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INTERNATIONAL FINANCE MANAGEMENT
COURSE : Total Marks :
CASE STUDY : 1
Following are the data for India’s B.O.P.
Year 2004-05 Rs (in Mn)
1) Merchandise Exports 3,62,661
2) Merchandise Imports 5,33,778
3) Income on Travel, Transportation MIS 2,27,762
4) Payments on Travel, Transportation MIS 1,63,353
5) Receipts for Maintenance of Embassies 1,812
6) Payments for Maintenance of Embassies 1,172
7) Unrequired Transfer Received 96,318
8) Unrequired Transfer Outwards 1,939
9) Investment Income Received 21,098
10) Investment Income paid to Foreign Residents 39,014
11) Foreign Investment (FDI, FPI) Received 2,06,696
12) Foreign Investment made by Indian Films 1,53,377
13) Other Capital Receipts 2,90,100
14) Other Capital Outflows 1,98,016
Question :
1) Calculate balance of Visiable Trade?
2) Calculate balance of Invisiable Trade?
3) Calculate balance of Capital Account?
4) Calculate change in Reserves?
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9447965521 OR +91 9924764558 EMAIL: PRASANTHTHAMPI1975@GMAIL.COM
CASE STUDY : 2
The Indian Foreign Exchange market has grown substantially
during the liberalization
period of the Indian economy. The growth in the retail
segment of the market has
increased the foreign exchange business turnover of
`Authorised Dealers’ while the
increase in tourism has boosted the business volumes of
`Money Changers’.
This period has seen several landmark developments such as
change in the vehicle
currency, introduction and withdrawals of the `Liberalised
Exchange Rate Management
System (LERMS), change in the modality of quoting exchange
rates, stepwise
introduction of convertibility of the Indian Rupee etc. The
Foreign Exchange Dealers
Association of India (FEDAI) has played a significant part
in helping the market to
assimilate these changes thereby ensuring the smooth
functioning of the market.
Question :
1) Define Foreign Exchange Market? What are its
characteristic features?
2) What were the provisions of LERMS?
3) What are the function of FEDAI?
4) Which is the currency used as vehicle currency in India?
5) Who are `Money Changers’?
CASE STUDY : 3
US $ Millions 1998-1999 1999-2000
Exports 34,298 38,285
Imports 47,544 55,283
Trade Balance -13,246 -17,098
Invisibles 9,208 12,935
Current A/c Balances -4,038 -4,163
External Assistance 820 901
NRI Deposits 1,742 2,140
Foreign Investments 2,412 5,191
Borrowings & Others 3,591 2,010
Total Capital A/c 8,565 10,242
Overall Balance 4,222 6,402
Given the above data.
Question :
1) Compile the basic balance?
2) Examine the trade balance vis-à-vis the current account
balance and explain its effect
on the economy?
3) Explain the behavior of the Capital Account entries and
how can they affect the
economy?
4) Is the increasing positive `Overall balance’ good for the
economy? Why?
CASE STUDY : 4
Following the experience of successive financial crises in
countries such as Maxico,
Russia, Brazil, Turkey & Argentina. Besides South-East
Asian countries over the past
decade. It is now widely held within policy circles in
developing countries that full
capital account convertibility, which allows any entity to
transfer their funds at will in
and out of a country, causes more harm than good.
Introducing capital account convertibility at this stage
would further encourage such
speculative inflows and reckless commercial borrowings.
This increased risk within the country’s financial system
had the potential of harting the
common people, who would have to bear the brunt of
adjustments once the boom comes
to an end convertibility will increase the number of
billionaires in India, not through
entrepreneurial profit but through untaxed capital gains.
This massive inflow of
portfolio investments does not have any positive impact on
the productive sectors of the
economy.
Question :
1) What is capital account convertibility?
2) What are the risks in capital account convertibility in
India context?
3) What is the present status of capital account
convertibility in India?
4) Bring out the arguments in support of convertibility?
SUBJECT : General Management
Total Marks : 80
N.B. : 1) All questions are compulsory
2) All questions carry equal marks.
1. What is Input & Output model?
2. Describe some major kinds of strategies/policies &
the hierarchy of strategies?
3. What do you mean by reengineering organization &
Explain key aspects?
4. What is departmentation & Types of departmentation?
5. Distinguish strength of appraisal against verifiable
objectives?
6. Explain Maslow hierarchy of needs theory?
7. Define Leadership with examples?
8. Explain communication flow in the organization?
SUBJECT : HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
COURSE : Total Marks : 80
Time : 2 & ½ Hours
N.B.
: 1) There are four questions in paper.
2)
All Questions are compulsory
A)
List down the role of a Line manager and an HR manager in: (20 Marks)
1.
Recruitment & Selection
2.
Appraisals
3.
Training
B)
Draw up a Sample Performance Appraisal form. Clearly define the rating scale
that you
choose
(10 Marks)
C)
Explain the various components of compensation with examples of each. (10 Marks)
D)
Please mention the generic role of HR department in any organization? (20 Marks)
E)
Explain the functional & behavioral competencies. List down 5 functional
& 5 behavioral
competencies for evaluation of a
management trainee. (20
Marks
SUBJECT:-MARKETING
MANAGEMENT
Total Marks—80
Q.1) Define term “Marketing Management” discuss the elements of Market
Environment? (10 Marks)
Q.2) Define the term Product Management? Explain how New Product
Decisions are made? (10 Marks)
Q.3) What is Customer relationship Management Explain its feature and
nature? (10Marks)
Q. 4) Explain the nature and feature of Marketing research and
Information Systems? (10 Marks)
Q.5) What is Market Measurement and Forecasting? (10 Marks)
Q6) What is Segmenting and Targeting the Market? (10 Marks)
Q7) What is Advertising Management? Explain the concept of Sales
Promotion and Personal Selling?
(10 Marks)
AN ISO 9001 : 2008 CERTIFIED INTERNATIONAL B-SCHOOL
Q8) Write a short note (any two) (10Marks)
a) Brand Equity
b) Global Marketing
c) Direct Marketing
d) Pricing decisions
Subject: Network Management
MARKS: 80
Section A
1. (i) List the five key differences between TCP reference
model and OSI reference model. (2)
(ii) Write the similarities and differences between packet
and cell switching. (2)
(iii) Why is the data link layer in a LAN subdivided into
Logical Link Control (LLC) and Medium Access
Control (MAC) sub-layers ? (2)
(iv) List the characteristics of broadband coaxial cable.
(2)
(v) Differentiate between virtual circuit and datagram’s.
(2)
(vi) The maximum payload of TCP segment is 62 1/2,2 1/212
1/2 bytes. Why ? (3)
(vii) What are sliding window protocols ? Explain one-bit
sliding window protocol with an appropriate
diagram. (2)
2. (i) Name all the basic network topologies and describe
advantages of each. Draw proper diagram tor each
topology. (2)
(ii) Explain the following terms : (2)
(a) Bandwidth
(b) Channel capacity
(c) Multiplexing
(d) Quality of Service (QoS)
(e) Full-Duplex Transmission
(iii) What is the basic purpose of MAC layer protocol ?
Explain the function of following MAC layer
protocols :
(a) Ethernet
(b) Token bus (2)
3. (i) Describe the characteristics and application or the
following network devices : (6)
(a) Routers
AN ISO 9001 : 2008 CERTIFIED INTERNATIONAL B-SCHOOL
(b) Bridges
(c) Switches
(iii) Answer the following : (4)
(a) Explain ISDN BRI Services.
(b) Differentiate between broadband and baseboard services.
(c) Describe the following three fields of TCP header :
(d) Sequence number
4. (i) What is congestion control ? How does it occur ? (2)
(ii) How does TCP handle connection establishment and crash
recovery ? (2)
(iii) List and explain any five ISDN applications. (2)
5. (i) Describe and compare the following routing algorithms
: (4)
(a) Shortest path routing
(b) Flooding
(ii) How does ATM differ from frame relay ? List and briefly
define the ATM service classes. (6)
Section B
1. (a) Write any two differences between OSI and TCP/IP
protocol suit. Also give reasons why OSI is not
popular. (3)
(b) Why is layering of the protocols done in TCP/IP stack ?
(3)
(c) Explain any two functions of each layer of TCP/IP
protocol stack. (2)
(d) How many address bits does the latest version of IP
(IPv6) have ? What is the maximum number of IP
addresses possible with IPv6 ? (3)
(e) Identify the header of each flag and explain its meaning
: (4)
(i) URG
(ii) ACK
(iii) FIN
(iv) RST
(f) How is flow control managed by Sliding Window protocol ?
(3)
2. (a) What is Ethernet ? How does it work ? Also explain
the fields of Ethernet Frame Format. (4)
(b) What is First-Octet Rule ? Give an example to explain
it. (3)
3. (a) What is the significance of hierarchical naming
scheme ? Differentiate among following addresses and
their meaning with reference of DNS : (5)
SUBJECT: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
COURSE : Total Marks : 80
NB.1)
All questions carry equal marks.
2)
All questions are compulsory.
3}
read questions carefully.
4}
Figures to the right indicate full marks.
Q1)
Explain the concept Six Sigma. Bring out the significance of Six Sigma in
Quality
Management?
(10 Marks)
Q2)
Define Project Management and explain its nature and features? (10 Marks)
Q3)
What is Process Analysis? Explain the steps in Manufacturing Process Selection
and
Design? (10Marks)
Q4)
Enumerate and explain the Theory of Constraints? (10 Marks)
Q5)
Write short notes (any two) (10
Marks)
a)
Inventory Control
b)
Operations Scheduling
c)
Aggregate Sales and Operations Planning
Q6)
Explain the following concept (any two) (10
Marks)
1)
Product Design
2)
Strategic Capacity Management
3)
Lean Productions
Q7)
Define Material Requirements Planning. Discuss its various components? (10 Marks)
Q8) What
is Supply Chain Strategy? Discuss its characteristics? (10 Marks
SUBJECT : GENERAL MANAGEMENT
Total Marks : 80
CASE-1 : ATTEMPT ANY 4 CASES, EQUAL MARKS PER CASE (20
Marks)
Case on Discomfort in a factory and Management Decision
Making
Mohan remembered the call from the head office as he puts
down the telephone receiver. His boss
from head office he said, "I just read your analysis
and I want you to go down to our plant in Kollakal
near Mysore right away. You know we cannot afford this plant
any more - the costs are just too high.
