F-2,Block, Amity Campus

Sec-125, Nodia (UP)

India 201303

ASSIGNMENTS
PROGRAM:
SEMESTER-I
Subject Name
: Master of Finance and Control
Study COUNTRY
: Zambia
Permanent Enrollment Number (PEN) :
Roll Number
: MFC001412014-2016002
Student Name
:
DERICK MWANSA
INSTRUCTIONS
a) Students are required to submit all three assignment sets.
ASSIGNMENT
Assignment A
Assignment B
Assignment C

DETAILS

MARK
S
Five Subjective Questions
10
Three Subjective Questions + Case Study 10
40 Objective Questions
10

b)
c)
d)
e)

Total weightage given to these assignments is 30%. OR 30 Marks

All assignments are to be completed as typed in word/pdf.
All questions are required to be attempted.
All the three assignments are to be completed by due dates (specified from
time to time) and need to be submitted for evaluation by Amity University.
f) The evaluated assignment marks will be made available within six weeks.
Thereafter, these will be destroyed at the end of each semester.
g) The students have to attach a scan signature in the form.

Signature
Date

:
:

________
__
________19/01/2015__

( ) Tick mark in front of the assignments submitted

Assignment A
Assignment B
Assignment C

FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT

ASSIGNMENT A
Question One
Answer
The product life cycle model is a useful tool for managers as it is used for technical appraisal
of product performance. It analyses different stages in the product life including the sales and
profits of each respective stage. The cyclical changes in sales and profits of a product shows
the life characteristics of a product which can be likened to that of the human being. Just like
humans the product life goes through infancy, youth, adulthood and old age. A product in
normal course has four stages of life history namely introduction, growth, maturity and
decline.
Philip Kotler defines product life cycle as The product life cycle is an attempt to recognise
distinct stages in the life history of the product, the sales histories pass through four stages
known as introduction, growth, maturity and decline.
Even though its validity is questionable, it can be a useful model for managers so that they
are mindful of the stage in which their product is and perhaps take action to increase the life
of the product. Some brands have held their positions for decades and almost monopolising
the market. For example Coca cola.
Many factors affect product life cycle. Joe Dean statement is very important in this regard. He
said the length of a product life cycle is governed by the rate of technical change , the rate of
market acceptance and the easy of competitive entry below are some factors affecting
product life cycle.
Rate of technical change
If the rate of technical change in the country is very high the life of the products will be
limited by the new and improved products which will take place of old and existing products.
On the other hand, if the rate of change is not so high the life of the product in that country
may be longer. For example the life cycle of products in Zambia (where rate of technical
change is not so high) is longer as compared to the life cycle of products in developed
countries (where technical change is at high rate).
Rate of market acceptance
The rate of customers also affect the life cycle of the products. If the rate of market
acceptance is high, the life cycle of product in that country is limited. The customers who
have accepted the new product will soon stand out of the market. Similarly if customers
accept the product at a slow rate, the life cycle of the product may be quite long. For example

in Zambia, the market acceptance is very slow and therefore, here the life of the product is
very long.
Easy of competitive entry
If the entries of competition are easy and unchecked, the life of the products will be shorter as
the new products will enter the market. As a result the existing products will be influenced
out of the market. Hence if the entry of competitors is not easy the life cycle of the product
will
be
longer.
Below is the brief life cycle of a product:Introduction
The first stage of the product life cycle is the introduction stage. Under this stage prices are
relatively high and competition is very less. Substantial research and development costs are
spent to bring the product to this stage. The sale grows at a lower rate because consumers are
unaware about the product. Heavy promotional expenditures are made by marketers.
Growth stage
This is the second stage of product life cycle. In this stage competitors enter the market and
the company may have to resort to product improvement and innovation. It may enter new
market segment and try new distribution channels. The prices may remain static or fall
slightly for meeting competition. Advertising can be helpful to create brand image.
Maturity stage
This is the second stage of product life cycle. As the competition becomes keen and market
becomes saturated with product brands, the maturity stage sets in. In this phase of product life
cycle, the sales increase at a decreasing rate. The firm has to combat competition by cutting
prices, increasing promotional efforts and modifying products, markets and marketing mix.
Consequently profits will fall. Product differentiation, identification of new segments and
product improvement are emphasised during this stage.
Decline stage.
It is the last stage in the product life cycle. In this stage sales will drop down heavily and
product or brandy will go out of market. The price will fall, profits will decline. Eventually
the product line incurs losses. Decline may occur due to technological changes, shift in
consumer taste, introduction of new sophisticated products, severe competition. If the product
fails to stand the competition the company may remain with no option but stop the product
line.

