Question no. 2 - MMPC-006 - Marketing Management - MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

Solutions to Assignments

                            MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

                            MMPC-006 - Marketing Management

Question No. 2 

(a) What is a Product? Discuss the various classifications of products with suitable examples. Elaborate the importance of Branding and Packaging decisions with respect to an FMCG product proposed to be launched in the Indian market. 

A brand mark is a symbol used for the purpose of identification. It can be a mark, a design; a distinctive logo type or a colouring scheme, a picture, etc. In other words, it is not a name but a means of identification, e.g., picture of an elephant in a distinct frame used by the Department of Tourism, Government of India or the famous starcircle of a Mercedes Benz car, or Tin circle which you must have seen on buses and trucks made by TELCO. A trade mark is the legalised version of a brand. Brand falls

under the category of industrial property rights and, therefore, subject to certain rules and regulations, it can be registered and protected from being used by others. `A brand or a part of a brand that is given legal protection because it is capable of exclusive appropriation' is defined as a trade mark. It is strictly speaking a legal concept, even though brand and trade mark are quite often used synonymously.

It’s an accepted fact that people judge by outward appearance, and nowhere is this more true that on the retail shelf. When it comes to buying behaviour in FMCG goods, consumers assess a product by its packaging.

After all, it’s the customer’s first interaction with the product. It is the first thing she sees and touches. Most of the time, for an undecided customer, it is this first impression that persuades or dissuades her from buying. No wonder, packaging is considered an important tool for marketing and brand building.

Purpose of Packaging

Marketing is much more than just your product’s face. Packaging serves many practical purposes:

Protection: This is the first and foremost purpose of packaging. It physically protects the goods from damage caused by exposure to sun, dust, temperature changes & contaminants; it protects against loss of nutritional value such as denaturing of proteins, oxidation of fats, etc. Packaging preserves the hygroscopic nature of the product.

Information: One of the important functions is to communicate product information, which can assist consumers in making their decisions effectively. An example of such significant information is food labeling. The trend towards healthier eating has highlighted the importance of labeling, which gives the consumers an opportunity to cautiously consider alternatives and make informed decisions. Moreover, evolving mandatory requirements demand certain information to be provided by the manufacturer. Information typically covers directions for use, storage instructions, ingredients, warnings, helpline information and any government required warnings.

Aesthetics: In the contemporary world of supermarkets and countless me-too products, packaging plays an integral role in helping it stand out and grab the buyer’s attention. Aesthetic value increases chances of it being accepted and tried by the consumer. Packaging is a platform to build brand, enhance aesthetics and protect the form and shape. We all know that a deformed or dented pack is unacceptable to consumers, and so many SKUs are sent back – causing losses to the manufacturer.

Transportation: Goods have to be transported, distributed, stored and warehoused during their journey from production to consumption. Packaging ensures durability and strength, so the goods can withstand transportation stress and make the process of handling goods more convenient for all parties involved.

Security: To ensure that there is no tampering with the goods packaging is crucial. The package of a product will secure the goods from any foreign elements or alterations. High-quality packages will reduce the risk of any pilferage.

Convenience: It’s the age of innovation in packaging – and breakthroughs that enhance convenience, usability and sustainability are always appreciated. Some examples are Kissan jam tubes that eliminate the need for spoons; Act-II popcorn microwave pack; Bru coffee containers with aroma lock.

However basic considerations still remain important – ease of opening, pouring and re-sealing, re-usability of containers, and easy disposability of discarded packs.

The challenge

FMCG, as the name spells out, are fast moving consumer goods and include non-durable household goods such as packaged foods, beverages, toiletries, over-the-counter drugs, and other consumables. In a world of over-crowded shelves, growing consumerism, increasing awareness of environmental concerns, rising need for convenience, deeper penetration into rural & remote markets, etc., FMCG manufacturers need to pay minute attention to their packaging. Weight, cost and availability of packaging material play a key role. Packaging needs to contain, preserve and transport the product with safety and durability. The challenge lies in providing packaging that fulfills all these considerations and impressing consumers while managing the cost so that it does not mark up the price for the end user – or neglect environmental concerns.

Conclusion

Nichrome, India’s leading provider of integrated packaging solutions offers a wide variety of automated packaging machines and end-to-end packaging systems for diverse FMCG products.

(b) Discuss the concept of Product Life Cycle (PLC). Explain the various stage of PLC with a consumer durable example of your choice. 

What Is the Product Life Cycle?

The product life cycle is the process a product goes through from when it is first introduced into the market until it declines or is removed from the market. The life cycle has four stages—introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. 

While some products may remain in a prolonged maturity state for some time, all products eventually phase out of the market due to several factors including saturation, increased competition, decreased demand, and dropping sales.

Companies use PLC analysis (the process of examining their product's life cycle) to create strategies to sustain their product's longevity or change it to meet market demand or adapt with/to developing technologies. 

The 4 Stages of the Product Life Cycle

Once a product is developed, it typically goes through the four stages of the product life cycle—from introduction through decline—before eventually being retired from the market. 

The four stages of the product life cycle are introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. 

1. Introduction

Once a product has been developed, it begins the introduction stage of the PLC. In this stage, the product is released into the market for the first time. The release of a product is often a high-stakes time in the product's life cycle, although it does not necessarily make or break the product's eventual success. 

During the introduction stage, marketing and promotion are at a high, and the company often invests quite a bit of effort and capital in promoting the product and getting it into the hands of consumers. This is perhaps best showcased in Apple's (AAPL) - Get Apple Inc. Report famous launch presentations, which highlight the new features of their newly (or soon-to-be) released products. 

It is in this stage that the company is first able to get a sense of how consumers respond to the product, whether they like it, and how successful it may be. However, it is also often a heavy-spending period for the company with no guarantee that the product will pay for itself through sales. 

Costs are generally very high during this stage, and there is typically little competition. The principal goals of the introduction stage are to build demand for the product and get it into the hands of consumers, hoping to later cash in on its growing popularity. 