So go down there, check out what would be our operational
costs would be if we move, and report
back to me in a week."
Mohan knew the challenge quite well as the branch manager of
the Good will Specialty Products. His
company is into manufacturing of special apparel for injured
and people with other medical conditions.
He needs to deal with high-cost labor in a remote village
not so sophisticated plant, unionized
manufacturing plant. Although he had done the analysis there
were 480 people who made a living at
this facility and if it is closed most of them will find it
very difficult to get another job in the small
town consisting of about 10 000 people.
Instead of the Rs.20/- per hour paid to the Kollakal workers
the wages paid to the migrant workers near
Aurangabad will be much cheaper Rs.7/- hour working in sub
human conditions. This provides a
saving of 15 lakhs to the company for a year, which, can now
be used to meet the costs for training,
transportation and other matters.
After two days of talking with Migrant workers association
and representatives of other companies
using the same services in the town, Mohan had enough
information to formulate alternative plan for
production and the cost figures for production and
transportation. What was bothering him was only
the thought that how is going to handover the termination of
service notice to the Kollakal workers.
The plant in Kollakal had been in operation since 1930s
making special apparel for persons suffering
from injuries and other medical conditions. Mohan has often
talked to the employees who would
recount stories of their fathers and grant fathers working
in the company plant-the last of the original
manufacturing operations in the town.
AN ISO 9001 : 2008 CERTIFIED INTERNATIONAL B-SCHOOL
But friendship aside competitors had already edged past Good
will in terms of price and were
dangerously close to overtaking it in product quality.
Although Mohan and his Boss had tried to
convince the union to accept the lower wages, union leaders
resisted it. In fact, in one occasion when
Mohan tried to discuss a cell manufacturing approach, which
would cross train employees to perform
up to three different jobs, local union leaders could barely
restrain their anger. Yet probing beyond
their anger Mohan sensed their vulnerability, but could not
break through.
Tomorrow he will discuss his report with the CEO. Mohan does
not want to be responsible for
dismantling of the plant at Kollakal, an act, which Mohan
believes is personally wrong, but he is
helpless. Mohan said to himself "The costs are too
high, the union's unwilling to cooperate, and the
company needs to make a better return on its investment if
it has to continue at all. It sounds right, but
it feels wrong. What should I do?
Questions :
1. Assume you want to lead the change to save the Kollkal
plant. Describe how you would proceed?
2. What is the primary type of change needed - technology,
product, structure or people/culture?
3. What techniques would you use to overcome union
resistance and implement change?
CASE-2 (20 Marks)
A small group of managers at Falcon Computer met regularly
on Wednesday mornings to develop a
statement capturing what they considered to be the 'Falcon
Culture'. Their discussions were wideranging,
covering what they thought their firm's culture was, what it
should be and how to create it.
They were probably influenced by other firms in their
environment since they were located in the
Silicon Valley area of California. Falcon computer was a new
firm, having been created just eight
months earlier. Since the corporation was still in the
start- up phase managers decided it would be
timely to create and instill the type of culture they
thought would be most appropriate for their
organization. After several weeks of brain storming,
writing, debating, and rewriting, the management
group eventually produced a document called 'Falcon Values',
which described the culture of the
company as they saw it. The organizational culture statement
covered such topics, as treatment of
customers, relations among work colleagues, preferred style
of social communication, the decision
making process, and the nature of working environment.
Peter Richards read over the Falcon values statement shortly
after he was hired as a software trainer.
After observing managerial and employee behaviors at Falcon
for a few weeks, he was struck by wide
discrepancy between the values expressed in the document and
what he observed as actual practice
within the organization. For example the Falcon values
document-contained statements such as this:
"Quality; attention to detail is our trademark; our
goal s to do it right the first time. We intend to
deliver defect free products and services to customers on
the date promised."
However Richards had already seen shipping reports showing
that a number of defective computers
were being shipped to customers. And his personal experience
supported his worst fears. When he
borrowed four brand-new Falcon computers from the shipping
room for use in a training class he
found that only two of them started up correctly without
additional technical work on his part.
Another example of the difference between the Falcon Values
document and actual practice concerned
this statement on communication: "Managing by personal
communication is part of the Falcon way.
We value and encourage open, direct, person to person
communication as part of our daily routine."
Executives bragged about how they arranged their chairs in a
circle to show equality and to facilitate
open communications whenever they met to discuss the Falcon
values document Richards had heard
the "open communication" buzzword a lot since
coming to Falcon, but he hadn't seen much evidence
of such communication. As a matter of fact all other
meetings used a more traditional layout with top
executives at the front of the room. Richards believed that
the real organizational culture that was
developing at Falcon was characterised by secrecy and
communications that followed the formal chain
of command. Even the Falcon values document Richard was told
had been created in secret.
Richards soon became disillusioned. He confided in a
coworker on afternoon "the falcon values
document was so at avarice with what people saw everyday
that very few of them took it seriously."
Employees quickly learned what was truly emphasized in the
organization-hierarchy, secrecy, and
expediency and focused on those realities instead, ignoring
many of the concepts incorporated in the
values document. Despite this frustration Richards stayed
with Falcon until it filed for bankruptcy two
year later. "Next time" he thought to himself as
he cleaned out his desk "ill pay more attention to what
is actually going on, and less to what top management says
is true. Furthermore, I guess you just can't
create values."
Questions
1. What is more important the statement in a corporate
culture document or actual managerial
behaviour?
2. Why did the Falcon executives act as they did?
3. Why didn't employees like Richards blow the whistle on
Falcon, challenging the inconsistency
between values and behaviour?
4. How can executives go about changing the old values that
govern an organization?
CASE-3 (20 Marks)
Study the case below.Discuss customer insight? Define
CRM,role and advantages for todays
management?
Archana Tuli (Owner of a water purifier): Look at my water
purifier. Last week a person came to my
house saying my service contract was up for renewal. Mind
you, that was the first time in 10 months I
was seeing anyone from Purifo. I did not like his barging
into my time without prior notice. But that
did not bother him. He had a list to clear, never mind if I
was in the midst of cooking lunch.
I asked him about the servicing, since under the maintenance
contract the company should have
serviced the unit twice that year. " You should have
called the company," he said. But that was a
preventive maintenance contract and it was for the company
to call and take a date.
Finally, he set about servicing the machine. I found that
his handling of the machine was rather
clumsy. He dropped the casing twice and strewed the carbon
all over the sink. I discovered that he was
just four months old in the Company. Before that, he used to
sell plastic boxes. Is this what I get for
being your customer?
Then he said the filter candle needed to be changed which I
would have to pay for. That annoyed me. I
showed him the contract, which clearly stated that the
company would replace the candle once a year
at its cost. He did not know that. Would you believe that?
Clearly such service contracts are simply a
means to make money. There is no attitude to servicing. He
came because it was February and he had
contract renewal targets to complete. He came without
calling, expecting we would drop everything
else to serve him. He had no clue as to what he had to give
the customer for the contract. He messed up
my kitchen and did not even attempt to tidy it up.
The worst was that when I started the machine, the water
would not flow. I was furious. Purifo sends
incompetent, inexperienced people to cut costs. I carry the
responsibility of providing my family a
safe, hygienic environment at home, so I am prepared to pay
for preventive maintenance. But what did
I get?
But it is a good product and I am an informed consumer who
knows how to work around a
manufacturer's inefficiency. I simply gave the service
contract to a private firm. I don't want to have
anything to do with Purifo.
Ritikant Sharma (Credit Card holder): Every month, I receive
a credit card bill and my payment is sent
the very next day. Five months ago, the bill did not come on
the 22nd evening as it normally would. I
received the bill 10 days later with a charge of Rs. 675/-
for overdue interest. I was taken aback and
called up by the bank. But the bank manager argued that the
bill had been sent earlier. It was my word
against his.
I wrote to Monet Bank, protesting against this undue charge.
Eventually, after six letters from me,
including one to the managing director, the bank "
waived" the interest. But I was left with a bitter taste
in my mouth. I wondered why the bank did this to me. Did I
deliberately delay payment? I had this
card for three years and not once had I defaulted on
payment.
I also wondered if the bank considered the cost of this
argument to me. Was it worth the Rs. 675/-?
Why was the customer not right this time? And what about all
those times when I paid four days
before the due date? I was amazed that the bank treated me
like an errant schoolboy. Since then I have
not felt good about using the Monet credit card.
Worse, every month the bill continues to show the overdue
interest and every month there is a fresh
exchange of letters on the matter. Only last week I received
an invitation to become a member of
another credit card company. I am planning to surrender the
Monet Card.
Divya Mathur (Owner of a washing machine): You say I am an
important customer of Crysta. Great.
But for your customer service cell, I am just a number. For
six months now, I have been having
problems with the washing machine. Last month, when I called
the customer service cell to follow up
an old complaint about the motor, the lady who took the call
asked me to repeat the details: model
number, date of purchase, and the like. When I pointed out
that all these details had been given several
times before and all she needed to do was check the
complaint order number, her response was
shocking. " May be, but I can't boot the system. I am
only standing in for someone who has not
reported today. So, you have to give the details
again." She said.
Tell me what am I getting for being your customer? Respect?
Good handling? No. Now you come here
and ask me personal details like family income, number of
members, husband's designation. You still
haven't told me why you need all this information. You are
researching. Are you collecting this
information to help your company or me?
Then there was the problem with the V-belt. Within a day of
replacing it, there were some cracking
sounds. The engineer said he would have to wait for the
senior supervisor to examine it. Reason? " We
recently changed our supplier and all his pieces are turning
out to be defective." I was taken aback. It
frightened me to know that there was no quality check at
your end. We outsource a lot of stuff for our
garment business, but every button and needle is checked
before it is used. We are not a multinational,
just an old family-managed business.
Radhika Iyer (School Teacher): That feeling for the customer
is simply not there. The customer is not a
person but a collective noun. If the customer was important,
wouldn't my water purifier Company tell
me when it changed the service agent? When I called the
number in my contract card, I discovered that
the number now belonged to a courier company. I had to call
the head office in Mumbai and get the
new service agent's number in Delhi.
Is this fair? Or does it matter? I guess the Company's
attitude was: " If a customer needs service, let her
break her back and spend money to find out who the new agent
is. " The only motives are profits and
sales volumes. Not customer loyalty or service. Therefore a
customer is one who buys your product,
not one who has bought your product. Once you've bought the
product you are a 'has been'. Why
would you want to invest energy in a set of people to whom a
sale has been made? You spend energy
as long as a sale is not made. Once a sale is done, it is
for the customer to invest energy in sustaining
his relationship with the manufacturer. Isn't that how it
is? The manufacturer's attitude is-you need me
more than I need you, so guess who should work harder?
