CHARLES JOHN B.

DOL ASYNCHRONOUS 13

1. Give two mistakes in the following functional areas of the business:

a. Marketing
● Not Getting Feedback​: If you create your entire product in a silo, without getting
feedback from external sources (especially your intended customers/users), you’re that
much more likely to wind up creating something nobody wants. The way to get around
this potential pitfall is simple: collect feedback as often as possible in the process. Not
just from other people internally, but from the people who would actually be using your
product in their day-to-day lives.
● Setting prices too low: We know. Conventional wisdom is that the lowest prices will
yield the greatest sales, but this often couldn’t be further from the truth. More often than
not, companies wind up undervaluing their products, selling them at a fraction of their
ideal price points. Sure, revenue may skyrocket initially, but you won’t be able to sustain
that level for very long without this approach wreaking havoc on your bottom line.
Besides, pricing is one of your greatest tools for shaping your audience’s perception of
your product. Going too low can make it unattractive to quality-conscious consumers,
implying that it is weaker than its more premium-priced competition.

b. Financial
● Unnecessary Business Expenses: ​Many business owners believe they need to make large
expenses to separate their brand from their rivals. As a result, they might pay a significant
sum for the latest technologies, office equipment, or staff salaries.

It is, however, a smarter approach to adopt a more frugal mindset. For example, invest in
second-hand products, haggle with suppliers, and find an affordable lease for your office
or building space.

Never spend a penny more than you need to, even when your company is generating a
superb return on its investment. By running a lean business, you’ll have more money
available to overcome a financial obstacle.
● Failing to Budget: ​Many businesses are guilty of failing to budget each month, but it
could be critical to your company’s success and survival. It ultimately helps a business
owner to maintain a tight control of their finances, as they will know exactly how much
money they will need to spend each month and where it is going.

Without a budget in place, you could fail to account for your tax obligations, insurance
premiums, office expenses and more. If you spend too much, you may then need to apply
for a business loan or run up debt on your credit card if you urgently need cash to pay for
a debt repayment or corporate expense.

c. Research and Development

● Inaccurate Information: A biased population or a poorly formulated research can result in
false or inaccurate feedback. Plus, market research on new products developments may
only reveal customer attitudes about your new product such as the intentions to buy it.
However, these intentions may not translate to actual sales in future. Market research also
 affords you a small focus group, which may give you inconclusive data about your new
product.
● Time Constraint: Market research involves a detailed process of collecting and analyzing
data, which is time-consuming. Also, for you to have a relevant market survey, you have
to collect and analyze the data within a given time frame; otherwise it might easily
become outdated. You also need to make quick decisions regarding the product to gain a
competitive edge over others before you lose the available market opportunity. Allocating
all the market research processes in your constrained timetable can be difficult.

d. Operation
● Inflexible to consumer demand: As mass production by definition focuses on the creation
of one product in mass quantity, it is difficult to adjust to ever-changing customer
demands if that product’s demand suddenly declines. Within the food industry, it is
notable that many food products go through peaks and troughs in relation to demand.
This is hard to predict and can be wasteful if the products are perishable.

● Disengaged workforce: The monotony that is the nature of mass production work, in
turn, could lead to disengaged and unmotivated staff, which if not addressed can lead to
high staff turnover. If the staff are not rotated frequently and work on the same product
each day, this could definitely lead to inefficiency in certain aspects of the manufacturing
process, such as quality control.

e. Human Resource
● Limited awareness of employee rights: You don’t need to know everything about
employee rights, but you do need a basic level of knowledge. If you don’t, you risk
breaching the law and having an unhappy workforce.
For example, an increasing number of people want to work flexibly and they have the
right to make a formal request to do so. An understanding of the law will ensure you
respond to those requests in the right way. There is a lot of useful information and advice
available online (particularly on government websites) to help you understand what
employees are entitled to, so take advantage of these resources.

● ​Poor management of workplace conflict: If there is a potential workplace issue bubbling

away in the background, tackle it head on. If you don’t address it at the earliest
opportunity, it could escalate into a full-blown dispute.
Make sure you follow your grievance policy and encourage those involved in the issue to
also read and follow this policy.
Don’t be afraid to put a formal (and documented) plan in place if needed, especially for
poor performance, as this could save you time and costs further down the line.

f. Logistics
● Failure to separate pickup areas and bulk storage: Most warehouses aim to improve
productivity by eradicating the waste of motion. A common mistake in warehouses is the
failure to keep fast pickup areas separated from bulk storage. In such cases, the stock
takes up the space meant for storing fast-moving products.
 Having bulk quantities and fast-moving products all in one place creates a level of clutter
that makes it hard to locate urgently required merchandise.
To avoid this, create a designated spot for placing fast-moving goods away from primary
stock storage. This way, it becomes easier to keep many different products within a
restricted space, and bulk quantities in other parts of the warehouse.

