Management Ideas, Knowledge and Communication

Motivation

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Mon, 02 May 2011 17:17:00 +0000

Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:58:00 +0000

Job Design

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:17:00 +0000

Principles of Management

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:14:00 +0000

Marketing fundamental manual

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:13:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:05:00 +0000

h-314

Training and Development in Pharmaceutical

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Mon, 02 May 2011 15:57:00 +0000

Rise Mahindra Rise – Brand Makeover and Positioning

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Mon, 02 May 2011 12:28:00 +0000

Re-branding Mahindra with a New tag-line

Around 13 years ago, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) defined its core purpose inspired by Akio Morita, founder of Sony Corporation. Its tag-line read – “Indians are second to none in the world.” While Sony Corporation represented Japan as the best in the world with its world-class products, M&M wanted to do the same with its products for India.

With this core purpose and global ambitions, M&M grew rapidly to a $7.1-billion automobiles-to-IT conglomerate since its founding in 1945. With businesses expanding to newer geographies (Mahindra Group has a presence in 79 countries around the world), 10 per cent of M&M’s workforce comprised of non-Indian employees. The tag-line no longer suited a global multinational company with customers all around the world. Mahindra chose to reposition itself based on employee, consumer and customer feedback and hired StrawberryFrog, a New York-based global advertising agency.

New branding called Rise

M&M had never communicated through a single brand umbrella across its segments such as aerospace, automotive, farm equipment, IT and logistics. The need for one brand voice spanning geographies was evident in capturing global markets. After a nine month search the company chose ‘Rise’ which the group’s vice chairman and managing director Anand Mahindra believes is not a word but a rallying cry that will give an opportunity to become tomorrow’s company. The word ‘Rise’ was chosen after customers around the world expressed a common desire to rise and to succeed.

Spirit of ‘Rise’ – Three Brand Pillars

Rise is based on three brand pillars –

Accepting no limits
Alternative thinking
Driving positive change

By incorporating Rise into its performance management systems, M&M wants to allow its employees to perform better and succeed. The company plans to spend about Rs 120 crore over three years to promote its new brand positioning.

How are successful innovators different ?

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Mon, 02 May 2011 12:23:00 +0000

A recent study (400 companies) on global innovation by Booz & Company found that the most innovative companies (seven out of 10 top innovators) were not necessarily the biggest spenders on innovation. The top 10 innovators are:

Apple
Google
3M
GE
Toyota
Microsoft
P&G
IBM
Samsung
Intel

Dell’s Supply Chain Management Strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Mon, 02 May 2011 12:19:00 +0000

Case Study Contents

Introduction
Dell – Company Overview
Dell Products and Services
Dell – Key Facts – Key Employees, Top Competitors, Revenues, Manufacturing Facilities
Dell Timeline
Dell – Business Segment Information
Dell’s Evolving Supply Chain Strategy
Typical Working of Dell’s Supply Chain
Five key strategies in Dell’s successful Direct Model
A supply chain with old technology is of little value
Restructuring at Dell
New Distribution Channels – Direct Model and Retail Strategy
Integrating the Supply Chain
Related Reading
View sample pages of this case study

Case Study Abstract

The focus of this case study is the supply chain management practices of Dell. Dell has been following its unique ‘direct build-to-order’ sales model for more than 20 years. Customers can plan their own configuration and place orders directly with the company via the phone or its Web site. Over the years, Dell’s supply chain efficiencies and direct sales gave it a competitive advantage.
Can Dell regain its market leader position from HP?
In 2006 however, Dell faced several problems. Many customers complained about long delays in supplies. Recall of Sony battery cells in its laptops brought undesirable media hype to the company. Increasing discontent of customers led to a slowdown in sales. Consequently, Dell lost its market leadership to Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP). Industry analysts felt that, with Dell’s competitors also improving their supply chains and matching Dell’s direct model, the company had been losing its competitive edge. Dell will have to bear additional costs with its foray into retail distribution thereby minimizing its cost advantage. Besides, profit margins of Dell will drop further since it will have to offer incentives to compete with HP in retail stores. Though Dell spruced up its product design and range but Apple is clearly far ahead of it. Many experts feel that such new initiatives will only distract Dell from its supply chain operations.
This case study covers the following issues:

