Customer Centric or Product Centric Customer centric: refers to the orientation of a company to the needs and behaviors of its customers. Product centric: refers to the orientation of a company towards manufacturing and improving the product line. All products that enter the market are not given the kind of welcome which only certain products are able to enjoy. Why is that only few products are top notch and others average performers? The answer is very simple, you need to be customer centric rather focusing on improving your product and its range. What is the fun in making products that go bland over a period of time? Creating an appealing product does not suffice the requirements of the consumers. Understanding the consumer, his needs and preferences makes you a good marketer. “What people want to buy and what you want people to buy are entirely two different entities.” Customer Wanton and Preferences Marketing is a concept that talks about creating a favorable environment or identifying a niche where you can sell your products comfortably or where the products can sell themselves provided the focus is on the target customer. What companies do now in the name of marketing is nothing but product promotion that exhausts huge chunk of money from the management’s treasury. Business schools have a great role to play in idealizing these concepts for the better understanding of management graduates, make them deliver the right choice of action in real time environment. Marketing starts right from developing a prospective business idea into a concrete business plan followed by branding and promotions. But the product base has to be built upon customer wanton and preferences. Indigenous Products The soft drink “Bovonto” is very popular and a preferred drink in south of Tamilnadu, India and the manufacturers have their plants at various places in Tamilnadu. Although not a big name in the international market, it is a direct competitor for Coke and Pepsi in the southern regions of Tamilnadu. The grape vine is that the product is a perfect “market fit”. To our amusement and amazement the product has communicated well with the market place through taste and quality. Here is the unerring message, ‘Let the product speak for itself’. Indigenous products always gain instant recognition as they connect well with the local people emotionally. If people of each and every country vows only to buy indigenous products, many MNC’s would be out of business and filing for bankruptcy. Such is the power of the market and people who are the owners of the market. What is that ‘X’ factor that makes your product different and unique Let’s look at it from another perspective. Incidentally you happen to develop a great product and you want to market the product. This situation calls for patenting the product and again it can be made market centric by finding the right market segment for the product and promoting it in such a way that the product content appeals to the market. Tell the masses how your product can solve specific problems through its unique content. What is that ‘X’ factor that makes your product different and unique as well is what you have to communicate to the people whom you are targeting. Facebook has revolutionized the internet marketplace by offering simple and user friendly interface and a sophisticated niche for each and every individual who wants to make his/ her presence felt. A good business plan is one which incorporates the best of ideas from all spheres of the company, as marketing is not a separate entity and promotions call for huge investments. Many companies fail to understand the basis of market success which...

Factors of External Environment of Business What do you mean by Business Environment: The sum total of all things external to firms and industries that affect the functioning of the organization is called Business Environment. Elements of Business Environment 1.       ECONOMIC 2.       SOCIAL 3.       CULTURAL 4.       POLITICAL 5.       LEGAL 6.       TECHNOLOGICAL 7.       DEMOGRAPHIC 8.       GEOGRAPHICAL 9.       ECOLOGICAL 1. Economic Environment This refers to all economic factors that influence and affects the very survival of an organization. Can be classified into ·         Economic factors affecting demand ·         Competitive forces Economic factors affecting demand The existence of an organization depends on the demand for its products or services. The customers’ ability to buy and willingness to pay determine the demand factor. The buying power is determined again by ·         Employment ·         Income taxes ·         Saving and ·         Prices The money acquired by an individual through employment is utilized for paying taxes which is the first priority and then comes saving or spending. In developing countries like India, much importance is attached to the habit of saving in the form of insurance policies or mutual fund deposits or investment on immovable assets. This makes the economy strong and stable even during times of recession, whereas we witness the economy of some developed countries entirely shaken when there is an economic depression. Sub Prime Lending Sub prime lending may prove to be disastrous for a growing or grown nation when the money is lent by the banks to third parties without proper securities or collaterals. While the initiative is intended to increase the growth rate or GDP, the end result may not live up to the expectations when the money is parted to individuals or firms with poor financial credentials. Disposable Income Disposable income also decreases when the tax rate increases and his/her ability to buy is reduced. Equally important is the willingness to by because the fact that an individual has the ability does not mean that he or she will buy. Willingness is affected by the preferences for products and the expectation about future factors like the price fluctuation, increase in one’s own income, general economic trend and so on. Competitive forces Firms have to first survive in order to succeed in the market. To accomplish this they exert competitive force on each other through one or the other following methods. ·         Price cutting ·         Promotion-advertising, personal selling ·         Design, feature and packing ·         Number and type of customer services offered give a cutting edge to firms competing in the race. 2. Social and Cultural Environment The social environment depends upon the ·         The class structure ·         Mobility ·         Nature of the social organization and ·         Development of social institutions People always have the unending desire to move from one occupational category to another and this is the main reason for high job turn over in IT industries for various reasons like pay, promotions, job satisfaction etc., This is the same reason which can be attributed to the failure of many good projects that go underway due to lack of continuation of the same initiative with which it was started. The above said process is more prevalent in urban societies than rural where scope of mobility is much the less among farmers, artisans and those engaged in traditional crafts and cottage industries. 3. Political Environment A smart manager has to be on tenter hooks to gauge the trends in political scenario that directly or indirectly affect the functioning of the firm. The political weather is highly unpredictable and may be classified into ·         Long-term changes ·         Quick changes ·         Cyclical changes ·         Regional changes Now-a-days we see that the economic depression in...

