Godrej Soaps announced that it would take over the distribution activities from Godrej HiCare, effective January 1, 1999. Godrej HiCare was made in-charge of distributing Godrej Soaps' products after the Procter & Gamble (P&G)-Godrej split in 1996.

Speaking to The Financial Express on the changes that will be brought about in the company, Godrej Soaps senior vice-president (consumer products & export) Hoshi K Press said: "In addition to the fact that the distribution activity will come under our fold, a change would be brought about in the organisation's design. This is going by what we have been advised by Arthur Andersen."

Arthur Andersen was consulted on the move, which will bring about among other functional benefits, an increase in the market share of the company's products.

This was done for better focus andcoordination in the organisation, said Press. The distribution network, which consists of about 200 people, will be transferred to the new organisation, effective January 1.

Press has been made the functional head of the company's new sales and distribution network. Godrej Soaps, it is understood, will subsequently beef up this network and bring about changes to improve efficiency.

The change in design would be accompanied by a realignment in responsibilities in the organisational setup. For example, commerce and accounting, two different functions having separate commands, would have a single head.

There will, thus, be a reiteration of new departmental functions linking process lines. "Traditionally, organisations were pivoted around functional aspects and not on processes. This is likely to change at Godrej Soaps," Press said.

The company is working towards this end. This process is, however, likely to take some time to mature.

While more details on the impending change were not available, themove is aimed at increasing the market share of the company's products. There was a marginal growth in the products' share in the previous year. But mature markets like toilet soaps remained more or less stagnant.

"The idea is to boost market shares in the coming year. The merger of the sales and distribution activity with the marketing one is a step in this direction," said Press.

With the coming together of the sales and distribution network and the marketing functions at Godrej Soaps, the organisation will grow into what it originally was prior to the formation of Procter & Gamble-Godrej (PGG), the joint-venture company between P&G and Godrej Soaps, which distributed the Godrej products.

PGG was a 51:49 joint venture between P&G and Godrej. After the alliance's restructuring, P&G bought Godrej's 49 per cent stake in the company in 1996. Hoshi Press, who was then with PGG, was transferred back to Godrej Soaps. Even as Godrej Hicare took over the distribution activities, Godrej Soaps decided to retainthe marketing function.

Marketing analysts believe that distribution is a key function to push the brands, and it works best only when linked with marketing, with the two being inseparable parts of a promotional setup. Godrej's move is in the right direction to coalesce the two functions under one command, they said.