And everyone once in a while, there is a new face at my door
asking me if I own a Zento purifier.
Dammit, don't you have a customer file? No, he says. We go
from door to door. Splendid. Then what
do you do with all the data you collect? And every one of
these men asks me the same questions: when
did you buy it, what is your model number, is it working
properly? The worst is: " What is your
address?" I don't care what the information is being
used for. But I don't want to be disturbed for
information, which you already have.
We believe that because India now manufactures Coke and
Mercedes, we have progressed. But this
new market is no different from the gray market, where you
can buy anything but cannot expect
service. For instance, I bought a packet of macaroni, which
said I had to boil it in 250 ml of water. I
did that, but after the prescribed five minutes of boiling,
there was enough water left in the pan. I then
boiled it for another three minutes, and the pasta dissolved
into a unrecognizable mass.
One day, I met someone who worked for this macaroni company.
I told him about my experience. He
said I should let the pan rest for five minutes after
turning off the heat. The residual water would get
absorbed. That worked. Couldn't the firm have said so on the
pack? Or is it cheaper to let the customer
learn? Does the Company use experienced hands-on cooks while
designing these products or are they
MBAs who can't tell a stove from a cigarette lighter?
I bought a jar of mayonnaise the other day. The label said
it should be used within six months. Of
what? Of the date of manufacture or of the date of opening
the seal? Do I refrigerate it or not? It takes
us back to what I said before: once the sale has been made,
the consumer does not matter anymore.
The sale is not on the customer's involvement, loyalty or
satisfaction. It never was; it will never be.
DIPANKAR BARUAH (Cell Phone Owner): There are numerous
messages that are flashed on the cell
phone to announce the sale of wedding suits, printers,
shoes, or TV programmes, or updates on cricket
scores. These messages usually send out a single, short
beep. Only personal messages are announced
with a long, continuous beep. Last week, I was distracted by
six ad messages for a chocolate. And all
of them were long beeps. It made me mad because I was in the
midst of meeting clients and that kind
of triviality is distracting.
The cell phone is a great device. It helps me catch
messages, which I would otherwise have missed.
But I don't want it to distract me during a meeting. Please
respect my privacy. The cell phone is for my
convenience, not for the convenience of callous advertisers.
Now, I leave the cell phone with the
secretary and she calls me only if the message is a personal
one.
Tell me, has the advertiser benefited? He sought to get his
messages across to 1,50,000 subscribers at
one go. It appears to me that my cell phone has become a
cheap medium for advertising. Since it has
done me the favour of selling me the cell phone, the cell
phone operator can pass on my personal
details to advertisers without even asking me. The cell
phone is a private medium of communication,
not a public address system like a radio.
We have allowed a million new products to enter the country
but along with that, we have not allowed
the market mindset to evolve or grow. Few people realize
that the customer needs to be treated with
respect.
BERYL DIAS (owner of a laser printer): This printer cost me
Rs. 28,000. My company did not fund it.
I saved for it for a year. Saving that kind of money was not
easy. I wanted the best, which is what I
thought I got when I bought it., It worked very well and I
know it is a good product. But that's where
my ecstasy ends.
One day, the paper jammed and I needed help. So I called up
the company. The lady who took the call
said: " You will have to bring the printer here, we are
not going to come there." I felt that was very
hostile. I expressed surprise that their service engineers
would not come to my home. The lady gave
me a silly reason. " If your mixie breaks down wouldn't
you take it to the service center?" Maybe she
took the liberty to talk down to me because I was a woman
and I operated a home office. But there's a
world of difference between a Rs. 2,500 mixie and a Rs.
28,000 printer. But she was surly from the
word go. Worse, their office was located very far from where
I lived and going there would mean
wasting an entire morning.
It was her surly behaviour that angered me the most. I
recall how the sales engineers hovered around
me when I had first contacted the company for a brochure.
For three weeks someone from the
company would call me practically daily. They virtually
pushed me into buying the printer. I
remember I still had the last Rs.1,500 /-to save up, when
they decided to give me a Rs.1,000/- discount
to hasten my decision. Their sales pitch mesmerized me.
Today, I am just a statistic. I can almost hear
them saying: "You have no choice. If your printer is
not working, that's your problem. If you live afar,
that's also your problem.!"
I had not considered the after - sales trauma when I brought
the printer. I assumed that the company
would come home to repair it, as other companies do for
other products. They did not tell me about
their service terms at the time of the sale. It was not
important, I guess. For, all they wanted was my
Rs.28, 000/-.
To repair the printer, I went through an agent, who lost my
complaint order papers, forgot to intimate
the company about the part I wanted and made me wait for
four weeks before the printer was repaired.
Then I discovered it had not been repaired at all. I decided
then that I wouldn't have anything to do
with the company ever again. I sold that printer and brought
another brand after ascertaining that there
was a service agent close by. My old printer was state of
the art, but the real differentiator is the effort
a firm is willing to put into customer service.
CASE-4 : (20 Marks)
Company Social Responsibility & AIDS
The AIDS epidemic today is unparalleled in the challenges it
poses to the world, and it is clearly an
issue that no one can address alone. Business is an essential
partner in the response to AIDS. The
private sector like the other sectors is not immune from
AIDS. Involvement of the private sector in the
response to HIV/AIDS is crucial to the success of our
country's efforts against the epidemic.
Questions
1. What is the impact of AIDS on businesses? Do you agree
that businesses in the near future would
be actively interested in addressing the issue of AIDS?
Justify your answer
2. ABC Corporation wants to partner with an NGO and address
the issue of AIDS around its factory,
discuss what steps should ABC Corporation take to initiate,
manage and sustain its partnership
with the NGO .
CASE-5 : (20 Marks)
Read the following case study and answer the questions that
follow
Prakash Gupte is a sales representative with Beta Water
Purifiers. Prakash is a star sales representative
with the highest sales turnover record for 5 consecutive
months. He is an aggressive and a dynamic
sales person with a strong target-orientation. His marketing
manager Shreyans Desai is very proud of
his accomplishments. Based on his performance appraisal,
Prakash has been promoted to the rank of
Assistant Manager (Marketing). He is now required to
supervise the work of 6 sales representatives
and to manage sales targets for his area.
After assuming charge as an Asst. Marketing Manager, Prakash
set the targets for the first month and
communicated these to the sales representatives in a direct
and explicit manner. 4 sales representatives
found the targets to be too ambitious but reserved their
comments. After the meeting they discussed the
issue informally and dispersed. Prakash called the
fortnightly review meeting to take stock of the
situation. He was extremely disappointed to know that all
the six representatives were trailing behind
in target achievement. He was very blunt in communicating
his disappointment and told their team to
get their targets by the end of the month. After the
meeting, all the six representatives expressed their
displeasure with the meeting and found the demand of Prakash
unreasonable. They commonly
perceived him to be a difficult person to deal with. They
thought of approaching Shreyans for this.
Harish and Sameer, two of the representatives met Shreyans
and discussed this with him. Shreyans was
a little upset with Prakash, but he thought to himself that
Prakash is very efficient but lacks tact to
work with people. He assured the duo that he will speak to
Prakash in this regard.
Shreyans called Prakash for an informal chat and advised him
to go a little easy with people. Prakash
was clearly agitated about this since he took this as a
personal affront, as he sensed during this meeting
that someone must have complained about his behavior to
Shreyans. Instead of going easy with the
team, he turned more bitter in his approach. He called a
meeting of all the sales representatives, and
indirectly communicated his displeasure with the incident.
He once again made it clear that the targets
were attainable but needed a greater sense of commitment
from the group. Obviously the sales
representatives did not like this. At the month-end
briefing, Prakash was absolutely disappointed with
the team for having under-achieved on the targets’ count. He
rebuked them for going slow on their
work and told them sternly to adhere to the targets in the
next month. Deepak, on of the sales
representatives, objected to highly monthly targets and
suggested that the targets be made more
reasonable. To this Prakash retorted by saying that the
targets were absolutely reasonable. Obviously
the team was disheartened with this. They all decided to
collectively approach Shreyans this time and
seek his intervention. When they met Shreyans to brief him
about the situation, Shreyans was sure that
he had made a mistake somewhere.
QUESTIONS:
1) What happened when Prakash got promoted to the position
of Asst. Manager (Marketing)? Why
did this happen?
2) If you were entrusted with the responsibility of managing
6 sales representatives & creating an
effective sales team, how would you do it?
Subject:- HOTEL MANAGEMENT
Q1)
What are the minor operating departments of a hotel? Explain each.
Q2)
What are the basic principles in requisitioning guest and cleaning supplies?
Q3)
Write short notes on the following (Any 2)
a) Role
of the housekeeping control desk.
b) Lost
and found procedure
c)
Responsibilities of the Public area supervisor.
Q4) How
can we reduce physical stress?
Q5)
What are the types of notices in a house keeping operation?
Q6) How
do small hotels survive?
Q7)
Explain briefly what services dos a franchisor provide to a franchisee?
Q8)
Explain the role of maintenance (engineering department)?
Q9)
Discuss the relationship between management and supervisors?
Q10) Explain the meaning
of the various occupancy codes?
SUBJECT : MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Total Marks : 80
Case-1 : The use of the marketing mix in product launch
Introduction
NIVEA® is an established name in high quality skin and
beauty care products. It is part of a range of
brands produced and sold by Beiersdorf. Beiersdorf, founded
in 1882, has grown to be a global company
specialising in skin and beauty care.
In the UK, Beiersdorf’s continuing goal is to have its
products as close as possible to its consumers,
regardless of where they live. Its aims are to understand
its consumers in its many different markets and
delight them with innovative products for their skin and
beauty care needs. This strengthens the trust and
appeal of Beiersdorf brands. The business prides itself on
being consumer-led and this focus has helped
it to grow NIVEA into one of the largest skin care brands in
the world.
Beiersdorf’s continuing programme of market research showed
a gap in the market. This led to the
launch of NIVEA VISAGE® Young in 2005 as part of the NIVEA
VISAGE range offering a
comprehensive selection of products aimed at young women. It
carries the strength of the NIVEA brand
image to the target market of girls aged 13-19. NIVEA VISAGE
Young helps girls to develop a proper
skin care routine to help keep their skin looking healthy
and beautiful.
