Download Top of Form Week 4: Developing New Products and Services

Week 4: Developing New Products and
Services - Discussion
Product Development and the Business Plan (graded)
Which section or sections of a business plan submitted to venture capitalists are the strongest
and which sections are traditionally the weakest? Identify and discuss at least two weak
sections of traditional business plans.
Responses
Responses are listed below in the following order: response, author and the date and time the
response is posted.
Response
Author
Date/Time
Sunday Product
Development
and the
Business Plan
Professor Chao-Hrenek
3/22/2013 1:38:23 PM
Hello all, welcome to WK 4 for first threaded discussion. Last week, I started
discussing the Business Plan, I will introduce this topic again this week, the text
suggests nine sections for a product business plan (please refer to text). Please
discuss which section is most important? Why?
Dr. Chao-Hrenek
RE: Sunday Product
Development Douglas Rohde
and the
Business Plan
3/25/2013 8:24:55 AM
It has been my experience that the two biggest causes for failure in a new business venture
are stated in sections 5 & 9. Lack of attention to poor management, as it relates to section 5
and lack of adequate financial resources as it relates to section 9, are the main causes for
failure in most businesses. Of course, the other sections are important, but the entrepreneur
has a tendency to spend more time and attention to them so they are usually the strongest
aspect of the business. However, without good management and adequate finances, all of the
other details become moot.
I have that most entrepreneurs have a fairly clear understanding of the product or service they
want to provide and have probably already talked with a potential market who have shown an
interest, and this is often where the entrepreneur gets the thought that his/her idea will be
successful.
I also think that they have a good idea who their competition would be, with some exceptions
and how much they would like to charge for their product or service. Although what they
would like to charge and what they need to charge in order to be profitable often becomes an
issue.
Another area I think most new entrepreneurs overlook is the key risk factors section. I think
that sometimes they become overwhelmed by the excitement of the venture that they rarely
think about the risks until they are faced with them. Those who are not first-timers have
already experienced the problems of ignoring the risks and they make risk assessment a part
of their plan.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Natalya Borodina
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013 6:53:04 PM
Financial outlook has to be strong to receive funding from potential
investors. It is difficult to find funding for start up because at that
point no one wants to do business with them because they
are considered a risky investment. Banks like to see at least 3 years
of tax returns before they lend any money.
RE: Sunday Product
Development Timothy Caruso
and the
Business Plan
3/25/2013 10:54:25 AM
In my humble opinion the Marketing Plan is the most
important. Development and Innovation is all important but if no one knows
the product exists and if the product is not presented correctly then you have a
great product that no one knows about
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Matthew Park
and the
Business
Plan
3/25/2013 5:13:53 PM
Going along with what Timothy had said, I feel that the Marketing
Plan is very important. I am a marketing major so writing many
business plans along with marketing plans has been a part of my
education path. The marketing plan helps to implement a path of
success for the company in the most important regards to customers.
A strong customer base is a huge key to not only growing a business
but sustaining it with return customers. Even with proper
management and proper finance, without marketing, the popularity
and brand recognition struggles to grow which, in turn, makes the
business struggle to grow itself. Marketing properly will help to
grow the financial aspect by drawing in customers along with
growing the business through popularity and brand.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Professor Chao-Hrenek
and the
Business
Plan
3/25/2013 8:00:05
PM
Matthew and Class: How do you use a business plan to
attract resources?
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Timothy Caruso
and the
Business
Plan
3/26/2013 10:11:29
AM
If you release the business plan then those who are
doing their own digging can contact you such as
vendors you may need, or if you have a business
plan you have a set goal and course tot ake so you
wont waste time on non essentials.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Douglas Rohde
and the
Business
Plan
3/26/2013 10:14:57
AM
A properly written business plan attracts resources by showing
the probability of making a profit with the venture. The
organization and completeness of a business plan indicates
that time and effort has been put into the research and that the
writers are making a commitment to the project. The clarity of
the plan breaking down the resources needed, their specific
role in the venture and what they can expect as a result of the
success of the venture, makes it simple for the resources to
understand what part they would play in the overall project
which makes it easier for a resource to decide whether or not it
is a project they should be involved with.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Professor Chao-Hrenek
and the
Business
Plan
3/26/2013
11:05:44 AM
Douglas and all, please continue and
start the week by describing what is a
product business plan, and how do you
develop a product business plan?
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Michael Gross
and the
Business
Plan
3/26/2013
3:06:47 PM
A good business plan can help a
company or potential firm obtain
finances, arrange strategic
alliances, obtain and attract new
employees, and gather
empowerment. A business plan
can help make more apparent the
risks and opportunities within that
industry or market. A effective
business plan should have an
executive summary, details on
products or service, assessment of
market, target customers, barriers
of entry, experience from a
management team, strategy for
pricing, sales, and distribution, and
financial resource requirements.
Information came from: Bessant,
J., Tidd, J. (2011). Innovation and
Entrepreneur. (2ed) John Wiley &
Sons
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Rachel Labs
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013
2:41:57 PM
A product business plan is a plan
that focuses on the creation,
integration into the market, and
projected success of new products.
How do you develop this? Like
with any other business plan, you
divide into sections (marketing
plan, financial plan, Production
and transportation plan, etc) and
focus on each as individual plans.
This enables you to share certain
plans with different people. For
example to get a Loan from the
bank or investors - they will be
most interested in the product
description and the financial planthis allows them to decide if the
product is worth investment.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Brandy Spurlock
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013
3:22:13 PM
A product business plan is a set
plan for a product that needs to be
produced before the product is
introduced. A good product
business plan covers all details that
are needed to sucessfully start
productionon on a new product. To
develop a product business plan
budget needs to be discussed as
well as the time line for launching
the new product. Inside the
product business plan other details
that need to be discussed is the
marketing plan for the product as
well as the plan package the
product.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Petra Jadan
and the
Business
Plan
3/28/2013
3:59:00 PM
A business plan is an essential
road map for business success. It
should state the vision for the
company and function as a road
map that you actually try to
follow. It generally projects 3-5
years ahead and outlines the route
a company intends to take to grow
revenues and is essential
in obtaining financing.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Natalya Borodina
and the
Business
Plan
3/31/2013
8:43:37 PM
Its when you have an idea for a
new product and possibly seeking
investors to help finance the
development cost which is where a
good business plan comes in
handy. With a lucrative business
plan you are able to attract
potential investors.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Brittany Vrana
Development
3/31/2013
10:55:21 PM
and the
Business
Plan
A product business plan is
when you have the
innovation for a new
product. I think the tricky
part is too find investors,
who are willing to help
make this innovation a
success. It is kind of like
my television show I
watch. It is on ABC called
Shark Tank. These
ordinarily people come to
their millionaire business
entrepreneurs and try to
sell their innovation to
them so they can help and
invest in it. There are
some really good ideas
and some not so good
ideas. It is really neat to
see everything we are
learning to actually be
played out in the
television show. I think
besides having this great
innovation, you need to
have a well devised
business plan in order
before you go out and
search and pitch this new
innovation.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Petra Jadan
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013 2:24:36
PM
In order for a business plan to be successful it needs
to propose more than the financial needs. It would
attract resources by identifying who your market is,
you'll need to explain your strategy for reaching the
market and distributing your product or service.
Potential investors will look at this section carefully
to make sure there is a viable method to reach the
target market identified at a price point that makes
sense.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Matthew Park
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013 4:19:46
PM
Well a business plan helps not only yourself but
other prospects and investors to see what exactly is
the end goal and how it will be achieved. This
simple set up helps to attract resources through
sponsors, investors, and marketers due to the idea
explanation and result analysis from the
forecasting. A business plan helps to sell an
product/service that may either be entering the
marketing or a alternative for some. Some people
may not see this as a profitable idea and others may
see it as an opportunity for themselves as well. A
business plans also helps to lay out goals and
milestones so that the plan is more realistic in terms
of time frames, finances, and resources. Any
resources or investors that plan on backing an up
and coming product or service would definitely
prefer to see that the company has made a plan in
order for the product or service to succeed within
the market.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Professor Chao-Hrenek
and the
Business
Plan
3/28/2013
10:04:40 AM
Matthew and Class,
When thinking about new products,
companies normally classify their new
products in three different classifications.
Can you name and explain these three
classifications of new products?
Thoughts?
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Christine Klosterman
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013 4:47:58
PM
I think if your plan is put together well, makes
sense and proves that it is feasible, people will be
willing to invest into the company.
I found this article to be helpful tips and goes
well with the subject:
Venture Capitalists
Venture Capitalists operate a bit
differently than Angel Investors in
that they typically make larger
investments, work primarily with
referrals, and have strict
requirements for viewing your
business plan. Unfortunately,
requirements for creating a business
plan are somewhat different for each
Venture
Capitalist
(VC).
However, one thing that is very
common among most VCs is the
need for a personal introduction
and/or referral. I read recently
where an A-Tier VC said. "…in all the
years he had been in the VC
business, he could not remember
funding even one business plan that
came into his office unsolicited."
Tips for creating a business plan
for investors
Regardless of whether you are
creating a business plan for an Angel
Investor or a Venture Capitalist,
there are certain things you need to
watch out for in your plan:

Prepare Your "Presentation
Script" First
Your script for your personal
presentation can be the best form
of an outline for creating a
business plan. As you visualize
giving your "pitch," it allows you to
be more "in-the-moment" when
you are writing your plan.

Keep Your Business Plan Up To
Date
Business plans have a very short
shelf life and you never know when
you might get that call to make
your pitch, or deliver your plan. So,
don’t let your business plan get
stale…keep it investor ready.

Make Your Plan Tell a Story
Tell your audience who is going to
benefit from your new business
idea—and how. Make it
interesting—but believable—
reading. The story must be true
and accurate.

Don’t Leave Information Gaps
If you are seeking investor money,
but fail to include an exit strategy,
your plan will never fly. When you
talk about your management team,
make sure all resumes are
complete and there are no gaps. In
your marketing section, be sure to
profile your typical customer, or
segment of the market. Doublecheck everything after creating a
business plan, to make sure you
have no gaps in your information.

Make it Read Smoothly
It doesn’t look good if you only
provide details in certain areas and
not others. If you go into great
detail about marketing, but gloss
over technology, it makes it look
like you are weak on technology.
Make your level of detail consistent
and read smoothly.

Stay Away From Fancy Titles
You’re a startup company, and it
aggravates investors when all
three or four founders have “C”
level titles. Give the head person a
title so everyone will know whom
the leader is, and then hold off on
fancy titles—they’re annoying.

Wages and Salaries
Investors deal with startups every
day, so they know how much the
founders sacrifice, but that needs
to end when you are creating a
business plan for investors.
Provide for reasonable wages and
salaries for everyone in your
organization—investors will expect
that and respect you for including
it.

Eliminate Non-esentials
No investor is going to be happy
giving you money to buy better
stuff around the office than they
have, so keep the projected
expense very conservative for
"stuff." Keep it simple, keep it
Spartan, and eliminate the cheap
giveaways that you might pass off
as PR.

Price vs. Quality
Unless you are in the commodities
business, don’t try to be the low
priced business in your industry.
Investors know that you don’t
increase market share by lowering
your prices—you do it through
differentiation and segmentation.
Investors will be looking for this in
your business plan…so be warned.

Pie-in-the-sky Profits
This has probably killed more
funding deals than anything else.
Investors want to work with
entrepreneurs who have a true
sense of the real world they will be
starting their business in.
Extraordinary sales, and higher
than normal industry profit ratios
tell the investor that you really are
not part of the real world—and also
someone they do NOT want to do
business with.

