Major external and uncontrollable factors that influence an organizations decision making, and affect its performance and

strategies, factors outside and enterprises control These factors include the economic, demographics, legal, political, and social conditions, technological changes, and natural forces. 7.1. Social and demographic environment is concerned with society as a whole; it covers health, media, education, minorities, women,organised labour, legal system and demographics. The biggest challenge to firms is the society's changing demands. 7.1.1 Health As defined by World Health Organization (WHO), it is a "State of complete physical, mental, and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". Health is a dynamic condition resulting from a body's constant adjustment and adaptation in response to stresses and changes in the environment for maintaining an inner equilibrium called homeostasis. My aim is not to discuss health but the impact it has on organizations. Example on how changes in social environment can affect a business Extract from bbccouk 'It's our human right to smoke' By Tom Warren BBC News, Birmingham Takings at Stechford Working Men's Club have slumped by 20,000 since the smoking ban came into force. Just before July last year members at the long established Birmingham club began working hard to improve the venue to try to retain trade from smokers. They painted the walls, laid new carpets and installed a partially

covered smoking shelter equipped with heaters. But since new smoking laws came into force across England, smokers have deserted the club in droves, preferring to light up at home. 'Desperate' situation Treasurer Ray Guest, who has been a member for 23 years, said nothing had prepared the club for the huge drop in trade which he blames directly on the ban ban. 7.1.2 Media Communication channels through which news, entertainment, education, data, or promotional messages are disseminated. Media includes every broadcasting and narrowcasting medium such as newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, billboards, direct mail, telephone, fax, and internet. Media usage Media (the plural of "medium") is a term referring to those organized means of dissemination of fact, opinion, entertainment, and other information, such as newspapers, magazines, out-of-home advertising, cinema films, radio, and television, the World Wide Web, books, CDs, DVDs, videocassettes, video games and other forms of publishing. 7.1.3 Literacy The traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write (basic literacy) or the ability to use language to read, write, listen, and speak. In modern contexts, is more of a (functional literacy), the word refers to reading and writing at a level adequate for communication, or at a level that lets one understand and communicate ideas in a literate society, so as to take part in that society. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has drafted the following definition: "Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuous learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society. Basically, someone who is well educated in one language and go to work at another country, cant communicate in the language of a host county, is functionally illiterate. For example In UK, there are many educated and experienced people from Eastern European countries like Poland, Czech Republic but cant speak English, as a result they end up doing menial jobs. Knowledge capital The introduction of the term is explained and justified by the unique characteristics of knowledge. Unlike physical labour (and the other factors of production), knowledge is: Expandable and self generating with use: as doctors get more experience; their knowledge base will increase, as will their endowment of human capital. The economics of scarcity is replaced by the economics of self generation. Transportable and shareable: knowledge is easily moved and shared. This transfer does not prevent its use by the original holder. However, the transfer of knowledge may reduce its scarcity value to its original possessor. Human capital refers to the stock of productive skills and technical knowledge embodied in labour. Labour competences are what make a nation more competitive and innovative.

Q.1 Explain the various stages involved in new product development In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) is the term used to describe the complete process of bringing a new product to market. A product is a set of benefits offered for exchange and can be tangible (that is, something physical you can touch) or intangible (like a service, experience, or belief). There are two parallel paths involved in the NPD process: one involves the idea generation, product design and detail engineering; the other involves market research and marketing analysis. Companies typically see new product development as the first stage in generating and commercializing new products within the overall strategic process of product life cycle management used to maintain or grow their market share STAGES ARE: 1. Idea Generation is often called the "fuzzy front end" of the NPD process Ideas for new products can be obtained from basic research using a SWOT analysis(Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats), Market and consumer trends, company's R&D department, competitors, focus groups, employees, salespeople, corporate spies, trade shows, or Ethnographic discovery methods(searching for user patterns and habits) may also be used to get an insight into new product lines or product features. Lots of ideas are being generated about the new product. Out of these ideas many ideas are being implemented. The ideas use to generate in many forms and their generating places are also various. Many reasons are responsible for generation of an idea. Idea Generation or Brainstorming of new product, service, or store concepts idea generation techniques can begin when you have done your OPPORTUNITYANALYSIS to support your ideas in the Idea Screening Phase (shown in the next development step). 2. Idea Screening The object is to eliminate unsound concepts prior to devoting resources to them. The screeners should ask several questions: Will the customer in the target market benefit from the product? What is the size and growth forecasts of the market segment/target market? What is the current or expected competitive pressure for the product idea? What are the industry sales and market trends the product idea is based on? Is it technically feasible to manufacture the product? Will the product be profitable when manufactured and delivered to the customer at the target price? 3. Concept Development and Testing Develop the marketing and engineering details

Investigate intellectual property issues and search patent data bases Who is the target market and who is the decision maker in the purchasing process? What product features must the product incorporate? What benefits will the product provide? How will consumers react to the product? How will the product be produced most cost effectively? Prove feasibility through virtual computer aided rendering, and rapid prototyping What will it cost to produce it? Testing the Concept by asking a sample of prospective customers what they think of the idea. Usually via Choice Modelling. 4. Business Analysis Estimate likely selling price based upon competition and customer feedback Estimate sales volume based upon size of market and such tools as the Fourt-Woodlock equation Estimate profitability and break-even point 5. Beta Testing and Market Testing Produce a physical prototype or mock-up Test the product (and its packaging)in typical usage situations Conduct focus group customer interviews or introduce at trade show Make adjustments where necessary Produce an initial run of the product and sell it in a test market area to determine customer acceptance 6. Technical Implementation New program initiation Finalize Quality management system Resource estimation Requirement publication Publish technical communications such as data sheets Engineering operations planning

Department scheduling Supplier collaboration Logistics plan Resource plan publication Program review and monitoring Contingencies - what-if planning 7. Commercialization (often considered post-NPD) Launch the product Produce and place advertisements and other promotions Fill the distribution pipeline with product Critical path analysis is most useful at this stage 8. New Product Pricing Impact of new product on the entire product portfolio Value Analysis (internal & external) Competition and alternative competitive technologies Differing value segments (price, value, and need) Product Costs (fixed & variable) Forecast of unit volumes, revenue, and profit