The market can be developed by creating a good product/range
and introducing it to the market
(product-orientated approach) or by finding a gap in the
market and developing a product to fill it
(market-orientated approach). Having identified a gap in the
market, Beiersdorf launched NIVEA
VISAGE Young using an effective balance of the right
product, price, promotion and place. This is
known as the marketing mix or ‘four Ps’. It is vital that a
company gets the balance of these four
elements correct so that a product will achieve its critical
success factors. Beiersdorf needed to develop
a mix that suited the product and the target market as well
as meeting its own business objectives.
The company re-launched the NIVEA VISAGE Young range in June
2007 further optimising its
position in the market. Optimised means the product had a
new formula, new design, new packaging and
a new name. This case study shows how a carefully balanced
marketing mix provides the platform for
launching and re-launching a brand onto the market.
AN ISO 9001 : 2008 CERTIFIED INTERNATIONAL B-SCHOOL
Product :
The first stage in building an effective mix is to
understand the market. NIVEA uses market research to
target key market segments which identifies groups of people
with the same characteristics such as
age/gender/attitude/lifestyle. The knowledge and
understanding from the research helps in the
development of new products. NIVEA carries out its market
research with consumers in a number of
different ways. These include:
• using focus groups to listen to consumers directly
• gathering data from consumers through a variety of
different research techniques
• product testing with consumers in different markets.
Beiersdorf’s market research identified that younger
consumers wanted more specialised face care
aimed at their own age group that offered a ‘beautifying’
benefit, rather than a solution to skin problems.
NIVEA VISAGE Young is a skin care range targeted at girls
who do not want medicated products but
want a regime for their normal skin.
Competitor products tend to be problem focussed and offer
medicated solutions. This gives NIVEA
competitive advantage. NIVEA VISAGE Young provides a unique
bridge between the teenage market
and the adult market.
The company improved the product to make it more effective
and more consumer-friendly. Beiersdorf
tested the improved products on a sample group from its
target audience before finalising the range for
re-launch. This testing resulted in a number of changes to
existing products. Improvements included:
• Changing the formula of some products. For example, it
removed alcohol from one product and used
natural sea salts and minerals in others.
• Introducing two completely new products.
• A new modern pack design with a flower pattern and softer
colours to appeal to younger women.
• Changing product descriptions and introducing larger pack
sizes.
Each of these changes helped to strengthen the product
range, to better meet the needs of the market.
Some of these changes reflect NIVEA’s commitment to the
environment. Its corporate responsibility
approach aims to:
• reduce packaging and waste - by using larger pack sizes
• use more natural products – by including minerals and sea
salts in the formula
• increase opportunities for recycling - by using recyclable
plastic in its containers.
Price :
Lots of factors affect the end price of a product, for
example, the costs of production or the business
need to maximise profits or sales. A product’s price also
needs to provide value for money in the market
and attract consumers to buy.
There are several pricing strategies that a business can
use:
• Cost based pricing – this can either simply cover costs or
include an element of profit. It focuses on the
product and does not take account of consumers.
• Penetration price – an initial low price to ensure that
there is a high volume of purchases and market
share is quickly won. This strategy encourages consumers to
develop a habit of buying.
• Price skimming – an initial high price for a unique
product encouraging those who want to be ‘first to
buy’ to pay a premium price. This strategy helps a business
to gain maximum revenue before a
competitor’s product reaches the market.
On re-launch the price for NIVEA VISAGE Young was slightly
higher than previously. This reflected
its new formulations, packaging and extended product range.
However, the company also had to take
into account that the target market was both teenage girls
and mums buying the product for their
daughters. This meant that the price had to offer value for
money or it would be out of reach of its target
market.
As NIVEA VISAGE Young is one of the leading skin care ranges
meeting the beautifying needs of this
market segment, it is effectively the price leader. This
means that it sets the price level that
competitors will follow or undercut. NIVEA needs to
regularly review prices should a competitor enter
the market at the ‘market growth’ point of the product life
cycle to ensure that its pricing remains
competitive.
The pricing strategy for NIVEA is not the same as that of
the retailers. It sells products to retailers at one
price. However, retailers have the freedom to use other
strategies for sales promotion. These take
account of the competitive nature of the high street. They
may use:
• loss leader: the retailer sells for less than it cost to
attract large volume of sales, for example by
supermarkets
• discounting – alongside other special offers, such as ‘Buy
one, get one free’ (BOGOF) or ‘two for
one’.
NIVEA VISAGE Young’s pricing strategy now generates around
7% of NIVEA VISAGE sales.
Place
Place refers to:
• How the product arrives at the point of sale. This means a
business must think about what distribution
strategies it will use.
• Where a product is sold. This includes retail outlets like
supermarkets or high street shops. It also
includes other ways in which businesses make products
directly available to their target market, for
example, through direct mail or the Internet.
NIVEA VISAGE Young aims to use as many relevant distribution
channels as possible to ensure the
widest reach of its products to its target market. The main
channels for the product are retail outlets
where consumers expect to find skin care ranges. Around 65%
of NIVEA VISAGE.
Young sales are through large high street shops such as
Boots and Superdrug. Superdrug is particularly
important for the ‘young-end’ market. The other 35% of sales
mainly comes from large grocery chains
that stock beauty products, such as ASDA, Tesco and
Sainsbury’s. Market research shows that around
20% of this younger target market buys products for
themselves in the high street stores when shopping
with friends. Research also shows that the majority of
purchasers are actually made by mums, buying for
teenagers. Mums are more likely to buy the product from
supermarkets whilst doing their grocery
shopping.
NIVEA distributes through a range of outlets that are cost
effective but that also reach the highest
number of consumers. Its distribution strategies also
consider the environmental impact of transport. It
uses a central distribution point in the UK. Products arrive
from European production plants using
contract vehicles for efficiency for onward delivery to
retail stores. Beiersdorf does not sell direct to
smaller retailers as the volume of products sold would not
be cost effective to deliver but it uses
wholesalers for these smaller accounts. It does not sell
directly through its website as the costs of
producing small orders would be too high. However, the
retailers, like Tesco, feature and sell the
NIVEA products in their online stores.
Promotion
Promotion is how the business tells customers that products
are available and persuades them to buy.
Promotion is either above-the-line or below-the-line.
Above-the-line promotion is directly paid for, for
example TV or newspaper advertising.
Below-the-line is where the business uses other promotional
methods to get the product message across:
• Events or trade fairs help to launch a product to a wide
audience. Events may be business to consumer
(B2C) whereas trade fairs are business to business (B2B).
• Direct mail can reach a large number of people but is not
easy to target specific consumers costeffectively.
• Public relations (PR) includes the different ways a
business can communicate with its stakeholders,
through, for example, newspaper press releases. Other PR
activities include sponsorship of high profile
events like Formula 1 or the World Cup, as well as donations
to or participation in charity events.
Branding – a strong and consistent brand identity
differentiates the product and helps consumers to
understand and trust the product. This aims to keep
consumers buying the product long-term.
• Sales promotions, for example competitions or sampling,
encourage consumers to buy products in the
short-term.
NIVEA chooses promotional strategies that reflect the
lifestyle of its audience and the range of media
available. It realises that a ‘one way’ message, using TV or
the press, is not as effective as talking
directly to its target group of consumers. Therefore NIVEA
does not plan to use any above-the-line
promotion for NIVEA VISAGE Young.
The promotion of NIVEA VISAGE Young is consumer-led. Using
various below-the-line routes,
NIVEA identifies ways of talking to teenagers (and their
mums) directly.
• A key part of the strategy is the use of product samples.
These allow customers to touch, feel, smell
and try the products. Over a million samples of NIVEA VISAGE
Young products will be given away
during 2008. These samples will be available through the
website, samples in stores or in ‘goody bags’
given out at VISAGE roadshows up and down the country.
• NIVEA VISAGE Young launched an interactive online magazine
called FYI (Fun, Young &
Independent) to raise awareness of the brand. The concept
behind the magazine is to give teenage girls
the confidence to become young women and to enjoy their
new-found independence. Communication
channels are original and engaging to enable teenagers to
identify with NIVEA VISAGE Young. The
magazine focuses on ‘first time’ experiences relating to
NIVEA VISAGE Young being their first
skincare routine. It is promoted using the Hit40UK chart
show and the TMF digital TV channel.
• In connection with FYI, NIVEA VISAGE Young has recognised
the power of social network sites for
this young audience and also has pages on MySpace, Facebook
and Bebo. The company is using the
power of new media as part of the mix to grow awareness
amongst the target audience.
Conclusion
NIVEA VISAGE Young is a skincare range in the UK market
designed to enhance the skin and beauty
of the teenage consumer rather than being medicated to treat
skin problems. As such, it has created a
clear position in the market. This shows that NIVEA
understands its consumers and has produced this
differentiated product range in order to meet their needs.
To bring the range to market, the business has put together
a marketing mix. This mix balances the four
elements of product, price, place and promotion. The mix
uses traditional methods of place, such as
distribution through the high street, alongside more modern
methods of promotion, such as through
social networking sites. It makes sure that the message of
NIVEA VISAGE Young reaches the right
people in the right way.
Answer the following questions:
1. Describe what is meant by a business being ‘consumer
led’.
2. What are the key parts of the marketing mix? Explain how
each works with the others.
3. Explain why the balance of the marketing mix is as
important as any single element.
4. Analyse the marketing mix for NIVEA VISAGE Young. What
are its strongest points? Explain why
you think this is so.
Case-2 : SWOT analysis in action at Škoda
Introduction
In 1895 in Czechoslovakia, two keen cyclists, Vaclav Laurin
and Vaclav Klement, designed and
produced their own bicycle. Their business became Škoda in
1925. Škoda went on to manufacture
cycles, cars, farm ploughs and airplanes in Eastern Europe.
Škoda overcame hard times over the next 65
years. These included war, economic depression and political
change. By 1990 the Czech management
of Škoda was looking for a strong foreign partner.
Volkswagen AG (VAG) was chosen because of its
reputation for strength, quality and reliability. It is the
largest car manufacturer in Europe providing an
average of more than 5 million cars a year – giving it a 12%
share of the world car market. Volkswagen
AG comprises the Volkswagen, Audi, Škoda, SEAT, Volkswagen
Commercial Vehicles, Lamborghini,
Bentley and Bugatti brands. Each brand has its own specific
character and is independent in the market.
