THE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

The product life cycle is a set of stages a product goes through between the first time it is manufactured and when it is no longer sold. The product life cycle is a set of stages a product goes through between the first time it is manufactured and when it is no longer sold. Because of differences in type among both goods and services, each has its own kind of product life cycle. However, most products pass through four common phases.

Understanding the characteristics of each part of the life cycle places a manager in a position to make preparations and responses that increase the chances of better product performance.

Fig. Plc: Basic representation of the normal product life cycle.

                 

                 

                                                 

Stage 1: The introduction period. The introduction chapter is the period a good or service is brought to the market as a never-before offered production. The marketing effort, naturally, leans heavily toward making potential consumers aware of the product and its merits. There is great expenditure on activities like advertising, sales promotion and distribution as the marketer entices the audience to try the product.

In the introductory phase, sales are low and no profit is to be realistically expected. It is a spending period. Pricing is likely to lie somewhere between recovery of some product development and marketing costs and allowing many to buy.

Stage 2: The growth period. The marketing strategies of the introductory stage begin to pay off with grown product knowledge and acceptance, and a steep rise in sales. Experience, economies of scale and the advantage of being the pioneering producer result in lower costs and good profits. Production has to cope with the increasing demand not only to avoid disappointing consumers but also to not give signals that there is room for more players. However, sensing healthy fortunes, competition does start creeping in at this stage, making it necessary to from-time-to-time revise strategy, including slightly lowering price.

In the growth segment of the life cycle, a big portion of the market still exists that is yet to buy the product for the first time ever, but it keeps shrinking.

Stage 3: The maturity period. The market is now saturated and each of the many competitors now in the market tries to grow mainly by grabbing customers from the others. There are basically no first-time consumers and the market is buying as much as its purchasing power can. Price wars and product differentiation become more common.

Overall profits markedly fall as prices now have even thinner margins. Some producers simply seek a stable market and a decent return.

Stage 4: The decline period. As radically better or cheaper competing products emerge, less and less of the existing is bought. If the current product can also be made more competitive, say, by significantly lowering production costs so that it has a more attractive price, this stage could be held at bay for some time or made more gradual. Whatever the case, eventually, further decreases in both profits and sales make operations uneconomic and the product has to be discontinued.         

Conclusion

There is no standard length for any of the four stages of the product life cycle. How long any of the segments is depends on such dynamics as the type of product, amount of competition and marketing strategies employed.

        Rupert Chimfwembe                              5 January 2017

PESTLE/PEST/SLEPT ANALYSIS

PESTLE (also called PEST or SLEPT) analysis is a framework used frequently in the strategic management of organisations to get an understanding of the external environment.  It helps make it easier for an institution to work out a way to achieve its objectives and goals.

PESTLE study is a scanning of factors in the macro surroundings. The elements examined are rarely influenced by organisations but can themselves significantly affect the operations and viability of both profit and non-profit entities. They comprise political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental variables.

POLITICAL. Stability of government and governance atmosphere, world balance of power and main policies of leadership, are some of the key considerations.

ECONOMIC. Important factors include rate of economic growth, inflation and interest levels, and financing environment.

SOCIAL. The norms, values and beliefs of a society, and its attitude toward certain products, services or organisations cannot be ignored. Other major aspects are demographic features like age and income groupings.

TECHNOLOGICAL. What are the current scientific levels like? How are they an inhibition or enhancement of aspirations? What advancements in science and technology are on the horizon? How are they likely to affect operations, say, in terms of manufacturing processes, advertising or distribution?

LEGAL. It is mainly about the laws of the land and how they are applied. These can basically be supportive of or unfavourable to the mission and vision of an establishment.

ENVIRONMENTAL. Environmental issues are such as call for preservation of the relatively fragile constituents of the natural world, like plant and animal life, and the atmosphere of the earth, as an organisation carries out its programmes.

The PESTLE factors generally have ever-changing character. They also apply in different ways to different commercial and non-commercial concerns. It is, nonetheless, the relevant factors that need attention.

                                                                                                           Rupert Chimfwembe 

                                                                                                            29 December 2016

THE PLANNING PROCESS

A plan is an expression of a future situation and how to get there. Here, we share a version of the planning process.

1.    Understanding challenge. No planning is without reason. It is often a reaction to new circumstances or preparation for a situation seen as possible in the future. Whatever the case, a good appreciation of the challenges gives a firm start to planning. 

      

     Challenges in business include how to take full advantage of an opportunity, overcome a problem or avoid it, and simply plot a course of operation.

2.     Setting objectives. Understanding well the situation calling for planning is followed by setting clearly-defined objectives which act as the specific targets to aim at.

3.   Weighing objectives relative to environment. A situation analysis is done to decide how different factors, internal and external, favour or do not favour achievement of the objectives.

4.     Making alternative plans. Different plans are formulated as possible routes. A key ingredient of this stage is providing for acquisition of resources that are likely to make attaining the goals possible, as suggested by step 3.