Don't Write a
Book
The more pages in your business
plan—the less likely it will be read.
A good target size is between 15
and 20 pages, depending on your
business, but never more than 25
pages regardless. You also should
minimize the information you put
into the Appendix…use summary
formats and leave all the details
and fine print for later.

http://www.business-solutions-andresources.com/creating-a-business-plan.html
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Randeep Singh
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013 8:23:45
PM
An strong business plan attracts resources by giving the reader
the confidence and understanding that profits can be made
from this business. The business plan should illustrate and
create a image to the reader of what the business is and how it
can be successful.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Andy Motdoch
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013 11:18:30
PM
Take one down and pass it around!
You need to get that business plan out there for
investors to see. This can mean submitting your
plan to venture capitalists by itself, but it can also
mean actually going around attempting to schedule
meetings with people who might invest. If people
can see your plan and can see that you business idea
is a good one they might be willing to invest in it. It
is simply a matter of spreading the word so that
people know that you might be worth investing in.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Ddungu Wasswa
and the
Business
Plan
3/29/2013 12:14:00
PM
- Planning is always an important process of any
successful business. So a business plan must be
good enough to attract resources be it in the form of
manpower or in the form of investments from banks
or from external investors. A good business plan
must cover the following points:
·
The aim and objective of the business
·
Marketing approach and plan
· Operational information such as where the
business will be based, what resources will be
needed and who will be the suppliers
· Financial information such as profit and loss
forecasts
· Skills and qualifications of management
involved
· Risk management plan – contingency and
mitigation.
· Information about the product and how it is
different or unique from similar existing products in
the market.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Alritta Sanders
and the
Business
Plan
3/26/2013 10:17:56 AM
I agree with you Timothy because the marketing plan because this is
where you describe and analyze potential customers: who and where
they are, what makes them buy etc. This portion of the plan is where
you also describe the competition and how you will position yourself
to beat it. Additionally, the financial plan contains your income and
cash flow statement, balance sheet and other financial ratios, such as
break-even analyses. An accountant may be required and a good
spreadsheet software program i.e. (Quick books, Peach tree, Intuit.).
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Amanda Rutto
and the
Business
Plan
3/26/2013 5:38:47 PM
I have to strongly agree with Timothy here. I feel that the Marketing
plan is extremely important. I feel this way because it is important to
have proof that a serious amount of consideration and effort
including research and data collection has been put forth in order to
create a successful plan. This successful plan is vitally
important because if you don't do all the research and make sure you
have thought about all angles included with the possible business,
you will come across as a risky investment. Lenders want to know
that the person they are lending money to for a business is truly
invested in the business's success.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Professor Chao-Hrenek
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013 4:25:25
PM
Timothy, Amanda and All: As we have mentioned, the
marketing section of many business plans tends to be weak. In
my experience, the amount of research required o develop a
marketing plan is extensive, and it may be difficult deciding
where to start. Porter (1998) offered some suggestions about
how to approach an industry analysis, often the foundation for
a marketing plan.
At an overview level, Porter (1998) suggested the following
approach to developing a strategy for conducting the analysis
to avoid collecting massive amounts of data with no idea about
what to do with the data collected.:
First, develop a strategy for conducting the analysis to avoid
collecting massive amounts of data with no idea about what to
do with the data collected.
a.
etermine what you are looking for. Starting with
a general requirement for any information about the
industry is too broad.
D
b. A sample of suggested research categories
includes:
1) Product lines
2) Buyers and buyer behavior
3) Complementary products
4) Substitute products
5) Suppliers
6) Distribution channels
7) Innovation types and sources
8) Social, political, and legal environment
9) Competitors
10) Switching Costs
Second, determine sources of quality information. Porter
(1998) suggests the following:
a.
Develop a list of key competitors. The census Bureau’s
Standard Industrial Classification Manual is a source of
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes which may aid
the research effort. You may also want to do a Web search
using the top 5 to 10 keywords that apply to your product to
identify potential players in your market.
Visit www.google.com/trends to obtain potentially useful
information about your selected keywords.
b. Search for industry studies. Such studies may be available
from consulting firms and trade associations. The Census
Bureau also make available the Census of Manufaturers,
Census of Retail Trade, and Census of the Mineral
industries and data are usually ordered by SIC
code. The Wholesale Price Index is available from the Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
c.
Review annual reports from public companies in your
industry to increase your knowledge of the industry and
probable competitors.
d. Antitrust records may supply useful information.
e. Local newspapers may offer useful information about the
market and the competition.
f.
Local tax records are another source of information.
There are many additional potential research categories and
sources of information, but the above should give you some
idea about the scope of an industry analysis project. A
comprehensive analysis may take months to prepare, and not
everybody has the patience of skill-set required to conduct
such an analysis, in my experience.
Any additional thoughts about the marketing section of a
business plan and why it may often be a weak point?
Reference
Porter, M. E., (1998). Competitive strategy: Techniques for
analyzing industries and competitors. New York, NY: The
Free Press.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Christine Klosterman
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013 5:07:02
PM
Thank you Professor, that is a lot if information
and helps a lot it is great to know, I will save this
information.
Develop a Strategic
Marketing Plan
customers and your strategy for success.
Most people fall into the trap of thinking that
“marketing” just means advertising, PR or
promotion. But marketing and a marketing plan is so
much more than that, and includes everything
from understanding the market to which you’ll sell
your products and services, to choosing specific
tactics you’ll use to reach that market (which is
actually where things like advertising come into play
- they’re tactics!).
Here’s the marketing plan sections you’ll be writing:

Overview or Summary – no longer than one
page, the summary should briefly describe




your business and the major points of your
plan (so write it last)
Situation analysis – a detailed and brutally
honest assessment of your market, your
competitors, and the opportunities and
challenges for your business
Marketing strategy – your specific business
revenue goals, as well as a strategy for
tackling the market opportunities you
identified in the situation analysis
Marketing tactics – your action plan for
executing on the strategy you outlined in the
previous section
Marketing budget and timeline – the projected
costs and timeline related to your marketing
tactics
Situation analysis
Simply put, your situation analysis is the foundation
of your marketing plan, and gives a clear “lay of the
land” for your market and business. Remember all
of that market research and competitive analysis
you did for your business plan? The good news is,
you get to use it again! For your situation analysis,
clearly define:



Your potential customers, including current
market size and projected growth
Your competitors, including current and
projected market share, and product or
market segment focus
Your realistic assessment of your own
business, including both strengths and
weaknesses, with a summary of your plan to
overcome the weaknesses
Marketing strategy
When you decided to start your business, you
undoubtedly found an unmet or underserved need in
your target market, and felt that you could address
that need. The marketing strategy section is where
you actually spell out how your business is going to
do just that, by setting goals and high-level
strategies.
Start by setting the goals for your business, typically
for at least one year. Make them realistic, achievable
and measurable. No sense in setting yourself up for
failure right out of the gate. State them in simple,
straightforward terms - for example, “ABC Widgets
will achieve $100,000 in sales of Widget A by the end
of this year.”
Wrap up the strategy section of your marketing plan
by outlining the particulars of your business offering
- in marketing parlance, you'll be defining what
are known as the "four Ps" for your business:




Product – description of your product or
service, including features and benefits
Price – initial pricing strategy
Place – distribution channel for your product
or service, i.e. where you’ll sell
Promotion – the methods and channels used
to reach customers and let them know about
your product or service
Marketing tactics
To take your marketing plan to yet another level of
detail, you’ll dream up some tactics to actually meet
the goals you set in the previous section. Common
marketing tactics include advertising (print, online,
radio, etc.), trade show or event
attendance/participation, public
relations, grassroots and viral marketing
campaigns and email marketing.
As you choose your tactics, summarize what it is,
why you should use it, what you expect to get out of
it, and how much it’s going to cost. Finally, set a
timeline for each tactic and pick a team member to
champion getting it done.
Read more
at http://www.startupnation.com/businessarticles/1263/1/strategic-marketingplan.asp#5eKu8IpB9L4tv2Ux.99
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Heidi Brannen
and the
Business
Plan
3/26/2013 10:20:01 PM
I agree with you Timothy....the marketing plan is very important.
You can provide all the information about what you
are going to sell/provide down to every detail and it may be very
interesting....but letting potential investors know
exactly how you plan to market that product/service to make your
business profitable for both yourself and them
is critical. You can have the best product in the world, but if you
don't know how to market it effectively, than
your efforts are essentially pointless..
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Christine Klosterman
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013 4:39:54 PM
I do agree with the gentlemen above, however, I think the
strongest sections are the financial section and the marketing
section. The financial section because you have to determine
were the money is coming from. How is the company going to
make the money, determine loans, expenses, capital
expenditures, pay back periods etc. Income is very important
and probably what banks would really like to see. Also the
Marketing section because you have to determine who the target
market is and how you are going to reach them and who the
customers are. Marketing is how you get business. The weakest
section may be the company description. I wouldn't say any
areas are weak, but I guess that would be the weakest section.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Pedro Colon
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013 6:10:34 PM
Absolutely! This is why a lot of thoughtful planning goes into a marketing plan. A
poor marketing plan can be detrimental to effectively putting a product out there in
its niche market. Bottom-line, you must have a product or service that is needed or
wanted by consumers and if you can't get this message across effectively, a
potentially great product or service is going to die before it gets off the ground.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Natalya Borodina
and the
Business
Plan
3/29/2013 3:33:27 PM
Good point Timothy. Especially if you are a brand new business
owner with absolutely no networking connections. Marketing and
getting your business name out there will definitely be the way to
go.
RE: Sunday Product
Development Jane Sanders
and the
Business Plan
3/25/2013 5:05:58 PM
I believe market research is the most important section because if you do not
research the market you are about to enter you have no informaton as to the
abilityof the market to support your product or service. You would not kno
who to market your product to. You would not know the profit potential or
the loss potential. You would not have the basic infomation that is neccessary
to establish a successful busuness or make informed decisions about your
business.
RE: Sunday Product
Development Savanah Shettel
and the
Business Plan
3/25/2013 5:08:28 PM
Out of the nine sections, I would have to say any section
dealing with the finances of the business are extremely
important. So many businesses fail due to finances, whether
it is lack thereof, or pore spending. A business plan with a
solid outline of how they will utilize their resources will
show that they have really taken into consideration their
financial standpoint, and goals to maintain stability. Section
eight for example is cash-flow calculation, including breakeven points and sensitivity. This is a very important section,
because it outlines the how much they will have to make to
break-even, and we all know if they aren’t at least breaking
even then they’re losing money.
Of course not just one section of the business plan is
important. You may know your financial standpoint, and
goal, but you also have to have a strategy to get there and
make it. This is why the marketing strategy is important as
well. You may have a light at the end of the tunnel, but you
have to know how to get there. If you have a successful plan
to market your product, then that should lead you to making
the revenue.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Professor Chao-Hrenek
and the
Business
Plan
3/25/2013 7:59:26 PM
Class,
What are the purposes of product concept testing? How
reliable is this technique?
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Libra Smith
and the
Business
Plan
3/26/2013 12:17:52
AM
Concept testing is the action of testing the idea rather than the product itself. You can look
at it as a rough draft (picture and written description or video format). Concept testing
helps to detect the success of a product early on that way less research and less focus on
development of resources will be needed. You can focus on the product itself and other
things such as packaging, strategies, promotional etc.
(nd) Concept Testing, Retrieved March 25, 2013
from, http://www.decisionanalyst.com/Services/concept.dai?gclid=CPa1x8DcmbYCFQbo
nAodSGEAGA
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Professor Chao-Hrenek
and the
Business
Plan
3/26/2013 11:09:01
AM
Libra and All: Thank you for your thoughts on this
discussion question regarding product concept
testing. You are absolutely correct that product
concept testing helps company better understand if
the product will be accepted by the market, what are
the features that are desire by the consumers, what
are the strengths and weakness of the product, etc.
Have you thought about how to conduct product
concept testing?
Thoughts?
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Jane Sanders
and the
Business
Plan
3/28/2013 8:16:55
PM
Concept testing can give a company alot of
useful information. I would use a focus
group of my target market because they
would be representative of my ideal
customer. They could critique the product
in terms of quality, price, usefulness and
give constructive feedback to help me
improve my product if changes are
needed.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development Alritta Sanders
and the
Business
3/29/2013
5:03:12 PM
Plan
Concept testing involves testing
the 'idea' of something, rather than
the actual thing itself. Using a
particular focus group new
products ideas can be evaluated in
a more broad arena, so that
potentially successful new
products can be identified early on.
Then limited research and
development resources can be
focused on the new product
concepts with the greatest
probability of consumer
acceptance. Concept testing can be
used to help evaluate advertising,
promotional, packaging, and
strategy concepts.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Pedro Colon
and the
Business
Plan
3/29/2013 1:39:36
PM
When a product is developed from its earliest
stages, a potential market is already thought of.
Product concept testing must be tested within this
market in order to establish whether or not a need is
met, if the product meets the need, and if it
financially feasible to pursue the product to
completion. The market will give you valuable
feedback on perceived strengths and weaknesses of
the product, possible improvements, etc. Testing the
product in different geographic locations might also
provide additional markets to test and compare
results.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Rachel Labs
and the
Business
Plan
3/30/2013 6:33:14
AM
In the industry I hope to own a business in
(family entertainment) my idea on concept
testing would be to start small. Hold an
open house for friends and family to come
and give criticism and encouragement.
Offer group discounts for a few months
even if all items I would like to see are not
completely in place. Call it the Betta trial
period. After the concept seems to be a big
hit, implement the remainder of start up
ideas and hold a "grand opening" that is
properly advertised and offer a small
discount or coupons for customers to use
upon return!
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Natalya Borodina
and the
Business
Plan
3/31/2013 8:45:22
PM
Thank You for sharing Libra : )
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Jane Sanders
and the
Business
Plan
3/26/2013 8:51:36
PM
There are several puposes to product concept testig, (1) to
ensure that the product i relevant,(2) to understand customer
preferences, (3) to quantify the value of the products
features, (5) to test pricing sensitivity and (6) to understand
the puchase process of the decision makers. Concet testig is
a veryreliable technique and is highly recommended when
trying to determine if a product is worthy of development.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development Brandy Spurlock
and the
Business
3/27/2013 3:29:20
PM
Plan
The purpose of product concept testing is to make sure the
product is a product that should be developed and is not
considered a waste of time. Another purpose of the concept
testing is to reassure the product is capable of selling. I
believe that this technique is a reliable way of testing a
product because it gives the products a chance to fail or
succeed with limited funds spent at first.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Professor Chao-Hrenek
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013 4:26:59
PM
Bandy and Class,
Thank you for your response. Please note that we
discussed the differences between innovation and
creativity. The key is to put it in action which
means implementation. However, not all ideas will
get implemented. Will manager reject the
implementation if the innovation has already been
implementing somewhere else? What can we as
managers, do in this situation?
Thoughts?
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Douglas Rohde
and the
Business
Plan
3/28/2013
10:08:13 AM
Even if an innovation has been implemented
somewhere else it is not likely that they are exact
duplicates, unless there have been corporate leaks.
Therefore, I would say that management would first
research the other innovation to determine what is
similar and what is dissimilar between the two
innovations. Management should then determine if
their innovation is more superior or has more
benefits than the other. If it does, it should use those
as a marketing tool to compete with the other. If
their innovation is not as good as the other, they
should take a second look at what they have and
determine if it can be efficiently and effectively
made better to compete. If not, it may be time to
drop the project.
Another company having the similar or the same
innovation is not a bad thing. It means that it is
probably filling a need of the market and the
competition would require a quality product or
service and fair pricing to the end user.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Christine Klosterman
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013 5:08:45
PM
The purpose is to see what people think of it, what they
like about it and what they don't like, to see what works
so improvements could be made. I think the technique is
very reliable.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Petra Jadan
and the
Business
Plan
3/28/2013 4:04:14
PM
The purpose of product concept testings is to save time and
money. A product or service concept test involves reactions
to the product or service explanation. This tests are useful in
product development and optimization to determine which
features should be included in the product or service. It is a
very reliable approach to explore appeal of product and
services and is highly recommended when first
deciding if a product is worth your time and money to
develop.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development Amanda Rutto
and the
Business
3/28/2013 6:58:22
PM
Plan
The purposes of product concept testing is done mostly for
reasons of determining if the product is going to work the
way you want it to. It is also important to determine if the
products are going to with stand the capabilities that are
needed for the service or product. I think the concept is
really to make sure it really suits the needs and demands of
the product or service. I think the technique is pretty
successful because it gives you the chance for some trial and
error. :)
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Professor Chao-Hrenek
and the
Business
Plan
3/29/2013 2:08:26
PM
Class: What are some things we can do to
understand the market? I am posting some of
Michael Porter's ideas about industry analysis
tomorrow, and it may be interesting to compare and
combine ideas about this important part of the plan.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Christine Klosterman
and the
Business
Plan
3/30/2013 4:41:37
PM
SBA.Gov is a great place to go
when you have questions about
the market here is some of their
links.
Understand Your Market and Economic
Conditions
Whether you are a new business owner or a
seasoned professional, a solid understanding
your target market and current economic
conditions is key to your business' growth and
success. Here you will find a collection of
resources providing free access to business
and economic statistics collected by the U.S.
Government.
General Business Data and
Statistics | Demographics - People and
Population |Consumer Statistics | Economic
Indicators | Employment Statistics | Income
and Earnings | Money and Interest
Rates | Production and Sales Statistics |Trade
Statistics
General Business Data and Statistics

