A portfolio of products can be analysed using the Boston growth matrix. The four categories are described above.By looking at the table above I can say that my service, renting out conference rooms at Bournemouth international centre

The Boston growth share matrix Question Marks o Low market share in a high growth market. o Cash is required to maintain or increase their market share to become stars; other wise they should be phased out. Stars o Highly profitable. o Good market share. o High growth rate. o Growth stage of the PLC. o Rapid growth requires relatively heavy investment. Dogs o Low market share. o Low growth rate. o No longer profitable. o Decline stage of the PLC. o Need to be withdrawn. Cash Cows o Produce a lot of cash. o High market share. o Low growth rate. o Maturity stage of PLC. o Need less investment to hold market share. o Cash "milked" to finance investment in other products. A business with a range of products has a portfolio of products. It decides how to allocate investment (e.g. in product development, promotion) across the portfolio. A portfolio of products can be analysed using the Boston growth matrix. The four categories are described above. By looking at the table above I can say that my service, renting out conference rooms at Bournemouth international centre is in the cash cows section because: o It has a large market share in a mature, slow growing industry. o Profits and cash generations are relatively high. o Also because of low growth, investments should be low. o Because there are low investments therefore this generates cash that can be

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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Merchandise planning for Indian Retailers.

Merchandise planning for Indian Retailers Another important aspect where many retailers have gone wrong is in merchandise planning - getting the right type of merchandise at the right time and place. One of the key indicators of the wrong merchandise policies is the level of markdowns to sales. Says Nagesh: "One of the key reasons for our losses has been overbuying due to wrong projections and therefore markdowns more than projected. Just last year we ran markdown sales for more than 8-10 weeks and the markdown percentage was very high." Other retailers have similar stories to relate. The Delhi-based Ebony chain of stores works on 22-28 per cent markdown on branded and non-branded apparels and up to 30-35 per cent on other imported household range. Says Biyani: "Last year our average markdowns to sales were 12 per cent, this year we are aiming at an average of 8 per cent." SV Phene, vice president - corporate planning, Trent, has this to say: "We follow a common policy on markdowns. After every season is over, we carry out a sale to clear old stocks and bring in new stocks. Thus we have markdowns twice a year." Things aren't very different for supermarkets that sell more stable merchandise. For example, Foodworld admits to having 15 per cent average markdowns on sales. While once-a-season markdown is a common phenomenon across the retail industry worldwide, the trouble

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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I have created this report with the objective to investigate the trends in product sales from Q1 1998 till Q4 2000 with the aim to predict sales figures for the year 2001.

Quarterly Sales Report Q4Y00 By William Aitken HNC Management st Year student TERMS OF REFERENCE I have created this report with the objective to investigate the trends in product sales from Q1 1998 till Q4 2000 with the aim to predict sales figures for the year 2001. (2) CONTENTS LIST SECTION HEADING PAGE 1.0 Title Page 1. 2.0 Terms of Reference 2. 3.0 Contents List 3. 4.0 Introduction 4. 5.0 Findings Product sales figures from 1998-2000 5. Product A trend and A.S.V 6. Product B trend and A.S.V 7. Product C trend and A.S.V 8. Product comparison graphs 9. 6.0 Predicted sales forecast for 2001 10. 7.0 Conclusion 11. 8.0 Recommendations 12. 9.0 Glossary of Terms 13. (3) INTRODUCTION This report highlights the growth of products sales A and C and highlights the decline in sales for product B. We can see from this report that that future analysis will need to be conducted in the market demand and competition for product B (4) Product Sales Figures for 1998-2000 (5) PRODUCT A TRENDS AND A.S.V (6) PRODUCT B TRENDS AND A.S.V (7) PRODUCT C TRENDS AND A.S.V (8) PRODUCT COMPARISON GRAPHS Product A Product B Product C (9) 2001 FORECASTED SALES FIGURES On the assumption that trends continue on all products throughout 2001 the following figures were derived. Product A: Product B: Product

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  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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Business Report - Gillette Australia's Current Marketing Strategies.

Business Report - Gillette Australia's Current Marketing Strategies. Report To: Swedish Razors. Inc From: XXXXX Topic: Gillette's marketing strategy for its new product - Mach 3 Turbo. Executive Summary: This report is to be delivered to the board of directors of Swedish Razors .Inc about Gillette's marketing strategies after a 6 week professional exchange to Gillette Australia Gillette Australia: (a brief overview) * Has been operating since 1980 * Has had 40% of market share since its first product - the Gillette 'Contour' was launched in 1980 * Employs 400 people in manufacturing and 320 in management The Product: Gillette is about to release a new razor called the 'Mach 3 Turbo' to replace the existing 'Mach 3' (released 1999). The new product has: * 'New blade Technology' - with 3 blades (same as 1999 model) * The ability to shave against the grain * New lubrication strip * A new 15% higher premium price. The 15% higher price is so the market thinks it is a premium product the mentality they are trying to invoke is the higher the price, the higher the quality. The replacement cartridges also carry a higher price; a pack of 8 replacement blades was $19.99 and has risen to $22.99 for the new product. Marketing Strategy Four P's: . Product: Mach 3 Turbo 2. Price: 15% higher than Mach 3, replacement cartridges cost $22.99. 3. Promotion: TV, billboards,

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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Explain why oligopoly is a realistic market structure in most economies. (10)

Explain why oligopoly is a realistic market structure in most economies. (10) An oligopolistic market is a market where there are a small number of firms which are interdependent and compete with each other. There are three main characteristics of an oligopoly, these are; firstly there is some product differentiation, secondly there a few dominant firms and finally each of the firms are interdependent. All firms entering into specific markets are going to come up against restrictions and requirements. These are known as barriers to entry and are one of the main features of an oligopolistic market. The example that will be used for illustrating an oligopoly is the soft drinks industry. In this industry there are three main firms competing for market share and many other small firms making up around 20% of the world market. It is these smaller firms who suffer most from barriers to entry imposed on the market. The first barrier is that of branding. These new firms will have to produce a quality product to compete against these firms which have been on the market for a significant amount of time, this time would have led to consumer loyalty becoming apparent. Due to these products becoming established it means that potential firms to the market are going to face high sunk costs, in an attempt to make people aware of their products. Even when people are aware the price is

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  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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Competition in business terms is where there are other companies or firms in the same sector as you and they will compete with you to try and get their product to do better than yours.