5.      Choosing best plan. The best of the alternative plans is now selected.

6.   Reviewing stages 1 to 5. A scrutiny of steps 1 to 5 is done to minimise chances of major errors or omissions.

7.      Applying plan.The adopted plan is now carried out.

                                                           

                                                                                                                               Rupert Chimfwembe
                                                                                                                                  1 December, 2016

THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS: A Proposal

A decision is a choice of action from among at least two possibilities.

A decision is a choice of action from among at least two possibilities. When you have a decision to make, and the task is proving not so straightforward – so many things to consider, and the possibility that a wrong decision could be costly, for example – you may have to adopt a formal, structured approach like what is suggested here. It is a seven-step, yet relatively simple, decision-making framework.

1.     Define the required decision. What decision do you really want to make? If the resolution is not clearly stated, the answer at the end of the process may not sufficiently match the problem you had at the start. That is, there is a difference between making a decision as to how to increase sales over a period of six months and as regards how to increase sales by ten percent over a period of six months.

It could further help to state the task with a focus on deciding rather than on the problem. In other words, the sentence how do we increase sales by ten percent over a six-month period? might be better than one that says sales are ten percent less than they are supposed to be over a six-month period.

The former (sentence) urges you on in the direction of finding a solution. It could help you keep your sights on what is to be done, as it not only identifies the problem but also calls you to action in a specific direction. The latter, while indeed also pointing out the problem, tends to blur the all-important need for a deed. 

2.  Gather pertinent facts and figures. Good decisions normally come from a good body of information. It is important to have a healthy understanding of the issues related to the challenge faced. Without relevant knowledge, it might be difficult doing what is required in step 3.

3.   Propose possible solutions. This step involves making a good list of interchangeable decisions that solve the problem in their own way.

4.     Select the best suggestion. The question here is, how effectively and efficiently does each of the alternative decisions listed in (3) address the challenge?

A useful approach is rating the suggested solutions from strongest to weakest. To do this, you need to identify the most important aspects of the solution. That means recognising the specific needs the solution must especially satisfy. To make this clearer, let us go back to our example of increasing sales by ten percent over a time span of six months.

Some key need areas would likely be:

-         What costs does each alternative solution entail?

-         How much effort on the part of the sales team is required in each case?

-         Can the ten percent targeted increase actually be surpassed?

The significance of each of such considerations should always be in sight, for a fuller perspective.

5.   Revisit steps 1 to 4. Just in case a key issue was somehow not factored in, or the required decision was not well-framed, it is necessary to review the first four stages. This can prevent unnecessary, expensive mistakes.

6.    Implement the chosen decision. The selected option can now be put in motion. It becomes necessary, sometimes, to adopt combinations of two or more decisions.

7.     Evaluate the effect. How well does the decision you have picked solve the problem? If not so well, could implementation be the reason? If the implementation looks flawless, you may have to check the first four steps once again.

By the way

Indeed, we said decision-making could be a simple, seven-step process. The reality, it must be said, is that human judgment is not always sober and based on information on the table. Decision-making can be influenced by such powerful internal and external forces as intuition, emotion and amount of time available.

                                     Rupert Chimfwembe

                                      21 November, 2016

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT - THE BASICS

Human resource management is the activity of providing an entity the people it requires to function well, ensuring the people stay and generally running “people matters”.

People are the most central asset of an organisation. The value people embody are primarily labour, knowledge and intellect which, normally, are applied simultaneously.

The importance of the human element in production (both for profit and not-for-profit) calls for specialist attention, and hence the presence of a human resource manager in many organisations.

Human resource management can be split into three main areas, namely, employee supply, employee maintenance and administration. We shall examine each in turn, even though these passages will hardly do justice to the wide field of human resource management, and so are better treated as guidelines. They do, nevertheless, present key areas of the job of superintending over the human segment of production.

Some Basic Components of Human Resource Management

                               
EMPLOYEE SUPPLY

It is the process of finding and hiring the people to make the organisation operate efficiently and effectively. It includes:

Planning.The future requirements of an organisation need to be forecast. It necessitates job analysis, centred on job specification and job description.

Job analysis is the determination of the task content of a particular post, the qualifications the position requires and its importance relative to others. 

A job description is a list of the duties a person has to perform in a given post. 

A job specification is a list of the qualifications – in terms of education and experience, and as a person –that an individual has to have to fill a vacancy.

Recruitment and selection. It is the activity of soliciting for possible candidates to fill a position and finally contracting the most suitable-looking. An interview of applicants is normally conducted. Vacancies can be filled through other avenues such as head-hunting and promotion of an existing employee. In head-hunting, there may not always be an interview:a pre-identified top-performer is merely coaxed into joining the organisation.

Orientation and Culturalisation. Orientation means making a new employee familiar with the operations of the new employer. Some of the components of the orientation process are:

-       -   Understanding the practices of the organisation.

-       -   Meeting old members of staff and getting to know different departments.

-       -   Appreciating the mission and vision of the employer.

Culturalisation involves introducing a new person to the norms, values and customs of the workplace. It includes explaining how employees interact with each other and with their employer, and what they hold dear, like marking the birthday of everyone with a celebration.

Placement. This takes place after hiring, orientation and culturalisation. The new employee is finally put in thejob that suits their qualifications.

