NAME: FAJEMILUA BEN

MATRIC NO: P19DLBA80482

COURSE: PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT AND PRICING POLICY (BUAD 818)

ASSIGNMENT: SECTION A

QUESTION 1A: Give a detailed explanation on branding as it applies to organizational product.

ANSWER

Branding is the process of developing a unique name and identity for a product or business. Branding
ensures awareness and credibility for a brand, creates customer loyalty, among other
advantages. Building a brand takes time and involves a lot of resources. It is however an important
marketing tool for stimulating recognition.

A product, service, person or place that is branded automatically develops a personality as well as
reputation. Businesses and individuals can as such take advantage of the various types of branding that
are available.

Types of branding that businesses and individuals can leverage on.

1. Product Branding:
This is the most common and easiest type of branding. Product branding is a symbol or design that
identifies and differentiates a product from other products. Product branding is very easily noticeable
when you walk through a supermarket filled with different products as most products are branded with
a unique colour, design and logo.

2. Personal Branding:
This type of branding is very common among politicians, athletes and celebrities. Personal branding
makes it possible for famous people to reflect a good image of themselves to the public. Politicians, for
instance, use personal branding to create a good impression and convince voters that they are right for
an office.

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3. Corporate Branding:
This type of branding is used by businesses interested in creating and maintaining a good
reputation. Corporate branding thus cuts across an organization’s services, products, employees,
corporate culture as well as corporate social responsibility. Every activity carried out by an organization
has a positive or negative effect on its reputation A wrong decision can in fact have an adverse effect
on the corporate brand.

5. Retail Branding:
Retail branding is mostly used by industry giants to increase the interest of consumers and make product
sales outpace the competition. A lot of money is spent to develop unique brand images that convince
consumers to select their brand instead of others. Retail branding however requires a lot of planning.
The right strategy needs to be adopted to ensure its success.

6. Co-Branding:
Co-branding is a type of branding that associates the brands of two or more companies with a specific
product or service. It can also be described as marketing partnership between two or more brands such
that the success of one brand rubs off on the other. Co-branding is effective in building business,
increasing awareness and breaking into new markets.

Conclusion
Besides the aforementioned, there are other numerous types of branding that businesses can take
advantage of. The most important thing is to ensure that your approach to branding suits your business
objectives.
Reference
Mercy Onun, 2018, www.simon-page.com/marketing/6-types-branding know
Article Shared by Shiltal M, www.economicsdiscussion.net/marketing-2/brand/what-is-
branding/32274

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QUESTION 2B: The marketer faces a number of challenging decisions, if he makes up his mind to
brand his products. Highlights the key decision areas

ANSWER

Growing businesses face a range of challenges. As a business grows, different problems and
opportunities demand different solutions - what worked a year ago might now be not the best approach.
All too often, avoidable mistakes turn what could have been a great business into an also-ran.
Recognizing and overcoming the common pitfalls associated with growth is essential if your business
is to continue to grow and thrive. Crucially, marketers need to ensure that the steps they take today
don't themselves create additional problems for the future. Effective leadership will help them make
the most of the opportunities, creating sustainable growth for the future.
This guide highlights the particular risks and mistakes that most commonly affect growing businesses
and outlines what they can do about them.
1. Keeping up with the market
2. Planning ahead
3. Cash flow and financial management
4. Problem solving
5. The right systems
6. Skills and attitudes
7. Welcoming change

Keeping up with the market:

Market research isn't something marketers do as a one-off when they launch their business. Business
conditions change continually, so their market research should be continuous as well. Otherwise they
run the risk of making business decisions based on out-of-date information, which can lead to business
failure. The more you succeed, the more competitors notice - and react to - what they are doing. A
market-leading offer one day may be no better than average a few months later.
Apparently loyal customers can be quick to find alternative suppliers who provide a better deal.

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As products (and services) age, sales growth and profit margins get squeezed. Understanding where
their products are in their lifecycles can help them work out how to maximize overall profitability. At
the same time, they need to invest in innovation to build a stream of new, profitable products to market.
Information sources. Published information can provide useful insights into market conditions and
trends. As a growing business, Marketers experience can be even more valuable.
Marketers should be able to build up an in-depth picture of what customers want, how they behave and
which of their marketing approaches work best.
Taking the time to talk to key customers pays off. Their suppliers and other business partners can be
important sources of market information. They should encourage their employees to share what they
know about customers and the market. Effective IT systems can also make it easier to share and analyze
key information such as customers' purchasing behavior and preferences.
They may want to carry out extra research as well - for example, to test customer reaction to a new
product. they might do this yourself, or use a freelance researcher or market research agency.