2. Growth

During the growth stage, consumers start taking to the product and buying it. The product concept is proven as it becomes more popular, and sales increase. 

Other companies become aware of the product and its space in the market as it begins to draw more attention and pull in more revenue. If competition for the product is especially high, the company may still heavily invest in advertising and promotion of the product to beat out competitors. As a result of the product growing, the market itself tends to expand. Products are often tweaked during the growth stage to improve their functions and features.

As the market expands, more competition often drives prices down to make the specific products competitive. However, sales usually increase in volume and continue to generate revenue. Marketing in this stage is aimed at increasing the product's market share. 

3. Maturity

When a product reaches maturity, its sales tend to slow, signaling a largely saturated market. At this point, sales may start to drop. Pricing at this stage tends to get competitive, so profit margins shrink as prices begin to fall due to the weight of outside pressures like increased competition and lower demand. Marketing at this point is targeted at fending off competition, and companies often develop new or altered products to reach different market segments. Given the highly saturated market, less-successful competitors are often pushed out of competition during the maturity stage. This is known as the "shake-out point." 

In this stage, saturation is reached and sales volume is maxed out. Companies often begin innovating to maintain or increase their market share, changing or developing their product to satisfy new demographics or keep up with developing technologies. 

The maturity stage may last a long time or a short time depending on the product. For some brands and products—like Coca-Cola (KO) - Get Coca-Cola Company Report—the maturity stage lasts a long time and is very drawn out. 

4. Decline

Although companies generally attempt to keep their product alive in the maturity stage as long as possible, eventual decline is inevitable for virtually every product.

In the decline stage, product sales drop significantly, and consumer behavior changes, as there is less demand for the product. The company's product loses more and more market share, and competition tends to cause sales to deteriorate. 

Marketing in the decline stage is often minimal or targeted at already-loyal customers, and prices are reduced. 

Eventually, the product is retired out of the market altogether unless it is able to redesign itself to remain relevant or in-demand. For example, products like typewriters, telegrams, and muskets are deep in their decline stages (and in fact are almost or completely retired from the market). 

Examples of the Product Life Cycle

The life cycle of any product always carries it from its introduction to its inevitable decline, but what does this cycle look like in a practical, real-world sense? Here are four examples. 

Typewriter

A classic example of the scope of the product life cycle is the typewriter.

When first introduced in the late 19th century, typewriters grew in popularity as a technology that improved the ease and efficiency of writing. However, new electronic technologies like computers, laptops, and even smartphones replaced typewriters quickly once they were introduced, causing typewriter demand and revenues to drop off. 

Overtaken by the likes of companies like Microsoft (MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report, typewriters are at the very tail end of their decline phase, with minimal (if existent) sales and drastically decreased demand. Now, the modern world almost exclusively uses desktop computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones to type. Consequently, these products are experiencing the growth and maturity phases of the product life cycle. 

VCR

Many of us grew up watching videotapes using VCRs (videocassette recorders for any Gen-Z readers), but you would likely be hard-pressed to find one in anyone's home these days. 

With the rise of streaming services like Netflix (NFLX) - Get Netflix, Inc. Report and Amazon (AMZN) - Get Amazon.com, Inc. Report (not to mention the interlude phase of DVDs), VCRs have been effectively phased out and are deep in their decline stage.

Once groundbreaking technology, VCRs are now in very low demand and are bringing in nearly no sales. 

Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles are still in the growth stage of the product life cycle. Companies like Tesla (TSLA) - Get Tesla Inc Report have been capitalizing on growing demand for years, although recent challenges may signal changes for that particular company.

Still, while the electric car isn't necessarily new, the innovations that companies like Tesla have made in recent years to adapt to new changes in the electric car market signal that the product is still in its growth phase. 

Question No. 1 - MMPC-006 - Marketing Management - MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

Solutions to Assignments

                            MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

                            MMPC-006 - Marketing Management

Question No. 1 

(a) Discuss your understanding of the term marketing with a suitable example. What is the concept of holistic marketing? Explain each of the components and their importance in the exchange process. 

→ Meaning of Marketing Concept

Succeeding by meeting the needs of customers is one of the most commonly held ideas of the marketing concept. Organizations that embrace this certain principle eagerly recognize that consumers are the dynamic strength behind their organizations. The concept of marketing is a fundamental piece of the marketing arrangements. Achievement is straightforwardly related to what the client needs.

→ Marketing Concept is a Philosophy

The concept of marketing is the rationality that urges association to concentrate on their clients’ necessities. Breaking down their needs and settling on such choices that fulfill those needs in a superior manner than contenders. To have a superior understanding of the concept of marketing, it’s beneficial to appraise alternate rationalities that once dominated and are being practiced by a few organizations even at present.

→ Importance of Marketing Concept

To put it plainly, the concept of marketing is imperative on the grounds that it characterizes how an organization will conduct business and thrive. It expresses that an organization’s essential occupation is to fulfill the needs of the client. This is proficient by figuring out what the business sector needs and after that adjusting your best product or service to match. To attain this objective, everybody in the organization must be devoted to consumer loyalty. It is likewise imperative to note that the organization must also benefit while fulfilling client needs. A business must target purchasers who they can really serve adequately. This is a business after all and the interim profitability is generally as essential as continuing profitability.

Let us look at the example of 2 interminable opponents – Pepsi and Coke – Both of these organizations sell the same products. However, the value proposal displayed by both is diverse. These organizations flourish with the concept of marketing. Where Pepsi concentrates on youths, Coke conveys on a comprehensive methodology. Additionally, the quality suggestion by Coke has been exceptional over ages as contrasted with Pepsi, which demonstrates that coke particularly flourishes with the advertising idea, i.e. it conveys a better value recommendation as contrasted with its rival.

The concept of marketing additionally demands that the vital choices made by the organization are taken by having the customer in mind and in particular the demands and needs of the customers. An all encompassing methodology is brought to the entire association striving to greatly improve the situation. Applying the concept of marketing additionally means recognizing what the business sector needs and anticipates from the organization as a consequence of which organizations which applies the concept of marketing need to perform more market research.