Škoda UK sells Škoda cars through its network of independent
franchised dealers.
To improve its performance in the competitive car market,
Škoda UK’s management needed to assess its
brand positioning. Brand positioning means establishing a
distinctive image for the brand compared to
competing brands. Only then could it grow from being a small
player. To aid its decision-making, Škoda
UK obtained market research data from internal and external
strategic audits. This enabled it to take
advantage of new opportunities and respond to threats.
The audit provided a summary of the business’s overall
strategic position by using a SWOT analysis.
SWOT is an acronym which stands for:
• Strengths – the internal elements of the business that
contribute to improvement and growth
• Weaknesses – the attributes that will hinder a business or
make it vulnerable to failure
• Opportunities – the external conditions that could enable
future growth
• Threats – the external factors which could negatively
affect the business.
This case study focuses on how Škoda UK’s management built
on all the areas of the strategic audit.
The outcome of the SWOT analysis was a strategy for effective
competition in the car industry.
Strengths
To identify its strengths, Škoda UK carried out research. It
asked customers directly for their opinions
about its cars. It also used reliable independent surveys
that tested customers’ feelings. For example, the
annual JD Power customer satisfaction survey asks owners
what they feel about cars they have owned
for at least six months. JD Power surveys almost 20,000 car
owners using detailed questionnaires. Škoda
has been in the top five manufacturers in this survey for
the past 13 years. In Top Gear’s 2007 customer
satisfaction survey, 56,000 viewers gave their opinions on
152 models and voted Škoda the ‘number 1
car maker’. Škoda’s Octavia model has also won the 2008 Auto
Express Driver Power ‘Best Car’.
Škoda attributes these results to the business concentrating
on owner experience rather than on sales. It
has considered ‘the human touch’ from design through to
sale. Škoda knows that 98% of its drivers
would recommend Škoda to a friend. This is a clearly
identifiable and quantifiable strength. Škoda uses
this to guide its future strategic development and marketing
of its brand image.
Strategic management guides a business so that it can
compete and grow in its market. Škoda adopted a
strategy focused on building cars that their owners would
enjoy. This is different from simply
maximising sales of a product. As a result, Škoda’s biggest
strength was the satisfaction of its
customers. This means the brand is associated with a quality
product and happy customers.
Weaknesses
A SWOT analysis identifies areas of weakness inside the
business. Škoda UK’s analysis showed that in
order to grow it needed to address key questions about the
brand position. Škoda has only 1.7% market
share. This made it a very small player in the market for
cars. The main issue it needed to address was:
how did Škoda fit into this highly competitive, fragmented
market?
This weakness was partly due to out-dated perceptions of the
brand. These related to Škoda’s eastern
European origins. In the past the cars had an image of poor
vehicle quality, design, assembly, and
materials. Crucially, this poor perception also affected
Škoda owners. For many people, car ownership is
all about image. If you are a Škoda driver, what do other
people think?
From 1999 onwards, under Volkswagen AG ownership, Škoda
changed this negative image. Škoda cars
were no longer seen as low-budget or low quality. However, a
brand ‘health check’ in 2006 showed that
Škoda still had a weak and neutral image in the mid-market
range it occupies, compared to other players
in this area, for example, Ford, Peugeot and Renault. This
meant that whilst the brand no longer had a
poor image, it did not have a strong appeal either. This
understanding showed Škoda in which direction
it needed to go. It needed to stop being defensive in
promotional campaigns. The company had sought to
correct old perceptions and demonstrate what Škoda cars were
not. It realised it was now time to say
what the brand does stand for. The marketing message for the
change was simple. Škoda owners were
known to be happy and contented with their cars. The
car-buying public and the car industry as a whole
needed convincing that Škoda cars were great to own and
drive.
Opportunities and Threats
Opportunities
Opportunities occur in the external environment of a
business. These include for example, gaps in the
market for new products or services. In analysing the
external market, Škoda noted that its competitors’
marketing approaches focused on the product itself.
Audi emphasises the technology through its strapline,
‘Vorsprung Durch Technik’ (‘advantage through
technology’). BMW promotes ‘the ultimate driving machine’.
Many brands place emphasis on the
machine and the driving experience. Škoda UK discovered that
its customers loved their cars more than
owners of competitor brands, such as Renault or Ford.
Information from the SWOT analysis helped Škoda to
differentiate its product range. Having a
complete understanding of the brand’s weaknesses allowed it
to develop a strategy to strengthen the
brand and take advantage of the opportunities in the market.
It focused on its existing strengths and
provided cars focused on the customer experience. The focus
on ‘happy Škoda customers’ is an
opportunity. It enables Škoda to differentiate the Škoda
brand to make it stand out from the competition.
This is Škoda’s unique selling proposition (USP) in the
motor industry.
Threats
Threats come from outside of a business. These involve, for
example, a competitor launching cheaper
products. A careful analysis of the nature, source and
likelihood of these threats is a key part of the
SWOT process.
The UK car market includes 50 different car makers selling
200 models. Within these there are over
2,000 model derivatives. Škoda UK needed to ensure that its
messages were powerful enough for
customers to hear within such a crowded and competitive
environment. If not, potential buyers would
overlook Škoda. This posed the threat of a further loss of
market share.
Škoda needed a strong product range to compete in the UK and
globally. In the UK the Škoda brand is
represented by seven different cars. Each one is designed to
appeal to different market segments. For
example:
• The Škoda Fabia is sold as a basic but quality ‘city car’
• The Škoda Superb offers a more luxurious, ‘up-market’
appeal
• The Škoda Octavia Estate provides a family with a fun
drive but also a great big boot.
Pricing reflects the competitive nature of Škoda’s market.
Each model range is priced to appeal to
different groups within the mainstream car market. The
combination of a clear range with competitive
pricing has overcome the threat of the crowded market.
The following example illustrates how Škoda responded to
another of its threats, namely, the need to
respond to EU legal and environmental regulations. Škoda
responded by designing products that are
environmentally friendly at every stage of their life cycle.
This was done by for example:-
• Recycling as much as possible. Škoda parts are marked for
quick and easy identification when the car
is taken apart.
• Using the latest, most environmentally-friendly
manufacturing technologies and facilities available.
For instance, areas painted to protect against corrosion use
lead-free, water based colours.
• Designing processes to cut fuel consumption and emissions
in petrol and diesel engines. These use
lighter parts making vehicles as aerodynamic as possible to
use less energy.
• Using technology to design cars with lower noise levels
and improved sound quality. Outcomes and
benefits of SWOT analysis.
Škoda UK’s SWOT analysis answered some key questions. It
discovered that:
• Škoda car owners were happy about owning a Škoda
• the brand was no longer seen as a poorer version of
competitors’ cars.
However,
• the brand was still very much within a niche market
• a change in public perception was vital for Škoda to
compete and increase its market share of the
mainstream car market.
The challenge was how to build on this and develop the brand
so that it was viewed positively. It
required a whole new marketing strategy.
Škoda UK has responded with a new marketing strategy based
on the confident slogan, ‘the
manufacturer of happy drivers.’ The campaign’s promotional
activities support the new brand position.
The key messages for the campaign focus on the ‘happy’
customer experience and appeal at an
emotional rather than a practical level. The campaign
includes:
• he ‘Fabia Cake’ TV advert. This showed that the car was
‘full of lovely stuff’ with the happy music
(‘Favourite things’) in the background.
• An improved and redesigned website which is easy and fun
to use. This is to appeal to a young
audience. It embodies the message ‘experience the happiness
of Škoda online’.
Customers are able to book test drives and order brochures
online. The result is that potential customers
will feel a Škoda is not only a reliable and sensible car to
own, it is also ‘lovely’ to own.
Analysing the external opportunities and threats allows
Škoda UK to pinpoint precisely how it should
target its marketing messages. No other market player has
‘driver happiness’ as its USP. By building on
the understanding derived from the SWOT, Škoda UK has given
new impetus to its campaign. At the
same time, the campaign has addressed the threat of external
competition by setting Škoda apart from its
rivals.
Conclusion
Škoda is a global brand offering a range of products in a
highly competitive and fragmented market. The
company must respond positively to internal and external
issues to avoid losing sales and market share.
A SWOT analysis brings order and structure to otherwise
random information. The SWOT model helps
managers to look internally as well as externally. The
information derived from the analysis gives
direction to the strategy. It highlights the key internal
weaknesses in a business, it focuses on strengths
and it alerts managers to opportunities and threats. Škoda
was able to identify where it had strengths to
compete. The structured review of internal and external
factors helped transform Škoda UK’s strategic
direction.
The case study shows how Škoda UK transformed its brand
image in the eyes of potential customers and
build its competitive edge over rivals. By developing a
marketing strategy playing on clearly identified
strengths of customer happiness, Škoda was able to overcome
weaknesses. It turned its previously
defensive position of the brand to a positive
customer-focused experience. The various awards Škoda
has won demonstrate how its communications are reaching
customers. Improved sales show that Škoda
UK’s new strategy has delivered benefits.
Answer the
1. What was the key weakness that Škoda was able to
identify?
2. What strength did Škoda use to turn its brand weakness
into an opportunity?
3. How has Škoda strategically addressed external threats?
4. What in your view are the important benefits of using a
SWOT analysis
Case-3 : Marketing strategy for growth
Introduction
Businesses must respond to change in order to remain
competitive. Developing appropriate strategies
which allow them to move forward is essential. Wilkinson is
a prime example of a business that has
responded to changing customer needs throughout its history.
It is one of the UK’s long-established
retailers of a wide range of food, home, garden, office,
health and beauty products.James Kemsey (JK)
Wilkinson opened his first Wilkinson Store in Charnwood
Street, Leicester in 1930. After the Second
World War, the 1950s saw a rise in the use of labour-saving
devices and DIY. Wilkinson responded by
making this type of product the focus of its sales. In the
1960s customers wanted more convenience
shopping. Wilkinson started selling groceries and
supermarket goods and created the Wilko brand. In the
1980s Wilkinson extended its range of low-cost products to
include quality clothing, toys, toiletries and
perfumes. In 1995 it opened a central distribution centre in
Workshop, serving stores in the north of
England and in 2004, a new distribution centre opened in
Wales. In 2005 Wilkinson launched its
Internet shopping service, offering over 800,000 product
lines for sale online. Wilkinson currently has
over 300 stores, which carry an average of 25,000 product
lines. 40% of these are Wilko ‘own-brand’
products. The company’s target is to see this element grow
and to have over 500 stores by 2012.