Competition in business terms is where there are other companies or firms in the same sector as you and they will compete with you to try and get their product to do better than yours. They would change the product, price, place and promotion of their product to get it to sell more effectively. For example to change product they would need to spend some time and effort of making their product service different from the competition this is differentiating. They could concentrate on quality, use better material and tailoring the product to their customers. They could also differentiate on availability for example opening long or unusual hours. If they changed on price, they would set a price that will allow a good profit and good value for money, they could use pricing methods such as competitive pricing - this is when a firm looks at the prices competitors are charging and bass their prices around this. If they changed on place they would have to sell their product at the right place and at the right time If they changed on promotion, they would need to promote their product in a way so that they can get a message across to the customer so that the customer reacts by buying the products. There are lots of different promotion techniques such as changing the packaging, improving personal selling, public relations, sales promotion and advertising. My business will be

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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Why Do Firms Grow?

Why Do Firms Grow? Why might small firms not grow? Growth is generally achieved by small firms by making more of its existing products, or by developing more products. Hence, a common obstacle that many small firms face is that they do not have the finance to expand through invention, or developing a new product. Finance is necessary to pay researchers or inventors, to pay for materials and then once the product has been developed, to market it. Another way of achieving growth is be merging with another firm, which is known as external growth. A merger is where two or more firms combine to form a larger, new company. It is very unlikely that a small firm would have enough finance to merge with another company, so this method of growth is more common with larger firms. Small firms, if recently established may the lack experience and expertise to help it grow. Many skills are required to run a successful company, including managerial skills, product-related knowledge, marketing skills etc. Without an adequate workforce, the company will have problems in the corresponding area of production which may hinder the success of the company in relation to growth and development. Early on in a new firm's life it is unlikely to have developed a strong brand name, and strong customer base. So, the firm cannot be sure it will have the support or demand for it to grow if a new

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  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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In this paper, I will review the effects of price reduction in the four different types of market structures.

Pricing Strategy with Competitive Response Freddy Johnston ECO533 Workshop #4 August 15, 2002 In this paper, I will review the effects of price reduction in the four different types of market structures. Depending on the market structure, price reduction may increase the number of units sold, and increase or decrease Leroy's net income. The market structure will also determine if the competitors will react to the price reduction, and what that reaction will be. If the competitors do react to the price reduction, I will also estimate the effect that reaction will have on Leroy's net income and units sold. The four market structures I will review are perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly. If Leroy's Widget Company participated in a perfect competition market structure, a reduction in price would have no effect on competitive pricing, and produce no competitive reaction (other than laughter). Perfect competition is "characterized by a large number of small firms, identical products sold by all firms, freedom of entry into and exit out of the industry, and perfect knowledge of prices and technology."(AmosWEB) If Leroy's lowered their price, there would be no competitive response, and the result would be a loss in net profit and no change in the number of units sold. If Leroy's Widget Company had a monopolistic competition market

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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Viagra - Wonder Drug or Ethical Irresponsibility?

Discussion Case 5: Viagra - Wonder Drug or Ethical Irresponsibility? .What are the ethical responsibilities for drug manufacturers? Is any drug completely safe, or is the ethical principle "do not harm" a relative guide? The biggest responsibility that the drug manufacturers have is to create a (relatively) safe product. Since there are always side effects to almost all prescriptions, the second responsibility would be to warn the potential users and distributors of the product of the risks and dangers associated with the product. There are almost no products that do not have the possibility of producing some harm. Even things such as butter, chocolate or coffee can be and are harmful, but they are still widely used. If such things are true for products that are "mild," should this not also be true for pharmaceuticals, which help in more concentrated doses, but it comes with a price because this also might cause some more severe side-effects. 2. Did Pfizer do enough by presenting its drug and warning patients of the drug's side effects through product labeling and instructions to physicians? If not, what more could Pfizer have done? No. In the case of Viagra, it does not appear that there was enough warning of the possible negative side effects. This may be just because the consumer was not warned. After some bad publicity that linked Viagra to some deaths

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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Relationship Marketing How to use relationship marketing tools to develop genuine, lasting relationships.

Appendix 1 Relationship Marketing How to use relationship marketing tools to develop genuine, lasting relationships. In managing relationships with your customers, it is critical that you constantly show them how important they are to you. This message must be evident every time your customer comes in contact with your business. At each of these "moments of truth" there is the potential for your customers to be either impressed or disappointed. Your customers need to be made to feel that you want their business. If they don't feel valued, they will take their business elsewhere. It's easy to understand how companies send the wrong message when they don't pay enough attention to customers, when commitments are not met, and when calls are not returned. One of the easiest ways to reach out to your customers is to periodically reward them for giving you their business. This tells them that you've noticed that they do come back to do business with you over again, and it also says that you appreciate that. This element of recognition is important. It satisfies a fundamental human need for appreciation. But, such recognition is much more effective when it appears to the customer to be spontaneous and not part of a contrived customer-rewards program. Delivering extraordinary service is one of the more obvious, but seldom perfected, ways in which you can endear yourself to

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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