As we are eventually fulfilling the consumer, the concept of marketing likewise stresses that the association coordinates all its distinctive departments to offer value to the consumer. This implies that all the departments including Operations, Finance, HR or Marketing ought to have an idea of the center aims of the organization and in addition the objective of the organization.

Holistic marketing is a business marketing philosophy which considers business and all its parts as one single entity and gives a shared purpose to every activity and person related to that business.

A business is just like a human body: it has different parts, but it’s only able to function properly when all those parts work together towards the same objective. Holistic marketing concept enforces this interrelatedness and believes that a broad and integrated perspective is essential to attain best results.

Components of Holistic Marketing

Holistic marketing focuses on marketing strategies designed to market the brand to every person related to it, be it employees, existing customers or potential customers, and communicating it in a unified manner while keeping in mind the societal responsibility of the business.

Relationship Marketing

The relationship marketing aspect of holistic marketing philosophy focuses on a long-term customer relationship and engagement rather than short-term goals like customer acquisition and individual sales. This strategy focuses on targeting marketing activities on existing customers to create a strong, emotional, and everlasting customer connections. These connections further help the business in getting repeated sales, free word of mouth marketing and more leads.

Integrated Marketing

Integrated marketing is an approach to create a unified and seamless experience for the consumer to interact with the brand by designing and directing all communication (advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, public relations, and digital marketing) in such a way so that all work together as a unified force and centres around a strong and focused brand image.

INTEGRATED MARKETING HOLISTIC MARKETING

Internal Marketing

There are two types of customers to every business: internal and external. While focusing on external customers should be a top priority for every business, internal customers should not be left unnoticed as these internal customers (employees) play a vital role in marketing the brand and products to the external customers of the business.

Internal Marketing treats employees and staffs as internal customers who must be convinced of a company’s vision and worth just as aggressively as external customers. It also involves crafting processes which make them understand their role in the marketing process.

INTERNAL MARKETING HOLISTIC MARKETING-01

Socially responsible marketing

The socially responsible marketing aspect of the holistic marketing concept involves a broader concern of the society at large. It requires the business to follow certain business ethics and focuses on partnerships with philanthropic and community organisations. A business is considered as a part of the society and is required to repay the same.

Socially responsible marketing encourage a positive impact on company’s stakeholders.

Why is Holistic Marketing important?

Brand Building

According to a study, intangible assets made up 84% of the S&P 500 market value in 2015 as compared to 1975 where they made up only 17% of the S&P 500 market value.

The customers’ mindset is changing. They believe in buying a brand and not the product alone. Holistic marketing empowers the company to build a brand among all its stakeholders.

Consistency

Consistency is important to stay in the market for long. Since holistic marketing concept involves marketing the brand to all the stakeholders and through unified communication strategies, consistency is maintained.

Efficiency

When every aspect of the business is taken care of, it becomes easier to reduce (and even eliminate) repetition, become more efficient, and save company’s time and money. The efficiency can also be seen in tapping opportunities and spotting potential threats.

Effectiveness

Holistic marketing philosophy, by focusing on the big picture, creates a synergy that effectively reinforces the brand message, brand image, and positions the brand uniquely in the minds of the customers.

(b) Why and how Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) concept is used in Marketing? Discuss with an illustration. 

STP marketing is an acronym for Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning – a three-step model that examines your products or services as well as the way you communicate their benefits to specific customer segments.

In a nutshell, the STP marketing model means you segment your market, target select customer segments with marketing campaigns tailored to their preferences, and adjust your positioning according to their desires and expectations.

STP marketing is effective because it focuses on breaking your customer base into smaller groups, allowing you to develop very specific marketing strategies to reach and engage each target audience. 

In fact, 59% of customers say that personalization influences their shopping decision and another 44% said that a personalized shopping experience would influence them to become repeat customers of a brand.

STP marketing represents a shift from product-focused marketing to customer-focused marketing. This shift gives businesses a chance to gain a better understanding of who their ideal customers are and how to reach them. In short, the more personalized and targeted your marketing efforts, the more successful you will be.

Segmentation

The first step of the STP marketing model is the segmentation stage. The main goal here is to create various customer segments based on specific criteria and traits that you choose. The four main types of audience segmentation include:

Geographic segmentation: Diving your audience based on country, region, state, province, etc.

Demographic segmentation: Dividing your audience based on age, gender, education level, occupation, gender, etc.

Behavioral segmentation: Dividing your audience based on how they interact with your business: What they buy, how often they buy, what they browse, etc.

Psychographic segmentation: Dividing your audience based on “who” your potential customer is: Lifestyle, hobbies, activities, opinions, etc.

Targeting

Step two of the STP marketing model is targeting. Your main goal here is to look at the segments you have created before and determine which of those segments are most likely to generate desired conversions (depending on your marketing campaign, those can range from product sales to micro conversions like email signups).

Your ideal segment is one that is actively growing, has high profitability, and has a low cost of acquisition:

Size: Consider how large your segment is as well as its future growth potential.

Profitability: Consider which of your segments are willing to spend the most money on your product or service. Determine the lifetime value of customers in each segment and compare.

Reachability: Consider how easy or difficult it will be for you to reach each segment with your marketing efforts. Consider customer acquisition costs (CACs) for each segment. Higher CAC means lower profitability. 

There are limitless factors to consider when selecting an audience to target – we’ll get into a few more later on – so be sure that everything you consider fits with your target customer and their needs.

Positioning

The final step in this framework is positioning, which allows you to set your product or services apart from the competition in the minds of your target audience. There are a lot of businesses that do something similar to you, so you need to find what it is that makes you stand out. 

All the different factors that you considered in the first two steps should have made it easy for you to identify your niche. There are three positioning factors that can help you gain a competitive edge:

Symbolic positioning: Enhance the self-image, belongingness, or even ego of your customers. The luxury car industry is a great example of this – they serve the same purpose as any other car but they also boost their customer’s self-esteem and image.

Functional positioning: Solve your customer’s problem and provide them with genuine benefits.

