The highlight in this chapter is Porter’s Five Forces theoty. Michael Porter's famous Five Forces of Competitive Position model provides a simple perspective for assessing and analysing the competitive strength and position of a corporation or business organization. His five forces include
1. Existing competitive rivalry between suppliers
2. Threat of new market entrants
3. Bargaining power of buyers
4. Power of suppliers
5. Threat of substitute products (including technology change)
Porter's Five Forces model provides suggested points under each main heading, by which you can develop a broad and sophisticated analysis of competitive position, as might be used when creating strategy, plans, or making investment decisions about a business or organization
Friday, April 30, 2010
10-day MBA: D9 Strategy – What is in this big map?
It seems to me, Strategy is a big 3D map of a business. Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfill stakeholder expectations. It is about
* Where is the business trying to get to in the long-term (direction)
* Which markets should a business compete in and what kind of activities are involved in such markets? (markets; scope)
* How can the business perform better than the competition in those markets? (advantage)?
* What resources (skills, assets, finance, relationships, technical competence, facilities) are required in order to be able to compete? (resources)?
* What external, environmental factors affect the businesses' ability to compete? (environment)?
* What are the values and expectations of those who have power in and around the business? (stakeholders)
* Where is the business trying to get to in the long-term (direction)
* Which markets should a business compete in and what kind of activities are involved in such markets? (markets; scope)
* How can the business perform better than the competition in those markets? (advantage)?
* What resources (skills, assets, finance, relationships, technical competence, facilities) are required in order to be able to compete? (resources)?
* What external, environmental factors affect the businesses' ability to compete? (environment)?
* What are the values and expectations of those who have power in and around the business? (stakeholders)
Saturday, April 24, 2010
10-day MBA: D8 Economics – No Economics Cycles in it?!
I was expecting to find something about Economics Cycles in this chapter, but I didn’t. I think it will be interested to know about it though.
The concept of Economic Cycles, which are sometimes referred to as Business Cycles, is a theory that attempts to explain changes in economic activity that vary from a long term growth trend as observed in a developed market economy. Factors considered in defining an economic cycle include growth of GDP, household income, employment rates, etc. Economic Cycles are divided into two main categories: booms and recessions. Booms are associated with a strong economy, while recessions are characterized by below-trend economic growth. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is considered the authoritative source in the US that reports the dates of the peaks and troughs that quantify Economic Cycles. NBER defines economic cycles a bit differently than Economic Cycle Theory.
Rather than booms and recessions, it classifies the economy as being in expansion or contraction. Expansion is when several pieces of economic data are improving, and contraction is a decline in the same data. These definitions focus more on the movement of data, whereas the boom/recession definition only refers to the data's position relative to historical averages.
The concept of Economic Cycles, which are sometimes referred to as Business Cycles, is a theory that attempts to explain changes in economic activity that vary from a long term growth trend as observed in a developed market economy. Factors considered in defining an economic cycle include growth of GDP, household income, employment rates, etc. Economic Cycles are divided into two main categories: booms and recessions. Booms are associated with a strong economy, while recessions are characterized by below-trend economic growth. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is considered the authoritative source in the US that reports the dates of the peaks and troughs that quantify Economic Cycles. NBER defines economic cycles a bit differently than Economic Cycle Theory.
Rather than booms and recessions, it classifies the economy as being in expansion or contraction. Expansion is when several pieces of economic data are improving, and contraction is a decline in the same data. These definitions focus more on the movement of data, whereas the boom/recession definition only refers to the data's position relative to historical averages.
10-day MBA: D8 Economics – about Market Structure
I like the explanation about market structures types in Wikipedia better than the one in textbook. I hope my future business can have a monopoly or oligopoly with unique products.
Different types of market structure include
* Monopolistic competition, also called competitive market, where there are a small number of dependent firms which each have a very large proportion of the market share and products from different companies are different.
* Oligopoly, in which a market is dominated by a large number of firms which own more than 40% of the market share.
* Oligopsony, a market, where many sellers can be present but meet only a few buyers.
* Monopoly, where there is only one provider of a product or service.