Examine and analyze Dell’s Direct model, its basic working, success and future challenges
Typical Working of Dell’s Supply Chain and future supply chain challenges
Highlights Dell’s evolving Supply Chain practices and strategy and steps being taken by it to recapture its lost market leader position

Case Snippets/Update

Dell’s market share in U.S. and Worldwide (in Q1 2009) compared to other top PC makers

In year 2010, PC sales are expected to rise 12.6 percent, according to research firm Gartner.

Tags: Build-to-order model, Dell, Direct model, PC Manufacturing, SCM, Supply Chain

Operations and Supply Chain Management

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Mon, 02 May 2011 11:58:00 +0000

Operations and Supply Chain Management
McGraw-Hill/Irwin | March 9, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0073525227 | 832 pages | File type: PDF | 9.79 mb

Operations and Supply Chain Management, as the title indicates, provides increased emphasis on supply chain management in the 13th Edition. The 13th Edition continues its market leading up-to-date coverage of service operations as well. The text includes solved examples and problems, enough cases for mbA courses to use without supplementing, and the industry leading technology support suite.

Download links:

http://depositfiles.com/files/0aam841w9

http://www.filesonic.com/file/36101751/0073525227pd.rar

Training and Development in Pharmaceutical

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 17:52:00 +0000

PLANT LAYOUT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 17:46:00 +0000


	1. Process charts (i) Operations Process Charts (ii) Flow process Chart 11. Process Flow Diagrams 111. Machine data cards IV. Visualization of Layout (i) Two-dimensional plan or Templates (ii) Three-dimensional Plan or machine models
	PLANT LOCATION
	Introduction The performance of an enterprise is considerably affected by its location. The location of an industry is as important as the choice is for the location of a business or a shop in a city or locality. Unscientific and unplanned industrialization is harmful not only to the industrial unit but also to the social and economic structure of the country as a whole. Nearly sixty years before, much importance was not given to the selection of appropriate location and the decisions in this regard were mainly governed by the individual preferences of the entrepreneurs and social customs. This resulted in failure of any organization which otherwise could have been successful. Government also with the objective of establishing socialistic pattern of society became instrument all in the selection of site for various industries in undeveloped areas by providing various investment benefits and other incentives. All this encouraged a large number of industrialists to follow a more scientific an logical approach towards the selection of site for establishing their industries. The degree of significance for the selection of location for any enterprise mainly depends on its size and nature. Sometimes, the nature of the product itself suggest some suitable location. A small scale industry mainly selects the site where in accordance with its capacity the local market for the product is available. It can easily shift to other place when there is any change in the market. But for large scales industries requiring huge amount of investment there are many considerations other than the local demand int the selection of proper plant location. These plants cannot be easily shifted to other place and an error of judgment in the selection of site can be very expensive to the organization.