Experiential positioning: Focus on the emotional connection that your customers have with your product, service, or brand.  

The most successful product positioning is a combination of all three factors. One way to visualize this is by creating a perceptual map for your industry. Focus on what is important for your customers and see where you and your competitors land on the map.

MMPC-006 - Marketing Management - MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

Solutions to Assignments

                            MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

                            MMPC-006 - Marketing Management

Question No. 1 

(a) Discuss your understanding of the term marketing with a suitable example. What is the concept of holistic marketing? Explain each of the components and their importance in the exchange process. 

(b) Why and how Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) concept is used in Marketing? Discuss will an illustration.                             CLICK HERE

Question No. 2 

(a) What is a Product? Discuss the various classifications of products with suitable examples. Elaborate the importance of Branding and Packaging decisions with respect to an FMCG product proposed to be launched in the Indian market. 

(b) Discuss the concept of Product Life Cycle (PLC). Explain the various stage of PLC with a consumer durable example of your choice.                        CLICK HERE

Question No. 3

(a) Distinguish Marketing Communication with Integrated Marketing Communication. How do they differ in terms of their approach in promotional decisions? Explain with an example of any service offering of your choice. What are the major objectives of Sales Promotion? Explain the Planning process involved in sales promotion programme. 

(b) Discuss the role of Distribution function. How does distribution add value to the marketing effort? Explain with an example.                        CLICK HERE

Question No. 4 

(a) What are the characteristics of services that make them unique from products? Explain each of these characteristic with an example. What constitute Digital marketing? Pickup any company of your choice and list down the digital marketing tools used by the firm. 

(b) Explain how Digital Marketing can be used in market penetration and in developing new markets. Discuss with a hypothetical example.                        CLICK HERE

Question No. 5 - MMPC-005 - Quantitative Analysis for Managerial Applications - MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

Solutions to Assignments

                            MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

                    MMPC-005 - Quantitative Analysis for  Managerial 

                                                Applications

Question No. 5. 

Write the short note on any three of the following:- 

(a) Mathematical Property of Median 

The value which occupies the centre position amongst the observations when arranged in ascending or descending order is the median. Fifty per cent scores are above or below the median. Hence, it is named as 50th percentile or positional average. The location of the median is dependent on whether the data set consists of an even or odd number of values. The method of finding the median is different for even and an odd number of observations.

Median Properties

In statistics, the properties of the median are explained in the following points.

• Median is not dependent on all the data values in a dataset.
• The median value is fixed by its position and is not reflected by the individual value.
• The distance between the median and the rest of the values is less than the distance from any other point.
• Every array has a single median.
• Median cannot be manipulated algebraically. It cannot be weighed and combined.
• In a grouping procedure, the median is stable.
• Median is not applicable to qualitative data.
• The values must be grouped and ordered for computation.
• Median can be determined for ratio, interval and ordinal scale.
• Outliers and skewed data have less impact on the median.
• If the distribution is skewed, the median is a better measure when compared to mean.

Formula to Find Median for Discrete Series

Calculating the median for individual series is as follows:

• The data is arranged in ascending or descending order.
• If it is an odd-sized sample, median = value of ([n + 1] / 2)th item.
• If it is an even-sized sample, median = ½ [ value of (n / 2)th item + value of ([n / 2] + 1)th item]

Calculating the median for discrete series is as follows:

• Arrange the data in ascending or descending order.
• The cumulative frequencies need to be computed.
• Median = (n / 2)th term, n refers to cumulative frequency.

The formula for finding the median for a continuous distribution is:

Where l = lower limit of the median class

f = frequency of the median class

N = the sum of all frequencies

i = the width of the median class

C = the cumulative frequency of the class preceding the median class

(b) Decision Tree Approach 

A decision tree is a support tool with a tree-like structure that models probable outcomes, cost of resources, utilities, and possible consequences. Decision trees provide a way to present algorithms with conditional control statements. They include branches that represent decision-making steps that can lead to a favorable result.

The flowchart structure includes internal nodes that represent tests or attributes at each stage. Every branch stands for an outcome for the attributes, while the path from the leaf to the root represents rules for classification.

Decision trees are one of the best forms of learning algorithms based on various learning methods. They boost predictive models with accuracy, ease in interpretation, and stability. The tools are also effective in fitting non-linear relationships since they can solve data-fitting challenges, such as regression and classifications.

Applications of Decision Trees

 

1. Assessing prospective growth opportunities

One of the applications of decision trees involves evaluating prospective growth opportunities for businesses based on historical data. Historical data on sales can be used in decision trees that may lead to making radical changes in the strategy of a business to help aid expansion and growth.

 

2. Using demographic data to find prospective clients

Another application of decision trees is in the use of demographic data to find prospective clients. They can help streamline a marketing budget and make informed decisions on the target market that the business is focused on. In the absence of decision trees, the business may spend its marketing market without a specific demographic in mind, which will affect its overall revenues.

 

3. Serving as a support tool in several fields

Lenders also use decision trees to predict the probability of a customer defaulting on a loan by applying predictive model generation using the client’s past data. The use of a decision tree support tool can help lenders evaluate a customer’s creditworthiness to prevent losses.

Decision trees can also be used in operations research in planning logistics and strategic management. They can help in determining appropriate strategies that will help a company achieve its intended goals. Other fields where decision trees can be applied include engineering, education, law, business, healthcare, and finance.

(c) Stratified vs. Cluster Sampling 

In statistics, two of the most common methods used to obtain samples from a population are cluster sampling and stratified sampling.

This tutorial provides a brief explanation of both sampling methods along with the similarities and differences between them.

Cluster Sampling

Cluster sampling is a type of sampling method in which we split a population into clusters, then randomly select some of the clusters and include all members from those clusters in the sample.

For example, suppose a company that gives whale-watching tours wants to survey its customers. Out of ten tours they give one day, they randomly select four tours and ask every customer about their experience.

Stratified Sampling

Stratified sampling is a type of sampling method in which we split a population into groups, then randomly select some members from each group to be in the sample.