Wilkinson’s growth places it in the top 30 retailers in the
UK. Recently it has faced increasing
challenges from competitors, such as the supermarket sector.
Wilkinson needed to combat this and
identify new areas for growth. Over two years it conducted
extensive market research. This has helped it
create a marketing strategy designed to continue growing by
targeting a new market segment - the
student population. This case study focuses on how Wilkinson
created and implemented this strategy,
using the findings of its market research to drive the
strategy forward.
Marketing strategy aims to communicate to customers the
added-value of products and services. This
considers the right mix of design, function, image or
service to improve customer awareness of the
business’ products and ultimately to encourage them to buy.
An important tool for helping develop an
appropriate marketing strategy is Ansoff’s Matrix. This
model looks at the options for developing a
marketing strategy and helps to assess the levels of risk
involved with each option. Marketing strategies
may focus on the development of products or markets. Doing
more of what a business already does
carries least risk; developing a completely new product for
a new audience carries the highest risk both
in terms of time and costs.
Based on its research, Wilkinson committed to a market
development strategy to sell its products to a
new audience of students. This is a medium risk strategy as
it requires the business to find and develop
new customers. It also carries costs of the marketing
campaigns to reach this new group. The main focus
of the strategy was to increase awareness of the brand among
students and encourage them to shop
regularly at Wilkinson stores.
Market research
Market research is vital for collecting data on which to
base the strategy. Market research takes one of
two main forms – primary research and secondary research.
Primary research (also called field
research) involves collecting data first hand. This can take
many forms, the main ones being interview,
questionnaires, panels and observation. Secondary research
(also called desk research) involves
collecting data which already exists. This includes using
information from reports, publications, Internet
research and company files.
Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. The
advantages of primary research are that it is
recent, relevant and designed specifically for the company’s
intended strategy. The main disadvantage is
that it is more expensive than secondary research and can be
biased if not planned well. Secondary
research is relatively cheap, can be undertaken quickly and
so enables decision-making sooner.
However, secondary research can go out-of-date and may not
be entirely relevant to the business’ needs.
Wilkinson undertook primary market research using
questionnaires from students across the UK and
secondary research using government and university
admissions data. The statistics revealed that there
were three million potential student customers.
They had a combined annual spend of around £9 billion per
year. This research confirmed that the
choice of focusing on the student market as a means of
growth was valid. Wilkinson undertook further
research to identify how to reach students and persuade them
to start shopping at Wilkinson stores. This
information was used to formulate a focus strategy. This was
aimed specifically at the needs of the
student ‘market segment’.
Marketing to students
Wilkinson involved 60 universities in research, using
questionnaires distributed to students initially in
Years 2 and 3 of a range of universities and then to
‘freshers’ (new students) through the University and
Colleges Admission Service. This ensured the widest range of
students was included to eliminate bias. It
also gave a wide range of responses. From this initial
group, students were asked a second set of
questions. Participants were rewarded with Amazon vouchers
to encourage a good take-up. The research
focused on two areas:
1. student awareness of the Wilkinson brand and
2. reasons why students were currently not using the stores
regularly.
The market research enabled Wilkinson to put together its
marketing strategy. The aim was to ensure the
student population began shopping at Wilkinson stores early
in their student experience. This would
help to maintain their customer loyalty to Wilkinson
throughout their student years and also to develop
them as future customers after university. Repeat business
is key to sustained growth. Wilkinson
wanted to create satisfied customers with their needs met by
the Wilkinson range of products. A
marketing campaign was launched which focused on a range of
promotional tactics, specifically
designed to appeal to university students:
• Wilkinson being present at freshers’ fairs – and giving
free goody bags with sample
products directly to students
• direct mail flyers to homes and student halls, prior to
students arriving
• advertisements with fun theme, for example, showing frying
pans as tennis racquets
• web banners
• offering discounts of 15% with first purchase using the
online store
• gift vouchers
• free wallplanners.
The challenge was to get students into Wilkinson stores. The
opportunity was to capture a new customer
group at an early stage and provide essential items all year
round. This would lead to a committed
customer group and secure repeat business.
Outcomes/evaluation
Wilkinson wanted to know what would inspire students to shop
at Wilkinson more and what factors
would help to attract non-customers. The research provided
significant primary information to analyse
the effects of the campaign. Wilkinson used questionnaires
collected from the first year undergraduates
to gather qualitative data. In addition, Wilkinson obtained
quantitative data from various other
sources, including:
• redemption rates – how many people used the discount
vouchers when buying
• sales analysis – how much extra business did the stores
handle
• footfall in stores analysis – how many extra people went
into stores.
This information helped Wilkinson to develop its plans for
future marketing campaigns. It identified
Motivation factors for the student audience which would help
to encourage future purchase. Key
factors included products being cheaper than competitors and
easy access to stores. 23% of students
questioned gave ‘distance from university’ as a reason for
not regularly visiting the store. The layout of
the store was another major problem affecting repeat visits.
These findings have been taken on board by
Wilkinson in its future planning of store locations and
layouts.
Researching students’ opinions after the campaign showed
that:
• Awareness of Wilkinson brand had significantly risen from
77% to 95% of those interviewed. This
brought it in line with Morrison supermarkets, a key
competitor.
Conclusion
Wilkinson’s marketing strategy began with its corporate aim
to grow and increase stores across the UK.
It was facing increased competition from supermarkets and
needed to identify an area to focus on. To
pursue a growth strategy, Wilkinson used market research to
identify new target customers. This enabled
it to prepare marketing strategies to fit the audience.
Primary and secondary research was used to find out customer
views regarding its brand. Data indicated
the student market segment was a significant area to focus
on to achieve market development. A
marketing campaign using data from a follow-up survey was
put in place. The campaign showed
significant increase in students’ levels of awareness about
Wilkinson and its products. It encouraged
them either to shop more or to try Wilkinson for the first
time. The campaign helped to achieve many of
the business’ aims, creating increased brand awareness and
repeat visits. It also helped to inform the
company’s future strategies for growth. Market research
gathered will help to formulate future plans for
new stores. These will be in line with Wilkinson commitment
to providing communities with affordable
products across the country.
Answer the following questions
1. What is the difference between primary and secondary
research? Identify one example of primary and
secondary research carried out by Wilkinson.
2. Explain why Wilkinson needed a marketing strategy to help
them to grow.
3. Evaluate the benefits of the marketing campaign to
Wilkinson.
4. Analyse how effective the marketing campaign was in
helping Wilkinson respond to competitive
pressures.
Case-4 : Extending the product life cycle
Introduction
Businesses need to set themselves clear aims and objectives
if they are going to succeed. The Kellogg
Company is the world’s leading producer of breakfast cereals
and convenience foods, such as cereal
bars, and aims to maintain that position. In 2006, Kellogg
had total worldwide sales of almost $11
billion (£5.5 billion). In 2007, it was Britain’s biggest
selling grocery brand, with sales of more than
£550 million. Product lines include ready-to-eat cereals
(i.e. not hot cereals like porridge) and nutritious
snacks, such as cereal bars. Kellogg’s brands are household
names around the world and include Rice
Krispies, Special K and Nutri-Grain, whilst some of its
brand characters, like Snap, Crackle and Pop, are
amongst the most wellknown in the world.
Kellogg has achieved this position, not only through great
brands and great brand value, but through a
strong commitment to corporate social responsibility. This
means that all of Kellogg’s business aims
are set within a particular context or set of ideals.
Central to this is Kellogg’s passion for the business,
the brands and the food, demonstrated through the promotion
of healthy living.
The company divides its market into six key segments.
Kellogg's Corn Flakes has been on breakfast
tables for over 100 years and represents the ‘Tasty Start’
cereals that people eat to start their day. Other
segments include ‘Simply Wholesome’ products that are good
for you, such as Kashi Muesli, ‘Shape
Management’ products, such as Special K and ‘Inner Health’
lines, such as All-Bran. Children will be
most familiar with the ‘Kid Preferred’ brands, such as
Frosties, whilst ‘Mum Approved’ brands like
Raisin Wheats are recognised by parents as being good for
their children.
Each brand has to hold its own in a competitive market.
Brand managers monitor the success of brands
in terms of market share, growth and performance against the
competition. Key decisions have to be
made about the future of any brand that is not succeeding.
This case study is about Nutri-Grain. It shows
how Kellogg recognised there was a problem with the brand
and used business tools to reach a solution.
The overall aim was to re-launch the brand and return it to
growth in its market.
The product life cycle
Each product has its own life cycle. It will be ‘born’, it
will ‘develop’, it will ‘grow old’ and, eventually,
it will ‘die’. Some products, like Kellogg’s Corn Flakes,
have retained their market position for a long
time. Others may have their success undermined by falling
market share or by competitors. The product
life cycle shows how sales of a product change over time.
The five typical stages of the life cycle are
shown on a graph. However, perhaps the most important stage
of a product life cycle happens before
this graph starts, namely the
Research and Development (R&D) stage. Here the company
designs a product to meet a need in the
market. The costs of market research - to identify a gap in
the market and of product development to
ensure that the product meets the needs of that gap - are
called ‘sunk’ or start-up costs. Nutri-Grain was
originally designed to meet the needs of busy people who had
missed breakfast. It aimed to provide a
healthy cereal breakfast in a portable and convenient
format.
1. Launch - Many products do well when they are first
brought out and Nutri-Grain was no exception.
From launch (the first stage on the diagram) in 1997 it was
immediately successful, gaining almost 50%
share of the growing cereal bar market in just two years.
2. Growth - Nutri-Grain’s sales steadily increased as the
product was promoted and became well
known. It maintained growth in sales until 2002 through
expanding the original product with new
developments of flavour and format. This is good for the
business, as it does not have to spend money
on new machines or equipment for production. The market
position of Nutri-Grain also subtly changed
from a ‘missed breakfast’ product to an ‘all-day’ healthy
snack.
3. Maturity - Successful products attract other competitor
businesses to start selling similar products.
This indicates the third stage of the life cycle - maturity.
This is the time of maximum profitability, when
profits can be used to continue to build the brand. However,
competitor brands from both Kellogg itself
(e.g. All Bran bars) and other manufacturers (e.g. Alpen
bars) offered the same benefits and this slowed
down sales and chipped away at Nutri-Grain’s market
position. Kellogg continued to support the
development of the brand but some products (such as Minis
and Twists), struggled in a crowded market.