North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS Codes)
Standard used by federal statistical agencies
in classifying business establishments for
the purpose of collecting, analyzing and
publishing statistical data related to the U.S.
business economy.

FedStats
Provides a full range of official statistical
information produced by more than 100
agencies that provide data and trend
information on such topics as economic and
population trends, crime, education, health
care, aviation safety, energy use, farm
production and more.

Statistical Abstract of the United States
An authoritative and comprehensive
summary of statistics on the social, political
and economic conditions in the United
States.

Statistics of U.S. Businesses
A collection of data files created from the
U.S. Census County Business Patterns, an
annual series that provides subnational
economic data by industry.

Small Business Research and Statistics
SBA Office of Advocacy provides research
reports and statistical information on small
businesses conditions in the United States.
Back to Top
http://www.sba.gov/content/understandyour-market-and-economic-conditions
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development Christine Klosterman
and the
3/30/2013 4:46:31
PM
Business
Plan
I found this article to be informational on understanding
the market.
The marketing mix is . . . The set of controllable tactical
marketing tools – product, price, place, and promotion –
that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in
the target market.
Kotler and Armstrong (2010).
The concept is simple. Think about another common
mix - a cake mix. All cakes contain eggs, milk, flour,
and sugar. However, you can alter the final cake by
altering the amounts of mix elements contained in it. So
for a sweet cake add more sugar!
It is the same with the marketing mix. The offer you
make to your customer can be altered by varying the
mix elements. So for a high profile brand, increase the
focus on promotion and desensitize the weight given to
price.
Another way to think about the marketing mix is to use
the image of an artist's palette. The marketer mixes the
prime colours (mix elements) in different quantities to
deliver a particular final colour. Every hand painted
picture is original in some way, as is every marketing
mix. Let’s look at the elements of the marketing mix in
more detail. Click on the links to go to the lesson on
each element.
Price
Price is the amount the consumer must exchange to
receive the offering .
Solomon et al (2009).
The company’s goal in terms of price is really to reduce
costs through improving manufacturing and efficiency,
and most importantly the marketer needs to increase
the perceived value of the benefits of its products and
services to the buyer or consumer.
There are many ways to price a product. Let's have a
look at some of them and try to understand the best
policy/strategy in various situations. Price lesson >>
Place
Place includes company activities that make the product
available to target consumers.
Kotler and Armstrong (2010).
Place is also known as channel, distribution, or
intermediary. It is the mechanism through which goods
and/or services are moved from the manufacturer/
service provider to the user or consumer. Place lesson
>>
Product
Product means the goods-and-services combination the
company offers to the target market.
Kotler and Armstrong (2010).
For many a product is simply the tangible, physical item
that we buy or sell. You can also think of the product as
intangible i.e. a service. Take a look at our lesson on
the services marketing mix >>
In order to actively explore the nature of a product
further, let’s consider it as three different products - the
CORE product, the ACTUAL product, and finally the
AUGMENTED product. This is known as theThree Levels
of a Product - lesson >>
The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is based upon the
biological life cycle. For example, a seed is planted
(introduction); it begins to sprout (growth); it shoots
out leaves and puts down roots as it becomes an adult
(maturity); after a long period as an adult the plant
begins to shrink and die out (decline).Product Life Cycle
lesson >>
The Customer Life Cycle (CLC) has obvious similarities
with the Product Life Cycle (PLC). However, CLC focuses
upon the creation and delivery of lifetime value to the
customer i.e. looks at the products or services that
customers NEED throughout their lives. Customer Life
Cycle lesson >>
Promotion
Promotion includes all of the activities marketers
undertake to inform consumers about their products
and to encourage potential customers to buy these
products.
Solomon et al (2009).
Promotion includes all of the tools available to the
marketer for marketing communication. As with Neil H.
Borden's marketing mix, marketing communications has
its own promotions mix. Whilst there is no absolute
agreement on the specific content of a marketing
communications mix, there are many promotions
elements that are often included such as sales,
advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct
marketing, online communications and personal
selling. Promotion lesson >>
Physical Evidence
(Physical evidence is) . . . The environment in which the
service is delivered, and where the firm and customer
interact, and any tangible components that facilitate
performance or communication of the service.
Zeithaml et al (2008)
Physical Evidence is the material part of a service.
Strictly speaking there are no physical attributes to a
service, so a consumer tends to rely on material cues.
There are many examples of physical evidence,
including some of the following buildings, equipment,
signs and logos, annual accounts and business reports,
brochures, your website, and even your business
cards. Physical evidence lesson >>
People
(People are) . . . All human actors who play a part in
service delivery and thus influence the buyers'
perceptions; namely, the firm's personnel, the
customer, and other customers in the service
environment.
Zeithaml et al (2008).
People are the most important element of any service or
experience. Services tend to be produced and consumed
at the same moment, and aspects of the customer
experience are altered to meet the individual needs of
the person consuming it. People lesson >>
Process
Process is) . . . The actual procedures, mechanisms, and
flow of activities by which the service is delivered – this
service delivery and operating systems.
Zeithaml et al (2008).
There are a number of perceptions of the concept of
process within the business and marketing literature.
Some see processes as a means to achieve an outcome,
for example - to achieve a 30% market share a
company implements a marketing planning process.
However in reality it is more about the customer
interface between the business and consumer and how
they deal with each other in a series of steps in stages,
i.e. throughout the process. Process lesson >>
Also see eMarketing Mix, eMarketing Price, eMarketing
Place, eMarketing Promotion, eMarketing Product.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Ddungu Wasswa
and the
Business
Plan
3/30/2013 4:12:35
PM
Any good idea must be first developed into a product
concept and should be very well physically presented. This
is very important to perform a good product concept testing.
The purpose of product concept testing should be to
determine how much the product meets the requirements of
the market, how well it will be accepted by the customers.
There are certain key steps that help in giving good results
for product concept testing:

Perform quality research by engaging marketing
research professionals

Create concepts that are concrete and put them in
correct perspective.

Focus on what is important to your target consumers.