For example, suppose a high school principal wants to conduct a survey to collect the opinions of students. He first splits the students into four stratums based on their grade – Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior – then selects a simple random sample of 50 students from each grade to be included in the survey.

Cluster sampling and stratified sampling share the following similarities:

- Both methods are examples of probability sampling methods – every member in the population has an equal probability of being selected to be in the sample.

- Both methods divide a population into distinct groups (either clusters or stratums).

- Both methods tend to be quicker and more cost-effective ways of obtaining a sample from a population compared to a simple random sample.

Cluster sampling and stratified sampling share the following differences:

- Cluster sampling divides a population into groups, then includes all members of some randomly chosen groups.

- Stratified sampling divides a population into groups, then includes some members of all of the groups.

(d) Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient

The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (or Pearson correlation coefficient, for short) is a measure of the strength of a linear association between two variables and is denoted by r. Basically, a Pearson product-moment correlation attempts to draw a line of best fit through the data of two variables, and the Pearson correlation coefficient, r, indicates how far away all these data points are to this line of best fit (i.e., how well the data points fit this new model/line of best fit).

The Pearson correlation coefficient, r, can take a range of values from +1 to -1. A value of 0 indicates that there is no association between the two variables. A value greater than 0 indicates a positive association; that is, as the value of one variable increases, so does the value of the other variable. A value less than 0 indicates a negative association; that is, as the value of one variable increases, the value of the other variable decreases. This is shown in the diagram below:

The stronger the association of the two variables, the closer the Pearson correlation coefficient, r, will be to either +1 or -1 depending on whether the relationship is positive or negative, respectively. Achieving a value of +1 or -1 means that all your data points are included on the line of best fit – there are no data points that show any variation away from this line. Values for r between +1 and -1 (for example, r = 0.8 or -0.4) indicate that there is variation around the line of best fit. The closer the value of r to 0 the greater the variation around the line of best fit. Different relationships and their correlation coefficients are shown in the diagram below:

Question No. 3 - MMPC-005 - Quantitative Analysis for Managerial Applications - MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

Solutions to Assignments

                            MBA and MBA (Banking & Finance)

                    MMPC-005 - Quantitative Analysis for  Managerial 

                                                Applications

Question No. 3. 

Of a large group of men, 5% are under 58 inches and 40% are between 58 and 65 inches. Assuming a normal distribution find the mean height and standard deviation.  

Question No. 5 - MCO-03 - Research Methodology and Statistical Analysis

Solutions to Assignments

                               MCO-03 - 

    Research Methodology and Statistical Analysis

                           Mcom - 2nd Year

Question No. 5

Distinguish between the following: 

(a) Primary and Secondary Data 

In statistical analysis, collection of data plays a significant part. The method of collecting information is divided into two different sections, namely primary data and secondary data. In this process, the primary data is assembling data or information for the first time, whereas the secondary data is the data that has already been gathered or collected by others.

The most important characteristics of the primary data is that it is original and first-hand, whereas the secondary data is the interpretation and analysis of the primary data.

Primary Data Definition

Primary data is the data that is collected for the first time through personal experiences or evidence, particularly for research. It is also described as raw data or first-hand information. The mode of assembling the information is costly, as the analysis is done by an agency or an external organisation, and needs human resources and investment. The investigator supervises and controls the data collection process directly.

The data is mostly collected through observations, physical testing, mailed questionnaires, surveys, personal interviews, telephonic interviews, case studies, and focus groups, etc.

Secondary Data Definition

Secondary data is a second-hand data that is already collected and recorded by some researchers for their purpose, and not for the current research problem. It is accessible in the form of data collected from different sources such as government publications, censuses, internal records of the organisation, books, journal articles, websites and reports, etc.

This method of gathering data is affordable, readily available, and saves cost and time. However, the one disadvantage is that the information assembled is for some other purpose and may not meet the present research purpose or may not be accurate.

The differences between the primary and secondary data are represented in a comparison format as follows:

 

Primary Data	Secondary Data
Definition
Primary data are those that are collected for the first time.	Secondary data refer to those data that have already been collected by some other person.
Originality
These are original because these are collected by the investigator for the first time.	These are not original because someone else has collected these for his own purpose.
Nature of Data
These are in the form of raw materials.	These are in the finished form.
Reliability and Suitability
These are more reliable and suitable for the enquiry because these are collected for a particular purpose.	These are less reliable and less suitable as someone else has collected the data which may not perfectly match our purpose.
Time and Money
Collecting primary data is quite expensive both in the terms of time and money.	Secondary data requires less time and money; hence it is economical.
Precaution and Editing
No particular precaution or editing is required while using the primary data as these were collected with a definite purpose.	Both precaution and editing are essential as secondary data were collected by someone else for his own purpose.

(b) Estimation and testing of hypothesis

 

(c) Sampling and Non-Sampling Errors 

Sampling error is one which occurs due to unrepresentativeness of the sample selected for observation. Conversely, non-sampling error is an error arise from human error, such as error in problem identification, method or procedure used, etc.

An ideal research design seeks to control various types of error, but there are some potential sources which may affect it. In sampling theory, total error can be defined as the variation between the mean value of population parameter and the observed mean value obtained in the research. The total error can be classified into two categories, i.e. sampling error and non-sampling error.

BASIS FOR COMPARISON	SAMPLING ERROR	NON-SAMPLING ERROR
Meaning	Sampling error is a type of error, occurs due to the sample selected does not perfectly represents the population of interest.	An error occurs due to sources other than sampling, while conducting survey activities is known as non sampling error.
Cause	Deviation between sample mean and population mean	Deficiency and analysis of data
Type	Random	Random or Non-random
Occurs	Only when sample is selected.	Both in sample and census.
Sample size	Possibility of error reduced with the increase in sample size.	It has nothing to do with the sample size.

