UNIT 1

1. What is a manager?
A manager is a person in an organization who is responsible for carrying out the four
functions of management, including planning, organizing, leading and controlling.
2. What are five common roles of a manager? explain them briefly.
- Planning: Setting aims and targets for the organization.
- Organizing: Managing people and resources effectively towards achieving the aims of
the organization
- Coordinating: Bringing people and departments together so that they work towards
common aims
- Commanding: Managers are more like to guide, lead and supervise people than just
tell them what to do
- Controlling: Checking that the original aims are being met and appraising
workers/staff.
3. What can a manager do with the subordinates when considering their
performance, and behaviors?
A manager has the authority and power to hire, promote, discipline and fire (sa thải)
employees based on those behaviors and performance.
4. What is a leader?
A leader is an individual who leads a group or team to achieve common goals. Leaders
provide direction, make decisions, and set a vision for their followers.
5. Why is it possible for anyone to become a leader?
Any individual can become a leader because the basis of leadership is on the personal
qualities of the leader. People are willing to follow the leader because of who he or she is and
what the leader stands for, not because they have to due to the authority bestowed onto him or
her by the organization.
6. How is a manager different from a leader
Managers focus on planning, organizing, and controlling processes and resources, often with
an emphasis on tasks and efficiency. Their primary concern is to accomplish organization
goals. Leaders, on the other hand, inspire and motivate people, focusing on the vision,
effectiveness and fostering a shared sense of purpose.

UNIT 2
1. What is motivation?
Motivation factors that influence the behavior of workers towards achieving business
goals. Motivation can be increased by: a)monetary rewards b)non-monetary rewards
c)introducing ways to give job satisfaction.
2. What are the most common ways to increase the workers' motivation? give
examples of monetary and non monetary rewards
Motivation can be increased by monetary rewards, non-monetary rewards and ways to give
job satisfaction.
● monetary rewards:
- Salary Increases: Providing annual or performance-based raises to employees.
- Bonuses (tiền thưởng): Offering performance-based bonuses, such as a year-end
bonus for achieving targets.
- Stock Options (quyền chọn cổ phiếu): Providing employees with the opportunity to
purchase company stock at a discounted rate
● non-monetary rewards:
- Recognition and Praise (khen thưởng): Acknowledging and appreciating employees'
efforts and achievements through verbal recognition or written commendations.
 - Employee of the Month Awards: Recognizing outstanding performance by selecting
an "Employee of the Month" and offering public acknowledgment.
- Professional Development: Supporting employees in acquiring new skills and
knowledge through training, workshops
- Wellness Programs: Offering wellness initiatives, such as gym memberships, health
screenings (ktra sức khỏe), or stress management programs
● job satisfaction:
- job rotation
- job enlargement
- job enrichment

3. What is job satisfaction?

The enjoyment a worker gets from feeling that they have done a good job. There are three
ways to motivate workers to be more committed to their job and work more effectively:

Job rotation (swapping workers round and only doing a specific task for a limited time before
swapping round again).

Job enlargement (extra tasks are added to the job to make it more interesting).

Job enrichment (adding tasks that require more skill and/or responsibility).

4. How can companies raise the job satisfaction of their workers? (essay)

5. Distinguish Theory X and Theory Y

● theory X:
- is pessimistic (bi quan) approach to workers and working
- assumes (giả định) that people are lazy and will avoid work and responsibility if they
can.
- Consequently (kết quả là), workers have to be supervised and controlled, and told
what to do.
- they have to be both threatened (for example with losing the job) and rewarded with
incentives (such as pay rise or bonuses).
- In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: theory X relates to the basic, lower order needs at
the bottom of hierarchy.
● theory Y:
- assumes that most people have a psychological need to work, and given the right
conditions - job security, financial rewards - they will be creative, ambitious and self-
motivated by the satisfaction of doing a good job.
- In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: theory Y relates to “higher order” needs such as
esteem (achievement, status and responsibility) and self-actualization (personal
growth and fulfillment).

6. What are hygiene factors?

The factors that must be present in the workplace to prevent job dissatisfaction.

7. Describe briefly Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

A theory of motivation which states that five categories of human needs dictate an
individual's behavior. Those needs are physiological needs (Food, sleep, air, water), safety
needs (Security, stability, health), love and belonging needs (friendship, caring) , esteem
needs (respect, recognition), and self-actualization needs (development needs).