* Natural monopoly, a monopoly in which economies of scale cause efficiency to increase continuously with the size of the firm. A firm is a natural monopoly if it is able to serve the entire market demand at a lower cost than any combination of two or more smaller, more specialized firms.
· Monopsony, when there is only one buyer in a market.
Different types of market structure include
* Monopolistic competition, also called competitive market, where there are a small number of dependent firms which each have a very large proportion of the market share and products from different companies are different.
* Oligopoly, in which a market is dominated by a large number of firms which own more than 40% of the market share.
* Oligopsony, a market, where many sellers can be present but meet only a few buyers.
* Monopoly, where there is only one provider of a product or service.
* Natural monopoly, a monopoly in which economies of scale cause efficiency to increase continuously with the size of the firm. A firm is a natural monopoly if it is able to serve the entire market demand at a lower cost than any combination of two or more smaller, more specialized firms.
· Monopsony, when there is only one buyer in a market.
10-day MBA: D7 Operations – about CRM (customer relationship management)
CRM (customer relationship management) is an information industry term for methodologies, software, and usually Internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way. For example, an enterprise might build a database about its customers that described relationships in sufficient detail so that management, salespeople, people providing service, and perhaps the customer directly could access information, match customer needs with product plans and offerings, remind customers of service requirements, know what other products a customer had purchased, and so forth. CRM consists of:
· Helping an enterprise to enable its marketing departments to identify and target their best customers, manage marketing campaigns and generate quality leads for the sales team.
· Assisting the organization to improve telesales, account, and sales management by optimizing information shared by multiple employees, and streamlining existing processes (for example, taking orders using mobile devices)
· Allowing the formation of individualized relationships with customers, with the aim of improving customer satisfaction and maximizing profits; identifying the most profitable customers and providing them the highest level of service.
· Providing employees with the information and processes necessary to know their customers, understand and identify customer needs and effectively build relationships between the company, its customer base, and distribution partners.
· Helping an enterprise to enable its marketing departments to identify and target their best customers, manage marketing campaigns and generate quality leads for the sales team.
· Assisting the organization to improve telesales, account, and sales management by optimizing information shared by multiple employees, and streamlining existing processes (for example, taking orders using mobile devices)
· Allowing the formation of individualized relationships with customers, with the aim of improving customer satisfaction and maximizing profits; identifying the most profitable customers and providing them the highest level of service.
· Providing employees with the information and processes necessary to know their customers, understand and identify customer needs and effectively build relationships between the company, its customer base, and distribution partners.
10-day MBA: D7 Operations – about Gantt Chart
Gantt Charts are useful tools for analyzing and planning more complex projects. They:
· Help you to plan out the tasks that need to be completed
· Give you a basis for scheduling when these tasks will be carried out
· Allow you to plan the allocation of resources needed to complete the project, and
· Help you to work out the critical path for a project where you must complete it by a particular date.
When a project is under way, Gantt charts are useful for monitoring its progress. You can immediately see what should have been achieved at a point in time, and can therefore take remedial action to bring the project back on course. This can be essential for the successful and profitable implementation of the project.
· Help you to plan out the tasks that need to be completed
· Give you a basis for scheduling when these tasks will be carried out
· Allow you to plan the allocation of resources needed to complete the project, and
· Help you to work out the critical path for a project where you must complete it by a particular date.
When a project is under way, Gantt charts are useful for monitoring its progress. You can immediately see what should have been achieved at a point in time, and can therefore take remedial action to bring the project back on course. This can be essential for the successful and profitable implementation of the project.
10-day MBA: D7 Operations – about Operational Problem Solving
10-day MBA: D7 Operations – about Operational Problem Solving
Operational Problem Solving is one of the MOST important skills in the operations of any company. The problems within a department or with other departments results in reduced productivity, frustration, low morale, turnover, and work stress. By teaching supervisors and line workers how to recognize problems and giving them the necessary support and resources to turn problems into opportunities for improvement, the line operations become more efficient, customer service improves, and people become more committed to the organization.
The first step is to ensure everyone knows what he/she is to do, have the necessary skills and knowledge, and feels his/her opinions count.