Planning ahead:
The plan that made sense for marketers a year ago isn't necessarily right for them now. Market
conditions continually change, so marketers need to revisit and update your business plan regularly.
See the page in this guide on keeping up with the market.
As business grows, strategy needs to evolve to suit your changed circumstances. For example, your
focus is likely to change from winning new customers to building profitable relationships and
maximizing growth with existing customers. Existing business relationships often have greater
potential for profit and can also provide reliable cash flow. Newer relationships may increase turnover,
but the profit margins may be lower, which may not be sustainable. See the page in this guide on cash
flow and financial management.
At the same time, every business needs to be alert to new opportunities. There are obvious risks to
relying solely on existing customers. Diversifying your customer base spreads those risks.
Following the same business model, but bigger, is not the only route to growth. There are other strategic
options such as outsourcing or franchising that might provide better growth opportunities.
It's important not to assume that your current success means that you will automatically be able to take
advantage of these opportunities. Every major move needs planning in the same way as a new business
launch.

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Watch out for being too opportunistic - ask yourself whether new ideas suit your strengths and your
overall vision of where the business is going. Bear in mind that every new development brings with it
changing risks. It's worth regularly reviewing the risks you face and developing contingency plans.

Cash flow and financial management:

Good cash flow control is important for any business. For a growing business, it's crucial - cash
constraints can be the biggest factor limiting growth and overtrading can be fatal.
Making the best use of your finances should be a key element in business planning and assessing new
opportunities. With limited resources, you may need to pass up promising opportunities if pursuing
them would mean starving your core business of essential funding.
Every element of working capital should be carefully controlled to maximize your free cash flow.
Effective credit management and tight control of overdue debts are essential. You may also want to
consider raising financing against trade debts.
Good stock control and effective supplier management tend to become increasingly important as
businesses grow. Holdings of obsolete stock may become a problem that needs periodic clearing up.
You may want to work with suppliers to reduce delivery cycles, or switch to suppliers and systems that
can handle just-in-time delivery.
Planning ahead helps you anticipate your financing needs and arrange suitable funding. For many
growing businesses, a key decision is whether to bring in outside investors to provide the equity needed
to underpin further expansion.

Problem solving:
New businesses often run in perpetual crisis mode. Every day brings new challenges that urgently need
resolving and management spends most of their time troubleshooting.
As your business grows, this approach simply doesn't work. While a short-term crisis is always urgent,
it may not matter nearly as much as other things you could be doing. Spending your time soothing an
irritated customer might help protect that one relationship - but focusing instead on recruiting the right
salesperson could lay the foundations of substantial new sales for years to come. As your business
grows, you also need to be alert to new problems and priorities.
For example, your business might be increasingly at risk unless you take steps to ensure your
intellectual property is properly protected.

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If you are focusing on individual marketing campaigns, you might need to devote more resources to
developing your brand. Identifying the key drivers of growth is a good way of understanding what to
prioritize.
A disciplined approach to management focuses on leading employees, developing your management
team and building your business strategy. Instead of treating each problem as a one-off, you develop
systems and structures that make it easier to handle in the future.

The right systems

All businesses produce and rely on large volumes of information - financial records, interactions with
customers and other business contacts, employee details, regulatory requirements and so on. It's too
much to keep track of - let alone use effectively - without the right systems.
Responsibilities and tasks can be delegated as your business grows, but without solid management
information systems you cannot manage effectively. The larger your business grows, the harder it is to
ensure that information is shared and different functions work together effectively. Putting the right
infrastructure in place is an essential part of helping your business to grow.
Documentation, policies and procedures also become increasingly important. The informality that
might work with one or two employees and a handful of customers simply isn't practical in a growing
business. You need proper contracts, clear terms and conditions, effective employment procedures and
so on.
Many growing businesses find using established management standards one of the most effective ways
of introducing best practice. Quality control systems can be an important part of driving improvements
and convincing larger customers that you can be relied on.
Investing in the right systems is an investment that will pay off both short and long term. You benefit
every day from more effective operations. If you ever decide to sell the business, demonstrating that
you have well-run, efficient systems will be an important part of proving its value.

