tems, the typical shopper passes by some 300 items per minute, and 53 percent of all purchases are made on impulse. In this highly competitive environment, the package may be the seller's last chance to influence buyers. It becomes a "five-second commercial." The Campbell Soup Company estimates that the average shopper sees its familiar red and white can 76 times a year, creating the equivalent of $26 million worth of advertising.
Market Research: the importance of doing market research before launching a new product
Sales: How to sell a product effectively in international markets
Product Promotion: the importance of selecting appropriate members of staff to attend exhibitions
Communication: the importance in business of maintaining contact with clients
Public Relations: the importance of adequate supervision and training of staff who deal with the public
Management: How to run a meeting successfully
Transport Management: the importance to a business of an efficient public transport system
Any distribution of products from producers to wholesalers or from wholesalers to retailers requires transportation. The cost of transporting some products can exceed the cost of producing them. An efficient form of transportation can result in higher costs and lower profits for the firm. For each form of transportation, firms should estimate timing, cost, and availability. This assessment allows the firm to choose an optimal method of transportation. The most common forms of transportation used to distribute products are truck, rail, air, water, pipeline.
Transport Management: the importance of using environmentally friendly means of transport whenever possible
Health & Safety
Employee Safety: Firms ensure that the workplace is safe for employees by closely monitoring the production process. Some obvious safety precautions are to check machinery and equipment for proper working conditions, require safety glasses or any other equipment that one can prevent injury, and emphasize any special safety precautions in training seminars.
Firms that create a safe working environment prevent injuries and improve the morale of their employees. Many firms, such as Allied Signal, now identify workplace safety as one of their main goals. Levi Strauss and Company imposes safety guidelines not only its U.S. facilities but also on Asian factories where some of its clothes are made. Starbucks Coffee Company has developed a code of conduct in an attempt to improve the quality of life in coffee-producing countries.
Life Skills: the importance of being able to cope with stress in a job
Technology: the importance of training staff in how to use new technology when introducing it into the workplace
Sample
Zhang: Hi, Ms Wang, you know, our company is sort of out of control these days. Don't you think so?
Wang: Yeah. Everything seems to be in disorder here in our company. And that obviously has a lot to do with poor time management.
Zhang: You mean poor time management has caused all these problems. Why?
Wang: When time is not well planned within a company, they usually do not allocate blocks of time to specified tasks. They do not have a definite idea of when they should complete a certain task. And …
Zhang: And I think they often neglect the ordering of priorities. I mean certain tasks need our prior attention. But in our company every task is treated on an equal basis, even if it is a very urgent task.
Wang: That's the point. So time should be planned according to the importance of the tasks we need to deal with.
Zhang: So what do you think we can do so that time is managed effectively here in our company?
Wang: You mean what procedures we can adopt?
Zhang: Sure. That's what our boss is asking us to do. Right?
Wang: Right. I think we've got a lot to do. First, we should make all the staff members realize how important effective time management is to our company.
Zhang: Yes, I think we can give them instruction in time management, especially those in supervisory positions.
Wang: Right, perhaps we can run a few training programs for them. If need, we may invite some experts from outside to help us.
Zhang: Another thing we can do is to make all the managers, or even every staff member, come up with a job description of their own. In this way, they can be pretty sure about what they are responsible for and what they are not.
Wang: Yes, that's a good idea. And I think, the top managers of our company should come up with a set of rules as to what kind of jobs should be given priority to. In this way, we can make sure that important tasks are dealt with first.
Zhang: Good idea. So to sum up, our company should run a few training programs, and every staff member should write a job description of their own.
Wang: And rules should be made as to what kind of job should be given priority to.
Responding to Competition
Zhang: You know our sales have fallen a lot during the past quarter.
Wang: Yes, one of our competitors is charging a lot less than us.
Zhang: I know. It is a new company in this line of business. We really need to do something about it.
Wang: What do you think we can do?
Zhang: I think we can launch an advertising campaign to promote our product.
Wang: Yes, it's a good idea. But that will surely add to our cost and therefore push up our price.
Zhang: I know what you mean. Price is a major consideration when a customer decides on a purchase. But there are certainly many other considerations on their part, for example, quality and after-sales service.
Wang: That makes sense. Ours is a high quality product and our after-sales service is good enough, I think. That's why we are charging a higher price than our competitors. So we should emphasize our quality and after-sales service in our ad so that...
Zhang: So that people will know the high quality of our product and after-sales service and more people will buy our products.
Wang: But I am still worried about the price. You know customers always like low prices.
Zhang: Yes, indeed. In fact, we can cut down a bit on our price. You know when sales increase after our advertising, we are likely to increase our profit even if we cut down our price a little bit.
Wang: Yes, a low price high volume strategy.
Zhang: That's it. We may even consider some other incentives, such as a coupon to go with our newspaper ad, and …
Wang: And I think we can offer free delivery for our customers.
Zhang: Yes, but we cannot afford to offer free delivery for all our customers.
Wang: Only those who are within the free delivery area, I think.
Zhang: Yes, I think so.
New Computer System
Wang: Well, you know our company is considering buying an up-to-date computer system.
Zhang: Yes, just to replace the system we're using now. I think it's a wise decision.
Wang: We need to find out what new computer systems are available first.
Zhang: Yes, so that we can choose one that is most suitable for our company. I think we can find some information from Internet.
Wang: Yes, but I'm afraid not all the information on the Internet is reliable.
Zhang: Right, but at least we can get some information about the system providers.
Wang: That's right, but we can also find some information from newspaper advertisements. I tend to think they are more reliable.
Zhang: Sure. I have the same feeling.
Wang: But I think the best way is to visit some of the providers and have face-to-face talks with them so that they can know our needs and we can see for ourselves how their systems work.
Zhang: And then make our own decision as to what best suits us.
Wang: Right. Let's do that. And in replacing the existing system, I think there are a few factors we need to take into account. First, do we have to buy up-to-date computers if we decide to use new systems?
Zhang: I think we'll have to.
Wang: In that case, what shall do with these replaced computers?
Zhang: I think we'll have to dispose of them at very low prices.
Wang: Yes, I don't think there's any other alternative.
Zhang: And also I think we'll have to retrain our people. I bet not many of them are familiar with the up-to-date system.
Wang: Yes, so let's recommend it to the HR. I think they can run some training programs for the staff involved.
Zhang: Right. I couldn't agree more.
Promotional Video
Zhang: You know, we are going to make a video to promote our products.
Wang: Yeah. And we are going to send them to our potential new clients. Really a good idea, isn't it?
Zhang: Sure. Which members of staff should be involved in making the video, do you think?
Wang: Well. I think there should be representatives from Marketing because primarily it is their job to promote the sales, isn't it?
Zhang: Yes, and we should also involve R&D people. You know, they certainly know more than the others about our products.
Wang: They know what characteristic features of our products we should present to our clients.
Zhang: Right. And we should assure our potential clients of the high quality of our products, so I would suggest we include Quality Control also.
Wang: Good idea. And people on the after-sales side too. You know after-sales service is one of the primary concerns of our clients.
Zhang: Good. So we shall involve people from Marketing, R&D, QC and After-Sales.
Wang: Right. Now what aspects of our activities do you think we should include in the video?
Zhang: There's really a lot. First of all, I think we should let our clients know that ours is an established company in the line. So I think we can include the 50th anniversary of our company in the video, and…
Wang: And our research
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