The next step is to implement a continuous improvement process that will reward and/or recognize people for contributing their ideas and suggestions.
Finally, teach supervisors how to encourage each individual to learn more, be more, and do more through regular coaching for performance and development.
Operational Problem Solving is one of the MOST important skills in the operations of any company. The problems within a department or with other departments results in reduced productivity, frustration, low morale, turnover, and work stress. By teaching supervisors and line workers how to recognize problems and giving them the necessary support and resources to turn problems into opportunities for improvement, the line operations become more efficient, customer service improves, and people become more committed to the organization.
The first step is to ensure everyone knows what he/she is to do, have the necessary skills and knowledge, and feels his/her opinions count.
The next step is to implement a continuous improvement process that will reward and/or recognize people for contributing their ideas and suggestions.
Finally, teach supervisors how to encourage each individual to learn more, be more, and do more through regular coaching for performance and development.
10-day MBA: D6 Finance – about Risk Analysis
Almost everything we do in today's business world involves a risk of some kind: customer habits change, new competitors appear, factors outside your control could delay your project. But formal risk analysis and risk management can help you to assess these risks and decide what actions to take to minimize disruptions to your plans. They will also help you to decide whether the strategies you could use to control risk are cost-effective.
Different people will have different views of the impact of a particular risk – what may be a small risk for one person may destroy the livelihood of someone else. Risk analysis allows you to examine the risks that you or your organization face. It is based on a structured approach to thinking through threats, followed by an evaluation of the probability and cost of events occurring.
As such, it forms the basis for risk management and crisis prevention. Here the emphasis is on cost effectiveness. Risk management involves adapting the use of existing resources, contingency planning and good use of new resources.
To carry out a risk analysis, follow these steps:
1. Identify Threats:
The first stage of a risk analysis is to identify threats facing you. Threats may be:
· Human - from individuals or organizations, illness, death, etc.
· Operational - from disruption to supplies and operations, loss of access to essential assets, failures in distribution, etc.
· Reputational - from loss of business partner or employee confidence, or damage to reputation in the market.
· Procedural - from failures of accountability, internal systems and controls, organization, fraud, etc.
· Project - risks of cost over-runs, jobs taking too long, of insufficient product or service quality, etc.
· Financial - from business failure, stock market, interest rates, unemployment, etc.
· Technical - from advances in technology, technical failure, etc.
· Natural - threats from weather, natural disaster, accident, disease, etc.
· Political - from changes in tax regimes, public opinion, government policy, foreign influence, etc.
· Others
2. Estimate Risk:
Once you have identified the threats you face, the next step is to work out the likelihood of the threat being realized and to assess its impact.
One approach to this is to make your best estimate of the probability of the event occurring, and to multiply this by the amount it will cost you to set things right if it happens. This gives you a value for the risk.
3. Managing Risk:
Once you have worked out the value of risks you face, you can start to look at ways of managing them. When you are doing this, it is important to choose cost effective approaches - in most cases, there is no point in spending more to eliminating a risk than the cost of the event if it occurs. Often, it may be better to accept the risk than to use excessive resources to eliminate it.
4. Reviews:
Once you have carried out a risk analysis and management exercise, it may be worth carrying out regular reviews. These might involve formal reviews of the risk analysis, or may involve testing systems and plans appropriately.
Different people will have different views of the impact of a particular risk – what may be a small risk for one person may destroy the livelihood of someone else. Risk analysis allows you to examine the risks that you or your organization face. It is based on a structured approach to thinking through threats, followed by an evaluation of the probability and cost of events occurring.
As such, it forms the basis for risk management and crisis prevention. Here the emphasis is on cost effectiveness. Risk management involves adapting the use of existing resources, contingency planning and good use of new resources.
To carry out a risk analysis, follow these steps:
1. Identify Threats:
The first stage of a risk analysis is to identify threats facing you. Threats may be:
· Human - from individuals or organizations, illness, death, etc.
· Operational - from disruption to supplies and operations, loss of access to essential assets, failures in distribution, etc.
· Reputational - from loss of business partner or employee confidence, or damage to reputation in the market.