Present concepts in simple language and that can be
easily understood by the audience.
RE: Sunday Product
Development Randeep Singh
and the
Business Plan
3/26/2013 1:02:45 PM
A strong business plan has all nine sections well thought out and detailed. The section I think
is the most important in a business plan is section five "Experience, expertise and
commitment of the management team." This section shows how committed and experience
the management is. To a capitalists this section should be appealing and show confidence in
the management. Even if one has a strong business idea, if there is no experience or
commitment, the idea will never fall through.
(Tidd 04/2011, p. 301)
Tidd, John Bessant and Joe. (04/2011). Innovation and Entrepreneurship,
2nd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, (UK). Retrieved from
<vbk:9781119961987#outline(9.3)>.
RE: Sunday Product
Development Shirlina Knight
and the
Business Plan
3/26/2013 11:11:59 PM
In my personal opinion, every section of the business plan is of significant
importance. However based on reading from the text and reading information
from outside sources there is more than one section that is of great
importance for a product business plan: executive summary, business model,
market and the people, and cash flow projections.
From these important sections, I concluded that the most important section of
the product business plan is the executive summary. It executive summary
introduces the product to the venture capitalists; it is the prerequisite to the
rest of the business plan, and is read by venture capitalists and other entities
to determine if the product is worth the financing and the introduction into the
market. It must capture the attention of its readers to want them to look even
further into the plan.
References:
1.Tidd, J. B. a. J. (2011). Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2nd ed). John
Wiley & Sons, (UK). Retrieved from
http://devry.vitalsource.com/books/9781119961987/id/ch07tab1
2. http://www.allbusinessinfo.com/the-3-most-important-sections-of-yourbusiness-plan-3154328
3. http://sbinformation.about.com/library/blbpfaq5.htm
RE: Sunday Product
Development Petra Jadan
and the
Business Plan
3/27/2013 12:15:32 PM
Modified:3/27/2013 12:21 PM
for any intelligent investors, the most important aspect of a business plan is
the product and market. A successful product is what is going to sell to who
"market". What makes a business successful and viable are the market and the
people. If you are launching a new product, include your marketing research
data. If you have existing customers, provide an analysis of who your
customers are, their purchasing habits, their buying cycle. If customers
actually have bought or used your product and service that is a very strong
indicator of future purchases.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Professor Chao-Hrenek
and the
Business
Plan
3/27/2013 4:27:59 PM
Petra and Class,
Thank you for responding to my question on innovation. You did well on your
response regarding the topic of innovation. Yes, Innovation is the process by which
an idea or invention is translated into a good or service for which people are
willing to pay.
Don't forget the "people are willing to pay" part :)
What about creativity? Is creativity the same as innovation? Thoughts?
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Christine Klosterman
and the
Business
Plan
3/30/2013 4:48:27
PM
I wouldn't think they are the same, but you do have to
use your creative juices to do the marketing and
promotion of the innovation to help with its success.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Matthew Park
and the
Business
Plan
3/31/2013 3:40:26
PM
I agree with Christine on creativity and innovation
not being the same. I see creativity as more of a
thinking process with more original ideas rather
than innovation... and with innovation being more
of "adding-on" or building a substitute of a product
in some sense.
RE: Sunday
- Product
Development
Natalya Borodina
and the
Business
Plan
3/31/2013 8:46:37
PM
Creativity is part of innovation. You have to be creative and
be willing to take risks to be an innovator. They are usually
the people who think outside the box.
RE: Sunday Product
Development Ashli Barclift
and the
Business Plan
3/27/2013 2:49:11 PM
A business plan is a formal proposal directed toward the future investors in your
business (i.e. customers, venture capitalist). Last semester, I took a forecasting and
budgeting class at DeVry. It was then I realized forecasting and budgeting is
important to run a successful business. The reason it will bring success to companies
is that planning and doing research is the most important. Section 6 of our text
describes "Strategy for pricing, distribution and sales." This is part of the forecasting
for your business plan that you will do while researching the market. As well as
section 9 "financial and other resource requirements of the business." These sections
are important because investors want to know how you plan on allocating funds for
capital.
RE: Sunday Product
Development Jamarr James
and the
Business Plan
3/27/2013 8:55:24 PM
"One of the causes of failures in a business venture is operational
inefficiencies. Paying too much for rent, labor, and materials. Now more than
ever, the lean companies are at an advantage. Not having the tenacity or
stomach to negotiate terms that are reflective of today’s economy may leave a
company uncompetitive."
Source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/top-10-reasons-smallbusinesses-fail/
RE: Sunday Product
Development Jamarr James
and the
Business Plan
3/29/2013 9:42:52 PM
"The lack of a succession plan. We’re talking nepotism, power struggles,
significant players being replaced by people who are in over their heads — all
reasons many family businesses do not make it to the next generation."
Source: http://www.hyken.com/customer-experience-2/five-customer-servicetrends-for-2013/
Product
Development
and the
Business Plan
Libra Smith
3/24/2013 10:40:06 AM
Business plans that are submitted to venture capitalist are strong in the technical
considerations and doesn't detail the reason anyone wants the product (the market).
People have a tendency to discuss why they will be able to do a product better than
their competitor and also discuss their accomplishments, however they are saying why
this product will be wanted and desired by the public. When doing a business plan it
is critical to go over your product, explain how it will be desired by the consumer and
how effective you will be technology wise. Of course your experience is a factor,
however that's not nearly as important as explaining how your product will shine in
the market causing consumers to seek you out for the product.
RE: Product
Development
Brandy Moschello
and the
Business Plan
3/27/2013 4:42:33 PM
Hi Libra,
I agree with you that venture capitalists are strong on the technical
considerations and often forget to address the market that wants their product
or service. Entrepreneurs often think that what they are proposing is better
than anyone else in the market. However they often forget to demonstrate
who wants to purchase their product or service in their plan. Other things that
business plans lack for venture capitalists are: marketing plans, management
teams, technology plans and financial plans. Because of the lack of
information in these categories the business plan can be seen as problematic.
A typical business plan should be concise and contain information about
marketing, contingency plans and funding requirements.
product
development
Xavier Rossom
3/25/2013 2:59:36 PM
Which section or sections of a business plan submitted to venture capitalists are the
strongest and which sections are traditionally the weakest? Most business plans
submitted to venture capitalists are strong on the technical considerations, often
placing too much emphasis on the technology relative to other issues. In Europe;
Entrepreneur able to evaluate and react to risk, Entrepreneur capable of sustained
effort, and Entrepreneur familiar with the market are the stong. in America;
Entrepreneur capable of sustained effort and Entrepreneur capable of sustained effort
are the strongest. In Asia Entrepreneur capable of sustained effort is the strongest. a
weak section in the traditional bussiness planis "Product is ‘high technology’, which
means that the product has nt yet een innovated. Another weak section is that Venture
will create a new market. this section is weak becasue creating a new market is
difficult.
Monday Overdependence
on Customer
Professor Chao-Hrenek
3/25/2013 7:58:49 PM
Happy Monday everyone! Let's discuss about the text. The authors of our text state
that approximately half of new technology ventures rely on one customer for at least
50% of first-year sales. Identify at least three issues resulting in overdependence on
one customer. Which issue is the most important and what can be done to mitigate the
issue?
RE: Monday Overdependence Petra Jadan
on Customer
3/27/2013 2:29:06 PM
According to our text book an overdependence on a small number of
customers has three major drawbacks:
1. Vulnerability to changes in the strategy and health of the dominant
customer.
2. A loss of negotiating power, which may reduce profit margins.
3. Little incentive to develop marketing and sales functions, which may limit
future growth.
I believe that losing negotiating power is the most important one because
once a customers get used to getting their way is very hard to negotiate with
them, eventually we'll end up losing that customer. I work with vendors and I
am shopping for different pricing all the time. We have used certain vendors
for years and is hard to let them go and start negotiating with new ones,
however business is business.
Tidd, John Bessant and Joe. Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2nd Edition.
John Wiley & Sons, (UK), 04/2011. <vbk:9781119961987#outline(9.3)>.
RE: Monday Overdependence Kathryn Curry
on Customer
3/30/2013 6:04:23 PM
Petra,
I would agree with you. I work with both vendors and customers.
Although I may prefer a specific vendor, I make sure to maintain a
good relationship with others so that I have negotiating power when I
need it. I also will tell a customer they might be better off going to a
different supplier on some items that I know I am not price
competitive on. This actually strengthens our relationship as it
shows that I care more about our working relationship than just
getting all their business. It is not a good business practice to "put all
your eggs in one basket," whether it be using a single vendor or
relying on business from a single or select few customers.
RE: Monday Overdependence Brandy Spurlock
on Customer
3/28/2013 2:43:22 PM
An issue of overdependence on one customer is that if that customer leaves
for whatever reason the business is left with nothing. Overdependence on
one customer is something my father in law is going through right now in the
appraisal industry. For 6 years he has only had one client that he receives his
appraisal reports from, he has maintained a great relationship with them up
until 2 months ago, when the reports he was turing in were being viewed as
over valued. After the third report in a row, his client informed him that they
would no longer being doing work with him and just like that his $8000 a
month of income ended. He never planned on backing himself up with
an additonal client because the work he got from his long term client was so
easy and he got so much of it. But now he is in a rush to find additional
clients to make up for the amount of money he is no longer bringing into his
business. Now to replace his first client he has to add on 4 additional smaller
clients and wait 2-4 weeks before he can receive any work from them. I see
this as why overdependence on one customer could cost a company their
entire business. One customer/client could end a 20 year old business over
night because of a couple of mistakes.
Tue - New
Product/Service
Development
Professor Chao-Hrenek
3/26/2013 11:08:18 AM
Hello All: Thanks for the great discussion so far, let's move forward - last week we
discussed about new product/services innovation like Netflix, let' s discuss this
industry - the ability to stream video changed how Netflix deliver movie to customers.
Video streaming is not a secret. Why other movie rental companies are not as
successful as Netflix? What made a difference for Netflix?
Thoughts?
RE: Tue - New
Product/Service Michael Howard
Development
3/27/2013 10:41:09 PM
Netflix has been able to adapt and adjust in their market segment to assure
that they are using the latest in technology. As consumers become more and
more reliant upon streaming of information, Netflix was the logical provider
for movies given that they were already in the movie distribution business. In
addition, Netflix already had the internet as the primary interaction platform
with their customers so the only requirement for continued success was
successful adoption of the new technology.
RE: Tue - New
Product/Service Professor Chao-Hrenek
Development
3/28/2013 10:01:06
AM
Michael and Class, Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this
discussion question this week. You did well on your responses on
Netflix. Let's step back and think about Netflix and the Internet for a
moment. Yes the Internet is important to the development of Netflix.
However, the Internet has been there but was not being used in the
commercial world like what we are today. Given that, wouldn't you
agree that the most important technology in the evolution of Netflix
is the Web Browser?
Thoughts?
RE: Tue - New
Product/Service Pedro Colon
Development
3/31/2013 12:48:49
PM
Other companies like Vudu and Redbox are following suit. I just
subscribed to a free month trial of Redbox Instant which offers 4 kiosk
rental credits per month in addition to unlimited video streaming online.
While trying the service out, I was frustrated that the stream kept
pausing, the picture wasn't so great, and the service has been down on
several occasions. The pricing is a better value than Netflix in that you
also get 4 video rentals from kiosks in addition to the video streaming.
However, they must improve their product before I
consider canceling my Netflix subscription to jump on the Redbox
Instant bandwagon. Here's a perfect example of how a little more time
dedicated to perfecting the product as much as possible would garner
more popularity and sales. Redbox Instant reviews online aren't so
favorable because all of the kinks have not been worked out.
RE: Tue - New
Product/Service Christine Klosterman
Development
3/31/2013 11:47:28
PM
Yes, I would agree it has definitely helped with its
growth and success, due it being so easily accessible and
having such a wide variety of choices and services.
RE: Tue - New
Product/Service Christine Klosterman
Development
3/30/2013 4:51:13 PM
I never use Netflix, but I know a lot of people that do and they
say it is great. They have a great reputation. So I would think
that their branding and advertising are important to them and is
key factor as to why they stand out above the rest.
RE: Tue - New
Product/Service Alritta Sanders
Development
3/30/2013 5:09:09 PM
I agree Michael, Netflix offers the ability to watch any of their films
on your home television, or mail order DVD, nearly all of which
arrive within 48 hours of your ordering a selection. It also allows its
subscribers to choose among a fast growing number of movies
streamed directly to your computer, your video game player, more
importantly to your television. No more U.S. Postal Service, no more
waiting even a day or two for that DVD to arrive!
RE: Tue - New
Product/Service Jamarr James
Development
3/30/2013 9:26:19 AM
In my opinion other movie rental companies are not as successful as Netflix
is because they are more expensive than the rate that Netflix charges.
RE: Tue - New
Product/Service Amanda Rutto
Development
3/30/2013 1:05:21 PM
I think that netflix made a huge success to begin with becasue they offered as
many movies as you could rent and return within one month for a single low
price of $7.99. Unlike if you go to a blockbuster you now days rent a single
movie for 3-4 dollars. So in a single month you could rent 5 moives and that
is an easy $16 dollars rounded down. Whereas you could rent up to 10 or
more for only $7.99. Then Netflix expanded to streaming on the internet and
gaming consouls and even blu-ray players. This then meant you could watch
unlimited amounts at the click of a button. For example I can watch an entire
season of a tv show in one day without having to go to the store and purchase
the season.
RE: Tue - New
Product/Service Ashli Barclift
Development
3/30/2013 3:19:25 PM
Netflix has provided movies over the internet for a very low monthly cost. I
think that their plan to attract customers for only $7.99/month and be able to
watch as many movies during that time set them apart from cable provider’s
pay-per-view feature. Last year when Netflix implemented the stream movies
online or mailing out DVD's for the same price, customers thought why pay
more for the same service. This causes competition like Hulu to step in and
provide the same services.
Netflix provides television series as well as new movies for customers at the
same price even lower than DVD or Blu-Ray.
Weak
Plans
Brandy Spurlock
3/26/2013 2:07:28 PM
It makes sense to me that ususally the weakest area of a business plan is the financial
section 9. Most business plans underestimated how much money this will need for
their new business and therefore they do not find enough captial to properly start or
maintain their business. I can see how the marketing section of a business plan could
be a weak area for some people who are not experienced in this area, but I think that
for the most people business plans start with a good base plan for marketing it just
depends on rather or not the marketing plan they set forth will work for their
business. Some marketing plans will work great for one company but not for another,
this ususally has to do with different consumers in each market area.
RE:
Weak Savanah Shettel
Plans
3/26/2013 6:55:19 PM
Thank you for sharing Brandy! I agree these areas may technically be the
weakest, although in my opinion they SHOULD be the strongest areas. Think
about it; most business fail because of finances, wouldn’t having a strong
financial forecast help with avoiding failure? Although like you stated, some
companies under or over estimate their financials. So how can a company
accurately provide a financial forecast for their business plan? Would looking
at other business plans be beneficial?
You also stated that each company is different from another, which I also
