ITC e-Choupal Case Study Guide Questions

1. What is the innovation of the e-Choupal?

The e-Choupal model, in contrast, has required that ITC make significant investments to create and maintain its own IT network in rural India and to identify and train a local farmer to manage each e-Choupal.

2. Discuss the paradox of Indian Agriculture?

Agriculture is economically and socially vital to India. It contributes 23% of the GDP, feeds a billion people and employs 66% of the workforce. Agriculture’s share of GDP has shrunk steadily but at 23% it remains a critical component of the economy.

3. Why is soya an important innovation in the Indian oilseed complex?

It has gone on to serve as a highly profitable distribution and product design channel. The effort holds valuable lessons in rural engagement and demonstrates the magnitude of the opportunity while illustrating the social and development impact of bringing global resources, practices, and remuneration to the Indian farmer.

4. Describe the marketing processs before the introduction of e-Choupal.

There are three commercial channels for the products: manis, traders, or eventual resale to crushers, and producer-run cooperative       societies for crushing in cooperative mills. The farmers traditionally keep    a small amount for their personal consumption and get the produce   processed in   a small-scale job-shop crushing-plant.

5. Why is the mandi not an optimal procurement channel?

Farmers have only an approximate idea of price trends and have to accept the price offered them at auctions on the day that they bring their grain to the mandi.

6. What were the advantages of ITC's competitors? How did ITC address them?

ITC began with buying and exporting DOC in product dynamics. ITC then began renting processing plant time and buying soya from mandis. ITC’s procurement has grown rapidly since, and its initiative has seen the introduction of professional practices, transparency, and formal contractual relationships between agents and buyers

7. How did ITC "re-engineer as opposed to reconstruct"?

ITC’s e-Choupal initiative began by deploying technology to re-engineer procurement of soya and other crops from rural India. It has gone on to serve as a highly profitable distribution and product design channel. It removed all wrong things and gets all good things that happened.

8. How did ITC "address the whole, not just a part"?

Today the village trader services the spectrum of the farmer’s needs. He is a centralized provider of cash, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and marketing.

9. Was it wise for ITC to install an IT-driven solution where most people would not?

            No, because the cost is not right and people will not install it.

10. Why does the ITC insist that the sanchalaks NOT give up farming?

ITC insists that at no time should the sanchalaks give up farming,   for this would compromise the trust the sanchalak commands. The fact that the sanchalak works on commission could undermine hi credibility.

11. Why did the samyojaks introduce the ITC to the sanchalaks?

Samyojaks, who are adept at handling large amounts of cash, are entrusted with the responsibility of payment, except at procurement centers near large ITC operations where ITC is handles cash disbursement.

12. Describe the new ITC value chain. How different is it from the former value chain?

            ITC intends to differentiate itself by serving only those products and

services to which it can add value. ITC’s core asset is its knowledge of the customer. By transforming the value chain and setting up a platform for procuring commodities from them directly, they now have a foundation for forging a close relationship with the farmers. The process decreased to one.

13. What is the social impact of the e-Choupals?

A major impact of the e-Choupal system comes from bridging the information and service gap of rural India.

14. Describe Wave 6 of the e-Choupal. DO you think it is feasible?

Yes it’s feasible; the wave 6 just discussed the other waves and inspires scale of the vision and potential impact on it development in rural India

15. Can something similar to an e-Choupal be implemented in the Philippines?

            Yes, the supply chain system.