MBA 1ST Year Operation Concept Long Question Answers in English: – In this post you will find MBA 1 year related to important questions related to the answer such as the Operation Concept Answer and many other important questions. Long Questions are answered in section C
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Section C
MBA 1ST YEAR LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH
Q.1. Define the concept product design. Discuss its purpose and how a product can be designed for organisational competitiveness.
Ans. Concept and Definition of Product Design ‘Product design provides much needed variety in terms of the features and the appearance. An appropriate product design also helps an organisation to compete in the market place on the basis of cost, quality and time!
For example, Brooke Bond Company came into the market with the (Red Label) new pack of tea which was consisting the five flavour of tulsi, ginger, elaichi, long, kali mirch. So, product design provides much variety in terms of the features. Then the company needs to have the good materials and components to be used and the machines that are to be used to manufacture it.
Product design is the mother of all operations and processes in an organisation. The processes for manufacture, the planning of production, the processes and checks for quality depend upon the nature of the product. Purpose of Product Design
Design starts with conceptualisation which must have a basis. Providing value to the customer, the return on investment to the company and the competitiveness of the company should form the basis of the product design effort. What separates a product designer from a freelance artist is the former’s orientation towards these organisational objectives.
A product’s design has tremendous impact on what materials and components would be used, which suppliers will be included, what machines or what type of processes will be used to manufacture it, where it will be stored, how it will be transported. Since a customer does not necessarily imply an already tied up customer, but also a potential one, what and how will the general yet target customer community be informed depends upon what the design of the product is. For instance, product designs provide much needed variety in terms of the features and the appearance. An appropriate product design also helps an organisation to compete in the market place on the basis of cost, quality and time. Cost Competitiveness
A high proportion of product’s production cost is determined at the design stage. Take the following cases:
1. General Motors: 70 per cent of the cost of manufacturing truck transmissions is determined at the design stage.
2. Rolls-royce: Design determines 80 percent of the final production costs of the 2,000 components. At this point, a revision of the cost concepts may be in order. Considering the fixed and the variable costs of a product, the following relationships hold good:
Total cost = (Variable cost * Quantity) + Fixed cost
Unit cost = Variable cost + (Fixed cost/Quantity)
Therefore, if a product is not profitable because the fixed cost is high, it would be possible to make it up in volume. Since the fixed cost is divided over the number of units, higher volumes of production should result in lower per unit cost. However a product that is not profitable because of a high variable cost cannot be helped by increasing the volumes of production and sales. In fact, the more one sens the more he loses. Competitiveness through Quality
While quality has become an essential pre-requisite these days, it still has a great potential to be used further as a strategic measure. This is apart from the considerations of the cost of quality. A good product design contributes, in a large measure, to the product’s as derived from a good product design, as mentioned below:
Attributes of product quality derived from a good product design:
1. Performance: How well the product functions.
2. Confirmance: How well the product conforms to the specifications or standards set for it.
3. Features: How many secondary characteristics does the product have to enhance its basic function.
4. Aesthetics: How attractive the product is.
5. Reliability: How well does the product maintain its performance during a certain given time period.
6. Durability: How long the product lasts in use.
7. Service Ability: How easy is the product to maintain.
8. Safety: How little, if any, is the risk to the users and those in the vicinity of the users:
(a) When the product is in use and
(b) When the product is thrown away if it is often useful.
9. User Friendliness:
(a) How easy is it to use. How easy is it to operate with.
(b) Is it ergonomically all right.
10. Customisability: How easily can the product be modified:
(a) In case the requirements of the customer were to change.
(b) In order to accommodate improved/additional features in the future to suit the customer’s needs then.
11. Environment Friendliness: How safe is the product for the environment:
(a) While it is being used and
(b) When it is discarded after its use.
Competitiveness based on Time
One of the ways a product design helps a company to gain advantage over its competitors is through reducing its reaction time to the market. When competing firms have products giving similar services/functions to the customers, it is important to reduce the time to manufacture the product and thus, reach the product to the customer quickly. Whereas, when it is a case of an improved or new product design, it is important to minimise the overall time for the product to enter the market. This would, most crucially, include the time to develop the product. The economic penalty for time delays is quite severe for new products in a dynamic market.
Thus the following two lead times are important:
1. Product development lead time.
2. Manufacturing lead time,
MBA 1ST Year Operation Concept Long Question Answers in English
Q.2. Discuss the new product development with the help of suitable example.
Or Bring out the stages in the development of a new product. Explain each stage In brief.
Ans. Process of New Product Development
Fig.Flowchart for the process of new product development. Following stages are involved in developing the new product:
1. Venture New Product Ideas: New ideas for selection and development of the product are chosen by:
(a) Imitation: Imitation means producing the product similar to the product which already exists in the market.
(b) Adaptation: Adaptation involves developing an improved product for one already existing in the market.
(c) Invention: Developing the new designs and new ideas.
2. Idea Screening: Some ideas may be found incapable of developing into a better product. Such ideas should be dropped and only that ideas should be considered which are capable of developing into better product. The process of analysing the idea is known as idea screening
3. Concept Development: All product ideas selected after preliminary investigation are subjected to detailed investigation and analysis. The purpose is to develop idea into mature product concepts which possess utility and can be marketed profitably. The precise description of the ideas and features of the proposed product is made.
4. Product Analysis: Product analysis has the following factors:
(a) Marketing Aspects: The product should be desirable and acceptable by the market and satisfy the demand in the market.
(b) Product Characteristics: The product characteristics include the following aspects:
(i) Functional aspects,
(ii) Operational aspects,
(iii) Durability and dependability.
(C) Economic Analysis: The economic analysis may include:
(i) Profit consideration,
(ii) The effect of standardization, simplification and specialisation,
(iii) The break-even analysis.
(d) Product Aspects: The product must be produced with a required quantity and quality
5. Product Design: It is necessary to design the product before starting its manufacture. This phase include the complete specification of the geometry, materials and tolerance parts in the product and the identification of all standard parts to be purchased from suPP
6. Test Marketing: Test marketing decisions include deciding on the test. Firstly the promo manufactured on a limited quantity and introduced in a well selected market before stars production. Customer’s reactions are then studied under the market conditions. The reactions of the customer will give additional valuable clues for the product development and necessary modification so as to make it more acceptable to the customers.
7. Commercialisation: After passing the marketing test and considering the modification according to the customers demand, a company may start the production of product atunc