UNIT 3

1. What is an organizational structure?

- The levels of management and division of responsibilities within an organization.
Define a chain of command.
- The structure in an organization which allows instructions to be passed down from
senior management to lower levels of management.
2. What is the main advantage of a chain of command?
- All the people in the organization know what decisions they are able to make, who
their line manager is, and who their immediate subordinates are.
3. Describe briefly a functional organizational structure.
A functional structure splits an organisation into departments based on their major area of
responsibility. The most common departments in a business are marketing, production (or
operations), finance and human resources. Each of these departments is led by a functional
manager. All authority rests with this departmental head. Other employees are grouped
according to their role. For example, in the marketing department there might be sales
managers, market researchers and promotions managers. This type of structure is usually also
organised hierarchically.
Ý cho bài viết:
➔ Advantages of functional structure:
◆ Employees often display a high level of departmental loyalty and pride in
the work of their department.
◆ It encourages employees to become specialists and this can increase
efficiency and productivity.
◆ Departments are led by managers who are specialists in the functional area.
➔ Disadvantages of functional structure:
◆ The structure is a vertical one and this often does not allow for good
connections between departments.
◆ Coordination between departments is therefore difficult, for example, when
developing a new major project.
◆ Communication flows through the department heads to the top management,
so employees may feel remote from senior management.
◆ There might be competition between departments, which may not benefit the
whole organisation. For example, competition for financial resources is based
on getting the most for the department and not necessarily considering what is
best for the business as a whole.
4. In what ways can dividing a business functionally cause problems?
dựa theo câu 4
5. Describe briefly a matrix organization.
A matrix organizational chart looks like a grid, and it shows cross-functional teams that form
for special projects. For example, an engineer may regularly belong to the engineering
department (led by an engineering director) but work on a temporary project (led by a project
manager). The matrix org chart accounts for both of these roles and reporting relationships.
➔ Pros
◆ Allows supervisors to easily choose individuals by the needs of a project
 ◆ Gives a more dynamic view of the organization
◆ Encourages employees to use their skills in various capacities aside from their
original roles
➔ Cons
◆ Presents a conflict between department managers and project managers
◆ Can change more frequently than other organizational chart types
6. What is the potential disadvantage of matrix management systems?
dựa theo câu 6
7. What is centralization?
Centralization is the process by which the activities of an entity or organization, particularly
those regarding planning, decision-making and control of strategies and policies, become
concentrated within a particular group, sector, department or region within that entity or
organization.
8. Why is it not usually possible to organize a large organization in a single
hierarchy?
This is because the activities of a large organization are too complicated.
9. What factors might lead companies to flatten their hierarchies?
- The modern tendency taking out layers of management
- Advanced IT system
- Needs of cutting back and eliminating jobs in recessions
10. Under what circumstances might teams not be effective?
The teams might not always be effective at making good decisions and this structure would
usually require a strong leader.

UNIT 4

1. Why is it important for companies to be aware of local culture?

Because local differences including cultural habits, beliefs and principles easily affect the
performance of business in each country or market.
2. What are the differences between individualist and collectivist?
An individualist is someone who believes that personal goals, desires and interests are more
important than those of a group of people. A collectivist is someone who believes in the
importance of a group of people rather than separating individuals.
2.Describe the characteristics of businesspeople from Multi-Active, Reactive, and,
Linear- Active cultures.
- Linear – active
+ Business people in “linear-active” cultures such as Britain, The USA,
Germany are generally organized and rational
+ Try to act logically, plan in advance and like to do one thing at a time
+ They believe in respecting rules, regulations and contracts
+ Universalists – they think rules apply to everybody
+ They are not afraid of confrontation (sự đối đầu) but will compromise (dàn
xếp) when necessary to achieve a deal
+ They are essentially individualist (Chủ nghĩa cá nhân)
- Multi-active
+ Multi-active cultures in Southern Europe, Latin America, Africa attach more
importance to feelings, emotions and intuition, and relationships and
connections
+ Like to do many things at the same time
+ Are flexible, good at changing plans and happy to improvise
 + Believe in social or company hierarchy, and respect status
+ They are essentially collectivist (chủ nghĩa tập thể)
+ Particularist – they believe that personal relationships and friendships should
take precedence over rules and regulations
(precedence over sth/sb: quyền ưu tiên)
- Reactive
+ People in reactive cultures in Asia prefer to listen to and establish the other
position, and then react to it
+ Try to avoid confrontation, and don’t want to “lose face” or cause someone
else to
+ They rarely interrupt speakers and often avoid eye contact
+ Try to formulate approaches which suit both parties

Linear-active Multi-active Reactive

Organized, Rational Feelings, emotions and Listen to and establish the
intuition other's position
Act logically Relationships, connections Avoid confrontation
Plan in advance Improvise (ứng biến) Avoid eye contact
Like do one thing at a time Do many things at the same
time
Universalists - individualist Collectivist – particularist Formulate approaches
Britain, The USA, Southern Europe, Latin Asia (VN, China, Korea...)
Germany… America, Africa

3. What is culture? What factors are likely to be governed by cultures?

The complex system of values, traits, morals, and customs shared by a society. Culture is a
powerful operating force that molds (hình thành nên) the way we think, behave, and
communicate.