ANALYSIS BASED ON QUANTITATIVE FACTORS

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 17:37:00 +0000


	(a) Comparative/Least Cost Center Analysis: This simple type of analysis is appropriate where the location problem concerns the placement of a single plant. There can be two approaches, namely (i) Comparative cost chart (ii) Least cost centre analysis
	MEANING OF PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
	Production management, alternatively referred to as manufacturing management, is required for transforming raw materials and partly, fabricated materials into finished products. Production management does not imply management of productive process alone, but it covers all there activities which go into the making of production. To make production a concrete reality, one ,must pay heed to the factors of production like land, labour, capital and organization, or to speak in the language of business, materials, men, money, machines and methods. Production management thus calls for the work of planning and control pertaining to each of these factors of production. Production management does not involve a mechanical assemblage of relevant factors. In contrast to mere transformation of raw materials into finished products, it aims at transmuting and permuting resources of higher productivity so that the greatest outputs are obtained from the least inputs. With its end in views, production management embraces the productive process too and involves planning, directing and controlling operations till their successful completion. Quality, quantity, cost and time of production have an important bearing on productivity of the manufacturing enterprise. Accordingly, it is the task of production management to see that effective utilization of resources is made, time is shortened, wastes and scrapings are avoided, and harmonious working is made to prevail in the plant. For effective managerial performance, the work of production department is required to be organized on sound lines. All the principles and practices of organizing are to be applied in building a sound structure for improving the result of production management. Successful production management is not practicable without the existence of an appropriate organization structure. Consequently, managerial efforts are to be directed in designing an organization structure that conforms to the needs of the product, size of the enterprise and availability of production facilities. Organizing for production may be conceived in broader sense to include some aspects of works engineering or works organization like plant layout and factory building. The problems of production management differ form case to case and are mainly related to the system of production. There are several systems of production which determine the magnitude of production work and the problems to be tackled in manufacturing operations. Hence, a familiarity with the different systems of production is required for understanding the intricacies of production management. Of course, the system of production is dictated in a particular case by the volume of sales and the nature of product. The quantity to be produced is nothing but an answer to the question of 'what can be sold”. In the ultimate analysis, therefore, sales are the regulator of a system of production. The management of transformation process of inputs into output is the essence of production management. In present competitive world the production process in every enterprise needs some effective and scientific planning as well as proper control. Thus production management can be defined as “Management which by scientific planning and regulation sets into motion the part of an enterprise to which it has been entrusted the task of actual transformation of inputs into output”. In the words of Mr. E.L. Brech, “Production Management then becomes the process of effectively planning and regulating the operations of that part of an enterprise which is responsible for the actual transformation of materials into finished products”. This definition appears to be incomplete as it does not include the human factors involved in a production process. It lays stress only on the materialistic features. In broader sense, production management actually deals with decision making related to production processes, so that the resulting goods and services are produced in accordance with the quantitative specifications and demand schedule with minimum cost. To attain these objectives the two main activities of Production Management are the Design and Control of production systems. In production management effective planning and control are essential. In the absence of effective planning and regulation of any production activity the goals cannot be achieved, the customers may not be satisfied and ultimately certain activities may be closed which may lead to social evils.
	MEASUREMENT OF WORK
	In an engineering sense efficiency can be simply stated as the ratio of useful energy obtained to energy applied. We can all understand that. Put succinctly, that is what is really meant by efficiency of production, but the difficulty is to see the relationship between input and output of production, or to measure performance. Which brings us right to the heart of the problem of efficiency of production: how to measure performances. There is usually some difficulty about measuring the comparative performance of several departments in a Company or different companies. If two factories are turning out the same product which is measured in tons or feet, then overall cost per ton or per foot is a measure of performance which can be obtained readily and used for comparison. But how does one compare the costs or efficiency of two factories or department s making dissimilar products ? Cost per ton or unit is no good. As between two different firms, only the percentage net profit is any measure, and that is affected by the type of market and selling cost which are not production costs. And between different departments in the same firm there would seem to be, at first sight, no measure of efficiency on a common and therefore comparable basis. If, however, the amount of “effort” (or cost-material, labour and overhead services) which should have been sued to make a given quantity of a product is known and also the amount actually used, then surely the correct amount as a proportion of the actual amount is a measure of performance of efficiency. It is in reality an efficiency formula again, output over input. The real value of output, in effort, hours or s.d., is the amount of cost which goes out of the factory or department in a useful form, i.e., it does not include all wastage and excess costs, avoidable, and of no benefit to customer or company. And input is the total of all effort and costs absorbed. Including excess costs.

ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION PLANNING DEPARTMENT

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 17:34:00 +0000


	The work of a Production Planning Department generally falls into three sections, dealing with three stages of the sequence of operations. They are: i) Compiling and recording facts. ii) Developing plans. iii) Putting plans into operation and controlling results. In the first stage and section, information is gathered together, recorded and filed in a way which is suitable for use by planners, and so that reference to it is easy and rapid. The information is of three kinds, relating to: a) Customers' orders and requirements; b) Stocks of materials and components; c) Plant available, capacities, operations and times. Unless the organization is of such a size that each kind of information is dealt with in a separate section, it is advisable for all of it to be handled by one section under the supervision of a person skill din the work. Its organization is mainly a problem of filing and entering-up figures or records form vouchers, i.e., transferring information and striking balances. It can usually be staffed with Juniors, female, or relatively unskilled labour, but must be carefully supervised and checked by very reliable people. The absolute accuracy and therefore double checking required in banks is not essential, but inaccuracies can be troublesome and costly. The second stage and section comprises the vital part of planning. It is her that the effectiveness or indifference of results is ensured. And where the ability to scheme, think ahead and take all factors into account is so essential. It is a job mainly done on paper,juggling as it were with figures and charts. Sales budgets must be broken down into or integrated with long-term production plans, factory and departmental plans formulated, and weekly or daily or even hour-by-hour loads prepared. In small factories a few simple charts or schedules suffice, but in very large organizations a vast amount of detailed information, in the form of masses of figures, flows into the section, and must be rapidly and regularly collated and reissue for action. Extreme tidiness is essential, and if those concerned are not to be bogged down by a continuous stream of insistent inquiries demanding attention, much of the work must so be organised as to be dealt with in a routine manner by juniors. The third stage consists of translating the plans into instructions and can be mainly of a clerical nature. In practice, however, it is at this stage that a certain amount of decentralization is advisable, and the hour-by-hour machine or operation loading and the actual issue of jobs to operators is done either in or adjacent to the forman's office, or in a shop office. Progress work, that is, checking performance against plans and reporting results (with recommendations for corrective action and requests for urgent actions) to foremen or other supervisors, which is really an aspect of control, is frequently carried out form the same of and even by the same persons. The complexity of an organization structure for production planning depe4nds on the type of industry or manufacture rather than its scale. In mass-production and continuous-process manufacture, production planning consist of balancing the flow of materials (or components) from outside or component manufacturing departments, with consumption by the factory or assembly departments. Particularly is this so in the automobile or similar industries, where a good deal of preliminary work on materials in subcontracted, no large stocks of materials are kept (or could be for the immense consumption rate) and a small interruption to production affects a large part of the factory and is very expensive. In those factories engaged on batch production of partly standardized products there is the added complexity of setting-up (time and cost), varying batch sizes, and the synchronization of finishing dates for parts and sub assemblies when batches vary so much. It is predominantly a question of continual adjustment in order to maintain balanced loads on departments and to correct for unforeseen delays. When the product is designed to customers' requirements, the total process time is increased by the time required for design or preparation for each order, and consequently the period over which planning must extend is greater, making the problem more complex. Production planning is most complex when the product is mainly to customers' requirements, but is designed to incorporate many standard parts kept in stock. When the number of orders exceeds something like 50 per week, the amount of information to be handled becomes large and the department correspondingly so.
	PLANNING METHODS
	The purpose of production order is to provide information about various operations involved in a production process. Once a production order is formulated, there arises the necessity to determine that when and where each operation is to be done. The reasons in that the operations described in a production order may be executed in several ways to get the final product and one may like to use a production strategy which makes most effective use of an, machine and material in the system. The best strategy is planned through the methods of Routing and Scheduling. Thus scheduling and routing is the final stage in production planning and have the following objectives: (i) to prescribe where and by whom each operation necessary to manufacture a product is to be executed. This is known as routing. (ii) the establishment of times at which to begin and/or complete each even or operation. This is termed as scheduling.

