Reference no: EM132578398

Read the case given below and answer the questions at the end of the case:

TC ELECTRICL SUPPLIES FIRM TC Electrical Supplies Firm in Ghana, manufactured a wide line of electrical equipment used in home and industry. The sales force serves wholesalers and industrial buyers with greater concentration on industry buyers. The industrial products required considerable technical expertise of salespeople to sell. Sales offices are located in all regional cities of the country with two hundred sales personnel. Sales volume increased by 45% in the past 3 years, the fast rise in sales volume coupled with plant expansion created a problem in that more sales personnel were needed In addition, TC sales recruiting problem was compounded by noticeable decline in the number of university graduates wanting a selling career as the HR department of TC had observed from the universities where they prospect for salespeople. Another indication of the increased difficulty in attracting good young people into selling was aggressive recruiting by more and more companies. These factors combined to make the personnel- recruiting problem serious for TC. Consequently, management ordered an evaluation of recruiting methods. Mostly all TC salespeople were recruited from the universities by the regional sales managers. They usually screened two hundred prospective graduates to hire ten qualified sales engineers. It costs 2500 Ghana Cedis to recruit a candidate. Management believed the university recruitment program was deficient with regards to the high cost and the fact that only 5 percent of the candidates interviewed accepted employment with TC During the evaluation of the recruitment program, some regional managers felt that TC should discontinue the program with various reasons including the time required for recruiting, the intense competition, and the candidates' lack of experience Other managers, however, felt the program should continue with a few medications, such as recruiting on seasonal employment basis or trial basis, and getting on friendly terms with placement directors and professors. TC general sales manager indicated abandoning method and suggested the company should adopt an active recruiting program utilizing other sources. He reasoned that, while engineering graduates had a fine technical background, their lack of maturity inability to cope with business type problems, and their lack of experience hinder an effective contribution to the TC selling operation. The general sales manager felt that the two hundred sales engineers currently working for TC were an excellent source of new recruits. They knew the requirements for selling for TC line and were in continual contact with other salespeople. By enlisting the support of the sales force, the general manager foresaw an end to TC's difficulty in obtaining sales engineers The managing director preferred internal recruiting from the no selling divisions, such as engineering design and manufacturing. He believed that their familiarity with TC and their proven abilities were important indicators of potential success as sales engineers.

(a) Evaluate TC's recruiting program, suggesting whether or not the company should have continued its college recruiting of sales engineers

(b) What alternative recruitment program would you suggest for TC? Justify your answer