4. What is context?

Context refers to the stimuli, environment, or ambience surrounding an event.

5. Describe the major features of low- context and high-context cultures and give
examples of countries adopting low-context and high-context cultures.

● High context
- Communicators in high-context cultures (such as those in China, Japan, Middle
eastern countries) assume that the listener does not need much background
information.
- High-context cultures are more likely to be intuitive and contemplative
- Pay attention to more than the spoken or written word
- Emphasize interpersonal relationships, nonverbal expression, physical settings, and
social context
- Communication cues tend to be transmitted by posture, voice inflection, gestures and
facial expression
(vd: Japanese communicators might say yes when they really mean no. The context, tone,
time taken to answer, facial expression, body cues would convey the meaning of yes)
● Low context
 - Communicators in low-context cultures (such as those in North America, Germany)
depend little on the context of the situation and shared experience to convey their
meaning
- They assume that messages must be explicit, and listeners rely exclusively (hoàn
toàn) on the written or spoken word
- Low-context cultures tends to be linear, analytical and action oriented
- Business communicators – objective, professional and efficient
- Words are taken literally (theo nghĩa đen)

6. What does Power Distance Index measure?

The Power distance index measures how people in different societies cope with inequality –
in other words how they relate to more powerful individuals.

7. Indicate the differences in the relationship between subordinates and their

supervisors in low-context cultures and high-context cultures.

● Power distance:
- The Power distance index measures how people in different societies cope with
inequality – in other words how they relate to more powerful individuals.
- In high-power- distance countries, subordinates expect formal hierarchies and
embrace relatively authoritarian (có tính độc tài tương đối), paternalistic power
relationships (mqh quyền lực gia trưởng). For example, in many Asian cultures,
characteristics such as wealth, position, seniority (thâm niên), or age are important.
- In low- power-distance cultures, however, subordinates consider themselves as equals
of their supervisors. They confidently voice their opinions and participate in decision
making. Relationships between high-powered individuals and people with little power
tend to be more democratic (dân chủ), egalitarian (bình đẳng) and informal (thân
mật)
for example, in most Western countries

UNIT 5
1. What are the different stages of the recruitment and selection process?
Vacancy arises → Job analysis → Job description → Job specification → Job advertised in
appropriate media → Application forms and shortlisting → Interviews and selection →
Vacancy filled
2. How do you draw up a job description and job specification?
- Job description: Once the job has been analyzed, a job description will be produced. A job
description will be produced. A job description has several functions: It is given to the
applicants for the job so they know exactly what the job entails. It will allow a job
specification to be drawn up, to see if the applicants “match up to the job”, so that people
with the right skills will be employed. Once someone has been employed, it can show
whether they are carrying out the job effectively. If a dispute occurs about the employee’s
tasks, the job specification can be referred to in order to settle these questions
- Job specification: Once a job description has been drawn up, the qualifications and qualities
necessary to undertake the job can be specified. This list of desirable and essential
requirements for the job is called a job, or person specification.
3. How do you choose suitable ways of advertising a vacancy - either internally or
externally?
If the job is to be filled using internal recruitment, then the advertisement could be placed on
the staff notice board, emailed to all staff, or included in a workplace newsletter
If external recruitment is being used, then the advertisement could be placed in local or
national newspapers and specialist magazines, depending on the nature of the job. If it is for
middle and senior management jobs, or jobs requiring a specialist skill, then advertising
nationally will probably attract more, better quality, applicants than local advertising.
Unskilled or semi-skilled job vacancies will probably be filled from the local population, so
there is no need to advertise nationally
4. How important is training? And what are different types of training?
Training is important to a business as it may be used to:
- introduce a new process or new equipment
- improve the efficiency of the workforce
- provide training for unskilled workers to make them more valuable to the company
- decrease the supervision needed
- improve the opportunity for internal promotion
- decrease the chances of accidents
There are three main types of training:
- induction training
- on-the-job training
- off-the-job training
5. What are induction training, on-the-job training and off-the-job training?

