitchens of India;

Aashirvaad,

Minto, Sunfeast, Candyman, Bingo, Yippee,

Sunfeast Pasta brands in Ready to Eat, Staples, Biscuits, Confectionery, Noodles and Snack Foods

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Apparel:

Wills Lifestyle and John Players ;

Personal care:

Fiama di Wills; Vivel; Essenza di Wills; Superia; Vivel di Wills brands of products in perfumes, hair care and skincare

Stationery:

Classmate and PaperKraft brands

Safety Matches and Agarbattis:

iKno; Mangaldeep; Aim brands

Other businesses include:

Hotels: ITC's hotels (under brands including WelcomHotel) have evolved into being India's second largest hotel chain with over 80 hotels throughout the country. ITC is also the exclusive franchise in India of two brands owned by Sheraton International Inc.- The Luxury Collection and Sheraton which ITC uses in association with its own brands in the luxury 5 star segment. Brands in the hospitality sector owned and operated by its subsidiaries include Fortune and Welcome Heritage brands.

Paperboard, Specialty Paper, Graphic and other Paper;

Packaging and Printing for diverse international and Indian clientele.

Infotech (through its fully owned subsidiary ITC Infotech India Limited which is a SEI CMM Level 5 company)

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CHAIRMAN Y C Deveshwar EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS Nakul Anand P V Dhobale NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS A Baijal S H Khan H G Powell Basudeb Sen S Banerjee S B Mathur P B Ramanujam K Vaidyanath AV Girija Kumar D K Mehrotra Anthony Ruys B Vijayaraghavan K N Grant

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RURAL INITIATIVES TAKEN BY THE COMPANY

ITC's Agri-Business is India's second largest exporter of agricultural products. ITC is one of the India's biggest foreign exchange earners (US $ 2 billion in the last decade). The Company's 'EChoupal' initiative is enabling Indian agriculture significantly enhance its competitiveness by empowering Indian farmers through the power of the Internet. This transformational strategy, which has already become the subject matter of a case study at Harvard Business School, is expected to progressively create for ITC a huge rural distribution infrastructure, significantly enhancing the Company's marketing reach.

The company places computers with Internet access in rural farming villages; the E-Choupals serve as both a social gathering place for exchange of information (Choupal means gathering place in Hindi) and an e-commerce hub. What began as an effort to re-engineer the procurement process for soy, tobacco, wheat, shrimp, and other cropping systems in rural India has also created a highly profitable distribution and product design channel for the companyan e-commerce platform that is also a lowcost fulfilment system focused on the needs of rural India. The E-Choupal system has also catalyzed rural transformation that is helping to alleviate rural isolation, create more transparency for farmers, and improve their productivity and incomes.

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CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY
ITC E-Choupal creatively leverages information technology to set up a meta-market in favour of India's small and poor farmers, who would otherwise continue to operate and transact in 'un-evolved' markets.

As of July 2010, services through 6500 E-Choupal across 10 states, reach more than 4 million farmers in about 40,000 villages. Free access to Internet is also opening windows of rural India to the world at large.

ITC E-Choupal is now being regarded as a reliable delivery mechanism for resource development initiatives. Its potential is being tested through pilot projects in healthcare, educational services, water management and cattle health management with the help of several service providers including nongovernmental organizations.

Classmate notebooks were launched with the initiative of contributing 1 rupee towards the education of poor children, from every four notebooks it sold.

Classmate, has launched a programme called Classmate Ideas for India challenge. The programme would be a part of the company's centenary initiative. The nation-wide programme would invite ideas of the youth, who have the potential to transform India. Classmate Ideas for India challenge plans to reach out to 25 lakh students across 30 cities, 500 schools and 200 colleges across the country.

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COMPETITORS OF ITC LTD.

Industries Where ITC Limited Competes

Tobacco Product Manufacturing Crop Production Information Technology Services Consumer Products Manufacturing Apparel Manufacturing

Main Competitors of ITC ltd.: Hindustan Unilever Golden Tobacco Ltd. Godfrey Philips India Ltd. RTCL Ltd. VST Industries Ltd. Marico Ltd.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Type
My research is based on the primary data. Primary data has been used to understand the scope of stationery business in India and then to make suggestions useful for the company under study i.e. ITC Classmate.

Data Type
Primary data has been used for the purpose of study of ' Understanding the strategy & requirements for ITC Stationery supplies, for penetrating ITC offers into Institutions '.