Although Elevenses continued to succeed, this was not enough
to offset the overall sales decline. Not all
products follow these stages precisely and time periods for
each stage will vary widely. Growth, for
example, may take place over a few months or, as in the case
of Nutri-Grain, over several years.
4. Saturation - This is the fourth stage of the life cycle
and the point when the market is ‘full’. Most
people have the product and there are other, better or
cheaper competitor products. This is called market
saturation and is when sales start to fall. By mid-2004
Nutri-Grain found its sales declining whilst the
market continued to grow at a rate of 15%.
5. Decline - Clearly, at this point, Kellogg had to make a
key business decision. Sales were falling, the
product was in decline and losing its position. Should
Kellogg let the product ‘die’, i.e. withdraw it from
the market, or should it try to extend its life?
Strategic use of the product life cycle
When a company recognises that a product has gone into
decline or is not performing as well as it
should, it has to decide what to do. The decision needs to
be made within the context of the overall aims
of the business. Kellogg’s aims included the development of
great brands, great brand value and the
promotion of healthy living. Strategically, Kellogg had a
strong position in the market for both healthy
foods and convenience foods. Nutri-Grain fitted well with
its main aims and objectives and therefore
was a product and a brand worth rescuing.
Kellogg decided to try to extend the life of the product
rather than withdraw it from the market. This
meant developing an extension strategy for the product.
Ansoff’s matrix is a tool that helps analyse
which strategy is appropriate. It shows both
market-orientated and product-orientated possibilities.
Extending the Nutri-Grain cycle – identifying the problem
Kellogg had to decide whether the problem with Nutri-Grain
was the market, the product or both. The
market had grown by over 15% and competitors’ market share
had increased whilst Nutri-Grain sales in
2003 had declined. The market in terms of customer tastes
had also changed – more people missed
breakfast and therefore there was an increased need for such
a snack product.
The choice of extension strategy indicated by the matrix was
either product development or
diversification. Diversification carries much higher costs
and risks. Kellogg decided that it needed to
focus on changing the product to meet the changing market
needs.
Research showed that there were several issues to address:
1. The brand message was not strong enough in the face of
competition. Consumers were not impressed
enough by the product to choose it over competitors.
2. Some of the other Kellogg products (e.g. Minis) had taken
the focus away from the core business.
3. The core products of Nutri-Grain Soft Bake and Elevenses
between them represented over 80% of
sales but received a small proportion of advertising and
promotion budgets.
4. Those sales that were taking place were being driven by
promotional pricing (i.e discounted pricing)
rather than the underlying strength of the brand.
Implementing the extension strategy for Nutri-Grain having
recognised the problems, Kellogg then
developed solutions to re-brand and re-launch the product in
2005.
1. Fundamental to the re-launch was the renewal of the brand
image. Kellogg looked at the core
features that made the brand different and modelled the new
brand image on these. Nutri-Grain is
unique as it is the only product of this kind that is baked.
This provided two benefits:
• the healthy grains were soft rather than gritty
• the eating experience is closer to the more indulgent
foods that people could be eating (cakes and
biscuits, for example). The unique selling point, hence the
focus of the brand, needed to be the ‘soft
bake’.
2. Researchers also found that a key part of the market was
a group termed ‘realistic snackers’. These
are people who want to snack on healthy foods, but still
crave a great tasting snack. The re-launched
Nutri-Grain product needed to help this key group fulfil
both of these desires.
3. Kellogg decided to re-focus investment on the core
products of Soft Bake Bars and Elevenses as these
had maintained their growth (accounting for 61% of Soft Bake
Bar sales). Three existing Soft Bake Bar
products were improved, three new ranges introduced and
poorly performing ranges (such as Minis)
were withdrawn.
4. New packaging was introduced to unify the brand image.
5. An improved pricing structure for stores and supermarkets
was developed.
Using this information, the re-launch focused on the four parts
of the marketing mix:
• Product – improvements to the recipe and a wider range of
flavours, repositioning the brand as
‘healthy and tasty’, not a substitute for a missed breakfast
• Promotion – a new and clearer brand image to cover all the
products in the range along with
advertising and point-of-sale materials
• Place – better offers and materials to stores that sold
the product
• Price – new price levels were agreed that did not rely on
promotional pricing. This improved revenue
for both Kellogg and the stores.
As a result Soft Bake Bar year-on-year sales went from a
decline to substantial growth, with Elevenses
sales increasing by almost 50%. The Nutri-Grain brand
achieved a retail sales growth rate of almost
three times that of the market and most importantly, growth
was maintained after the initial re-launch.
Conclusion
Successful businesses use all the tools at their disposal to
stay at theSuccessful businesses use all the
tools at their disposal to stay at the top of their chosen
market. Kellogg was able to use a number of
business tools in order to successfully re-launch the
Nutri-Grain brand. These tools included the product
life cycle, Ansoff’s matrix and the marketing mix. Such
tools are useful when used properly.
Kellogg was able to see that although Nutri-Grain fitted its
strategic profile – a healthy, convenient
cereal product – it was underperforming in the market. This
information was used, along with the aims
and objectives of the business, to develop a strategy for
continuing success. Finally, when Kellogg
checked the growth of the re-launched product against its
own objectives, it had met all its aims to:
• re-position the brand through the use of the marketing mix
• return the brand to growth
• improve the frequency of purchase
• introduce new customers to the brand.
Nutri-Grain remains a growing brand and product within the
Kellogg product family.
Answer the following questions:
1. Using current products familiar to you, draw and label a
product life cycle diagram, showing which
stage each product is at.
2. Suggest appropriate aims and objectives for a small,
medium and large business.
4. Consider the decision taken by Kellogg to opt for product
development. Suggest a way in which it
could have diversified instead. Justify your answer.
SUBJECT : OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Total Marks : 80
CASE-1 (16 Marks)
Bloomsday Outfitters produces T-shirts for road races. They need
to acquire some new stamping
machines to produce 30,000 good T-shirts per month. Their plant
operates 200 hours per month, but
the new machines will be used for T-shirts only 60 percent of the
time and the output usually includes
5 percent that are "seconds" and unusable. The stamping
operation takes 1 minute per T-shirt, and the
stamping machines are expected to have 90 percent efficiency
considering adjustments, changeover of
patterns, and unavoidable downtime. How many stamping machines are
required?
CASE-2 (16 Marks)
In the table given below the Distribution Manager is expected to
service these DCs as per the demands
placed. If the actual sales after completing week one is as
follows, what would be the quantities that
would need amendment as far as Distribution Manager is concerned
to service for week two and
onwards?
After week one the actual sales to Forecasted sales for week one
ratio is as under: Mumbai did 80 % of
forecast , Lucknow did 75 % of forecast Kolkata did 60 % of week
one forecast Chennai did 125 % of
forecast and Delhi did 150 % of week one forecast
AN ISO 9001 : 2008 CERTIFIED INTERNATIONAL B-SCHOOL
Note : Kolkata will receive transit stocks in week 2 .
CASE-3 (16 Marks)
After working for 30 years, Ramjee Somjee Dutt opted for VRS and
started a courier company and did
very well in the first four years. He was now looking for
expansion of his business and decided to
venture into Road transportation business between Chennai and
Mumbai and Mumbai and Delhi as he
felt that he could do well on this line. However before taking a final
decision he hires your
Management Consultant firm formed by yourself. He has requested
you to work out the Price to quote
his clients for these two routes considering the costs involved.
He expects to earn a minimum profit of
Rs 1000 per day per truck after meeting all expenses. Your
analysis of market conditions tell you the
following:
Vehicle cost Rs 7 lacs Depreciation 15 % Maintenance costs per day
Rs 150 Drivers monthly Salary
Rs 5000 : Attendants monthly salary Rs 3000 . Misc expenses Rs 200
per day. Driver allowance is Rs
125 per day and attendant gets Rs 75. Diesel cost per liter is Rs
25 and the vehicle gives an average
mileage of 4 km to a liter. The Financial institutions offer loans
at 10 % interest pa, which Ramjee has
been negotiating. It has been observed that on an average the
vehicle covers 400 km per day. The
distance between Mumbai to Delhi is 1500 km and Mumbai to Chennai
is 1350 km. The driver gets
rest day in Mumbai only for one day after they return from any
trip.
CASE-4 (16 Marks)
A company is operating in two unrelated businesses. The first one
is making common salt, which is
sold in one-kilogram consumer packs. The second business is making
readymade garments. The owner
of the businesses has decided to implement Materials Requirement
Planning (MRP) in one of the two
businesses, which is likely to give him greater benefit. Assuming
that the current turnover and profits
of both the units are comparable, compare the relative benefits
and limitations of Materials
Requirement Planning (MRP) for these two businesses.
CASE-5 (16 Marks)
A Manufacturer of motorcycles buys spark plugs at Rs.15 each. Now
he wishes to manufacture the
plugs in his own factory. The estimated cost for the manufacture
of spark plugs is around
Rs.50,000=00 and the variable cost comes to Rs.5 per spark plug.
The Production Manager advises the
Manufacturer that the factory should go for manufacturing instead
of procuring them from the open
market.
List out reasons for the decision of the Production Manager backed
up by the necessary data
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Q1)
Write short notes (any two) (10 Marks)
a)
The right Resumes for Effective job hunting
b)
E-Mail Messages as tool for successful business communication
c)
The art of Web Writing
Q2)
Explain the following (any two). (10 Marks)
a)
Communicating Across Cultures
b)
Using Visuals as aid for business communication
c)
Designing Documents, Slides for effective business communication
Q3)
Explain in brief the process of effective Job hunting (10 Marks)
Q4)
How business meetings are planned and discuss the process of Conducting and
Recording
Meetings
(10 Marks)
Q5)
Discuss the various aspects of writing Research Reports. (10 Marks)
Q6)
Discuss the various aspects of Creating Goodwill in business communication. (10
Marks)
Q7)
Critically evaluate Using of Choosing the Right Word, Revising Sentences and
Paragraphs in an
effective
business communication. (10 Marks)
Q8)
Define Team for business communication and Explain in brief the effective ways
of Working
and
Writing in Teams. (10 Marks
SUBJECT: BUSINESS
ETHICS
Total Marks : 80
NB.1) All questions carry equal marks.
2) All questions are compulsory.