Before embarking on the subject let us find out what delegation is and how the process occurs in an organization. What is Delegation: A manager or a superior cannot think of doing all the jobs by himself. It becomes therefore necessary to delegate some of the jobs to his subordinates to ease the pressure and assign the required authority to carry on with those tasks. This downward pushing of authority is called delegation of authority. Art of Delegation Delegation takes place when one person gives another person the right to perform work on his behalf and in his name. It is the process of entrusting part of the work by the superior to his subordinates. How to Master the Art of Delegation? PROCESS OF DELEGATION 1. Step one is Assigning Responsibility: The superior directs the subordinate to perform a task with due assistance and training. 2. Step two is Granting Authority: To accomplish the task some authority has to be given to the subordinate to procure the essential resources from the organization like materials, equipment, labor etc., 3. Step three is Creating Accountability: The subordinate is expected to accomplish the task within the stipulated time period and report to the manager regarding the acquisition, use and replacement of resources. ADVANTAGES OF DELEGATION   It reduces the work pressure of the manager  Leads to better decisions  Speeds up decision making  It improves the morale of the employees  Creates a feeling of mutual trust between the superior and subordinates  Helps to create a formal organization structure BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE DELEGATION  Fear of being exposed: Some superiors fear that their weaknesses might be exposed Difficulty in briefing the actual requirement- depends on the quick wit of the employees Lack of confidence in subordinates Fear of loss of power“I am OK you are OK “ attitude of the managers PRINCIPLES OF DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY Principle of Delegation by Results Expected: The authority assigned to the subordinates should be sufficient enough to ensure their ability to accomplish the results expected.Principle of Absoluteness of Responsibility: One has to understand that responsibility can never be delegated and that the superiors are responsible for the activities of their employees and the performance of the employees has to be absolute towards their superior’s expectations.Principle of Parity for Authority and Responsibility: There should be a perfect balance between assigned authority and responsibility. One cannot be held responsible for a task where he has limited authority and too much of authority with too little responsibility can prove to be dangerous.Principle of Unity of Command: If there is a single superior to listen to, conflicts will be greatly reduced and it will be easy for the subordinate to have a personal rapport with the superior.Authority Level Principle: A manager who has the authority to make certain decisions must necessarily use his discretion and should not try to overlook or pass it on to the top management.Principle of Functional Definition: The objectives, tasks, responsibility and authority must be clearly stated to the individuals involved to facilitate improved performance to accomplish enterprise objectives. Managers fail because of poor delegation. Their personal attitude comes to the forefront which makes things quite difficult. Lack of receptiveness: Some managers are not open to ideas and suggestions from the other endWillingness to let go: A superior must have the willingness to delegate authority for positions which he had left long ago.Willingness to trust subordinates: A trustful attitude makes the proceedings smoothWillingness to establish and use broad controls: The superior must establish some standards to which the objectives or tasks can be compared to and control mechanisms must be installed for evaluation purposes. Feedback from subordinates is the most important criterion that determines the effective functioning of the organization. HOW TO MAKE DELEGATION EFFECTIVE? Right person for the right jobGive sufficient authorityFree flow of informationEstablish proper controlsReward the subordinatesMake the nature and scope of the tasks clearMake the subordinate understand...

Introduction to the basic concepts of managerial economics and how it helps in managerial decision making. Managerial economics is concerned with various micro and macro-economic tools and analysis which can be used in managerial decision making to solve business problems.