· Procedural - from failures of accountability, internal systems and controls, organization, fraud, etc.
· Project - risks of cost over-runs, jobs taking too long, of insufficient product or service quality, etc.
· Financial - from business failure, stock market, interest rates, unemployment, etc.
· Technical - from advances in technology, technical failure, etc.
· Natural - threats from weather, natural disaster, accident, disease, etc.
· Political - from changes in tax regimes, public opinion, government policy, foreign influence, etc.
· Others
2. Estimate Risk:
Once you have identified the threats you face, the next step is to work out the likelihood of the threat being realized and to assess its impact.
One approach to this is to make your best estimate of the probability of the event occurring, and to multiply this by the amount it will cost you to set things right if it happens. This gives you a value for the risk.
3. Managing Risk:
Once you have worked out the value of risks you face, you can start to look at ways of managing them. When you are doing this, it is important to choose cost effective approaches - in most cases, there is no point in spending more to eliminating a risk than the cost of the event if it occurs. Often, it may be better to accept the risk than to use excessive resources to eliminate it.
4. Reviews:
Once you have carried out a risk analysis and management exercise, it may be worth carrying out regular reviews. These might involve formal reviews of the risk analysis, or may involve testing systems and plans appropriately.
10-day MBA: D5 QA about Cash flow Analysis
Cash is the gasoline that makes your business run. Cash flow can be defined as the way money moves into and out of your business; it is the difference between just being able to open a business and being able to stay in business. A cash flow analysis is a method of checking up on your firm’s financial health. It is the study of the movement of cash through your business, to determine patterns of how you take in and pay out money. The goal is to maintain sufficient cash for firm operations from month to month.
10-day MBA: D5 QA about Decision Analysis
The analysis should give project managers enough data to make an informed decision. Even with most advanced analytical tools and techniques, interpretation of the results of the analysis is the subject of multiple mental traps.
a. Determining what is Most Important
A model of a project may include a considerable number of variables: large numbers of tasks, resources, risks, and other parameters. For example, certain risks will cause failure of the project, while others risks will have no noteworthy affect on the project. To determine which project parameter is the most important, project managers can use sensitivity analysis.
b. Quantifying Risks Associated with the Project
Uncertainties associated with input parameters were already quantified during modeling step. It is important to analyze how the combination of all these uncertainties could affect the project. A number of analytical techniques can be applied for this analysis.
c. Determining the Value of New Information
One of the useful decision analysis techniques is to assess a value of new information. For example, the goal is to select new development tools for the software project based on performance. Tests can be done to determine performance, but it could be costly and time consuming. Alternatively, it is possible to select the tools based on specifications, without specific tests. The analytical technique helps to establish the value of new information, which in this case would be the testing results, and to determine whether the money should be spent on the test.
d. Deciding on a Course of Action
In many situations, selection of alternatives is not so trivial. Sometimes, decisions are made using many criteria, which complicates the selection of the most efficient alternative.
a. Determining what is Most Important
A model of a project may include a considerable number of variables: large numbers of tasks, resources, risks, and other parameters. For example, certain risks will cause failure of the project, while others risks will have no noteworthy affect on the project. To determine which project parameter is the most important, project managers can use sensitivity analysis.
b. Quantifying Risks Associated with the Project
Uncertainties associated with input parameters were already quantified during modeling step. It is important to analyze how the combination of all these uncertainties could affect the project. A number of analytical techniques can be applied for this analysis.
c. Determining the Value of New Information
One of the useful decision analysis techniques is to assess a value of new information. For example, the goal is to select new development tools for the software project based on performance. Tests can be done to determine performance, but it could be costly and time consuming. Alternatively, it is possible to select the tools based on specifications, without specific tests. The analytical technique helps to establish the value of new information, which in this case would be the testing results, and to determine whether the money should be spent on the test.
d. Deciding on a Course of Action
In many situations, selection of alternatives is not so trivial. Sometimes, decisions are made using many criteria, which complicates the selection of the most efficient alternative.
10-day MBA: D5 Quantitative Analysis
Quantitative Analysis provides data-driven analytical services for a range of business challenges, specializing in statistical models for site selection decisions.