3} read questions carefully.
4} Figures to the right indicate full marks.
Q1) What is Ethical Analysis and discuss its Application: in
Corporate Decision
Making? (10 Marks)
Q2) Define Corporate Ethical Leadership and discuss its nature and
features? (10 Marks)
Q3) What is Corporate Social Responsibility? Explain its
characteristics? (10 Marks)
Q4) Enumerate and explain the Ethical Implications of Technology? (10 Marks)
Q5) Write short notes (any two) (10 Marks)
a) Ethical Analysis and its Application in Personal Decision
Making.
b) Corporate Culture
c) Reputation Management.
Q6) Explain the following concept (any two) (10 Marks)
a) Social Reporting.
b) Ethics in Finance Accountancy.
c) Values in the Employment Relationship.
AN ISO 9001 : 2008 CERTIFIED INTERNATIONAL B-SCHOOL
Q7) Define Ethics. Discuss the relation of Ethics and Human
Resources Management? (10 Marks)
Q8) What is the role of Ethics in Marketing? (10 Marks
PERSONNAL MANAGEMENT
Instructions:
Candidates should read carefully the instructions printed on the question paper
and on
the
cover of the answer book, which is provided for their use.
NB: Answer to each question must
be started on a fresh page.
1.
Psychological test as selection criteria can at best be a support to the
interview process. Please
evaluate.
(15 Marks)
2.
Retention of employees in the organization starts with a structured and
effective induction
program.Please
comment. (15 Marks)
3.
If you have to hire an HR Manager for your firm,what competencies would you
look for?
Please
answer in terms of your understanding of the HR function. (15 Marks)
4.
Designing an attractive motivational strategy is the key to making of a high
performance driven
organization.
(15 Marks)
5.
Briefly explain (Any two):
a)
Different type of employee appraisals and rating
b)
Validity / reliability
c)
Job analysis
d)
Stress interview
PRINCIPAL
AND PRACTISE MANAGEMENT
1. a) What are the steps involved in planning?
b) How you make planning effective?
2. What is the difference between a policy and a procedure?
3. Explain the advantages and limitations of planning.
4. Explain the strategic planning in the Indian industry. Which
are the
planning skills required for better business.
5. a) Define a decision making?
b) Explain common difficulties in decision-making.
6. a) Decision-making is a key part of a manager’s activities. –
Elaborate.
b) What are the steps involved in rational decision-making.
7. a) Explain the individual and group decision-making.
b) Describe advantages and disadvantages of group decisions.
8.
a) Draw models of decision-making? b) Explain any two.
OPERATION
MANAGEMENT
Answer the following question.
Q1.
Suzan has a parttime
“cottageindustry”
producing seasonal plywood yard
ornaments for resale at local craft fairs
and bazaars. She currently works a
total of 4 hours per day to produce 10 ornaments. a. What is her productivity?
b.
She thinks that by redesigning the
ornaments and switching from use of a wood glue to a hotglue
gun she can
increase her production to 20
ornaments per day. What is her new productivity? c. What is her percentage
increase
(or decrease) in productivity?
(10 marks)
Q2.
Ahmet grows domatoes in his 100 by 100
meters garden. He then sells the crop at the local farmer’s market. Two
summers ago, he was able to produce
and sell 1200 kgs of tomatoes. Last summer, he tried a new fertilizer that
promised a 20% increase in yield. He
harvested 1350 kgs. Did the fertilizer live up to its promise?
(10 marks)
Q3.
A company has asked YOU to evaluate
the firm’s productivity by comparing this year’s performance with last year’s.
The following data are available:
______________Last Year This Year OUTPUT 10 500 units 12 100 units Labour
Hours 12 000 13 200 Utilities 7 600 MU
8 250 MU Capital 83 000 MU 88 000 MU Has the company improved its
PRODUCTIVITY during the past year?
(10 marks)
Q4.
A firm cleans chemical tank cars in
the Bay Gazimagusa area. With standard equipment, the firm typically cleaned
60 chemical tank cars per month. They
utilized 10 gallons of solvent, and two employees worked 20 days per month,
6 hours a day. The company decided to
switch to a larger cleaning machine. Last February, they cleaned 60 tank
cars in only 15 days. They utilized 12
gallons of solvent, and two employees worked 6 hours a day. a. What was
their productivity with the standard
equipment? b. What is their productivity with the larger machine? c. What is
the
change in productivity?
(10 marks)
Q5.
Serra’s Ceramics spent 3 000 MU on a
new kiln last year, in the belief that it would cut energy usage 25 % over the
old kiln. This kiln is an oven that
turns “greenware” into finished pottery. Serra is concerned that the new kiln
requires
extra labour hours for its operation.
Serra wants to check the energy saving of the new oven, and also to look over
other measures of their productivity
to see if the change really was beneficial. Serra has the following data to
work
with: Last Year This Year Production
(finished units) 4000 4000 Greenware (pounds) 5000 5000 Labour (hrs) 350
375 Capital (MU) 15000 18000 Energy
(kWh) 3000 2600 Were the modifications BENEFICIAL?
(10 marks)
Q6.
Ahmet Uslu makes wooden boxes in which
to ship motorcycles. Ahmet and his three employees invest 40 hours per
day making the 120 boxes. a. What is
their productivity? b. Ahmet and his employees have discussed redesigning
the process to improve efficiency. If
they can increase the rate to 125 per day, what would be their new
productivity?
c. What would be their increase in
productivity?
(10 marks)
Q7. Magusa Metal Works produces cast
bronze valves on an assembly line. On a recent day, 160 valves were produced
during an 8hour
shift. Calculate the productivity of
the line. (10 marks)
Q8.
Kleen Karpet cleaned 65 rugs in April,
consuming the following resources: Labour: 520 hours at 13 MU/hour Solvent:
110 litres at 5 MU/litre Machine
Rental: 20 days at 50 MU/day a. What is the labour productivity? b. What is the
multifactor productivity?
(10 marks)
( Marks)
Print Div Contents
Answer the following question.
Q1.
Suzan has a parttime
“cottageindustry”
producing seasonal plywood yard ornaments for resale at
local craft fairs
and bazaars. She currently works a total of 4 hours per day
to produce 10 ornaments. a. What is her productivity? b.
She thinks that by redesigning the ornaments and switching
from use of a wood glue to a hotglue
gun she can
increase her production to 20 ornaments per day. What is her
new productivity? c. What is her percentage increase
(or decrease) in productivity?
(10 marks)
Q2.
Ahmet grows domatoes in his 100 by 100 meters garden. He
then sells the crop at the local farmer’s market. Two
summers ago, he was able to produce and sell 1200 kgs of
tomatoes. Last summer, he tried a new fertilizer that
promised a 20% increase in yield. He harvested 1350 kgs. Did
the fertilizer live up to its promise?
(10 marks)
Q3.
A company has asked YOU to evaluate the firm’s productivity
by comparing this year’s performance with last year’s.
The following data are available: ______________Last Year
This Year OUTPUT 10 500 units 12 100 units Labour
Hours 12 000 13 200 Utilities 7 600 MU 8 250 MU Capital 83
000 MU 88 000 MU Has the company improved its
PRODUCTIVITY during the past year?
(10 marks)
Q4.
A firm cleans chemical tank cars in the Bay Gazimagusa area.
With standard equipment, the firm typically cleaned
60 chemical tank cars per month. They utilized 10 gallons of
solvent, and two employees worked 20 days per month,
6 hours a day. The company decided to switch to a larger
cleaning machine. Last February, they cleaned 60 tank
cars in only 15 days. They utilized 12 gallons of solvent,
and two employees worked 6 hours a day. a. What was
their productivity with the standard equipment? b. What is
their productivity with the larger machine? c. What is the
change in productivity?
(10 marks)
Q5.
Serra’s Ceramics spent 3 000 MU on a new kiln last year, in
the belief that it would cut energy usage 25 % over the
old kiln. This kiln is an oven that turns “greenware” into
finished pottery. Serra is concerned that the new kiln requires
extra labour hours for its operation. Serra wants to check
the energy saving of the new oven, and also to look over
other measures of their productivity to see if the change
really was beneficial. Serra has the following data to work
with: Last Year This Year Production (finished units) 4000
4000 Greenware (pounds) 5000 5000 Labour (hrs) 350
375 Capital (MU) 15000 18000 Energy (kWh) 3000 2600 Were the
modifications BENEFICIAL?
(10 marks)
Q6.
The CoolTech
Co. produces various types of fans. In May, the company
produced 1728 window fans at a standard
price of 40 MU. The Co. has 12 direct labour employees whose
compensation (including wages and fringe benefits)
amounts to 21 MU/hour. During May, window fans were produced
on 9 working days 9of 8 hours each), and other
products were produced on other days. a. Determine the
productivity of the window fans. b. In June, the CoolTech
Co. produced 1 730 fans in 10 working days. What is the
percentage in labour productivity of windows from May?
(10 marks)
Q7.
Mr. Ilhan DALCI makes billiard balls in his Beyarmudu plant.
With a recent increase in taxes, his costs have gone up
and he has a newfound interest in efficiency. Mr.Dalci is
interested in determining the productivity of his organisation.
He would like to know if his organisation is maintaining the
manufacturing average of 3% increase in productivity. He
has the following data representing a month from last year
and an equivalent month this year.
__________________Last year Now Units produced 1 000 1 000
Labour (hours) 300 275 Resin (kg.s) 50 45 Capital
invested (MU) 10 000 11 000 Energy (BTU) 3 000 2 850 Show
the productivity change for each category and then
determine the IMPROVEMENT for labourhrs,
the typical standard for comparison.
(10 marks)
Q8.
Ilhan’s, a local bakery, is worried about increased costs –
particularly energy. Last year’s records can provide a fairly
good estimate of the parameters for this year. Ilhan Balci,
the owner, does not believe things have changed much,
but he did invest an additional 3 000 MU for modifications
to the bakery’s ovens to make them more energy efficient.
The modifications were supposed to make the ovens at least
15 % more efficient. I. Balci has asked you, as a
brilliant graduate of EMU, to check the energy savings of
the new ovens and also look over other measures of the
bakery’s productivity to see if the modifications were
beneficial. You have the following data to work with: Last Year
Now Production (dozen) 1 500 1 500 Labour (hours) 350 325
Capital Investment (MU) 15 000 18 000 Energy (kwhrs)
3 000 2 750
(10 marks)
( Marks)
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