PLANT LAYOUT

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 17:32:00 +0000

Layout problems are fundamental to every type of organization/enterprise and are experienced in all kinds of undertakings. Housewife must arrange her kitchen, retailer must arrange his counters and display the items in such a manner which facilitates movement and attract the attention of customers, office management positions the desks, tables and other equipment in such a way that it facilitates the flow of work. The manufacturing organizations must arrange their facilities, not only the department within the factory but also the plant, stores and services so as to achieve smooth flow of products.

The adequacy of layout affects the efficiency of subsequent operations. It is an important perquisite for efficient operations and also has a great deal in common with many of the problems.

The simplest of situations with comparatively fewer items to arrange have many alternatives available. Import the layout decisions were based merely on intuition, experience, judgment and some sort of improvisation but with increase in the complexities of organizations the layout problems are solved scientifically.

Once a decision about location of the plant has been taken, next important problem before the management is to plan suitable layout for the plant. Efficiency and performance of good machines and sturdy building depend to a great extent on the layout of a plant. Plat layout is the method of allocating machines and equipment, various production processes and other necessary services involved in transformation process of a product with the available space of the factory so as to perform various operations in the most efficient and convenient manner providing output of high quality and minimum cost.

In the words of James Lundy, “layout identically involves the location of space and the arrangement of equipment in such a manner that overall operating costs are minimized.” Alternately, plant layout is an effort to arrange machines and equipment, and other services within a predesigned building ensuring steady, smooth and economical flow of material.

Planning the layout of a plant is a continuous process as there are always chances of making improvements over the existing arrangement specially with shifts in the policies of management of techniques of production.

The disposition of the various parts of a plant alongwith all the equipment used is known as plant layout. It should be so designed that the plant functions most effectively.

Layout problems are common to all kinds of organization. A retailer must arrange his counter, display of items etc., office management must position desks, tables etc. in such a way that it facilitates the flow of work. A manufacturing organization must position its machinery and other equipment so as to achieve smooth flow of products through their factories.

A good layout results in comforts convenience, safety, efficiency, Compactness and profits. A poor layout results in congestion, waste, frustration and inefficiency.

Thus after plant location the proper design of plant layout is most significant for smooth functioning and success of the organization.

Training And Development hrm project finalllllllllllll

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 17:29:00 +0000

LEVELS OF CHANGE LEADERSHIP SKILLS

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:38:00 +0000

Approach to Forecasting

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:34:00 +0000

There are some approach to forecasting.
1. Carefully consider the objectives of forecasting short period or long period market share or industry as a whole.
2. Select appropriate method of forecasting.
3. Identify the variable which effect the demand of the product.
4. Collect relevant data to represent the variables.
5. Use statistical techniques and decide the most probable relationship between the dependent and independent variables.
6. Prepare the forecast and interpret the results.
7. Forecasts must be revised in case any improved information is available.
8. Forecasts any be made either in unit or in amount of sales. Further it may be made in terms of product groups an then divided into individual products on the basis of past percentages.
9. Forecasts may firstly be made on annual basis and then divided month-wise or week-wise on the basis of available past data.
10. To divide month-wise demand of new product, if the data of other firms are available then these data should be used otherwise a survey relating to problem should be conducted . This method can be used to forecast product-wise sales.

Knowledge of the goods of fundamentals

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:30:00 +0000

A salesman may have an exceptional personality but he will be at a handicap if he neglects this second salesmanship fundamental of acquiring a complete and useful knowledge of the goods he is required to sell.

A thorough knowledge of the goods on the part of the salesman will help him increase the sales, obtain larger orders and render better service to his customer. Accurate knowledge of the proposition will help him to make specific statements instead of vague or general one. He will acquire confidence in himself and be able to induce customers to spend more.