Sample Selection
To collect primary data regarding the scope of stationery business of ITC Classmate, I had to visit educational institutes over a period of one month. The list of the institutes was given by my mentor. I had a few questions for the institutions I visited. At the same time, I also enquired about stationery they are currently using and if they were interested in taking stationery from ITC Classmate. In the next phase, I visited Stationery Retail stores to observe the supply chain maintained by the company. I had a set of Questionnaire for the shops. I even asked the shopkeepers about the supply chain maintained by the competitors of ITC Classmate. I visited the shops with the TSIs (Territory Sales In-Charge) of the company.

Data Collection Method

In order to collect the primary data, the method used was personal interview of the person in-charge of the stationery of schools. A questionnaire was prepared in order to collect the data a sample of which is attached in the report.

Apart from talking to the person in-charge of the stationery of schools, an interaction with the staff members and the shopkeepers at the Stationery Retail Store gave an overview of the performance of the company on the individual level. This helped to look at the retail business from different perspectives and better suggestion could be given to the company under study to improve upon the same. 23 | P a g e

Tools Used for Data Analysis

As no study could be successfully completed without proper tools and techniques, same was with my project. For the better presentation and right explanation I used tools of statistics and computer very frequently. And I am very thankful to all those tools for helping me a lot. Basic tools which I used for project from statistics are Bar Charts Pie-Chart Tables

Bar charts and Pie-Charts proved really useful tools to show the result in a well clear, ease and simple way. Because I used bar charts in project for showing data in a systematic way, so it need not necessary for any observer to read all the theoretical detail, simple on seeing the charts anybody could know that what is being said.

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THE STUDY

PHASE 1: The following study is based on our finding through various institutions I visited.
Here, I visited various institutions which include schools and colleges in order to gain information about the stationery they use. Identifying the scope of Classmate during Summer Camps in Schools, I visited the school regarding that also. This was done thoroughly in order to understand about scope of ITC Classmate to generate leads in those Institutions, before this I was given a thorough overview of different products of ITC Classmate.

SCHOOLS
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT SCHOOLS Total No. of Schools visited: 15 No. of students in those schools ranges from 600 to 3600. Academic Session of schools starts from : April Tuck Shop:
Did not disclose any information = 1 7%

No. of Schools which have any Tuck Shop = 5 33%

No. of Schools having Tuck Shop = 9 60%

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 School use customized stationery:

No. of Schools 11

3 1 Yes No Didnt Disclose

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REMARKS
1. The database of schools is old; they should be maintained as many new schools are coming up and they might need stationery.

2. Most schools told to contact in the month of August and September, when they decide the place of buying stationery.

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SUMMER CAMPS
SCHOOLS VISITED

Total number of schools visited :- 18

33% 67%

Total school from South = 6

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SUMMER CAMPS IN SCHOOL

39% 61% YES = 7 NO = 11

ACTIVITIES DURING SUMMER CAMP

On visit to these schools I found out that different activities happen during summer camp. Some of them are: Excursion camps Drawing competition Dance competition Essay writing Different games like Cricket, Football Crafting

OTHER INFORMATION: I found out that in most of the schools summer camps take place after 10th of May. The peak period being from 14th may to 21st may. The Products used in these activities are Pen, Pencils, Rubber, Eraser, Drawing Books, Scrap Books, Colours. On asking whether ITC can put a stall only one school out of 7 agreed and others did not want to disclose unless they get a hard copy of proposal from ITC.

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REMARKS
I noticed that most of the schools do organize summer camps but this time they are not doing so due to hot weather. ITC should target schools for summer camp in the month of April because most of the schools decide their summer camps period, sponsors during that period. Most of the Schools organize summer camps on a very low scale.

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BUSINESS SCHOOLS AND ENGINEERING COLLEGES

BUSINESS SCHOOLS AND ENGINEERING COLLEGES I COVERED: Pioneer college of Management Meredian school of Hotel Management School of Management and Information Technology Alchemy Leadership School Indian Institute of Software Technology Razabazar Science College Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan of Management science Indian Institute of Technology Asia Pacific School of Hotel Management Army Institute of Management

No. Of Colleges: 10

TUCK SHOP IN COLLEGE

Colleges
10% 10% Yes = 1 No = 8 80% School closed permanently = 1

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STRENGTH
Strength
Strength 1000

100

100 0

150 40 0 0 0 0

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REMARKS AND FINDINGS

I found out that most of the institute dont have tuck shop. Institute generally provided only text books. Notebooks and other stationery products are on students own choice. The ones which have a tuck shop, already ITC Classmate products were there along with other brands like Pioneer, Shiea, Lokenath. Most of the institute who get their office stationery from local vendor showed their interest and took price list from us. There was some institute which already placed their orders so asked us to contact coming year in the month of March or April. There were some institutes which were kind enough to give us their suppliers name and same was been intimated to our mentor.