EMPLOYEE MAINTENANCE

Employee maintenance includes all activities of basically a motivational nature that, ultimately, have the effect of making valuable employees stay with the organisation as long as possible. The employee maintenance responsibilities given below are just some.

Remuneration. It is the compensation in various forms,direct and indirect, financial and non-financial, given to employees in exchange for their services.

Training and development. Training is schooling given to enable one perform better in their existing job. Development is education designed to enable an employee work satisfactorily in a higher position in the future.

Fringe benefits. This is remuneration in addition to the normal salary or wage, such as company accommodation.

Job redesign. It is action taken to keep employees stimulated and working at their best. It commonly takes the form of job enrichment, job specialisation, job enlargement or job rotation.

In job enrichment, an employee may be assigned to do work normally done by someone or others in a higher position.

Job specialisation meansreducing the number of tasks one does.

Job enlargement is expansion of the range of duties performed by an individual, and job rotation involves enabling employees to switch from one job to another, performing each temporarily.

Appraisal. These are reviews, usually annual, of employment performance. They can result in such decisions as recommendation of additional training, development programmes, or promotion.

Appraisal can indeed lead to moving an employee to a position of a lower level that is seen as less demanding but more appropriate, action referred to as demoting. It should really be the last direction to look in, as human resource management should seek to help everyone reach the expected standard of performance. Demotion can also be effected as a disciplinary measure.

By and large, demotion, especially today, remains a route requiring delicate treading.

Labour relations. Human resource management has to do the balancing act of meeting the interests of both management and workers, which do not always coincide.

ADMINISTRATION

Administrative tasks of human resource management are basically those not exactly falling under either employee supply or employee maintenance. They embrace, but are not limited to, updating files, devising employee-employer-friendly leave plans (normally done hand-in-hand with employees and their supervisors), and ensuring that everyone operates within organisational policy.

From time to time, human resource managers find themselves in the unenviable situation of performing the formalities of severing ties between employee and employer.

Rupert Chimfwembe

 8 November, 2016

FREDERICK HERZBERG'S MOTIVATOR-HYGIENE THEORY OF MOTIVATION

Frederick Herzberg performed studies on 200 accountants and engineers to find out the attitudes of people toward their work, and came up with what is called the dual-factor theory, also called Frederick Herzberg performed studies on 200 accountants and engineers to find out the attitudes of people toward their work, and came up with what is called the dual-factor theory, also called motivator-hygiene theory.

Herzberg discovered two sets of factors that he saw as playing a part in worker motivation matters. One of the sets was called satisfiers and the other dissatisfiers.

Satisfiers, also called motivators, were factors ‘internal’ to the job a person did, and among them were achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility and advancement. Satisfiers, according to Herzberg, were responsible for making a person increase their work input:they produced job satisfaction and motivation.

The dissatisfiers were factors external to the work, or to do with work context, rather than its content. They included supervision, working conditions, salary, interpersonal relations and working conditions. Because these were dynamics surrounding the job, they were additionally called environmental factors. So, what is it there is about the dissatisfiers?

According to Herzberg, dissatisfier factors, when they are favourable, cannot motivate a person to higher levels of performance. When unfavourable, however, dissatisfiers produce job dissatisfaction.

As can be seen, one of Herzberg’s messages was that there was a group of factors that produced satisfaction and another (different group) that produced dissatisfaction. 

Satisfiers and dissatisfiers are not at two opposite ends of a single continuous scale. They are simply two different, unconnected sets of factors responsible for different motivational results.

Absence of motivators (satisfiers), according to Herzberg, cannot really cause job dissatisfaction, but it also cannot produce satisfaction and motivation to work harder and better. Work-related satisfaction and motivation in an individual are present only when there are such conditions as chances to advance and achieve; challenging responsibility; and recognition. Motivators simply replace a situation of ‘no satisfaction’ with one of satisfaction.

When dissatisfiers are favourable, they do not produce satisfaction or motivation. They only remove job dissatisfaction; leaving what Cook, Hunsaker and Coffey (1997: 190-192) refer to as ‘neutral feelings’.

Similarities BetweenMaslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory and Herzberg’s Motivator-hygiene Factor Theory.

Dissatisfiers in Herzberg’s theory closely match the two lower needs (physiological, and safety and security needs) in Maslow’s theory. Satisfiers correspond to the two higher needs (self-esteem and self-actualisation needs) in Maslow’s hierarchy. Social needs in Maslow’s theory fall into both satisfier and dissatisfier categories in Herzberg’s theory.

Pluses and Minuses of Herzberg’s Dual-factor Theory

Perhaps the biggest strength of Herzberg’s theory is that it emphasises that job enrichment is the surest way to raise the standard of work input of an individual. Job enrichment, in this sense, means giving more scope and challenge, and enabling an individual to, for example, see prospects for advancement and achievement in their career, and earning recognition.

One criticism of Herzberg’s theory is the inclusion of pay as a dissatisfier: some research has revealed that pay can be a motivator. Some studies have also suggested that - depending on an individual - a factor can cause either satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

Rupert Chimfwembe

February, 2016.