Besides, a salesman without technical knowledge becomes a danger to the customer. He has to substitute guesswork for knowledge and can at the most repeat like a parrot the claims made by the manufacturer of his product. Lack of technical knowledge of the goods may put him in a humiliating position when dealing with the type of customer who has a thirst for knowledge. The suspicious type of customer would mistake his evasiveness for deceit. Naturally, he cannot explain something to a prospective customer which he himself does not understand. To be specific, he must know the sales facts.

If the salesman acquires product knowledge, he will be able to answer questions raised by his customers. Even a single question unanswered is sufficient to create a doubt in the mind of his customer. Besides, with such knowledge he will find it easier to provide his customer with goods that will suit him. He will also be able to make the proper appeal to the appropriate buying motives and will never be at a loss for powerful talking points.

The oft-repeated expression, a good salesman can sell anything does not mean that technical knowledge is not required by a good salesman. It merely means that a good salesman can easily adapt himself to the selling of different types of articles by speedily obtaining the necessary technical knowledge. This is due to his practical experience and thorough knowledge of the principles of salesmanship.

Selling Points or Talking Points of knowledge

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:28:00 +0000

A selling point is an advantage an article possesses which if emphasized is likely to induce the customer into making the purchase. A selling point when included in the sales talk is referred to as a talking point.

A systematic and thorough study of the goods will provide a number of such advantages or selling points or talking points. The hidden object of this investigation as to details about the goods is really to discover selling points. However, selling points must be used discriminately and tactfully. Sales talk should not be a mere statement of the obvious and known facts nor should it be an enumeration of selling points. The latter should be used with a view to appeal to the particular buying motive of he customer.

The selling points which are the commonest in use of attractiveness of the package, low price, special selling terms, durability, latest design, about saving, ease of use and comfort. These are linked with buying motives and the salesman should make an analysis of the goods with a view to ascertain the selling points that would carry the most weight in the sales talk and use the appropriate ones.

Improving the Personality

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:25:00 +0000

The nature of one's personality depends to a certain extent on heredity and environment. Perhaps it is not possible to change the “types” of one's personality from subjective but person can, for example, increase his knowledge, cultivate his voice and speech, improve his manners and mannerisms, dress in good taste and develop certain attributes. A person may not possess all the qualities that are present in the best salesman but he can strive to compensate for those that are lacking.

It cannot be denied that personality can be improved by conscientious efforts. The modern tendency amongst sales managers is that they realise the possibility of developing the sales personality of the salesman by proper management procedure. Sales Managers today believe that firing a salesman is generally an unnecessary expense. This is because the ability to sell as well as the development of selling poise can be developed whereas the undesirable weaknesses of character difficult to remove are discernible before the salesman is employed.

Thus a salesman should strive to improve his personality for advancement in the profession. Knowledge of the goods, of the channels of distribution and of the customer are no doubt very necessary to the salesman but the power and driving force which makes the machine move in selling is the salesman's “PERSONALITY”.

Type of Product Knowledge Required

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:14:00 +0000

Goods may be generally classified into (1) necessity, (2) utility, and (3) luxury articles. Articles which are necessary for life generally sell on the basis of quality and price.

The selling of these articles is generally mechanical although there is considerable competition. The main selling points would be superior quality and low price. Articles which are utility articles are sold because of their usefulness. The typewriter is preferred to the ordinary methods of writing with a fountainpen because of its greater usefulness. The main selling point in case of luxury articles is fashion. This is because purchasers of luxury articles are generally well-off and are not worried about the price.

The kind of knowledge to be required by a salesman may also be classified into (1) the tangible qualities of his goods, (2) the intangible qualities and (3) the behaviour of the goods in use. Tangible qualities are details about the goods which can easily be proved. For example, Pure Wool, Fast Colour and Guaranteed shrinkage, hundred one percent are examples of tangible qualities. These are statement of facts which can be proved by a physical test and are very convincing. Intangible qualities are facts which cannot be easily proved, e.g. Latest style and Fashionable Colour. Speciality articles are to a large extent sold because of their utility and behaviour in use. A distinctive design or skilled workmanship is a good selling point but if the speciality article does not enjoy the advantage of utility it is not likely to be bought. A motor-car may have a distinctive design but will not be purchased if it does not run. Therefore a study of the uses and attractive features of the goods is necessary to emphasize them in the sales talk.