The significant differences between sampling and non-sampling error are mentioned in the following points:

a. Sampling error is a statistical error happens due to the sample selected does not perfectly represents the population of interest. Non-sampling error occurs due to sources other than sampling while conducting survey activities is known as non-sampling error.

b. Sampling error arises because of the variation between the true mean value for the sample and the population. On the other hand, the non-sampling error arises because of deficiency and inappropriate analysis of data.

c. Non-sampling error can be random or non-random whereas sampling error occurs in the random sample only.

d. Sample error arises only when the sample is taken as a representative of a population.As opposed to non-sampling error which arises both in sampling and complete enumeration.

e. Sampling error is mainly associated with the sample size, i.e. as the sample size increases the possibility of error decreases. On the contrary, the non-sampling error is not related to the sample size, so, with the increase in sample size, it won’t be reduced.

(d) Bibliography and footnote 

The Footnote

Content footnotes give additional information about the content, and bibliographic notes provide additional sources related to the content. The footnote is found at the bottom, or foot, of the page. It is marked by a superscript number within the body of the text. The superscript number also appears at the bottom of the page, along with the additional explanatory or bibliographic information.

If specific sources are used to write content footnotes, this information should be cited through parenthetical citations within the footnote and then with full citation information within the Works Cited, or Bibliography, page. Bibliographic footnotes point your readers to specific, related outside texts without providing much commentary on them. Full citation information for these sources should also be included on the Works Cited page.

The Bibliography

The Bibliography, or Works Cited, page is the last section of a paper. It compiles the full citation information for any source cited in or consulted for the paper into one location and allows your readers to get an overview of the works informing your thinking.

The full citation information found in this section tells your readers when and where a source was published, whereas a footnote might only include the title of the work. Additionally, no information besides the citation information is included within the bibliography.

Question No. 5 - MCO-01 - Organisation Theory and Behaviour - Master of Commerce (M.Com)

Solutions to Assignments 

MCO-01 - Organisation Theory and Behaviour

Master of Commerce (M.Com) - 2nd Year 

Question No. 5 Comment briefly on the following statement:
(a) Redesigning jobs based on feedback is also a technique of job redesign.

Restructuring the elements including tasks, duties and responsibilities of a specific job in order to make it more encouraging and inspiring for the employees or workers is known as job redesigning. The process includes revising, analyzing, altering, reforming and reshuffling the job-related content and dimensions to increase the variety of assignments and functions to motivate employees and make them feel as an important asset of the organization. The main objective of conducting job redesigning is to place the right person at the right job and get the maximum output while increasing their level of satisfaction.

Job Redesign Process

Revising the Job Content: Job redesigning process involves recollecting and revising job-related information to determine the inconsistency between person and the job.

Analyzing Job-related Information: Once the job analyst is through with recollecting and revising the job content, analyzing the discrepancies is the next step. It is done to determine the hindrances in performing job-related tasks and duties and investigate why an employee is not able to deliver the expected output.

Altering the Job Elements: The next step is to amend the job elements. It may include cut back on extra responsibilities or addition of more functions and a higher degree of accountability. The basic aim of altering the job content is to design a job in such a manner that encourages employees to work harder and perform better.

Reformation of Job Description and Specification: After altering the job elements, a job analyst needs to reform the job description and specification in order to make sure that the worker placed at a particular place is able to deliver what is expected of him.

Reshuffling the Job-related Tasks and Duties: Next is to reallocation of new or altered tasks and functions to employees. It may be done by rotating, enriching, enlarging and engineering the job. The idea is to motivate the performers while increasing their satisfaction level.

Advantages of Job Redesigning

Enhances the Quality of Work-Life: Job redesigning motivates the employees and enhances the quality of their work life. It increases their on-the-job productivity and encourages them to perform better.

Increases Organization’s and Employees’ Productivity: Altering their job functions and duties makes employees much comfortable and adds to their satisfaction level. The unambiguous job responsibilities and tasks motivate them to work harder and give their best output. Not only this, it also results in increased productivity of an organization.

Brings the Sense of Belongingness in Employees: Redesigning job and allowing employees to do what they are good at creates a sense of belongingness in them towards the organization. It is an effective strategy to retain the talent in the organization and encouraging them to carry out their responsibilities in a better fashion.

Creates a Right Person-Job Fit: Job Redesigning plays an important role in creating a right person-job fit while harnessing the full potential of employees. It helps organization as well as employees in achieving their targets or goals.

Therefore, the purpose of job redesigning is to identify the task significance and skill variety available in the organization and reallocating the job-related tasks and responsibilities according to the specific skills possessed by an employee.

 

(b) Informal channel is the result of the operation of social forces at work place. 

Informal communication is casual communication between coworkers in the workplace. It is unofficial in nature and is based in the informal, social relationships that are formed in a workplace outside of the normal hierarchy of business structure. That is why informal business communication can take place between the CEO and an hourly worker. This type of communication is important in the workplace as it can help with employee morale and can encourage the feeling of belonging for the employees as well as a client or customer.

Good examples of informal communication in the workplace can be seen whenever one employee interacts with another employee in a casual and conversational way. They can talk about the game that was on last night or even about a company policy change.

One of the great informal communication examples is to think of it like a conversation between a family at a dinner table. Any child can turn to the mom or dad of the family (or the boss of the company) and casually ask them questions about something they brought up in a family meeting. It’s a calm and carefree scenario to discuss things.

Informal communication is casual and carefree while formal communication can seem cold and distant. Both these types of communication are important for the workplace, but informal communication is beneficial because it can bridge gaps between departments and create a sense of belonging. Informal communication is friendly and inviting and is a great sign that someone has a friend in the company.

Informal communication is an advantage to business because if employees have friends to communicate with they will enjoy their job more, which can increase productivity. A disadvantage to informal communication is just that, it’s informal. Unofficial or unconfirmed information can be spread to employees, leading to mass disinformation. A great benefit to informal communication is that employees have someone to go to when they don’t understand an aspect of the business. It is a great way for employees to feel connected and to keep abreast with how the business works.

Informal or Grapevine communication is an indispensable part of entire communication system. Formal communication is compared to arteries of a living being, whereas, grapevine or informal communication are like veins. The later is a supplement to the former. Where formal communication fails to operate, grapevine or informal communication is used.