Types of Advantages Disadvantages

training

Induction -helps new employees to settle into - is time-consuming

training their job quickly - means wages are paid but no work
- may be a legal requirement to give is being done by the
health and safety training at the worker
start of a job - delays the start of the employee
- means workers are less likely to commencing their job
make mistakes.

On-the-job - individual tuition is given and it is in - the trainer will not be as

training the workplace so the productive as usual because
employee does not need to be sent they are showing the trainee what to
away (travel costs are do instead of
expensive) getting on with their job
- it ensures there is some production - the trainer may have bad habits
from the worker while they and they may pass these
are training on to the trainee
- it usually costs less than off-the-job - it may not lead to training
training qualifications recognised
- it is training tailored to the specific outside the business.
needs of the business.

Off-the-job - a broad range of skills can be taught - costs are high

training using these techniques - it means wages are paid but no
- if these courses are taught in the work is being done by the
evening after work, they are cheaper worker
 for the business because the employee - the additional qualifications mean
will still carry out their normal it is easier for the
duties during the day employee to leave and find another
- the business will only need to pay job.
for the course and it will not also
lose the output of the employee
- employees may be taught a variety
of skills, becoming multi-skilled,
and this makes them more versatile –
they can be moved around the
company when the need arises
- it often uses expert trainers who
have up-to-date knowledge of
business
practices.

UNIT 6. CLASSIFICATION OF BUSINESSES

1. What are the different stages of economic/business activities?
- Stage 1: primary stage of production. This stage involves the Earth's natural
resources. Activities in the primary sector of industry include farming, fishing,
forestry and the extraction of natural materials, such as oil and copper ore.
- Stage 2: secondary stage of production. This stage involves taking the materials and
resources provided by the primary sector and converting them into manufactured or
processed goods. Activities in the secondary sector of industry include building and
construction, aircraft and car manufacturing, computer assembly, bread baking.
- Stage 3: tertiary stage of production. This stage involves providing services to both
consumers and other businesses. Activities in the tertiary sector of industry include
transport, banking, retail, insurance, hotels and hairdressing.
2. What business activities are included in the quaternary sector?
The quaternary sector: consisting of information services such as computing, ICT
(information and communication technologies), consultancy (offering advice to businesses)
and R&D (research and development, particularly in scientific fields). Broader definitions
add the news media, libraries, universities and colleges, and other intellectual activities
including culture generally.

3. How different is the private sector from the public sector in mixed economies?

Private sector Public sector

- Businesses not owned by the government
- These businesses will make their own
decisions about what to produce, how it
should be produced and what price should
be charged for it.
- Most businesses in the private sector will
aim to make a profit.
-Government (or state) owned and
controlled businesses and organizations
- The government, or other public sector
authority, makes decisions about what to
produce and how much to charge
consumers.
- Some goods and services are provided free
of charge to the consumer, such as state
health and education services. The money
 for these comes not from the user but from
the taxpayer.

4. What are the features of different forms of business organizations: Solde traders,
Partnerships, Private and Public Limited Companies, Franchises, and Joint
Ventures? What are their advantages and disadvantages?
Sole trader: the most common form of business organization; owned and operated by just
one person – the owner is the sole proprietor; there are so few legal requirements to set it
up.
A partnership: a group or association of at least two people who agree to own and run a
business together; the partners contribute to the capital of the business, usually have a say
in the running of the business and share any profits made.
Public limited company: a business owned by shareholders that can sell shares to the public
through the Stock Exchange
Private limited company: a business owned by shareholders which cannot sell shares through
the Stock Exchange
Franchising: widespread form of business operation; franchisor is a business with a product
or service idea that it does not want to sell to consumers directly; it appoints franchisees to
use the idea or product and to sell it to consumers (McDonald’s restaurants and The Body
Shop).
A joint venture: two or more businesses agree to start a new project together, sharing the
capital, the risks and the profits.

Forms of Advantages Disadvantages

business
organizations:

Sole trader • You're the boss.
• You keep all the profits.
• Start-up costs are low.
• You have maximum privacy
• Establishing and operating
your business is simple.
• It's easy to change your legal
structure later if circumstances
change you can easily wind up
your business.
• You have unlimited liability for
debts as there's no legal distinction
between private and business
assets.
• Your capacity to raise capital is
limited.
• All the responsibility for making
day-to-day business decisions is
you.
• Retaining high-calibre employees
can be difficult.
• It can be hard to take holidays.