ASSIGNMENT A
Question Two
Answer
The old, traditional concept of marketing included all those activities that were concerned
with either production or distribution and sales. The focus was on the ordinary way of
marketing. Produce as much as possible and sell it. Customer satisfaction was not of
paramount importance. But now the time has changed, so has changed the concept of
marketing.
According to Philip Kotler-The marketing concept is customer orientation backed by
integrated marketing aimed at generating customer satisfaction as the key to satisfying
organisational goals.
The marketing concept is relatively new concept of business. This concept was developed
after 1950s. The marketing concept gives priority to achieve the objectives of the firm
through fulfilment of customers needs and wants. Not any business organisation can achieve
its objectives of marketing until it produces goods or services according to the needs and
wants of customers. So, the main task of an organisation is to identify the needs and wants of
target markets and provide more satisfaction to the customers at less cost than competitors.
For this, all the marketing activities should be directed towards providing satisfaction to the
customer.
Marketing concept gives emphasis to the satisfaction of customers needs; its ultimate goal is
to earn profit through the use of integrated and coordinated marketing methods. Satisfied
customers express loyalty to the firm and buy its products regularly. This helps achieving the
organisational goal.
Marketing concept demand organisations accepts the needs of potential customers as the
basis for their operations. Success is depended on satisfying customer needs.
Customer needs and wants
Needs are basic requirements that human beings wish to satisfy. Abraham Maslow pointed
out the following as basic needs:- Food, shelter, security, esteem and self- actualisation.
Customer needs are broad while wants are usually narrow. A want is a desire for a specific
product or service to satisfy the underlying need. For example, a person who has never tasted
a soft drink will look for water only, to quench thirst, one of the basic needs. Once he is
exposed to a product called soft drink and becomes satisfied, he starts feeling an increasing
and continuous desire or want for that particular product.

Marketing concept is about creation of customers and this includes identifying the needs and
wants of customers and then combines and integrate all the activities of business organisation
to fulfil the wants of the customers.
When a want is identified, it creates demand and this demand must have the ability and
willingness to pay. If there is a want that has not been satisfied a manager will have to
identify this and try to fill it up through his advanced production process or a well-planned
distribution channel or proper sales promotion.
Hence, an organisation that has adopted marketing concept will have competitive advantage
because its prime objective is customer satisfaction. In its quest to satisfy the customer needs
and wants it ultimately satisfy organisational goals too.

ASSIGNMENT A
Question Three
Answer
Market segmentation is a concept used by economists and marketers. A market segment is a
subset of the market and the market could be made up of people or organisations. The
segment is comprised of customers whose characteristics are similar causing them to demand
for a similar product or service.
A market segment is distinct from other segments, homogeneous within the segment,
responds in a similar fashion and can be satisfied by a market intervention. A market can be
segmented on different basis such as geographical, demographical, psychological and
behavioural segmentation.
Prior to choosing a segment an organisation has to analyse its capabilities to satisfy its
targeted segment, that is its internal strength intems of technology and external weaknesses in
relation to competition and the legal obligations in line with statutory requirements if any.
The following are five primary reasons of market segmentation.
1. Adds competitive advantage
By segmenting you are adding a competitive advantage to your product or service. You are
specialising in an area. You are being the expert. You are diving deeper and doing it better
than anyone else. You respond faster. You are more accurate. You understand opportunities
and can react accordingly. You pin point an audience.
For example an academician in business studies can segment his market by choosing to offer
tuitions only to students pursuing marketing.
2. Identify new markets