Some­times, grapevine communication is more effective than the formal communication. In fact, it carries more information than formal communication. Not only is a large volume of information, important and vital information also conveyed through it.

In an organisation small groups of people work together. It is quite natural that they will become interested about each other and want to know various information regarding each other’s service condition, salary, facilities available, appointment, retirement, transfer, punishment, etc.

They will also be interested to know any private, secret and confidential information which includes any romantic affair, family disputes, marriage, birth of a child, examination results of their children, special treatment or favour by boss to any member and so on.

The employees generally exchange their views with their peers openly during lunch break or at an interval and get emotional relief from monotony and stress. Thus, the informal or grapevine communication promotes social relationship among the participants. It helps to build up unity, integrity and solidarity among them and boosts up their morale.

Grapevine or informal communication is faster than the formal communication. Being oral in nature, it has little or no cost and can reach maximum number of people irrespective of their positions within a very short time.

Since there is no official procedure and formalities it is not binding and compelling, rather it is flexible and spontaneous. The managers can get feedback from their subordinates quickly on the plan and policies through grapevine. New ideas, suggestions, opinions may come out as people can express their feelings without fear.

Effective Use of Informal or Grapevine Communication:

Since grapevine communication is an integral part of communication system it works side by side with the formal communication. The nature of grapevine communication can be guessed from its name. Like a grapevine plant it grows fast, spreads to any direction and goes a long way in creating informal relationship.

Here, information spreads very quickly in geometric progression from one to a few and from a few to many persons irrespective of their formal positions. Spread of half true information or rumor is not congenial to the organisational health.

It breeds conflict, weakens consolidation and unity, diminishes morale of the workers and creates a chaotic situation within the organisation. It becomes more harmful for an organisation when the managers take decisions depending upon such unreliable, inaccurate and incomplete information.

The efficient managers can make proper use of informal or grapevine communication and apply it for the well-being of the organisation if some general steps like the following are taken:

i. The managers should keep a watchful eye on the leaders who spread rumors and keep them well-informed about the actual situation.

ii. The managers should contradict rumors as soon as possible.

iii. They should involve the employees in decision-making, etc.

The managers, on the other hand, can supplement formal communication with grapevine communication. They can feel the pulse of the organisation through informal communication. They can even use it to convey any official information with a bit of care.

(c) Organisation Development is the modern approach to management of change for human resources development. 

Organizational development is a critical and science-based process that helps organizations build their capacity to change and achieve greater effectiveness by developing, improving, and reinforcing strategies, structures, and processes.

There are a few elements in this definition (adapted from Cummings & Worley, 2009) that stand out.

Critical and science-based process. OD is an evidence-based and structured process. It is not about trying something out and seeing what happens. It is about using scientific findings as input and creating a structured and controlled process in which assumptions are tested. Lastly, it is about testing if the outcomes reflect the intention of the intervention.

Build capacity to change and achieve greater effectiveness. Organizational development is aimed at organizational effectiveness. It, therefore, has a number of (business) outcomes. These can differ between organizations, but usually, they do include financial performance, customer satisfaction, organizational member engagement, and an increased capacity to adapt and renew the organization. These are not always clear-cut. Sometimes it is about building a competitive advantage, in whichever way we define that. We will explore these outcomes later in this article

Developing, improving, and reinforcing strategies, structures, and processes. The last part of our definition states that organizational development applies to changes in strategy, structure, and/or processes. This implies a system-approach, where we focus on an entire organizational system. This can include the full organization, one or more locations, or a single department.

 

Organizational design has become more crucial over time. Today’s world is characterized by Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA). This VUCA world requires new agility from organizations, and organizational development is the means to that end.

In organizational development, the main stakeholders are both internal and external to the company. Management and employees are internal stakeholders. External stakeholders include customers, investors, suppliers, communities and governments.  

Globalization leads to a much greater interconnectedness and opens up organizations to world-wide opportunities and threats. 

On top of that, IT is redefining how traditional business models work, creating innovative companies with the ability to scale their services to a worldwide audience in the timespan of only a few years. Just a year after launching, Facebook hit one million registered users. A few years later, Snapchat hit 10 million active users in its first year. This exposes incumbents to disruption.

Finally, business systems become better at measuring relevant data, changing the way success is measured. On top of that, advanced people analytics can help to further drive organizational outcomes.

Human Process Interventions

Human process interventions are change programs that relate to interpersonal relations, group, and organizational dynamics. These are some of the earliest and best-known OD interventions.

1. Individual interventions. These interventions are targeted to the individual, often aimed at improving communication with others. An employee is coached on interpersonal behaviors that are counterproductive. 

2. Group interventions. These interventions are aimed at the content, structure, or process of the group. The content is what the group is focused on. The structure is how a group is designed to act on the content. The process is the way in which the group carries out its core tasks. For example, a contact center focuses on taking complaints from customers. The contact center has a hierarchical structure with a director, managers, and customer service staff. The contact center’s process is to record as quickly as possible, all complaints. Only a certain percentage are escalated to management depending on how serious and complex, a complaint is.

3. Third-party interventions. Third-party interventions are often used when there are conflicts. Not all conflicts are bad, but bad conflicts should be resolved quickly. The third-party intervention helps to control and resolve the conflict. Often, the third party is the OD consultant.

4. Team building. Team building is the best-known OD intervention. It refers to activities that help groups improve the way they accomplish tasks. Examples of team-building activities are volunteering, team sports, and Pictionary. 

5. Organizational confrontation meeting. A confrontation meeting aims to identify problems and improvement targets, and set priorities. It is a starting point for addressing identified problems, across your organization. 

6. Intergroup relations interventions. Intergroup interventions are aimed at diagnosing and understanding in-group relations. Similarly, problems are identified and priorities and improvement targets are set, before working on the identified issues.