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PHASE 2: Working with the TSI

In this phase, I visited Stationery Retail stores and gather information about stocks and problems faced by stores. My basic objective was to find out if the distribution can be made better. In this survey I had to visit stationery shops with the ITC classmate TSIs (Territory Sales In charge).

I worked with the following TSIs (Territory Sales In-charge): o o o Mahadev Naskar, Raja Mondal, and Dilip Kundu

No. of TSIs I worked with: 3

I worked over a span of 20 days.

Covered shops in places like: Ballygaunge, Gariahat, Jadavpur, Tollygaunge, Beliaghata, Phoolbagan, Park Circus, Beckbagan.

Total No. of Shops Covered: 62

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Report of Individual TSI: Mahadev Naskar

No. of Shops covered with him: 41

Service given by him according to shops:

Service 39 1 Good Shop Closed 1 OK

Shops getting stocks in:

No. of Shops
5% 10% 3% 44% Approx. 2 days Approx. 3 days 38% Approx. 4 days 5 days or more Shop Closed

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Report of Individual TSI: Dilip Kundu

No. of Shops covered with him: 26

Service given by him according to shops:

Service 15 11

Good

OK

Shops getting stocks in:

No. of Shops

50%

50%

Approx. 2 days Approx. 3 days

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Report of Individual TSI: Raja Mandol

No. of Shops covered with him: 5

Service given by him according to shops: Service 5

Good

Shops getting stocks in:

No. of Shops
17% Approx. 2 days 83% Approx. 3 days

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FINDINGS
Regarding Schools: The database of schools is old; they should be maintained as many new schools are coming up and they might need stationery. Most schools told to contact in the month of August and September, when they decide the place of buying stationery.

Regarding Summer Camps: I noticed that most of the schools do organize summer camps but this time they are not doing so due to hot weather. ITC should target schools for summer camp in the month of April because most of the schools decide their summer camps period, sponsors during that period. Most of the Schools organize summer camps on a very low scale.

Regarding Business Schools and Engineering Colleges I found out that most of the institute dont have tuck shop. Institute generally provided only text books. Notebooks and other stationery products are on students own choice. The ones which have a tuck shop, already ITC Classmate products were there along with other brands like Pioneer, Shiea, Lokenath. Most of the institute who get their office stationery from local vendor showed their interest and took price list from us. There were some institute which already placed their orders so asked us to contact coming year in the month of March or April. There were some institutes which were kind enough to give us their suppliers name and same was been intimated to our mentor.

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CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

Classmate is an Indian brand of student stationery products. ITC Limited launched its Classmate brand in 2003 with the notebooks category. Subsequently, Classmate added new products to its portfolio which consists of pens, pencils, mechanical pencils and geometry boxes. Classmate has 900 distributors who make the products available in over 70,000 outlets in India. But still there is a scope for improvement. All the suggestions are mentioned subsequently.

Suggestions:
Bringing in new covers for the note-book, like cartoons etc., like Ben 10 is done by Navneet. Organizing and sponsoring activities in schools and colleges in which their stationery would be used for events like various Summer Camps, Fests, and Competitions etc. Targeting not only the big institutes but also small ones which has a base of about 500 students or even the institutes which has recently opened. Introducing a dedicated Stationery shop may also help ITC Classmate, similar to what Reynolds have started.

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Bibliography and References

Websites:
www.google.com www.scribd.com http://www.itcportal.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classmate_Stationery

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ANNEXURE-1
Questionnaire 1: To the Institutes

What is the name of the Institutes? What is the total number of Students? Does the Institute have a tuck shop? Does the Institute use customized stationery; does any company provide the notebooks etc.? 5. What brand does the Institute prefer? 6. What is the official address of the Institute? 7. Which board is the Institute affiliated to? 8. Who is the person responsible for the Institutes administration? 9. What is his/her designation? 10. What is the contact number of the Institute? 11. When does the academic session start? 12. When is the expected time for order? 13. What is the estimated order value? 1. 2. 3. 4. Questionnaire 2: To the Retail Stores 1. What is the name of the shop? 2. What is the name of the shopkeeper/ owner? 3. What is the address of the Shop? 4. Which TSI provides the stocks? 5. How is the service of TSI? 6. In how many days do you receive the stock after ordering? 7. What products of ITC Classmate do you keep? 8. What are the products of competitors you keep?

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