agree with. All the decisions that you make for one company may not be the
same decisions you should make for the next. Each one has its own particular
needs and the business plan should reflect that.
RE:
Weak Brandy Spurlock
Plans
3/28/2013 2:24:53 PM
I understand that a company can never accurately provide a financial
statement but I do think some inexperienced companies low ball
what they see as their financial cost. I'm not sure if looking at other
business plans would be beneficial as you ask. Each business is
different from the next and each business owner handles their
financial statements differently so looking at someone else's business
plan will probably cause more issues than what it is worth. While
looking at another business plan may lead the business owner into
some insight of what direction they go into, it will not give the exact
answers that the business owner might be trying to find.
Business
plan
Michael Gross
3/26/2013 2:43:08 PM
When developing a business plan, there are four problems with that venture capitalists
see routinely. People commonly place bad judgement and error when developing the
market plan, management team, technology plan, and financial plan. The worst part to
have errors in is the marketing and financial strategies (Bessant,pg.300). Most plans
fail to examine, identity, or analyze any potential competitors. The lack of
knowledge on certain parts of the business plan come from a lack credible research.
Information came from: Bessant, J., Tidd, J. (2011). Innovation and Entrepreneur.
(2ed) John Wiley & Sons
Product
Development
and the
Business Plan
Ddungu Wasswa
3/26/2013 8:04:12 PM
The strongest section of the business plan is where the competitors are discussed. And
is the product present online or know. The strangest part of the business plan is also
discussing what the business is about. The weakest section of the traditional business
plan can be selecting the domain name for the business. This is a tedious task for every
business men while starting a new business. The other weak section can be designing
the website for the business. Website should be presented in the best way that it can be.
And also selecting the web host can be difficult for a business man.
RE: Product
Development
Professor Chao-Hrenek
and the
Business Plan
3/28/2013 10:06:32 AM
Ddungu and Class - Characteristics of an innovation - Please describe the
characteristic of an innovation
RE: Product
Development
and the
Randeep Singh
Business
Plan
3/30/2013 3:33:33 PM
Some essential characteristics of being a innovator is having new strategies and
ideas. A true innovator is a leader who not only comes up with the ideas, but
actually applies them. According to our book some key components of innovation
are relative advantage, compatibility,complexity, trialability, and observability.
These characteristics of innovation are key elements that lead to a successful
product or service.
(Tidd 04/2011, pp. 310-311)
Tidd, John Bessant and Joe. (04/2011). Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2nd
Edition. John Wiley & Sons, (UK). Retrieved from
<vbk:9781119961987#outline(9.4.7)>.
RE: Product
Development
and the
Christine Klosterman
Business
Plan
3/30/2013 4:56:43
PM
Thanks for sharing Randeep. I also found some good
articles on characteristics, I thougt I would share one:
Successful companies, while they may differ in terms of the products
and services they offer, often share characteristics that help make
them successful. Small business owners can emulate these
characteristics to help them build a strong foundation for their
company and ensure future success. Just as athletes share common
characteristics, the same is true of entrepreneurs. In many cases,
these characteristics are what set apart the dreamers from those
who are living their actual dreams.
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Drive and Ambition
In order to succeed, one must have first the drive to succeed, as well
as the ambition to see an effort through. The world is full of
entrepreneurs who never make it past the initial stages of their
ideas. They have the drive, but when it comes to the ambition part of
seeing their idea come to fruition, they come up lacking. Drive and
ambition, when paired together, can help a small business owner
through the rough periods when starting and running a company.
These two key ingredients are vital to success in any industry and
quite often, these are the two ingredients that separate innovative
and successful companies from the rest of the pack.
Customer Focus
The old adage "the customer is always right" is a key of innovative
and successful companies. Not only do these companies do their best
to make sure their customers are satisfied -- they also listen to their
customers. They find out what they want, what they need, and they
innovate to provide their customers with these solutions. In order to
be innovative, you have to have ideas and quite often, your customer
base will be the source for this inspiration. At the end of the day, the
customer and their needs should be the focus of your company, not
the sale.
Diversity and the Ability to Spot Trends
Innovative companies are always changing, always trying out new
ideas and offering new services and products. Every product may
not be a success, but they keep adapting to their marketplace and
learning how best to serve it. Trend spotting and diversity are
important characteristics of an innovative company. Once again,
customer focus comes into play with this characteristic. By
understanding their marketplace, listening to what they want, and
being confident enough to take that leap to diversify or change, a
company can stay on top.
Other Important Characteristics
In addition to the top three characteristics of innovative companies,
others should not be forgotten. Having a strong workforce that feels
as though it is a true part of the company is an essential part of
running a healthy business. In addition, other important
characteristics include being confident enough to take risks,
knowing when to pull the plug on areas that may not be performing
up to expectations and staying informed on all of the latest variables
that affect their marketplace.
McFarlin, K. (2013).
Top Three Characteristics of Innovative Companies.
Retrieved from:http://smallbusiness.chron.com/topthree-characteristics-innovative-companies-10976.html
RE: Product
Development
and the
Shirlina Knight
Business
Plan
3/30/2013 7:34:32 PM
Per the text, characteristics of innovation are:
1.relative advantage - degree to which the innovation is perceived as
better than the product it supersedes or competing products.
2. compatibility - degree to which innovation is perceived to be
consistent with the existing values, experience and needs of potential
adopters.
3. complexity - degree to which an innovation is perceived as being
difficult to understand or use.
4. trialability - degree to which an innovation can be experimented
with on a limited basis.
5. observability - degree to which the results of an innovation are
visible to others.
Tidd, J. B. a. J. (2011). Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2nd ed).
John Wiley & Sons, (UK). Retrieved from
http://devry.vitalsource.com/books/9781119961987/id/ch07
RE: Product
Development
and the
Michael Ball
Business
Plan
3/30/2013 7:52:09 PM
According to "Innovation and Entreprenuership", there six
characteristics to focus on. The first is relative advantage. This
innovation builds on a predecessor product, but is presented as an
improvement. An example would be the Blueray player replacing the
DVD player. The second characteristic would be compatibility.
These is equivalent to new products created to enhance or operate on
an existing platform. The third characteristics is complexity.
Although most consumers live by the credo that easier is better, in
most business situations, many of the innovations have to have
multitask capabilities, and even when the technical part of the
innovation is beyond us, the service provided, at the lowest cost and
compactness makes the innovation worthwhile. The fourth
characteristic of innovation is trialability. This is equivalent to betatesting. The trials or experiments are performed on a limited basics to
see if the project is worth moving forward on. The fifth characteristic
of innovation is observability. This is the degree where others can
see the benefits of the innovation. Some car manufactures added
features allowing the car to parallel park itself.
Venture
capitalists
Michael Ball
3/26/2013 10:41:26 PM
At first glance one would suppose bottom line profits, or value added equity, but one
of strongest sections submitted to venture capitalists is the experience, expertise and
commitment of a management team. Now comes profits or long term return on
investment so financial and other resource requirements of the business would be
second. The weakest would be the details of the product or the service. The venture
capitalists don't want or have the time to spend on the particulars, that's why they want
the dedicated team with expertise. The second weakest part of the plan would be the
strategy for pricing, distribution and sales. Again, venture capitalists aren't interested
in the details on how you're going to make money, they want to know how much
money you expect to make.
Re:
Business
plan
sections
Petra Jadan
3/27/2013 11:36:37 AM
According to our textbook "most business plans submitted to venture capitalists are
strong on the technical considerations, often placing too much emphasis on the
technology relative to other issues" Entrepreneurs propose that they can do it better
than anyone else but may forget to demonstrate that anyone wants it." They get to
deep in proposing how better than the competition they would do it but don't detail
who wants it and why.
Wed Innovation
Professor Chao-Hrenek
3/27/2013 4:26:24 PM
What is the fuzzy front end as related to new product development (NPD)? Identify at
least three ways to successfully manage the fuzzy front end. In your opinion, which of
the factors you identified is the most important? Why?
RE: Wed Innovation Xavier Rossom
3/27/2013 7:46:42 PM
What is the fuzzy front end as related to new product development (NPD)?
The fuzzy front end is defined as the period between when an opportunity for
a new product is first considered, and when the product idea is judged ready
to enter ‘formal’ development. Hence, the fuzzy front end starts with a firm
having an idea for a new product, and ends with the firm deciding to launch a
formal development project or, alternatively, decides not to launch such a
project.Identify at least three ways to successfully manage the fuzzy front
end. One way to manage the fuzzy front end is to have early customer
involvement Customers can help to construct clear project objectives, reduce
uncertainty and equivocal, and also facilitate the evaluation of a product
concept.Another way to manage is to have senior management involvement
A pre-development team needs support from senior management to succeed,
but senior management can also align individual activities which cut across
functional boundaries. the last successful way to manage the fuzzy end is to
learn from experience capabilities of the pre-project team Pre-project team
members need to identify critical areas and forecast their influence on project
performance, i.e. through learning from experience. the facetor that is the
most important is to me is learning from experience because doing so will
allow you to develop a better product.
Tidd, J. B. a. J. (2011). Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2nd ed). John Wiley & Sons, (UK).
Retrieved from http://devry.vitalsource.com/books/9781119961987/id/ch07bx4
RE: Wed Innovation Professor Chao-Hrenek
3/28/2013 10:07:12 AM
Diffusion and adoption of innovation Class: how do you develop innovations to improve the likelihood of
adoption and diffusion of innovation?
RE: Wed Innovation Kristina Hernandez
3/27/2013 9:06:02 PM
The Fuzzy front end or FFE is one of the greatest oppertunites for improvement in the
innovation proccess of a new product. There are influencing factors with the FFE like
organizational capibilities, competitor, and customer influence. Being able to see potential
oppertunities in a market during the FFE can make a product successful or lead to future
products which will be successful.Lack of research into best practices made the FFE one of
the most promisingways to improve the innovation process.
http://go.webassistant.com/areopa/upload/users/u1000841/fuzzyfrontend_old.pdf
RE: Wed Innovation Professor Chao-Hrenek
3/28/2013 10:03:35 AM
Kristina and All: Let's step back and define the term "innovation."
What is innovation anyway? Is it the same as New Product
Development?
Thoughts?
RE: Wed Innovation Rosa Stewart
3/28/2013 4:35:47 PM
Modified:3/28/2013 4:40 PM
Yes in a relative sense- per text-Innovation is a process of
taking ideas forward, revising and refining them weaving
towards a useful product, process, service which build or
development in product
RE: Wed Innovation Brandy Moschello
3/29/2013 7:19:14 AM
Innovation for the most part is linked to performance and
growth through improvements in efficiency, productivity,
quality, competitive positioning and market share.
Innovation adds value by changing old organization
practices and forms. New product development is a term that
is used to describe the total process of bringing a new
product to market. The new product can refer to a tangible
product or an intangible service. New product development
(NPD)has two major paths that intertwine. This is where
innovation and NPD are often referred to as one in the same.
One path for NPD is filled with the idea generation, product
design, and the details of engineering. This is confused with
innovation. The second path involves market research and
analysis.
RE: Wed - Kristina Hernandez
3/29/2013 3:24:39 PM
Innovation
The original definition s the introduction of something new
or a new idea method or device and it leads you to look at
novelty. New product development can be anything that is
new to you. For example if you are releasing an electric
toothbrush it is obviously not the first to be released but is
still a new product to your company. I think the overall goal
with a new product and innovation is to pair them both
together and have a new product that is innovative so it can
be success from the beginning and have it;s own niche.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/innovation
RE: Wed Innovation Christine Klosterman
3/31/2013 11:48:16
PM
When I think of innovation, I think of an idea, a thought.
RE: Wed Innovation Heidi Brannen
3/28/2013 6:08:37 PM
As stated in the text....the Fuzzy Front End is the period between when an
opportunity for a new product is
first considered and when the product idea is judged ready to enter "formal"
development.
The three factors that I feel are very important to successfully manage the
fuzzy front end are:
1. Idea refinement and adequate screening of ideas.....screening good ideas
from bad ideas will help ensure success.
2. Project management and the presence of a project manager.......keeping a
firm grip on the tasks at hand and allocating responsibilities will
help keep the project on track.
3. An early and well-defined product definition.......knowing exactly what the
product will be and not wavering from the initial concept.
RE: Wed Innovation Professor Chao-Hrenek
3/29/2013 2:07:07 PM
Class: How do entrepreneur choose and apply the most
appropriate forecasting methods for their product?
RE: Wed Innovation Jamarr James
3/30/2013 9:28:33 AM
"The first step in planning production and inventory
management activities is forecasting future demand. The
American Production and Inventory Control Society
(APICS) consider a forecast to be an objective procedure,
using data collected over time. A forecast involves an
assumption that current trends will continue into the future.
The term prediction is used to describe any activity that
includes subjective evaluation. This section considers both
objective and subjective procedures. However, the focus of
the section is on objective procedures.
The foundation for any production activity is either an actual
order or the forecast of future orders. In a make-to-stock
environment, production activities arc based entirely on
forecasts, because orders must be filled from existing stock.
In a make-to-order environment, however, production
activities are typically scheduled using Model-Option logic."
Source: http://www.mcts.com/Product-Forecasting.html
RE: Wed Innovation Christine Klosterman
3/31/2013 11:49:34
PM
I would think they would calculate prices, possible sales
and research from similar companies.
RE: Wed Innovation Petra Jadan
3/29/2013 3:53:36 PM
According to out text book " Fuzzy front end is defined as the period between
when opportunity for a new product is first considered, and when the product
idea is judged ready to enter 'formal' development." it starts by having an idea
for a new product and end with deciding to launch a formal development
project or they might decide no to launch such project.
Some the ways to successfully manage the fuzzy front end as follow:
"1.The presence of idea visionaries or product champions. Such persons can
overcome stability and inertia and thus secure the progress of an emerging
product concept.
2.An adequate degree of formalization Formalization promotes stability and
reduces uncertainty. The fuzzy front end process should be explicit, widely
known among members of the organization, characterized by clear decisionmaking responsibilities, and contain specific performance measures.
3.Idea refinement and adequate screening of ideas Firms need mechanisms to
separate good ideas from the less good ones, but also to screen ideas by
means of both business and feasibility analysis.
4.Early customer involvement Customers can help to construct clear project
objectives, reduce uncertainty and equivocality, and also facilitate the
evaluation of a product concept.
5.Internal cooperation among functions and departments A new product
concept must be able to ‘survive’ criticism from different functional
perspectives, but cooperation among functions and departments also creates
legitimacy for a new concept and facilitates the subsequent development
phase."
RE: Wed Innovation Christine Klosterman
3/30/2013 5:06:43 PM
I liked the first three below.
Fuzzy front end can be better managed, we conducted a large-scale survey of
the empirical literature on the fuzzy front end. In total, 39 research articles
constitute the base of our review. Analysis of these articles identified 17
success factors for managing the fuzzy front end. The factors are not
presented in order of importance, as the present state of knowledge makes
such an ordering judgemental at best.