In today's environment, the volume of data available for business decisions has increased dramatically. Yet too often data is not fully leveraged as a business asset because of trim analytical staffs and information overload. Quantitative Analysis can assist by applying advanced statistical analysis techniques to help you get more from your data, as well as external data sources. With Quantitative Analysis, you’ll find that even a modest investment in analysis can yield great returns in increased revenues, improved profits, and better understanding of the decision at hand. That is why we need to learn how to fully analyze the appropriate data, and deliver profitable decision-making tools and knowledge.
In today's environment, the volume of data available for business decisions has increased dramatically. Yet too often data is not fully leveraged as a business asset because of trim analytical staffs and information overload. Quantitative Analysis can assist by applying advanced statistical analysis techniques to help you get more from your data, as well as external data sources. With Quantitative Analysis, you’ll find that even a modest investment in analysis can yield great returns in increased revenues, improved profits, and better understanding of the decision at hand. That is why we need to learn how to fully analyze the appropriate data, and deliver profitable decision-making tools and knowledge.
10-day MBA: D4 OB-about motivation
Motivation starts within a person. As you aspire to be more successful in life, your attitude towards yourself and others will play a huge role. Positive people learn how to handle life's challenges differently and use these opportunities to grow. Everyone wants a better life and if you are constantly working on self improvement, you will develop more self-confidence, better self-esteem and greater internal motivation to be the best. When you learn the secrets of teamwork and leadership, interpersonal communication skills and service, you can apply them to all aspects of your daily life.
10-day MBA: D4 OB-about leadership
Leadership, a critical management skill, is the ability to motivate a group of people toward a common goal. Here are some famous quotes about leadership.
Peter F. Drucker: Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.
George S. Patton: Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.
Dwight Eisenhower: Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.
Theodore Roosevelt: The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
Peter F. Drucker: Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.
George S. Patton: Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.
Dwight Eisenhower: Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.
Theodore Roosevelt: The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
10-day MBA: D4 Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior is the study of individuals and their behavior within the context of the organization in a workplace setting. It is an interdisciplinary field that includes sociology, psychology, communication and management. It is application of knowledge about how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations. It does this by taking a system approach. It interprets people-organization relationships in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole organization, and whole social system. Its purpose is to build better relationships by achieving human objectives, organizational objectives, and social objectives.
Friday, April 23, 2010
10-day MBA: D3Accounting—about accountability
What about the “accountability” part of the accounting process? Why do we need that and how do we enforce it? Businesses need to be held accountable for the methods they use to run a business because the potential for greed, theft, and dishonesty exist in every business. You have only to read the current events section of the newspaper to realize how rampant corporate abuse is in business today. There are specialized areas of accounting, that when correctly enforced, eliminate the possibility for fraud. Auditing and income taxation, when used correctly, force business to account for all business income, transactions, and transfers, and then to pay their fair share of the tax burden. The catch here is that the principles must be correctly enforced.
Accounting is the conscious of the business world. When handled with care and with respect, it performs as expected. When abuse occurs, and the system is circumvented or overridden because of dishonesty and greed, it doesn’t work correctly. Accounting is much like all other systems in place, they are only as good as the people using them.
Accounting is the conscious of the business world. When handled with care and with respect, it performs as expected. When abuse occurs, and the system is circumvented or overridden because of dishonesty and greed, it doesn’t work correctly. Accounting is much like all other systems in place, they are only as good as the people using them.
10-day MBA: D3Accounting-- The Importance Of Accounting
Accounting allows you to plan for future expenditures, to see where you are under and over paying for expenditures. It allows you to see where your inventory is and whether it is where it needs to be to meet sales quotas. It allows you to see if you are making sales and losing money or making sales and making money. It allows you to take control of a business before the business takes control of you.
Accounting is a very important term to our modern society. It is the career for people who at the start have their eyes set on top positions in industry, management, government, and general business. It's so important to our society. None of the business organization can operate without is. They are there-somewhere-in every business. In small business, people use pen, ink and skill keep the records. In large business, modern accounting machines are used to operate. People are directing these machines in the accounting process. Wise businessmen enter business must have some accounting knowledge.