This is not obvious. The reason is that on the surface you many times dont see these new
market niches. They do not necessarily jump at you. By segmenting your market you can find
new markets. They may be small, only a few locations, very specific or very particular.
For example you aim to reach chief financial officers of major insurance companies and later
realise that you can use the same approach to reach those in banking industry.
3. Reduce your costs
Obviously, if you select carefully and only react into the market place for a smaller segment
of all that is there, your cost will be less.
This applies to all media, but particularly direct mail and telephone marketing, where lists
represent such a large part of segmentation. Saving on lists is only the beginning. Production
is a major part of all marketing campaigns. It includes paper, printing and letter shops for
direct mail, people and time for telemarketing.
If you do not mail as many or call as many you definitely enjoy large savings.
4. Reduces credit risks
You get handle on credit. Some companies do not pay their bills. Using market segmentation
allows you to eliminate those who cause credit problems or handle them cash only. You can
reduce bad debt ratios and consider offering extended credit to your good customers.
Only by segmenting your market into units do you have these options.
5. Purge your list
By eliminating those who have lesser probability of buying from you today, or soon, and
concentrating solely on those prime prospects who are most likely to turn into customers
today, your marketing efforts will bring rewards more quickly and a higher profit level. And
the opportunity for second and continuing orders also comes faster.
With speed of sales comes a lowering of costs. You dont take the extra time to sell. Instead
you begin profitable service immediately which reduces your costs, all of which falls to the
bottom line and becomes those very nice increased profits.
6. Technology
With rapid change in technology the manufacturing units are producing products at the lower
costs. Technology has made possible the production of goods as per the requirement of
different market segments.
For example China is able to produce a product of different quality standards, different price
and for different markets. Superior products for the developed countries and inferior products
for the developing countries.

The segmentation theory says that those people most likely to buy from you are exactly like
those already buying from you. It is relatively easy to divide markets into two main groups.
Those that buy and those who do not.

ASSIGNMENT A
Question four
Answer
Developing and ultimately launching a product can often make or break a business, especially
a start-up business. Some businesses develop only one product, while others develop many.
Product development steps vary based on the nature of the business and the management
style, but most businesses follow seven main steps in the development process.
Product Idea Brainstorming
The first step is to generate an idea for the product. Ask employees, especially those who deal
with customers regularly, for product ideas. Survey customers for feedback on existing
products. Examine your industry to see whether there are areas where useful products do not
exist. Create an online survey for your customers or social media fans to take. List all ideas
for a new product.
Evaluate the ideas
Make a list of product ideas and share it with the appropriate decision-maker in the company,
such as the management team. Discuss the pros and cons of each idea and narrow the list to
just a handful of the best ideas, based on their potential to generate revenue, as well as the
time and resources you have to actually create the products.
Market Evaluation
Seek feedback from customers, employees and partners on which idea is most appealing. Ask
customers for feedback via email or phone calls. Send an email to partners and employees
and ask which of the products seems most useful or valuable. Whittle the list to just one or
two product ideas.
Analysis
Analyse the remaining product idea from a business perspective. Determine how much, if
any, competition exists for similar products. Determine the demand for the product, and
estimate all costs affiliated with the product, such as development costs and operational costs,
to help determine the profit margin.
Prototype and Marketing
Develop a prototype of the product, and then share it with a handful of good customers and
key partners. Ask them to try it out and provide feedback. The marketing team should use that

feedback to craft marketing messages and developing marketing campaign ideas, such as
email campaigns, websites, billboards or posters. Base the marketing messages on the most
common positive comments or reactions from customers and partners during the prototype
evaluation.

Market Testing
Make adjustments to the prototype or develop a new version, if necessary. Develop additional
prototypes for market testing. Do a small product release in select areas. See whether the
product sells well, and evaluate why sales are high or low. Evaluate the price and the
effectiveness of the marketing messages. A small launch helps determine what needs to be
done before an official launch.
Prepare for Launch
Begin production for the first round of the product launch. Evaluate how many products to
produce based on your market testing and demand for the product. Advertise and speak to
product distributors about ordering the product, if the product will be sold in stores.

ASSINGMENT B
Question One.
Answer.
Through systematic pricing policies and strategies, companies can reap greater profits and
increase or defend their market shares. Setting prices is one of the principal tasks of
marketing and finance managers in that the price of the product or service often plays a
significant role in that products or services success, not to mention a companys
profitability. Generally, pricing policy refers to how a company sets the prices of its products
and services based on costs, value, demand and competition.
There are various pricing policies. However, we shall only consider two of them which are
explained below:Cost- plus pricing
Cost plus pricing is setting the price at the production cost plus a certain profit margin. That
cost plus pricing is a price increment that is added to the cost of providng the product or
service. The mark-up provides the profit margin. Cost plus pricing is based upon a mark-up
on the cost of an item. Cost- plus pricing works well when the buyer and seller do not know
what the cost of production will be but agree on a target profit over and above production
cost. Cost is always the base for any pricing decision. Cost drivers are either measured or
estimated and then covered by sales price + added margin
Advantages

-It is easy to apply because it is based on cost data.

