Bhattacharyya , Arun

“Addressing Various Target Groups in “the Classroom”:

My Experiences”

Opening Thoughts: The theory-practice divide

The academic tree metaphor (Levy 2002)

abstractions used to form theories of strategy & practice

carries leadership & direction to the world of application

Where will the seeds for the “roots” come from- practice or thoughts (conception)?

Target groups with work experience (e.g., in ExMBA programs)

Target groups with no (or little) work experience (e.g., in MBA programs)

The KGFs (Key General Factors) (1/2)

1. Be THOROUGHLY prepared for each session

• preempt queries (“if I were the student, then….”)

• be selfish & inward focused (need a stranglehold on key concepts)

• E.g.: Delivering customer value through marketing (Session 2)

Costs and profits in customer acquisition and retention (Rajan 53-54) Marketing/Customer value (Koshy 34-39, Pride 36-38, Rajan 45-54) Customer Satisfaction (Koshy 120-125, 131-132, Hart 280-287) Maximizing customer lifetime value (Koshy 125-128) Building customer equity (Arms 21-22) Managing customer relationships (Hart 267-272) Quality and value (Hart 272-280)

2. Get them involved (need to connect)• get “the other” view points and perspectives (“I might be wrong”)

• have an element of drama (If, then….)

Food Specialities Ltd. launches MAGGI noodles in India in 1983- BIG SUCCESS

Lipton launches macaroni & noodles SuperMum almost the same time- FAILURE

If HUL says, “From tomorrow ‘LUX’ is being rebranded as ‘LUV’ “, then……

The KGFs (Key General Factors)(2/2)

3. Focus on “needs” and not “wants”

• just think…why they have chosen the combo of “the course and you”

• remember, rigor and discipline is (in general) appreciated…

• choose to be “unpopular”

4. Don’t always focus on success stories; failures do stimulate

• have a healthy mix of Indian and foreign contexts and examples

• remember, cases are not meant to be “presented” but “discussed”

5. Striking a balance between theory and application is crucial

• there is no such thing as “one style fits all”

• aim at getting the concepts through

And if you are feeling nervous prior to each session, you are on the RIGHT TRACK

6. Having a (subtle) sense of humor is a big bonus

Addressing the “wannabe” managers (roots to trunk)

1. Do not begin sessions with concepts/frameworks/models

• involve them in building the frameworks; they will own it then

2. Use cases/caselets/examples to build & reinforce concepts

• have a mix of Indian and foreign contexts and examples

• co-develop alternative scenarios (Can CocaCola enter the milk market?)

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Addressing the “already” managers (foliage to roots)

1. Sessions must stress on concepts frameworks/models

• give them insights into how the concept/framework came into being

2. Use cases/caselets/examples to exemplify validity of concepts

• better to ask the audience for examples

• co-develop alternative scenarios

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Addressing the managers’ “gurus” (the entire tree)

1. Provide linkages between current & other concepts

• remember, they aim at knowledge enhancement (sometimes maybe unlearn current knowledge)

• you have to demonstrate your perceived expertise on the subject

2. Use cases/caselets/examples only to the extent required

• can be used to reinforce your propositions

E.g., How do we differentiate between a brand and a BRAND?

E.g., FMCG brands have to convince an individual, B2B brands have to convince the whole company. This calls for creative selling, not branding

“Nobody gets fired for buying IBM,” …..means commercial buyers buy on more than product performance- there is also the question of job security

“Hewlett Packard ink cartridges-they will work and it won’t wreck those expensive printers you’ve just had installed,”….. assures the buyer that their decision to buy cartridges is justified

Bringing in the other concept: The Product Life Cycle

• New Product Development

• ‘Time to market’

Gesta

tion

• Customer inertia

• Capacity expansion

• Technical ‘bugs’

• Distribution problems

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Demand (pull) vs. Supply (push)

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• Little scope of further physical dev of product

• To retain market share?

• Design of effective marketing mix

Matu

rity

• Market settled down with 3-4 major players (80/20 principle)

• Fairly stable prices

• Entry barrier exists

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Decom

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Declin

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• Resist change OR Voluntary elimination?

TIME

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Managerial implications of The PLC Concept

• Given a new product, how & to what extent can shape & duration of each stage be predicted?

• Given an existing product, how can one determine what stage it is in?

• Given all these knowledge, how can it be effectively used?

R & D COSTS MARKETING COSTS

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Matu

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SALES

PROFITS

Various products in a firm’s portfolio would be at certain stages in the PLC

• need to know the market growth rate for each product and its corresponding relative market share

Connecting the PLC concept with the current concept -The BCG Growth-Share Matrix

High

High

Low

Low

Question mark or problem child

(Introduction stage)

Star

(Growth stage)

Cash Cow

(Maturity/ Saturation stage)

Dog

(Decline stage/ Decommission)

Let’s take the case of APPLE

Something to tickle your minds

Given a need, does a brand come to your mind first or the product category? How will a firm then make people aware?

Should a company focus on…

•Preventing customer dissatisfaction

• OR Increasing customer satisfaction

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