1. The presence of idea visionaries or product champions. Such
persons can overcome stability and inertia and thus secure the
progress of an emerging product concept.
2. An adequate degree of formalisation Formalisation promotes
stability and reduces uncertainty. The fuzzy front end process should
be explicit, widely known among members of the organisation,
characterised by clear decision-making responsibilities, and contain
specific performance measures.
3. Idea refinement and adequate screening of ideas Firms need
mechanisms to separate good ideas from the less good ones, but also
to screen ideas by means of both business and feasibility analysis.
4. Early customer involvement Customers can help to construct clear
project objectives, reduce uncertainty and equivocality, and also
facilitate the evaluation of a product concept.
5. Internal cooperation among functions and departments A new
product concept must be able to ‘survive’ criticism from different
functional perspectives, but cooperation among functions and
departments also creates legitimacy for a new concept and facilitates









the subsequent development phase.
6. Information processing other than cross-functional integration and
early customer involvement Firms need to pay attention to product
ideas of competitors, as well as legally mandated issues in their
emerging product concepts.
7. Senior management involvement A pre-development team needs
support from senior management to succeed, but senior management
can also align individual activities which cut across functional
boundaries.
8. Preliminary technology assessment Technology assessment means
asking early whether the product can be developed, what technical
solutions will be required, and at what cost. Firms need also to judge
whether the product concept, once turned into a product, can be
manufactured.
9. Alignment between NPD and strategy New concepts must capitalise
on the core competence of their firms, and synergy among projects is
important.
10. An early and well-defined product definition Product concepts are
representations of the goals for the development process. A product
definition includes a product concept, but in addition provides
information about target markets, customer needs, competitors,
technology, resources, etc. A well-defined product definition
facilitates the subsequent development phase.
11. Beneficial external co-operation with stakeholders other than
customers Many firms benefit from a ‘value-chain perspective’ during
the fuzzy front end, e.g. through collaboration with suppliers. This
factor is in line with the emerging literature on ‘open innovation’.
12. Learning from experience capabilities of the pre-project team Preproject team members need to identify critical areas and forecast their
influence on project performance, i.e. through learning from
experience.
13. Project priorities The pre-project team needs to be able to make
trade-offs among the competing virtues of scope (product
functionality), scheduling (timing) and resources (cost). In addition,
the team also needs to use a priority criteria list, i.e. a rank ordering of
key product features, should it be forced to disregard certain attributes
due to e.g. cost concerns.
14. Project management and the presence of a project manager A