-Mark-ups can be based on industry standards, individual expert opinions or widely accepted
rules of thumb.
-Cost plus pricing almost guarantees that you will not sell at a loss, so a cost plus figure
generally provides the basis for the lowest price acceptable.
-You are not required to follow the ups and downs of prices in the market.
Disadvantages
-Business that cannot identify their costs accurately may set prices at a level that does not
recover actual costs
-Cost plus pricing takes into account the cost and profit side of buying and selling, but it
neglects demand.
-Cost figures are generally based on an assumption of sales or production numbers.
Market based pricing
Market-based pricing is based on the results of the market research, which should tell you
how much your potential customers are willing to pay for the product or service. In market
based pricing the producer generally researches how much is usually paid for a certain
product in the market. This can be benchmarked by comparison. If this model is used then,
the price elasticity of demand should be known. Large and positive elasticity in the price or
volume relationship indicates that reductions to the general price level can be made quite
safely. If elasticity is negative, a price increase should be considered. On the other hand, plain
willingness to pay is not enough if the potential customer base has no disposable assets or
credit for the purchase. Thus, you need supporting data on specific and detailed markets as
well as analysis of consumer purchasing behaviour.
Advantages
-It keeps you competitive with direct competitors in the eyes of your customer.
-It is relatively fast to develop since competitor price comparisons is at hand.
-If a market price set by competitors enables them to make a profit, your business should
equally be able to make a profit at the same price.
Disadvantage
-The market price may not provide you with the profit margin you want.
-Market based pricing generally does not take into account new entrants that offer potential
substitute for your products or services.
-Your product may be so new that there is no solid market-based price with which to compare
your product or service.

-Market based pricing requires that you track the market price.

ASSIGNMENT B
Question Two.
Answer.
Kelloggs is a multinational food manufacturing company which is involved in producing
food products like cereals, crackers, cornflakes, food for vegetarians and other fine food
products with a market in several countries across the globe.
I would keenly view the past marketing strategies of the company with a special interest in
the positives and negatives, then develop a direct or indirect distribution system that will
assist the company to distribute its products to customers or retailers without involving any
intermediaries. Besides direct and indirect distribution I would also recommend to put in
place the multiple channels with the view of increasing the market coverage.

ASSIGNMENT B
Question Three.
Answer.
Sales promotion is a critical ingredient in marketing campaigns, it consists of a collection of
incentive tools, mostly short term designed to stimulate quicker or greater purchase of a
particular product or service by the consumer or the trade. Whereas advertising offers a
reason to buy, sales promotion offers an incentive to buy.
There are many toilet soap brand available in in the market and too many producers are also
providing this product to the customers. The most effective way of promoting toilet soap
among dealers is the pricing deals that will provide special discount to dealers to demand the
product. In order to promote the product among the consumers, I would recommend direct
consumer offers that will cover off the pack premiums, branded premium offer and in pack
offers. Advertising using internet, media and print would also be effective in promoting the
toilet soap brand.
ASSIGNMENT B
Case study
Question one
Answer

In my opinion the company should embrace both vendors, and consider giving the new
vendor 25% of the order as a way of keeping him. Since the company has been dealing with
Mr. Wali for a long time he should be given 75% of the orders. Its less risk dealing with
Mr.wali than the new vendor. Mr Wali already has a proven record as far as meeting quality
standards is concerned and delivery reliability. They say the devil you know is better than the
one you do not know.
However, keeping the new vendor provides the company with a fall-back should Mr. Wali
decide to take advantage and increase the price again.
ASSIGMENT B
Case study
Question Two
Answer
The company can engage Scrap Industries but not at the expense of Mr. Wali. Scrap
Industries need to prove that they can be up to the game just as Mr.Wali has proved himself.
Totally relying on Scrap Industries can be a disaster should they fail to perform. The
experience learnt from Mr.Wali is enough to compel the company to have more than one
supplier so that in future it does not dance to the tune of the supplier. It should always have a
choice of suppliers.

ASSIGNMENT C
Multiple choice
Answer
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

B
C
A
A
B
C
D
B

9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

C
B
B
B
C
B
B
B

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

A
D
D
B
A
B
C
C

25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32

D
C
D
B
D
B
C
A

33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40

C
B
D
B
A
C
C
A