Accounting is a vital element of business. It records the way a business has grown and, after analyzing figures, suggests the way it should go in the future. Fortunes are gambled on the advice of accountants.
Accounting is a very important term to our modern society. It is the career for people who at the start have their eyes set on top positions in industry, management, government, and general business. It's so important to our society. None of the business organization can operate without is. They are there-somewhere-in every business. In small business, people use pen, ink and skill keep the records. In large business, modern accounting machines are used to operate. People are directing these machines in the accounting process. Wise businessmen enter business must have some accounting knowledge.
Accounting is a vital element of business. It records the way a business has grown and, after analyzing figures, suggests the way it should go in the future. Fortunes are gambled on the advice of accountants.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
10-day MBA: D2-Ethics --about reputation
A good reputation is your company’s best asset. Invest in your company’s reputation. Have your marketers identify places where your company can get the best bang for its buck, then give back to your community with targeted charitable contributions and special events. Contribute to your public radio station, host the Special Olympics, or sponsor a clean-up day in the local park. A proactive investment that shows your customers and community that your company is “giving back” will probably be less expensive, and certainly more satisfying, than hiring expensive reputation gurus would be.
Core value and universal slogan , Corporations will be expected in future to “build a better future” – not only for their shareholders but also for their customers, workers, business partners, community, nation and the wider world. Those with effective business ethics based on this core value will have an added competitive advantage: attracting and retaining talent and generating positive reactions in the marketplace.
Core value and universal slogan , Corporations will be expected in future to “build a better future” – not only for their shareholders but also for their customers, workers, business partners, community, nation and the wider world. Those with effective business ethics based on this core value will have an added competitive advantage: attracting and retaining talent and generating positive reactions in the marketplace.
10-day MBA: D2-Ethics --Social Responsibility
10-day MBA: D2-Ethics --Social Responsibility
Social responsibility and business ethics are often regarding as the same concepts. However, the social responsibility movement is but one aspect of the overall discipline of business ethics. The social responsibility movement arose particularly during the 1960s with increased public consciousness about the role of business in helping to cultivate and maintain highly ethical practices in society and particularly in the natural environment.
As recently as a decade ago, many companies viewed business ethics only in terms of administrative compliance with legal standards and adherence to internal rules and regulations. Today the situation is different. Attention to business ethics is on the rise across the world and many companies realize that in order to succeed, they must earn the respect and confidence of their customers. Like never before, corporations are being asked, encouraged and prodded to improve their business practices to emphasize legal and ethical behavior. Companies, professional firms and individuals alike are being held increasingly accountable for their actions, as demand grows for higher standards of corporate social responsibility.
Social responsibility and business ethics are often regarding as the same concepts. However, the social responsibility movement is but one aspect of the overall discipline of business ethics. The social responsibility movement arose particularly during the 1960s with increased public consciousness about the role of business in helping to cultivate and maintain highly ethical practices in society and particularly in the natural environment.
As recently as a decade ago, many companies viewed business ethics only in terms of administrative compliance with legal standards and adherence to internal rules and regulations. Today the situation is different. Attention to business ethics is on the rise across the world and many companies realize that in order to succeed, they must earn the respect and confidence of their customers. Like never before, corporations are being asked, encouraged and prodded to improve their business practices to emphasize legal and ethical behavior. Companies, professional firms and individuals alike are being held increasingly accountable for their actions, as demand grows for higher standards of corporate social responsibility.
10-day MBA: Marketing- PLC and 4p’ analysis
Stages in the Product Life Cycle
• Introduction
• Growth
• Maturity
• Decline
• Individual brands may not follow this pattern
o sometimes a product may crash and not get to the maturity stage
• Each market should be carefully defined
o depends on where on the planet you are talking, some products are at different stages in the PLC depending on the country
• Product Life Cycle - length of time at each stage - varies
o depends on the products
o can be a few months in each stage
o or it can be years
The major marketing management decisions can be classified in one of the following four categories:
* Product
* Price
* Place (distribution)
* Promotion
These variables are known as the marketing mix or the 4 P's of marketing. They are the variables that marketing managers can control in order to best satisfy customers in the target market.
