Publications
Publications
- October 1999 (Revised March 2000)
- HBS Case Collection
HP Consumer Products Business Organization: Distributing Printers via the Internet
By: Rajiv Lal, Kirthi Kalyanam, Shelby Mc Intyre and Edie Prescott
Abstract
In spring 1998, Pradeep Jotwani, vice president and general manager of the Consumer Products Business Organization of the Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), was contemplating the increasing success of e-commerce and its implications for his division. The consumer products group had started selling refurbished printers through an Internet outlet center in December 1997, but Jotwani was now considering a move to sell new printers directly to consumers via this new channel. If he were to make such a move, he wondered which products to sell online at what prices, and how to communicate this strategy to the channel partners without damaging the existing distribution structure.
Keywords
Decision Choices and Conditions; Marketing Channels; Business Processes; Problems and Challenges; Partners and Partnerships; Sales; Business Strategy; Information Technology; Consumer Products Industry
Citation
Lal, Rajiv, Kirthi Kalyanam, Shelby Mc Intyre, and Edie Prescott. "HP Consumer Products Business Organization: Distributing Printers via the Internet." Harvard Business School Case 500-021, October 1999. (Revised March 2000.)