MANAGEMENT NOTES

CONSUMER ORIENTED SALES PROMOTION TOOLS The consumer-oriented promotion tools are aimed at increasing the sales to existing consumers and to attract new customers to the firms. It is also called a pull strategy. The consumer can take the benefit of promotion tools either from the manufactures or from the dealer, or from both. 1. Demonstration:   The demonstration is required when products are complex and of a technical nature. Customers are educated as to how to make proper use of the product. Demonstration of products induces customers to buy. Demonstrations are provided free of cost. 2. Exchange scheme: In this case, the customer exchanges the old product for a new one. The old product’s exchange value is deducted from the price of the new product. This sales promotion tool is used by several companies for consumer durables. For instance. Philips came up with a five-in-one offer. The offer consisted of Philips TV, two-in-one, iron, mixer-grinder, and rice cooker at an attractiv...

  Trade-Oriented Sales Promotion 1. Dealer conferences: A firm may organize dealer conferences. The dealers may be given information about the Company’s performance, future plans, and so on. The dealers can also provide valuable suggestions to the company at such conferences. 2. Merchandise allowance: The manufacturer  may offer an allowance in return for the retailer’s agreement to feature the manufacturer’s product in some way. For example, an advertisement allowance compensates retailers for advertising the product. A display allowance compensates the retailers for the usage of special displays. 3. Cooperative advertising : Dealers are given an allowance to advertise the manufacturer’s product. Dealers claim such allowance by producing to the manufacturer the proof of advertisement. 4. Dealers’ sales contests:   A sales contest is a contest for dealers to encourage them to increase their sales performance over a period of time. Sales contests recognize good performer...

  Design a Sales Promotion Campaign Sales promotions that cause customers to flock to your store and encourage some to become regular consumers, are the building blocks of business success. The right ad mix brings customers in without overspending. Knowing what online marketing to add to the equation makes persuading potential clients even more cost-effective. 1. Assess Communication Opportunities: To understand marketing communication opportunities, you must profile your target market and identify the likely benefits of your product to current potential customers. Determine the target market's economic and cultural characteristics, such as potential customers' income level and ethnicity, which will determine the effectiveness of your sales promotion. 2. Planning the sales-promotion program: The major decisions that need to be made when designing the sales-promotion program relates to the timing of the promotion and how long this tool is to be used. Also important are the siz...

Status of HR In The Current Global Scenario   A company thrives because of its employees. Various departments across the organization, such as the development team,  customer support , marketing, and sales, just to name a few, makes it possible for you to run the business successfully.  At the same time, the roles and responsibilities of HR managers cannot be ignored. They help manage various departments across the organization, improve their productivity, and retain employees.  However, given the evolving landscape of the working environment,  legal obligations , and strategic management of businesses, the roles and responsibilities of HR managers are widening. 1. Training and Development: Hiring the best candidates is just half the job. HR managers need to train and upskill them to maximize their return on investment.  The type of training and development new employees require depends on their experience. For example, if they are fresher’s, managers migh...

Principles of Brand Management 1. Have a flexible approach:  The market dynamics are changing at a very fast pace in today’s time due to digital marketing and the high usage and relevance of social media. Hence, it is necessary to have a futuristic and flexible the approach during the entire process to stay significant with the current times. 2. The scope of Brand Management:   There is a difference between the concepts of Brand Management and marketing but both works as a supporting factor for each other. As discussed earlier, Brand Management is not a onetime thing but a continuous and consistent practice for the business to curate a distinct identity in the market. 3. Connect at the emotional level:  There are many brands in the market but seldom are able to have an emotional connection with the  target  market. The crux lies in the fact that the strategies and tactics of marketing should be devised keeping the  needs , requirements, and problems of the ...

  Brand Management                                       Brand management is the function of marketing that uses techniques to increase the perceived value of a product line or brand over time. Effective brand management enables the price of products to go up and builds loyal customers through positive brand associations and images or a strong awareness of the brand. Brand Management is the art of creating and sustaining the brand in the market with a thorough analysis of how the brand is perceived in the minds of the customers and the overall market.    Brand Management can be defined as formulating an emotional and psychological connection of the company’s products and services with the customers with an agenda to gain a competitive edge in the industry by segregating the offering as compared to the contemporari...