The degree or extent of the knowledge required to a salesman depends on whether he is a speciality salesman selling expensive goods or a salesman selling low-priced consumer goods. The former must become a real authority on the article he sells. He will be at an advantage if he acquires knowledge as to the history of the firm manufacturing the products he is required to sell. This will enable him to converse with the older buyers who have been dealing with the firm for a number of years and like to speak about the past. It will also give him a felling of belonging to the organisation. This will also inculcate in him loyalty to the organisation.

The salesman should acquire information as to the policies behind the product as these are reflected by the product. He should also ascertain whether the materials used in the manufacture are the best available or whether they are merely of the best value at the price charged. Whether labour is satisfied or not may also be reflected in the goods in the form of superior or indifferent workmanship.

If the lighting and working conditions in the factory are satisfactory, the manufactured product would be more efficient and accurate. The financial position of the organisation should be known to him as this will enable him to answer questions as to its solvency and permanent foundation. Buyers often hesitate to buy from an organisation which has not acquired a reputation of stability because they feel that deliveries may not be made in accordance with the contract. Wholesalers and retailers also do not want to push and create a demand for a product and then find the article withdrawn from the market through the failure of the manufacturer. Salesmen and sales organisations have really two things to sell-the product and the company behind it-and both must be sold together. Thus the salesman must sell not only the product but also the company by emphasising its prestige, reliability, friendliness, achievements, loan standing, accessibility and experience.

Forecasting Demand for New Products

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 15:35:00 +0000

In forecasting the future sales of existing old products, the past experiences and informations may be considered, but for new products such facilities are not available.

The work of forecasting sales of new products, this is not an easy job. However, the following possible

approaches to the problem of forecasting demand for new products may be suggested:

1. Project the demand for the new product as on substitute of some existing products and services.

2. Project the future trend of demand for new product with the help of existing old products similar to the new product.

3. Estimate the demand by making direct enquiries from the ultimate purchasers regarding their opinion and preferences about the new product.

4. Estimate the sales for new product on the basis of the opinion and advice of sales agents.

5. Distribute the new product to the pubic as a sample and estimate the likely demand.

6. Analyse the general trend of market through market research and decide the expected quantity for new product which can be sold.

Criteria of a Good Forecasting Method

noreply@blogger.com (Manish kumar) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 15:32:00 +0000

Sales forecasting is really an art. We have already seen that there are various methods to forecast the sales.

It is course difficult to state which of the methods is best. The suitability of the method depends of nature of manufactured product, available time, wealth and energy, necessary amount of accuracy etc. of an enterprise. However, in general, a good forecasting method possesses the qualifications as below:

(1) Accuracy: Various important plants are prepared on the basis of forecasts. In case of wrong forecasting, the business may be in trouble and suffer heavy losses. Hence it is necessary to have such forecasting system which amounts to maximum accuracy.

(2) Simplicity: Forecasting method should be as simple as possible. If it is difficult or technical then the person, who is engaged in forecasting job, will not do his job properly and there will be chances always for mistake. Some informations may also require to the be collected from outsiders. If he method is complex or difficult then they may not be able to reply reasonably and accurately.

(3) Availability: The objects and scope of forecasting should be as such as the relevant informations are collected immediately with reasonable accuracy.

(4) Stability: The data of forecasting must be such wherein the future changes are expected to be minimum and are reliable for planning.

(5) Economy: Costs must be weighed against the importance of the forecast to the operations of the business.

(6) Utility: The forecasting techniques must be easily understandable and reliable to the management.