project manager can lobby for support and resources, and coordinate
technical as well as design issues.
15. A creative organisational culture Such a culture allows a firm to
utilise the creativity and talents of employees, as well as maintaining a
steady stream of ideas feeding into the fuzzy front end.
16. A cross-functional executive review committee A cross-functional
team for development is not enough – cross-functional competence is
also needed when evaluating product definitions.
17. Product portfolio planning The firm needs to assure sufficient
resources to develop the planned projects, as well as ‘balancing’ its
portfolio of new product ideas.
(Bessant, pg. 306)
Bessant, J., Tidd, J. (2011). Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2nd
ed.). UK: John
Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Weak
Matthew Guzman-Mercado
3/27/2013 7:24:39 PM
Poor Management planning and financial resources are the main cause of failed
business. It is highly unlikely that if an owner had a solid business plan that they
would falter. That brings everything back to the saying "You fail to plan, you plan to
fail"
RE:
Weak Timothy Caruso
3/28/2013 8:47:20 AM
I do agree with some of this however I also think that even carefully thought
out businesses can fail do to circumstances that are not necessarily in the
control of the owner, such as economic downturn, natural disasters and rapid
and sudden dynamic shift in the market segment.
RE:
Weak Andy Motdoch
3/30/2013 7:11:42 PM
I agree with both of you. Matthew made an excellent point, if you are
not planning for every possibility in your business the simplest of
things that you do not prepare for have a greater chance to impact
your business in a negative way. You need to prepare yourself for
everything you can possibly think of, not that you want those things
to happen or think that they will, but you need to prepare for the
possibility that they do; have a plan of action for every situation.
Timothy makes a good point to though, sometimes there are
situations that are outside your control and ability to predict that can
cause your business to suffer or fail and it won't matter how well you
have tried to prepare yourself; preparation cannot always save you,
but it can ensure that only the worst of circumstances will be the ones
that cause you to fail.
RE:
Weak Rachel Labs
3/31/2013 6:40:18 PM
Andy, I think your are hitting both points pretty strongly.
Planning is good for the success of the business and if you
fail to do so you are setting yourself up for disaster.
However, you cannot always plan for everything and in
doing so you might go from taking precautions to being
paranoid. My husband picks on me because I am the
planner. I love to know what we are doing, how we are
doing it, with whom and when. He loves rolling with the
flow. He thinks I am going to miss an opportunity because I
take my time in planning for the smallest precautions that
might come along the road and then I do not enjoy it. This
relates back to the topic in that while it is good to plan for
risks and disasters the company might foresee, the more risk
you take the greater the success could be.
RE:
Weak Brittany Vrana
3/30/2013 10:10:44 PM
I agree Matt that poor management planning and financial resources
are causes of failed businesses, but I do not think they are main
causes. I mean what about the economy, not having a planned risk
management plan together. Maybe their marketing plan was not
strong and sufficient enough. Another point, let's say you have this
great innovated product or service and you do not absolutely nothing
to revamp and update the product or create another product to stay in
the game. That would be being lazy and not competitive, because
other companies are know taking control. IF products fail with
demographics. I mean there are so many other reason, I just do not
think financial and project management are the main contributors, I
think all the examples above can ruin a business as well. Like Tim
said, even the best of the best business can fail. You can have the
best financial situation, best management planning, risk plan
implemented, top of the marketing research department and etc, but
in life, things do happen, and their are some situations that are out of
your hands, or you have no ability to prevent or predict. Like deaths,
natural disasters, a great depression, and I agree with Tim, a sudden
dynamic shift in the market segment. Does anyone know, if this has
happen, and too what business and does it happen often? A dynamic
shift in the market segment.
RE:
Weak Arlene Jamshedji
3/29/2013 10:15:59 AM
I agree with this to some extent, but I don't think that having a business plan
ensures success for the company. What I have to agree with is that a business
plan helps the owners and management set explicit financial, marketing, and
innovative goals, among many others. A comprehensive business plan lets
not only the owners but venture capitalists visualise how the firm will ensure
a product or service to flourish once it enters the market. A wise thing to do
with business plans is to amend and adjust it every few years to reflect the
company's mission and goals, because everyone knows how fickle the
economic environment can be. Altering the business plan just a bit to
correctly reflect the firm's targets can help the business to be more flexible in
the event that surprises happen that the company did not anticipate. Even
though the business owner/founder may not need the aid of a venture
capitalist to fund their project, having visualised and explicit goals will still
help to measure just how successful the firm can be.
RE:
Weak Kathryn Curry
3/30/2013 6:14:25 PM
Even the best laid plan can fail if the market is misinterpreted or if unforseen
events occur. The ability to adapt and make changes to the plan are key
components to success.
Marketing
Plan-Sunday Brittany Vrana
3/27/2013 8:47:12 PM
Not favoring this section, because it my concentration in my major But I think one of
the most important sections in the business plan is the marketing plan. You have this
great product, that through no one knows about. How will you grab consumers
attention. Show that your product is the real deal and create that brand loyalty? You
need a well devised marketing plan. This marketing plan is your guide/outline to the
road of success that your business will follow. This marketing plan should also aimed
towards the consumers or targeted demographics. Because after all, a major part of the
success coming from your product will be from the loyal consumers you have
attracted. Any business out there wants a growing and success business. So the goal is
to attract consumers. Form that bond, lasting positive relationship that makes these
consumer keep coming back for a long time for you service or products. Also, by
forming these bonds with consumers, your reputation improves and grows and
hopefully word of mouth spreads and you can gain more consumers. IF you think
about it, you could have the perfect business plan, with management, finance, product
development, innovation, etc, but if you do not have a marketing plan in order, your
business will decrease because who will promote the product? Who will create that
brand recognition and brand loyalty? This new product will never become popular or
have a chance for success. A good marketing plan is just the key ingredient to the
success of a business, I honestly believe that without this marketing plan, the business
will not have the fullest potential to being that success that it could be.
RE:
Marketing
Professor Chao-Hrenek
PlanSunday
3/29/2013 2:08:54 PM
Class,
You did well in sharing this excellent explanation. Do you believe company
culture and the customers they serve can be a factor of resistance to
innovation?
Here is an example back from my IBM Days. I made a visit to a bank in the
Carolinas to provide executive support to my local sales team after the sales
team has determine that they are having difficulty to close the deal. My local
sales team there was selling an automated banker platform and teller
automation systems to the bank. I met with the bank's President. The bank
president indicated that the reason that they did not need the automated
system is because they are a community bank and the bankers know everyone
they do business. They don't even need to check drivers license and verify
signature because they know all their customers. Therefore, all the
productivity improvement and automated verification process will not help at
all.
What do you think about this scenario? What are your thoughts?
RE:
Marketing
Petra Jadan
PlanSunday
3/29/2013 4:59:21 PM
Company culture is important because it can make or break your
company. Companies with an adaptive culture that is aligned to their
business goals routinely outperform their competitors. Some studies
report the difference at 200% or more. To achieve results like this for
your organization, you have to figure out what your culture is, decide
what it should be, and move everyone toward the desired culture.
I believe company culture and the customers they serve can be a
factor of resistance to innovation because not everything think the
same way and not everyone sees things the same way. In regards to
your scenario the president of the bank should think outside the box
because, what about new customers. At some point they going to
have new customers and they going to need it.
RE:
Marketing Matthew Guzman-Mercado
PlanSunday
3/30/2013 2:12:27 PM
I think company culture is very important in running a smooth
business. One good saying is "If it's not broken, then don't fix it"
They work hard at their jobs and for the obvious reasons can identify
their clients by face. That is a great thing to be able to do. They know
where their next client is coming from.
RE:
Marketing
Christine Klosterman
PlanSunday
3/30/2013 5:08:32 PM
Yes I do think those will be the main deciding factors on an
innovation. Companies may not be ready for change or growth.
RE:
Marketing
Kathryn Curry
PlanSunday
3/31/2013 7:53:21 AM
Professor,
It sounds as if the bank's President was not interested in making any
changes to his current operations, no matter what the sales pitch or
possible return on investment. I would think that it would be
important for such a person to look forward and notice the changing
trends in banking. Automated systems are not just to service existing
customers in the same way, but to be able to offer more options, such
as after hours deposits/withdrawals and on-line access/linking to
other systems (although when this particular scenario occurred, these
processes may have been in the early stages of what is now
available). It does not sound like he had the foresight to see that the
role of the community bank might need to evolve and change to
survive in the banking market and the customer base might not
remain just the local and well known faces. Were you able to sell the
automated system?
RE:
Marketing
Ashli Barclift
PlanSunday
3/31/2013 3:29:36 PM
In this situation I would suggest the protecting the privacy of the
customers would attract business. I do not think it was a good idea
for the bank to decline the offer for improved productivity and
automated verification process. The bank may have been considering
costs associated with implementing a new system but the risk
involved sound minimum compared to identity theft.
Product
Development
and the
Business Plan
Arlene Jamshedji
3/27/2013 9:23:52 PM
According to our text, some common problems with business plans submitted to
venture capitalists have to do with the following sections:
-marketing plan: entrepreneurs demonstrate that they can do "it" better than anyoe
else but forget why anyone would want "it"; this section must address the sales plan
and and identify potential competitors
-management team: "...many potential entrepreneurs place too much emphasis on
[management's] expertise, but have insufficient experience... and fail to demonstrate
the passion and commitment to the venture."
-technology plan: technology to be utilised in order to accomplish the firm's goals
-financial plan: most plans contain only basic financial forecasts because their
marketing plans are underdeveloped, which cripples the firm's success.
RE: Product
Development Savanah Shettel
and the
3/27/2013 10:34:47 PM
Business Plan
- Thank you for sharing Arlene! I would just like to elaborate on
one of the sections you provided here; management team. In my small
business class we spoke about what it to be a small business owner.
Some would say just the want to be their own boss, but what you
really need is the passion and drive to do so. Owning your own
business usually starts out as a dream that you have and work towards
achieving. If it is something you have not always wanted, and don’t
fully want at the time, then you should not go through with it. Owning
a business takes hard work and dedication, and if it not your dream
then you may not be willing to be as dedicated or put forth the hard
work when the going gets tough. Aiming this towards the business
plan, if you don’t have the ambition and realistic mindset of how hard
it will be, and then you may not be fully honest when generating a
business plan. You may know the specific way of how to generate a
plan based on what you have learned, but it also need so show your
passion and commitment as you have stated here.
Thu Forecasting
Innovation
Professor Chao-Hrenek
3/28/2013 10:02:33 AM
Hello all, what is forecasting innovation and what are different methods of
forecasting innovation? Your thoughts?
RE: Thu Forecasting Rosa Stewart
Innovation
3/28/2013 4:30:16 PM
Modified:3/28/2013 4:39 PM
The forecasting markets and technologies, and then identify better
understanding of the adoption and diffusion of innovations a canhelp us to
develop more successful business plan. To finalise a plan how know to
assess the risk and resource required to finalise a plan. It is important to get a
good understanding of the market and technological inputs on a business
planThe finincial estimates flow front these critical input is easily - but you
need get what are the risk and uncertainty that need ber assesssed-PER
TEXT.
RE: Thu Forecasting Brandy Moschello
3/28/2013 9:30:11 PM
Innovation
Forecasting is essentially a framework that will provide a company a map for
gathering and sharing data, debating interpretations and making assumptions,
challenges and risks. The predictions that are made are called outputs and are
less valuable than the actual process of forecasting. Choosing the right
forecasting method depends on several things. What is the product/service
being forecasted, what is the rate of technological change and market change,
what information is available and accurate, what is the company planning on
doing in the near future, and what resources are available? Common methods
for forecasting are: trend exploration and time series are limited use for new
products.
RE: Thu Forecasting Professor Chao-Hrenek
Innovation
3/29/2013 2:09:52 PM
Brandy and Class: Great discussion, please move forward and
discuss and show example of Customer or Market Surveys
forecasting method. Thanks,
Dr. Chao-Hrenek
RE: Thu Forecasting Michael Gross
Innovation
3/29/2013 3:16:17 PM
Modified:3/29/2013 3:17 PM
In some markets customers can not communicate or give
feedback properly to the firm or business. Most of the time
they can not articulate the message they need to get across.
In other markets customers can communicate their future
request,requirements, or problems because the are better
equipped for it. There are feedback boxes, or some customer
surveys may be on the back of the receipt he or she gets. In
terms of frequency use, the common methods for high
novelty projects are segementation, prototyping, and
industry experts. Segmentation is more effective for routine
development projects. For low novelty pojects, the common
method is partnering customers, trend extrapolation and
sgementation.
information came from: Bessant, J., Tidd, J. (2011).
Innovation and Entrepreneurship. (2ed) John Wiley &
Sons pgs307-308
RE: Thu Forecasting Petra Jadan
Innovation
3/29/2013 12:13:00 PM
Per our textbook the most common methods of forecasting innovation are:
•customer or market surveys
•internal analysis, e.g. brainstorming
•Delphi or expert opinion
•scenario development.
Forecasting the future has a pretty bad track record, but nevertheless has a
central role in business planning for innovation. In most cases the outputs,
that is the predictions made, are less valuable than the process of forecasting
itself. If conducted in the right spirit, forecasting should provide a framework
for gathering and sharing data, debating interpretations and making
assumptions, challenges and risks more explicit.
The most appropriate choice of forecasting method will depend on:
•What we are trying to forecast.
•Rate of technological and market change.
•Availability and accuracy of information.
•The company’s planning horizon.
•The resources available for forecasting.
RE: Thu Forecasting Professor Chao-Hrenek
Innovation
3/29/2013 2:11:04 PM
Hello Class, please move forward and show example of
External Assessment, e.g. Delphi or Scenario development
forecasting methods - examples??
RE: Thu Forecasting Michael Gross
Innovation
3/29/2013 2:37:58 PM
Forecasting innovation can provide a outline or framework for collecting,
gathering, and sharing information on statistics, debating interpretation,
making assumptions and determining risks. Forecasting methods depend on
what a person is forecasting, the technological or market change, availability
and accuracy of information, company's future plan, and resources available
for forecasting. Forecasting can depend on the variables a comapny selects to
try out and use. A technique for forecasting is exploratory forecasting.
This technique attempts to explore and find the different ranges for future
possibilities. The most common ways to explore this technique is by
conducting customer or market surveys, Internal analysis, an expert's opinion,
or an scenario development.
Information came from: Bessant, J., Tidd, J. (2011). Innovation and
Entrepreneurship. (2ed) John Wiley & Sons
RE: Thu Forecasting Michael Howard
Innovation
3/29/2013 9:52:27 PM
One thing I know is that change will happen. As nothing remains the same,
determining what the future will look like is an extreme challenge.
Forecasting innovation is a very important process in business planning as it
narrows down uncertainties and allows for a more scientific approach to
predicting. Methods of forecasting range from customer or market surveys,
internal analysis, consensus of expert opinion or scenario development. The
output of these forecasting methods is not as important as gaining product
insights through the process.
RE: Thu Forecasting Heidi Brannen
Innovation
3/31/2013 7:23:11 PM
Forcasting innovations is the process of gathering data, interpreting that data,
and making assumptions of the
challenges and risks associated with a future endeavor.
There are four main methods of forcasting:
1. customer or market surveys