● Use of outdated technology: Digitization has been a significant booster for logistics and
supply management. Technology makes it easier to pick out products in the warehouse,
as well as keep track of goods in transit and in inventory. The use of outdated technology,
by contrast, means the business can’t properly communicate with clients and provide
information on order status.

Businesses that implement and adapt to technology in their logistics strategies earn more
revenue and report a higher return on investment. Ensure your business is integrated with
the latest technological trends, and implements the latest supply-chain management
software.

2. Give 4 common errors in outsourcing.

a. Don’t overestimate overall cost savings: Most companies outsource because of the
tremendous cost-benefits that outsourcing offers. Sending your work overseas can help
you save significantly on operating costs while getting access to quality services.
However outsourcing experts have predicted that the cost of operation even in countries
like India will rise by 10% a year. This cost will not reduce but will only rise. Experts
have even predicted that down the years India will not be a cost-effective destination. So,
if you are outsourcing because of costs, you need to think again.

b. Don’t underestimate the cost and complexity of managing an outsourcing relationship:

Before getting started with outsourcing, ensure that you are aware about how the
outsourcing relationship works. Many companies start outsourcing without properly
analyzing the time, money, effort and resources that will be involved in the outsourcing
process. Although there is cost savings involved in outsourcing, you must also consider
the complexity involved in the process. To make outsourcing work, you need a dedicated
team of professionals, efficient management, good communication and strict adherence to
the service-level agreements signed at the beginning of the contract.

c. Don’t select a country before understanding your objectives: It is of utter most important
to first understand your business objectives, business processes, operating costs before
outsourcing. Based on these, you can select your outsourcing partner. It would also be
wiser to study the level of expertise of your partner, the communication barriers that you
might have to face, tax laws, infrastructure and proximity before choosing the country.
When you make your choice based on these objectives, you will be able to choose the
right country.

d. Don’t select a single-source provider: If you are outsourcing, ensure that you don’t
outsource all your services to a single outsourcing provider. If that is the case, your
business might come to a standstill if for some reason your outsourcing partner is not able
 to continue to provide services. An ideal way to deal with this would be outsource your
business process to different providers in different parts of the world. This would greatly
reduce the risk of outsourcing, as your work will not come to a standstill and can
continue on an ongoing basis.

3. Enumerate 3 advantages and 2 disadvantages of outsourcing.

● Advantages
a. COST ADVANTAGES: The most obvious and visible benefit relates to the cost
savings that outsourcing brings about. You can get your job done at a lower cost
and at better quality as well.
b. INCREASED EFFICIENCY: When you outsource your business needs to an
outsourcing partner like Flatworld Solutions, they bring years of experience in
business practices and expertise in delivering complex outsourcing projects. Thus,
they can do the job better with their knowledge and understanding of the domain.
This leads to an increase in productivity and efficiency in the process thereby
contributing to the bottom-line of your company.
c. FASTER AND BETTER SERVICES: Make your service offerings better with high
quality deliverables and decrease the lead time it takes for your product to reach
the marketplace. Thus you would be faster in getting your ideas converted into
products and better at delivering the value-added proposition.
● Disadvantages
a. Risk of exposing confidential data: When an organization outsources HR, Payroll
and Recruitment services, it involves a risk if exposing confidential company
information to a third-party
b. Synchronizing the deliverables: In case you do not choose a right partner for
outsourcing, some of the common problem areas include stretched delivery time
frames, sub-standard quality output and inappropriate categorization of
responsibilities. At times it is easier to regulate these factors inside an
organization rather than with an outsourced partner
References
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.intelligencenode.com/blog/avoid-these-strategic-pricing-m
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https://www.mindtheproduct.com/common-product-development-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-th
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https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/disadvantages-market-research-new-product-development-20
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https://www.taylorvinters.com/article/founders-side-step-these-10-common-hr-pitfalls
https://www.supplychainbrain.com/blogs/1-think-tank/post/31470-six-common-logistics-mistake
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https://blog.outsource2india.com/common-mistakes-in-outsourcing/
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https://www.flatworldsolutions.com/articles/advantages-disadvantages-outsourcing.php