7. Large-group interventions. These interventions are somewhat in the middle, of confrontation and intergroup interventions.  The aim is to bring a large number of organization members and other stakeholders together. Internal and external stakeholders work together collaboratively. Large-group interventions may address organization-wide problems, or implement changes of structure or direction. For example, if you run a care home, you would seek feedback from service users, relatives, and staff on ways to improve the quality of life for residents. This could be starting new activities or changing the menu options. They are often referred to as “open space meetings”, “world cafes”, “future searches”, and “appreciative inquiry summits”.

Human Resource Management Interventions

These are organizational development techniques that focus on the way the individual is managed. Many of these are part of HRM functions.

1. Performance management. Good performance management includes techniques such as goal setting, performance appraisal, and reward systems.

2. Developing talent. This includes talent management practices like coaching & mentoring, career planning, development interventions, and management and leadership development.

3. Diversity interventions. Diversity is a source of innovation. This includes age, gender, race, sexual orientation, disabilities, and culture, and value orientation. These OD intervention techniques are aimed at increasing diversity.

4. Wellness interventions. Employee wellness interventions include stress management programs, and employee assistance programs. They address social factors and aim for a healthy work-life balance.

How Human Resources and OD relate

You can see that there are many OD interventions, relating to Human Resource Management functions. Policies such as performance management, goal setting, appraisal, and talent management practices are all important in achieving effective organizational development.

However, whereas HRM focuses specifically on people practices, OD takes a more holistic approach. Using tools like organizational design, individual and group interventions, work design, and more traditional people interventions, OD can operate at all levels of the organization. These levels are organizational, group, and individual. However, the focus is always on strategic themes, whereas HR is often a lot more operational.

Sometimes, OD functions are located in the HR function, but not always. Sometimes it’s part of a services department, corporate strategy, or internal consulting. External strategy consultants also frequently utilize OD techniques in change management projects.

Both HRM and OD have their roots in the business strategy – the mission, values, and vision of the organization. Both outline the actions needed to implement that strategy in their respective fields. In addition, many early people analytics initiatives originate from the OD department.  

What’s clear is that the OD techniques we listed above are very powerful. For an HR professional, there are huge benefits to mastering them. The term OD emerged in the 1960s, as a way to describe managing the behavioral aspects of people, within organizations. Understanding OD means you can identify which elements of core HR functions need to be focused on, in order to support the organization as a whole, in becoming more efficient. OD provides an integrated way of approaching these challenges.

(d) The components of organisational effectiveness are managerial policies and practices, employee characteristics, organisational characteristics and the environmental characteristics. 

Organizational effectiveness means to study the organizational structure in order to understand the basic working. It helps in evaluating and analyzing the performance of the organization. There are various components of organizational effectiveness they are:

1. Managerial Policies and Practices

2. Environmental Characteristics

3. Employee Characteristics

4. Organizational Characteristics

1. Managerial Policies and Practices: It helps to combine the organization as a whole in order to maintain a balance between the various interest groups in an organization and to accommodate them according to the environment of the organization. There are various policies and procedures which need to be formulated and implemented at various occasions of the organization they are:

a) Strategy: It refers to the plan in order to interact between the competitive companies to achieve the goals effectively. These strategies are selected on the basis of environmental needs, and then are redesigned by the top management to achieve the desired results.

b) Leadership: It enables to influence the employees towards the effective goal achievements. Leaders enable to identify the organizational goals and also try to initiate the steps towards them.

c) Decision Making: Managerial decisions play a very important role in the success of an organization which is taken out of the various alternatives available at a given point of time.

d) Rewards: Rewards are given to the employees to recognize their efforts towards effective achievement of the organizational goals. It is done to encourage the employees and boost their morale which enables them to improve the quality and quantity of work.

e) Communication: It contributes a lot in the event of organizational change as it helps in the proper communication and linkage between the members of the organization.

2. Environmental characteristics: The external environment plays a very important role in achieving organizational effectiveness. It has various characteristics of environment which helps in understanding the status of the organization they are:

a) Predictability: It refers to the state of certainty or uncertainty in an organization towards supply of human resources, human, raw material etc. Predictability is an element of external environment.

b) Complexity: It refers to the heterogeneity and the range of activities that proves relevant to the operations in the organizations.

c) Hostility: It is an environment in which the foundation of the organization is threatened. It refers to the view by which people view the organization.

3. Employee Characteristics: It is an important characteristic as the source of human resources can make or break an organization. Employee Characteristics reflects the success and failure of the organization and its major characteristics are goals, skills, motives, attitudes and values.

a) Goals: It refers to the direction in which an organization is inclined to go. They can be termed to as intentions that an individual of an organization would like to accomplish during his course of working. It provides directional nature to behaviour of the people and guides their thoughts and actions.

b) Skills: It refers to ability to engage in a set of behaviour that is related to one another. It is the ability that leads to a desired performance in a specified are and it can be technical, administrative, managerial, behavioral etc.

c) Motives: It is an inner state of mind that helps a person to be energized, motivated and directed towards the accomplishment of a pre-defined goal. It is observed that motivated employees have high zeal and enthusiasm to perform better to achieve their respective organizational goals.

d) Attitudes: They are evaluative statements (favorable or unfavorable) concerning objects, events or people and influences job behaviour as well effectiveness of the organization.

e) Values: It refers to as specific code of conduct or basic sincerity possessed by an individual in the organization. It is highly influential in individual attitude and behaviour. It influences the motivation of an individual as well as his behaviour in the organization.

4. Organizational Characteristics: It refers to the general conditions that exist within an organization. The various characteristics that influence the effectiveness of organizations are structure, technology and size.

a) Structure: It defines the formal division, grouping and coordination of the job tasks within the organization. There are six important elements in an organizational structure that are needed for organizational effectiveness. These six elements are work specialization, departmentation, chain of command, span of control, centralization and decentralization, and formalization.

b) Technology: It refers to the ways and means by which an organization transfers its inputs into outputs. The organizational efficiency is largely dependent on the choice of technology and its use.

c) Size: It refers to the number of people in an organization. In broader sense, it can also be referred to as the physical capacity of the organization, the personnel available to the organization, the organizational inputs or outputs and the optional resources available to an organization. The effectiveness and efficiency of an organization is dependent on the size of the organization.