2. internal analysis.....brainstorming
3. Delphi or expert opinion.
4. scenario development.
RE: Thu Forecasting Christine Klosterman
Innovation
3/31/2013 11:53:50 PM
Technology innovation can be forecast emotionally and empirically. Getting emotionally
involved with a product or process can help in the initial growth stage, but then serve as a
barrier when negative emotions (e.g., frustration) inevitably arise. Moving to data-based
processes of forecasting prevent such emotional challenges. This article focuses on eight
(non-TRIZ) forecasting methodologies. A companion article describes a case study in which
TRIZ-based forecasting methods to successfully develop a product.
Making strategic decisions for product development is one of the most difficult challenges
for the research and development (R&D) staff of a business. As Ralph Lenz, U.S. Air Force
technology forecasting pioneer once said, "Technology forecasting may be defined as the
prediction of the invention, characteristics, dimensions, or performance of a machine serving
some useful purpose." [4] How to decide between the optimization of existing technologies
and the development of a new core technology? There is a high uncertainty related to these
decisions and although many decision tools are available, and have been implemented
successfully to various degrees, the decision-maker's intuition is sometimes the only element
for directing the company's line of development.
Assessment of a company's current technology should drive the direction of the R&D
planning process. There needs to be a systematic process for assessing technology. [2, 5]
There are eight (non-TRIZ) forecasting methods to aid assessment:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Intuitive forecasts
Consensus methods
Delphi method
Application of a statistical model
Application of a causal model
Analogy method
Extrapolation
Structural modeling
Intuitive Forecasting
Intuitive forecasting is a very popular and widely applied methodology. "Asking the expert"
usually provides the information for the forecast. It is assumed that the experts' base of
experience and education is sufficient, in a particular field, to predict or forecast the vectors
of expansion or evaluation. Records indicate the pronounced fallibility of this forecasting
method.
British author and inventor Arthur C. Clarke described some false predictions based on the
"expert" intuitive forecasting by unquestioned authorities in his book, Profiles of the Future,
including, for example, that in 1956 the Royal British Astronomical Society predicted that
"space travel is utter bilge." [1, 3, 4]
Lundberg, C., Slocum, M. (2013). Tools to Forecast Technology
Innovations. Retrieved
from: http://www.realinnovation.com/content/c070416a.asp
By Michael S. Slocum and Catherine O. Lundberg
http://www.realinnovation.com/content/c070416a.asp
RE: Product
Developement
and the
business plan
Rosa Stewart
3/28/2013 4:11:47 PM
Modified:3/28/2013 4:38 PM
There are no standard plan exists, but many will provided for their business plan.
Common problems with busines plan submitted to venture capitalists - the marketing
plan and magement team and technology plan and financial plan. Many potential
entrepreneurs place too must emphasis on their expetrise. and usually they have not
enough experience in team fail to demonstrate the passion and commitment to
venture. but the worst are in marketing and finance. L ess than half of the plans
examined provide a detailed marketing strategy, and just half invlued any sales
plan. The lack to pay attention the markeeting and competitors analysis is particular a
problem both of these two thing indicates that both factors are associated with
sucess. -per text
Friday Identify
Risk
Professor Chao-Hrenek
3/29/2013 2:07:45 PM
Hello all, let's discuss the last topic of CH 7 and please discuss how to identify risk in
new innovation projects? And different types of risks.
RE:
Friday Identify Arlene Jamshedji
Risk
3/30/2013 6:41:06 PM
The text identifies two ways to manage risk, and these are risk probability and
risk perception. With risk probability, both technical (development time and
costs) and commercial success are measured. R&D managers are shown to
be more cofident with technical risks than they are with commercial risks.
Both are assessed against company strategies and capabilities, as well as
financial health. While probabilities of risk are more universal and
qualitative, risk perception is more individual and "characterised by
overconfidence, loss aversion and bias." The authors urge entrepreneurs and
R&D managers to challenge these three human characteristics to make risk
assessments more accurate.
RE:
Friday
Rosa Stewart
Identify
Risk
Forecasting Innovation
3/31/2013 8:00:37 PM
PERTEXT-Forecasting the future has a pretty bad track
record, but nevertheless has a central role in business
planning for innovation. In most cases the outputs, that is the
predictions made, are less valuable than the process of
forecasting itself. If conducted in the right spirit, forecasting
should provide a framework for gathering and sharing data,
debating interpretations and making assumptions, challenges
and risks more explicit.
The most appropriate choice of forecasting method will
depend on:
_ What we are trying to forecast.
_ Rate of technological and market change.
_ Availability and accuracy of information.
_ The company’s planning horizon.
_ The resources available for forecasting.
In practice there will be a trade-off between the cost and
robustness of a forecast. The more common methods of
forecasting such as trend extrapolation and time series are of
limited use for new products, because of the lack of past data.
However, regression analysis can be used to identify the main
factors driving demand for a given product, and therefore
provide some estimate of future demand, given data on the
underlying drivers.
(Tidd 306)
Tidd, John Bessant and Joe. Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2nd
Edition. John Wiley & Sons, (UK), 04/2011.
<vbk:9781119961987#outline(9.4)>.
RE:
Friday Identify Andy Motdoch
Risk
3/31/2013 5:30:34 AM
I think that one risk that many people don't consider would be the risks posed
to particular industries be the change in political leadership, namely the
switch between a Republican Democrat president to a Democrat president or
vice-versa. I think of all the new innovations in military technology and
aerospace that fund the economy of my area and how bad everything goes
down hill when a Democrat weasels his way into office. The saying
Republicans build the military, Democrats feed the poor certainly is true;
what that means practically is that Democrats cut funding and cancel
contracts to the aerospace companies that provide a huge number of jobs in
my area. Without going to much into the politics of whether or not defense
spending is good for America (I think it is overall, but it is especially good for
my local economy) the threat to innovation from a change in political parties
is a huge risk that the aerospace companies and their employees have to deal
with. They call working in that industry 'the golden handcuffs' because it is a
good job with good benefits, but every 8 years or so when the Democrats
regain control of the White House there are tons of cuts made that mean tons
of layoffs that take a while for all the companies to recover from; on the other
hand when a Republican is in office the industry is booming and everything is
awesome.
RE:
Friday
Kathryn Curry
Identify
Risk
3/31/2013 7:37:19 AM
Andy,
Thanks for the post. I would not have previously considered the
political arena as such a strong player in the business arena but after
reading your post and thinking about it, the political arena is a very
strong influence in multiple different business markets; defense
related products, fuel and energy, and medical being some of the
largest affected.
RE:
Friday Identify Kristina Hernandez
Risk
3/31/2013 10:14:34 AM
Risk is usually considered to be possible to estimate, either qualitatively –
high, medium, low – or ideally by probability estimates. However, in practice
different stakeholders’ perceptions of risk and hazard influence decisions
more than simple probabilistic assessments. Managers should be able to
assess these risks prior to untaking a large product, there are different areas
where this risk is noticable. For eample some managers will take a closer look
at finances becuse many times they hold decrepencies.
RE:
Friday - Michael Ball
3/31/2013 7:55:44 PM
Identify
Risk
Chapter 7 of Innovation and Entraprenuership, identifies two basic categories
of risks: Probabilistic estimates of technical and commercial success, and
Psychological(cognitive) and sociological perceptions of risk. When looking
at probability risks we would rate technological risks as having the lowest
risk and commercial success has having the highest risk, But why? Well,
technical risk is immediate empirical and quantifiable, while commercial risk
might be quantifiable, it takes a lock more time and money to gather enough
money to determine whether a project is viable or not. Also, while taking the
time to gather the information, some competitor might jump in and capture
enough market share to make the venture less profitable for your company.
And part of this risk, is the lifespan of the products viability. Entering the
market too early or too late might be more costly to a company than not
entering at all.
Perception is an entirely different animal. Spin is everything. When
promoting and selling an innovation, companies need balance the customers
belief in the products value by the customer's perception of costs. Many times
this cognitive position is influenced by sources some believe to be
unimpeachable. A case in point is that it is public perception that the
proliferation of the corn industry is good for the economy and that corn is a
cheap product whose various uses are also good for the environment.. This
belief is far from the truth, but still universally held, with the aid of the
government. The first fallacy is that corn is a cheap economic marvel, when
in truth proliferation of corn growth runs in complete conflict with every
economic model. The truth is corn costs more to produce then it is sold for.
Now how can that be? Well, subsidies of course, with the government making
up the difference in the corn growers costs by using our tax dollars, meaning
we pay for the product on the front and back end . So the corn growers are
getting rich? No. In actually, most corn growers are still operating in the red,
meaning that the only groups that are making money are the big corn
distribution groups like Cargill. Another fantasy is the ethynol is actually a
great alternative to oil based gasoline. What's left out of the equation is that
more gas is used growing the corn that is used to make ethynol then the
amount of fuel generated and that resulting fuel still pollutes! To sell a
product, a salesman must promote the benefits, making them appear greater
than the cost. If he fails, the project will probably be lost.
RE:
Friday Identify Christine Klosterman
Risk
3/31/2013 11:56:15 PM
There will always be risks in a company. This article went well with the topic
1. Risk management isn't the antithesis of innovation; it's the
essence.
How an organization conceives of risk management
will in large part determine how effectively innovation
is pursued. As with the first four answers to my
hypothetical question above, many people see risk
management as largely preventative or as the opposite
of the bold risk-taking that breakthrough innovation is
assumed to entail. In this view, risk management is the
guy in the green eyeshade whose job is to stand behind
the visionary with his head in the clouds and keep his
feet on the ground—and sometimes hold those feet to
the fire.
But risk management and innovation aren't opposed.
AsClark G.Gilbert and my colleague Matthew
J.Eyringrecently argued in Harvard Business Review, the
core competency of the most effective and successful
innovators is risk management. To repeat: Risk
management is their core competency. For these
innovators, whether in new ventures or in a corporate
setting, the ability to identify, prioritize, and
systematically eliminate risks is what drives
innovation forward.
They approach risk management not as a safety
procedure but as a learning process. They know that
no new-business model is perfect from its inception.
So they test its various components and their
combinations—its customer value proposition, profit
formula, key resources, and key processes—in
controlled experiments in tightly circumscribed
markets, learning as they go and making adjustments.
2. Risk management isn't the brake on innovation; it's the
accelerator.
Risk management, treated as a learning process, not
only propels innovation forward but can also speed it
up. For example, Hilti, a maker of handheld power
tools that was seeing its premium products undercut
by lower-priced tools, innovated a new business model
in which the company would lease and manage "fleets"
of tools for contractors who found tool management a
bigger headache than tool costs. The model would
require on Hilti's part an entirely new set of skills—
contract management, customer relationship
management, fleet management—and require an
entirely new way of working with clients. All of these
challenges represented significant risks for success.
To manage those risks, the company tested an early
form of the business model on only eight customers in
its home market of Switzerland. During this early
period, they were able to experiment with various
accounting metrics, contract parameters, and service
models—testing and refining the assumptions in their
new value proposition. They had believed, for
example, that only large construction firms would be
interested in the leasing option, but they quickly
learned that small and midsize firms had reasons of
their own for finding it attractive. By conducting many
small experiments in this limited foothold market,
from which it learned valuable lessons and made
important early course corrections, the company was
able to take the new model from its pilot stage to
rollout in all of its markets worldwide in only three
years. As Hilti understands, the right kind of risk
management isn't just built for comfort; it's also built
for speed.
3. Real discipline in innovation risk management means a more
relaxed approach to the financials.
In genuinely new-business innovation projects, it is
critical to release the leaders of the effort from the
norms and metrics of the core business. While
experimentation speeds the time to a viable business
innovation, it does not necessarily lead immediately to
the kind of large-scale growth or increased market
share that are usually the barometers of performance
in the core business. When new-business innovation
fails within a few years to generate major growth or
market-share gains, one of two things often happens.
Either the effort is abandoned prematurely or more
money is thrown at it to push it forward. In the first
instance, a more patient company often comes along
and succeeds with a similar value proposition. In the
second, we often see "zombie" innovation projects that
limp along, continuing to suck good money after bad.
It is more prudent and ultimately more productive to
first get the value proposition right and to judge it in
terms of how fast it converts assumptions to certain
knowledge. The relevant financial measure during this
stage is whether the new business can be made
profitable in its foothold market. Profitability
confirms the strength of your fundamentals, allowing
you the patience to scale up in a measured way. That is
the real financial discipline in innovation risk
management: the unswerving ability to resist applying
the wrong kind of financial metrics at the wrong time
and so unwittingly choke off growth potential before it
can reach full fruition.
Taken together, these three principles suggest that one
of the biggest risks in innovation is to see risk
management as a framework to be superimposed on
new-business creation rather than as an inseparable
part of the process itself.
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/nov2010/id2010118_752981.htm
Sat. Product
Development
and the
Business Plan
Summary
Professor Chao-Hrenek
3/30/2013 11:46:12 AM
Hello all, another great discussion this week. This week, we discussed in details on
the process of innovation is much more complex than technology responding to
market signals. Effective business planning under conditions of uncertainty demands
a thorough understanding and management of the dynamics of innovation.
Forecasting the development and adoption of innovation is difficulty, but participative
methods such as Delphi and scenario planning are highly relevant to innovation and
sustainability. Are there any last thoughts you would like to share with us? Great job
everyone.
Dr. Chao-Hrenek
RE: Sat.
Product
Development
Michael Howard
and the
Business Plan
Summary
3/31/2013 12:50:10 PM
Dr.,
This week proved very time consuming for this class but also rewarding.
Two chapters to read. Two case studies to complete. Minimum of 6 entries
into the threads and completion of the next phase of the class project. As the
objective is always to expand our knowledge base it was mission
accomplished! We are learning that successful innovation requires a stage by
stage process approach. I've learned how to define the various steps so they
can be called upon and used in the real world. I am enjoying the class.
RE: Sat.
Product
Development
and the
Xavier Rossom
Business
Plan
Summary
3/31/2013 4:06:58 PM
I can agree with the fact that forecasting the development is difficult, because its a
long process in my experience I figured what the consumer wants are specialized
and they have to fit the need of them in order for them to by and so in saying that
innovation has or requires a stage by stage process.
RE: Sat.
Product
Development Michael Gross
and the
Business Plan
3/31/2013 8:11:45 PM
Summary
I would like to have better participation in the class but that is on my behalf.
RE: Sat.
Product
Development
Michael Gross
and the
Business Plan
Summary
3/31/2013 8:50:04 PM
Thank you for the opportunity to respond and look forward to next week's
topic.
RE: Sat.
Product
Development
Libra Smith
and the
Business Plan
Summary
3/31/2013 9:05:17 PM
Professor,
This week has been challenging yet informative. This week has definitely
educated me that there are many steps that must be taken in order to ensure
proper business methods are in place whether you have a small or larger
business. Considering the fact that I am in the process of attempting to start a
business myself, this week has been influential in how some areas in the
planning where gray are now clear and can assist me with moving forward.
Thank you and I look forward to the remainder weeks.
marketing
and finance Rosa Stewart
3/31/2013 7:00:16 AM
The worst are in the marketing and the finance. the lack of attention to the marketing
and competitor analysis and this problerm usually affect the sucess