NAXFRA MIXED EDUCATION ENRICHMENT (N.M.E.E).

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE AND INDUSTRY LIFE CYCLE Recognizing that all living things go through a cycle of birth, growth, maturity, and death, the inspiration for the concepts of product life cycle and industry life cycle comes from biology. The life-cycle concept is an appropriate description of what happens to products and industries over time. When applied to organizations, the product life cycle and industry life cycle contain the four stages of introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. This concept is much more than an interesting analogy of business and biology. In biology, a living organism's position in its life cycle leads to different courses of action concerning the organism's future. An industry's position and a product's position in their life cycles also lead to very different decisions concerning their futures. Consequently, the life-cycle concept was adopted from biology for use as a strategic planning tool for products and industries. The following sec

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE AND INDUSTRY LIFE CYCLE Recognizing that all living things go through a cycle of birth, growth, maturity, and death, the inspiration for the concepts of product life cycle and industry life cycle comes from biology. The life-cycle concept is an appropriate description of what happens to products and industries over time. When applied to organizations, the product life cycle and industry life cycle contain the four stages of introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. This concept is much more than an interesting analogy of business and biology. In biology, a living organism's position in its life cycle leads to different courses of action concerning the organism's future. An industry's position and a product's position in their life cycles also lead to very different decisions concerning their futures. Consequently, the life-cycle concept was adopted from biology for use as a strategic planning tool for products and industries. The following sec

PRODUCT DESIGN Product design is cross-functional, knowledge-intensive work that has become increasingly important in today's fast-paced, globally competitive environment. It is a key strategic activity in many firms because new products contribute significantly to sales revenue. When firms are able to develop distinctive products, they have opportunities to command premium pricing. Product design is a critical factor in organizational success because it sets the characteristics, features, and performance of the service or good that consumers demand. The objective of product design is to create a good or service with excellent functional utility and sales appeal at an acceptable cost and within a reasonable time. The product should be produced using high-quality, low-cost materials and methods. It should be produced on equipment that is or will be available when production begins. The resulting product should be competitive with or better than similar products on the market in te

NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT The dynamics of markets, technology, and competition have brought changes to virtually every market sector and have made new product development one of the most powerful business activities. The monumental changes that constantly impact commerce have forced companies to innovate with increasing speed, efficiency, and quality. In turn, this has made new product development one of the most complex and difficult business functions. However, firms must innovate in order to survive. The power of innovation is revealed in numerous studies, which show that companies leading their industries attribute about half of their revenues to products developed in the most recent five years. By comparison, companies at the bottom of their industries achieve approximately one-tenth of their sales from new products. A firm's new product development efforts are shaped by its size, as well as the nature of the industry in which it operates. New products may be defined as any

MARKETING RESEARCH Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information. This information is used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; to generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; to monitor marketing performance; and to improve understanding of the marketing process. Marketing research specifies the information, manages and implements the data-collection process, analyzes the results, and communicates the findings and their implications. Marketing research is concerned with the application of theories, problem-solving methods, and techniques to identify and solve problems in marketing. In order to offset unpredictable consumer behavior, companies invest in market research. Increased customer focus, demands for resource productivity, and increased domestic and international competition has prompted an increased emphasis on marketing research. Managers cannot always wait for information to