• Introduction
• Growth
• Maturity
• Decline
• Individual brands may not follow this pattern
o sometimes a product may crash and not get to the maturity stage
• Each market should be carefully defined
o depends on where on the planet you are talking, some products are at different stages in the PLC depending on the country
• Product Life Cycle - length of time at each stage - varies
o depends on the products
o can be a few months in each stage
o or it can be years
The major marketing management decisions can be classified in one of the following four categories:
* Product
* Price
* Place (distribution)
* Promotion
These variables are known as the marketing mix or the 4 P's of marketing. They are the variables that marketing managers can control in order to best satisfy customers in the target market.
10-day MBA: Marketing- SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis is a tool for auditing an organization and its environment. It is the first stage of planning and helps marketers to focus on key issues. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors. Opportunities and threats are external factors.
In SWOT, strengths and weaknesses are internal factors.
A strength could be:
• Your specialist marketing expertise.
• A new, innovative product or service.
• Location of your business.
• Quality processes and procedures.
• Any other aspect of your business that adds value to your product or service.
A weakness could be:
• Lack of marketing expertise.
• Undifferentiated products or services (i.e. in relation to your competitors).
• Location of your business.
• Poor quality goods or services.
• Damaged reputation.
In SWOT, opportunities and threats are external factors.
An opportunity could be:
• A developing market such as the Internet.
• Mergers, joint ventures or strategic alliances.
• Moving into new market segments that offer improved profits.
• A new international market.
• A market vacated by an ineffective competitor.
A threat could be:
• A new competitor in your home market.
• Price wars with competitors.
• A competitor has a new, innovative product or service.
• Competitors have superior access to channels of distribution.
• Taxation is introduced on your product or service.
A word of caution, SWOT analysis can be very subjective. Do not rely on SWOT too much. Two people rarely come-up with the same final version of SWOT. TOWS analysis is extremely similar. It simply looks at the negative factors first in order to turn them into positive factors. So use SWOT as guide and not a prescription.
Simple rules for successful SWOT analysis.
• Be realistic about the strengths and weaknesses of your organization when conducting SWOT analysis.
• SWOT analysis should distinguish between where your organization is today, and where it could be in the future.
• SWOT should always be specific. Avoid grey areas.
• Always apply SWOT in relation to your competition i.e. better than or worse than your competition.
• Keep your SWOT short and simple. Avoid complexity and over analysis
• SWOT is subjective.
In SWOT, strengths and weaknesses are internal factors.
A strength could be:
• Your specialist marketing expertise.
• A new, innovative product or service.
• Location of your business.
• Quality processes and procedures.
• Any other aspect of your business that adds value to your product or service.
A weakness could be:
• Lack of marketing expertise.
• Undifferentiated products or services (i.e. in relation to your competitors).
• Location of your business.
• Poor quality goods or services.
• Damaged reputation.
In SWOT, opportunities and threats are external factors.
An opportunity could be:
• A developing market such as the Internet.
• Mergers, joint ventures or strategic alliances.
• Moving into new market segments that offer improved profits.
• A new international market.
• A market vacated by an ineffective competitor.
A threat could be:
• A new competitor in your home market.
• Price wars with competitors.
• A competitor has a new, innovative product or service.
• Competitors have superior access to channels of distribution.
• Taxation is introduced on your product or service.
A word of caution, SWOT analysis can be very subjective. Do not rely on SWOT too much. Two people rarely come-up with the same final version of SWOT. TOWS analysis is extremely similar. It simply looks at the negative factors first in order to turn them into positive factors. So use SWOT as guide and not a prescription.
Simple rules for successful SWOT analysis.
• Be realistic about the strengths and weaknesses of your organization when conducting SWOT analysis.
• SWOT analysis should distinguish between where your organization is today, and where it could be in the future.
• SWOT should always be specific. Avoid grey areas.
• Always apply SWOT in relation to your competition i.e. better than or worse than your competition.
• Keep your SWOT short and simple. Avoid complexity and over analysis
• SWOT is subjective.
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