Leadership skills       Leadership skills are the strengths and abilities individuals demonstrate that help them oversee processes, guide initiatives, and steer their employees toward the achievement of goals.         Leadership skills are an essential component in positioning executives to make thoughtful decisions about their organization's mission and goals, and properly allocate resources to achieve those directives. Valuable leadership skills include the ability to delegate, inspire, and communicate effectively. Other leadership traits include honesty, confidence, commitment and creativity. Leadership skills can help you in all aspects of your career, from applying for jobs to seeking career advancement. One of the many soft skills that employers value, leadership often incorporates several different personality traits and communication abilities that are useful for anyone to learn and practice over time. Knowing the definitions of l...

  What Is A BCG Matrix?         The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) a growth-share matrix is a planning tool that uses graphical representations of a company’s products and services in an effort to help the company decide what it should keep, sell, or invest more in. The matrix plots a company’s offerings in a four-square matrix, with the y-axis representing the rate of market growth and the x-axis representing market share. It was introduced by the Boston Consulting Group in 1970. BCG matrix has four cells, with the horizontal axis representing relative market share and the vertical axis denoting market growth rate. The mid-point of relative market share is set at 1.0. if all the SBU’s are in the same industry, the average growth rate of the industry is used. While, if all the SBU’s are located in different industries, then the mid-point is set at the growth rate for the economy. Resources are allocated to the business units according to their situa...

  What is Strategic Human Resource management (SHRM)?   Strategic human resource management is the process of linking the human resource function with the strategic objectives of the organization to improve performance. Attracting and keeping talented and skilled employees is one of the most important challenges organizations face in today’s dynamic business world. No strategy, no matter how well designed, will work unless the organization has the right people, with the right skills and behaviors, in the right roles, motivated in the right way and supported by the right leaders. Several commentators have argued that the concept of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) has evolved as a bridge between business strategy and the management of human resources. SHRM is a philosophy of people management based on the belief that human resources are uniquely important to sustain business success. An organization gains a competitive advantage by using its people effectiv...

  Barriers of SHRM Barriers to successful SHRM implementation are complex. The main reason is the lack of a growth strategy or failure to implement one. Other major barriers are summarized as follows: 1.     Inducing the vision and mission of the change effort. 2.     High resistance due to lack of cooperation from the bottom line. 3.     Interdepartmental conflict. 4.     The commitment of the entire senior management team. 5.     Plans that integrate internal resources with external requirements. 6.     Limited time, money, and resources. 7.     The status quo approach of employees. 8.     Fear of incompetency of senior-level managers to take up strategic steps. 9.     Diverse work-force with competitive skill sets. 10.    Fear towards victimization in the wake of failures. 11.     Improper strategic ...

  What Are Best Practices?             Best practices are a set of guidelines, ethics, or ideas that represent the most efficient or prudent course of action, in a given business situation. Best practices may be established by authorities, such as regulators or governing bodies, or they may be internally decreed by a company's management team.             “A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to any alternatives because it produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means, or because it has become a standard way of doing things, e.g., a standard way of complying with legal or ethical requirements. Best practices are used to maintain quality as an alternative to mandatory legislated standards and can be based on self-assessment or benchmarking. A best practice is a feature of accredited management standards such as ISO 9000 and IS...

                                               The Best Fit Approach             The best-fit approach emphasizes the importance of ensuring that HR strategies are appropriate to the circumstances of the organization, including its culture, operational processes, and external environment. HR strategies have to take account of the particular needs of both the organization and its people. For the reasons given above, it is accepted by most commentators that ‘best fit’ is more important than ‘best practice’. There can be no universal prescriptions for HRM policies and practices. It all depends. This is not to say that ‘good practice’, or ‘leading-edge practice’ ie practice that does well in one successful environment, should be ignored. ‘Benchmarking’ (comparing what the organization does with what is done elsewhere) is a valuable way of iden...

Int ernational Sales Management Sales management is the process of developing a sales force, coordinating sales operations, and implementing sales techniques that allow a business to consistently hit, and even surpass, its sales targets. If your business brings in any revenue at all, a sales management strategy is an absolute must. When it comes to boosting sales performance for any size of the operation, no matter the industry, the secret to success is always precise sales management processes. Besides helping your company reach its sales objectives, the sales management process allows you to stay in tune with your industry as it grows and can be the difference between surviving and flourishing in an increasingly competitive marketplace. The past decade has seen a number of changes in global situations. Chief among these is the opening up of Russia, India, and Eastern European countries and the emergence of China as a major market. A sale is an important element of marketing. ...