Week 4
Dan Cushing
Week 4
2/11/2018
Our class discussed business evaluation that goes into the purchasing decision. The 3 factors of the evaluation are quality, service, and price. Quality refers to the actual product including performance, durability, the dependability of the business, etc. Essentially quality refers to the technical side of the business. Next is service. Service refers to the employees in the product. Specifically the sales department. If the salesmen are well trained and knowledgeable then the business will appear in a positive manner to potential buyers who contact them. Finally, price is the price that the business is willing to sell their good or service for. In my BIS class, the service we use to learn Excel is a product that my teacher had to determine was most beneficial. Additionally, the college would have a say in what product is used. This is a business to business interaction between WNEU and Pearson. WNEU had to determine that MyITLab was a top product in all three categories before agreeing to use it.
One of the major concepts discussed in the previous week was SWOT. SWOT is an analysis tool to help determine potential outlook for a company or product. It stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. Strength refers to any advantages the company has in the marketplace. This could be something like a patent. Weakness refers to any disadvantages a company has. If the company has a poor public image or a weak Research and Development Department then it could be difficult to earn revenue. In regards to our Smart Project, a strength for my Smart Bottle product could be user friendliness. The LED display and potential companion app would make it so the consumer can understand their hydration levels easily. A weakness for us would be limited tools to manufacture the product. While 3D printing seems like the best option, we have to find a way to make it food safe. Both strengths and weaknesses are internal aspects. On the other hand, we can see trends in the market place that are recognized as opportunities and weaknesses in the market place. These are external to the company. Opportunities refer to a positive aspect of the marketplace such as very few competitors. Weaknesses refer to anything in the market that could limit growth or revenue. A common example for this is the FDA in the pharmaceutical market.
Another tool that is used in examining the marketplace is PEST. PEST stands for Political, Economic, Social, and Technical. If there is negative trends in any of these categories it will make it very difficult for a company to succeed. In PEST, Political refers to the regulations of a business in that particular marketplace. This includes any laws passed by Congress or by any administrative agency. Additionally, if the government is controlled by a particular party the future outlook for politics could be different. Economic refers to the ability to pay for services, equipment, or anything else. If the going price for a particular job is very high, then it becomes difficult to higher the required amount at that position. For example, on my family farm, if the minimum wage increases substantially, we would have to lessen the number of employees we have. This then slows down production and causes revenue to lessen. Social refers to social trends such as celebrity endorsement of products. If a product is deemed to be popular then additional people will rush to buy it. On the other hand if a celebrity insults the product or says it is bad then people will shy away from it. Finally, Technical refers to potential advancements the company can make through development.
One thing I would like to learn more about are the external trends that make up the latter half of SWOT. There was confusion in the classroom over what exactly is a market opportunity compared to a strength of the company. It is difficult to think of multiple Opportunities or Threats for particular markets.
Week 4
2/11/2018
Our class discussed business evaluation that goes into the purchasing decision. The 3 factors of the evaluation are quality, service, and price. Quality refers to the actual product including performance, durability, the dependability of the business, etc. Essentially quality refers to the technical side of the business. Next is service. Service refers to the employees in the product. Specifically the sales department. If the salesmen are well trained and knowledgeable then the business will appear in a positive manner to potential buyers who contact them. Finally, price is the price that the business is willing to sell their good or service for. In my BIS class, the service we use to learn Excel is a product that my teacher had to determine was most beneficial. Additionally, the college would have a say in what product is used. This is a business to business interaction between WNEU and Pearson. WNEU had to determine that MyITLab was a top product in all three categories before agreeing to use it.
One of the major concepts discussed in the previous week was SWOT. SWOT is an analysis tool to help determine potential outlook for a company or product. It stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. Strength refers to any advantages the company has in the marketplace. This could be something like a patent. Weakness refers to any disadvantages a company has. If the company has a poor public image or a weak Research and Development Department then it could be difficult to earn revenue. In regards to our Smart Project, a strength for my Smart Bottle product could be user friendliness. The LED display and potential companion app would make it so the consumer can understand their hydration levels easily. A weakness for us would be limited tools to manufacture the product. While 3D printing seems like the best option, we have to find a way to make it food safe. Both strengths and weaknesses are internal aspects. On the other hand, we can see trends in the market place that are recognized as opportunities and weaknesses in the market place. These are external to the company. Opportunities refer to a positive aspect of the marketplace such as very few competitors. Weaknesses refer to anything in the market that could limit growth or revenue. A common example for this is the FDA in the pharmaceutical market.
Another tool that is used in examining the marketplace is PEST. PEST stands for Political, Economic, Social, and Technical. If there is negative trends in any of these categories it will make it very difficult for a company to succeed. In PEST, Political refers to the regulations of a business in that particular marketplace. This includes any laws passed by Congress or by any administrative agency. Additionally, if the government is controlled by a particular party the future outlook for politics could be different. Economic refers to the ability to pay for services, equipment, or anything else. If the going price for a particular job is very high, then it becomes difficult to higher the required amount at that position. For example, on my family farm, if the minimum wage increases substantially, we would have to lessen the number of employees we have. This then slows down production and causes revenue to lessen. Social refers to social trends such as celebrity endorsement of products. If a product is deemed to be popular then additional people will rush to buy it. On the other hand if a celebrity insults the product or says it is bad then people will shy away from it. Finally, Technical refers to potential advancements the company can make through development.
One thing I would like to learn more about are the external trends that make up the latter half of SWOT. There was confusion in the classroom over what exactly is a market opportunity compared to a strength of the company. It is difficult to think of multiple Opportunities or Threats for particular markets.
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