Skills and attitudes

Entrepreneurs are the driving force behind creating and growing new businesses. All too often, they
are also the people holding them back.

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The abilities that can help you launch a business are not the same as those you need to help it grow. It's
vital not to fool yourself into valuing your own abilities too highly. The chances are that you'll need
training to learn the skills and attitudes required by someone who is leading growth.
To grow your business, you need to learn to delegate properly, trusting your management team and
giving up day-to-day control of every detail. It's all too easy to stifle creativity and motivation with
excessive interference. As the business becomes more complex, you also need to develop your time
management skills and learn to focus on what's really important.
As your business grows, you may need to bring in outsiders to help. You'll want to delegate
responsibility for particular areas to different specialists, or appoint a non-executive director or two to
strengthen your board. As you start tackling a new opportunity, someone who has experience of that
activity can be vital.
For many successful entrepreneurs, learning to listen to - and take - advice is one of the hardest
challenges they face. But it may also be essential if you are going to make the most of your
opportunities. Some entrepreneurs, recognizing their own limitations, even appoint someone else to act
as managing director or chairman.

Welcoming change
Complacency can be a major threat to a growing business. Assuming that you will continue to be
successful simply because you have been in the past is very unwise.
Regularly revisiting and updating your business plan can help remind you of the changing market
conditions and the need to respond to them. See the page in this guide on planning ahead.
An up-to-date plan helps you identify what action you need to take to change your business and the
way it operates, for example:
1. Changing to suppliers who can grow with you and meet your new priorities. As your business
grows, consistent quality and reliability may be more important than simply getting the cheapest
offer.
2. Renegotiating contracts to take account of increased volume.
3. Training and developing employees. Your own role will also evolve as the business grows. See
the page in this guide on skills and attitudes.
4. Making sure that you keep up to date with new technologies.

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Conclusion: Marketers need to be fully committed to their strategy, even if it takes them out of their
comfort zone. This may involve hard decisions - for example making employees redundant or switching
business away from suppliers they have become friends with. But unless you're prepared to do this,
they risk putting their business at a dangerous competitive disadvantage.

Reference
-Business Link UK, 2019, The challenges of growing a business - and how to meet them.
-Josh Carter-White, 2007, Article: The challenges of business growth and how to meet
them head on

ASSIGNMENT: SECTION B

QUESTION: Identify and Discuss the top five traits of project management you need to master in your
pricing policies and product development plan

ANSWER

What is Project Management?

Project management is the use of specific knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to deliver
something of value to people. The development of software for an improved business process,
the construction of a building, the relief effort after a natural disaster, the expansion of sales
into a new geographic market—these are all examples of projects.

Who are Project Managers?

They are organized, passionate and goal-oriented who understand what projects have in
common, and their strategic role in how organizations succeed, learn and change.
Project managers are change agents: they make project goals their own and use their skills and
expertise to inspire a sense of shared purpose within the project team. They enjoy the organized
adrenaline of new challenges and the responsibility of driving business results.

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Is project management really all about dependencies, deliverables, and deadlines? Or is it about
people and their specific, often unclearly defined demands? If I’m is unable to answer with certainty,
it’s quite possible that this insanely complex job is not for me.

If, however, I’m skillful at being everywhere at once while focused on a single goal, consider applying.
I’m I capable of understanding doubts, predicting difficulties and solving them in real time without
major consequences? IF I’m clear-headed and sharp-minded against all odds, and charismatic enough
to calm and motivate others? Well then, my future in project management is sure to be bright.

Stakes & Requirements

This shameless recruitment aside, project management stats convey that no less than 97% of all
organizations believe that this practice is critical for success in the business world. This makes
competent project leaders one of the top priorities of any employment and training team.

And, just to be perfectly clear about how important this profession is, here’s another fact: In 2013,
companies were only able to meet the deadline and stay within their budget on less than one in every
three projects undertaken. The single most common reason for such disappointing figures? You guessed
it… an inexperienced project manager!

