Effectiveness of distribution channel :: A Case study of PT Pupuk Sriwidjaja
DANUHADININGRAT, Pinanditho, Dr. Hargo Utomo, MBA.,M.Com
2006 | Tesis | Magister ManajemenSebagai negara agraris, sector pertanian sedang berkembang dengan sangat pesat di Indonesia lewat berbagai program pertanian yang menyebabkan permintaan akan pupuk pertanian terus bertambah. Dalam rangka mendukung kegiatan pertanian secara intensif, industri pupuk di Indonesia terus berkembang untuk memenuhi permintaan pupuk, Masih ada beberapa masalah seperti kelangkaan pupuk dan subsidi pemerintah yang gagal mencapai petani. Penelitian ini berusaha menyelidiki saluran pemasaran dari perusahaan pupuk di Indonesia pada pasar domestic. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengembangkan sebuah skala yang dapat digunakan untuk mengukur aspek intangible dari kinerja saluran distribusi dengan menggunakan 8 aspek dan marketing flows (Coughlan et al., 2001) sebagaimana dipersepsikan oleh semua responden yang merupakan anggota dan saluran distribusi. Penelitian ini juga bertujuan mengevaluasi korelasi antara setiap anggota saluran distribusi dengan petani sebagai konsumen akhir dan juga pengaruh pemerintah sebagai regulator terhadap keseluruhan kinerja saluran distribusi Penelitian ini memfokuskan pada saluran distribusi pupuk dari PT Pupuk Sriwidjaja, penelitian ini dilakukan dengan menggunakan kuesioner dan metode sampling non probability dalam bentuk convenience sampling. Data yang diperoleh kemudian dianalisa dengan menggunakan software SPSS 13 for Windows. Hasil dan penelitian ini menunjukkan setiap anggota dari saluran distribusi memberikan kontribusi yang positif dan siginifikan terhadap keseluruhan kinerja saluran distribusi dan agen di pedesaan memberikan kontribusi yang paling signifikan terhadap saluran distribusi. Sebagai konsumen akhir, petani di dalam saluran distribusi memiliki peran yang sangat penting. Akan tetapi petani tidak memiliki kekuatan untuk mempengaruhi keseluruhan saluran distribusi.
As an agricultural country, the agricultural sector is expanding rapidly in Indonesia through various agricultural expanding programs (e.g. diversification and extensive multiple cropping programs), which has caused the demand for agricultural chemicals – fertilizers in particular – continues to grow. In order to support the agricultural activity intensively, the fertilizer industry in this region continues to expand to meet the growing demand of fertilizers domestically and regionally. Even so, there still some problems that still present, some of the most obvious are the scarcity of fertilizer, and the subsidy from the government that fails to reach the farmers. To assure the availability of fertilizer in domestic market, the government has assigned some state-owned enterprises to produce and distribute all types of fertilizers for farmers, to fulfill the domestic demand. This research attempted to examine the current marketing channels of a fertilizer company in the Indonesian domestic market. This research was conducted to develop a scale which can be used in measuring the intangible aspects of the distribution channel performance, using the eight aspects of the marketing flows (Coughlan et al., 2001), namely the physical possession, ownership, promotion, negotiation, financing, risking, ordering and payment, as perceived by all participants related to the distribution channel. In addition, this research also aimed in evaluating the correlation between each member inside the distribution channel with farmers as their end customers, and also the influence of government policies as the regulator toward the overall distribution channel performance. This research focused on the fertilizer distribution channel of PT Pupuk Sriwidjaja (PUSRI), the first fertilizer producer and a state-owned company in Indonesia. The research was done by conducting a survey over 500 individual respondents in Central Java, Yogyakarta, and East Java Provinces using a series of questions in the form of research questionnaire, and non-probability sampling method in the form of convenience sampling. The data obtained from the field survey was then analyzed by using factor analysis and regression analysis, using SPSS 13.0 for Windows. The results of this research showed that each member inside the distribution channel contributes a positive and significant effects to the overall distribution channel performance, and that village agent contributes the most significant influence toward the distribution channel. The managerial implication of this finding is that the distribution channel management should pay more attention to improve the village agent performance, since it has been proven to have the most significant influence toward the overall distribution channel performance. Another consideration is that village agents are also acts as frontliners who interact directly with farmers as the end-user of the distribution channel. In order to improve the distribution channel performance, the distribution channel management should undergo both internal (using the 8 factors of the village agents’ performance) and external (using the 6 factors of evaluation of farmers from the research model) improvement actions. The second conclusion taken from the research is about the influences of the government policies – as the only power to control the entire distribution channel operations – toward the distribution channel performance. The government policies showed significant and important influence toward the distribution channel, with the greatest influence is toward the performance of the district distributor. The implication of this finding is that the government policies have the most significant effects toward the district distributor. Therefore, all government policies about the fertilizer distribution channel system, especially which have direct effect to the district distributor should be carefully implemented in order to improve the distribution channel performance. Another conclusion could be withdrawn from the research is that farmers, as the end-users of the distribution channel also played a significant and important role towards the distribution channel performance. Among all the participants of the distribution channel, farmers are considered to have the highest performance dependency level to the village agents, comparing to the performance dependency level of the village agents to the district distributors, the performance dependency level of the district distributors to the province distributors, and also the performance dependency level of the province distributors to PT PUSRI. As end customers, the importance of farmers inside the fertilizer distribution channel is substantial. However, the farmers might not have the power to influence the distribution channel as a whole. Farmers’ evaluation is an indicator to analyze the distribution channel performance through its’ end customers’ perceptions.
Kata Kunci : Manajemen Pemasaran,Kinerja Distribusi,Marketing Flows, Distribution Channels, Marketing Flows in Channels, Urea Fertilizer Distribution, Perceived Performance, PT PUSRI, Indonesia
