An Outsourcing Decision Model Based on AHP and Sensitive Analysis for Distribution Marketing Companies

In recent years, many companies have focused their budget on distribution marketing. Through distribution marketing, products can be more directly distributed to consumers and the rate of return is increased. The researchers in this study design a model for selecting distribution marketing companies on the basis of the perceptions of companies selling certain brands (BCs). First, the proposed model adopts the modified Delphi method to identify suitable criteria for evaluating distribution marketing companies. Next, the model applies the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to determine the relative weights of evaluation criteria, ranks the alternatives and selects the distribution marketing company (DMC). This paper also adopts sensitivity analysis to examine how other evaluative criteria would change with any alterations in the weightings of the evaluation criteria. Additionally, a well-known Taiwanese beverage company is used as an example to prove how a DMC is selected by applying this model. The results indicated that BCs rank criteria in terms of importance as follows: store services, dispatching sales manpower, product management, service standards and cost consciousness. Finally, the model adopts Sensitivity Analysis to inquire into which criteria weights change the evaluative factor, and how other evaluative factors incur corresponding degrees of change. This proposed model can provide enterprises an objective and efficient method to select the optimal DMC.