Due to its complexity, project management has a long list of job requirements. To employ the right
person (or get employed) these six characteristics are simply too significant to be overlooked. More
accurately, they are a must have for any ambitious and productive project manager need to master in
your pricing policies and product development plan:

1) Ability to Organize and Delegate

Fine organizational skills seem like an obvious, yet quite logical demand of effective project
management. This one should definitely hold the first place on your resume.

Before being carefully planned and eventually commenced, a project is nothing but a clutter of data,
requests, and unspecified objectives. It’s up to the manager to make some sense of it all, sift through
the information, and shape it into something easily manageable and realistically achievable. Then a

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project leader must establish a timeline, allocate roles, prioritize tasks and maintain control over the
process.

Frankly, the fine line between being meticulously systematic and obsessively tidy is the line a good
project manager needs to walk every single day. In addition to supervising his or her team, a project
leader should be able to correctly asses when to get involved and when to step out. They avoid
micromanagement and embrace delegation.

2) Flexibility and Wits

Even when firmly founded, a project can still collapse. However solid the risk management plan, it’s
rarely a foolproof one. Unpredicted setbacks and delays are a fierce reality in project management, and
a person in charge should be flexible, sturdy, and quick-witted enough to weather a sudden storm.

It goes without saying that such a person is always an eccentric thinker, an individual who never fears
problems but takes them on as intellectual challenges. Simultaneously, this unique and valuable trait
should be balanced out with patience and stamina, and a strong vision. Out of the uncertainty and chaos
of change, leaders rise up and articulate a new image of the future that pulls the project together.

3) Capability to Balance Logic with Creativity

However uncomplicated, every project heavily relies on an accurately formed chain of dependencies,
which falls under the most problematic, but crucial responsibilities of a project manager. As I’ve hinted
before, in order to make some sense out of the yet unrefined project, the person behind the wheel should
be capable of seeing the bigger picture before putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together.

Aside from the aforementioned critical thinking, a successful project leader must be endowed with
plenty of other abilities:

– Seeing the bigger picture (the project)

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– Comprehending its individual elements (milestones, tasks and subtasks),

– A capacity for planning and executing one consecutive step at the time (chain of dependencies)

– A mind analytical enough to discern even the subtlest and least obvious of mechanisms behind the
picture frame (risk assessment)

In project management, the logical mindset needs to coexist and collaborate with the creative thinker.

4) Communication Mastery

Remember Frank Underwood, Kevin Spacey’s character from House of Cards? Or any politician ever,
for that matter? An ethically poor example, I agree, but in terms of communication skills, masters of
their craft. What’s in effect for all leaders, applies to effective project managers as well. Soft skills are
vital and necessarily include the art of negotiation and persuasion, and a touch of empathy that urges
project managers to actually listen to those with whom they communicate.

In fact, a Project Scope Statement without a communication plan is highly unlikely to meet the final
deadline and deliver the promise. It’s up to project managers to establish a channel of fruitful
interchange with everyone involved – team members, stakeholders and clients – and keep each party
satisfied, their requirements fulfilled and expectations exceeded.

[Tweet “Once people are intrigued, moved and excited by your ideas, they rarely need an additional
push .”]

5) Leadership, Competence and Experience

Undertaken by ten freelancers, and led and monitored by a guy with both enthusiasm and expertise, the
biggest project failure of my career is simultaneously the one I had most fun working on.

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Enthralled by the opportunity to learn from such a prominent figure, we forgot all about why we were
there, and spent a month brainstorming and discussing brilliant, but tangential ideas. The first day on
the job, the guy told us: “My talkative nature cannot be helped; you’ll have to learn to mute me out.”
We didn’t.

Unlike my ex team leader, all people in high strategic positions understand the importance of drawing
a line between passion and profession. Though exceptional project managers should possess both, they
should also learn how to control and balance them out.

Conclusion: If I’m methodical, agile, logical, articulate, trustful, clever, creative, empathic and
inspiring at the same time, then, I need not to waste a second longer to leap into project management.
For someone of such personality and intellectual build, have the traits of project management needed
to master pricing policies and product development plan

Reference
-Robin Singh, 2011, Article pg 52, Traits That Every Successful Project Manager Must Possess.
-Project Management Institute: https://www.pmi.org/about/learn-about-pmi/what-is-project-
management
-Project Management Institute: https://www.pmi.org/about/learn-about-pmi/who-are-project-
managers

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