• Two heads (or more) are better
Partnership than one.
• Your business is easy to
establish and start-up costs are
low.
• More capital is available for
the business.
• Potential for differences and
conflicts.
• Slow, more difficult decision
making.
• Profits must be shared.
• The liability of the partners for
the debts of the business is
 • There is opportunity for unlimited.
income splitting, an advantage • If partners join or leave, you will
of particular importance due to probably have to value all the
resultant tax savings. partnership assets and this can be
• Partners' business affairs are costly.
private.
• It's easy to change your legal
structure later if circumstances
change.

Joint venture • Access to new markets and • The objectives of the venture are
distribution networks. unclear.
• Increased capacity. • The communication between
• Sharing of risks and costs (ie partners is not great.
liability) • The partners expect different
with a partner. things from the joint venture.
• Access to new knowledge and • The level of expertise and
expertise, including specialized investment isn't equally matched.
staff. • The work and resources aren't
• Access to greater resources, for distributed equally.
example, technology and
finance.

Public and Private - Limited Liability: this is - Required to disclose financial

limited company because the company and the information.
shareholders have separate legal - Require a lot of legal documents.
identities.
- Raise huge amounts of capital.

UNIT 7. PRODUCTION
1. What is the production and operation management?
Production and operations management involves production plants and factories or service
branches, and the equipment in them, parts (raw materials or supplies), processes (the steps
by which production or services are carried out), and planning and control systems (the
procedures used by management to operate and monitor the system). But it also involves
people - the personnel or human resources, who will always be necessary in production and
operations, despite increasing automation.

2. What is lean production? How can lean production be achieved?

Lean production covers a variety of techniques used by businesses to cut down on waste of
resources, including time, and therefore increase efficiency. It aims to reduce the time it takes
for a product to be developed and become available in the shops for sale.

Benefits of lean production

Costs are saved through:

• Less storage of raw materials or components.

• Quicker production of goods or services.

 • No need to repair defects or provide a replacement service for a dissatisfied customer.

• Better use of equipment.

• Cutting out some processes which speeds up production.

• Less money tied up in inventories.

• Improved health and safety leading to less time off work due to injury.

Reduced costs can lead to lower prices for customers, businesses being more competitive
and possibly also increased profits.

3. What is job production, batch production and flow production?

- Job production: The production of items one at a time.
- Batch production: The production of goods in batches. Each batch passes through one
stage of production before moving onto the next stage.
- Flow production: The production of very large quantities of identical goods using a
continuously moving process.

4. What are the benefits and limitations of different production methods?

Benefits
Job production - Unique, high quality products
are made.
- Workers are often more
motivated and take pride in their
work.
Batch - Since larger numbers are made,
production unit costs are lower. -Offers the
customer some variety and
choice.
- Materials can be bought in bulk,
so they are cheaper.
Flow - More capital intensive than job
production or batch production, which
lowers the labour cost.
- Materials can be purchased in
large quantities, so they are often
cheaper due to bulk- buying
economies of scale.
- Large numbers of goods are
produced.
Limitations
- Uses skilled labour rather than
machinery, so selling prices are
usually higher.
- Production can take a long time
and can be expensive, for instance
special materials or tools are
required.
- Economies of scale are not
possible, often resulting in a more
expensive product.
-Workers are often less motivated
because the work becomes
repetitive.
- Goods have to be stored until they
are sold, which is expensive.
- Requires very large capital
investment in production
line technology.
- Workers are not very motivated,
since their work is very repetitive.
- It’s not a very flexible method as
production lines are difficult to
change.
- If one part of the production line
breaks down, the whole production
process will have to stop until it is
 repaired.
- High levels of raw material, work
in progress and finished goods
inventories are held.
- This increases business costs.

UNIT 8. LOGISTICS
1. What is logistics? What is logistics management?
- Logistics: The business activity that involves planning, implementing, and controlling
the physical flow of materials, final goods, and related information from points of
origin to points of consumption to meet customer requirements at a profit.
- Logistics management is that part of supply chain management that plans,
implements, and controls the effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods,
services and information between the point of origin and the point of consumption.

2. What is a supply chain?

A supply chain consists of the series of activities and organizations that materials move
through on their journey from initial suppliers to final customers.
+ In reality, materials not only move through a single organization, but also through
a series of organizations as they travel between original suppliers and final
customers.
+ Every product has its own unique supply chain, and some are very short and
simple and some can be both long and complicated.

3. What is inbound logistics? What is outbound logistics?

- Inbound logistics: The area of logistics that involves bringing raw materials,
packaging, other goods and services, and information from suppliers to producers.
- Outbound logistics: The area of logistics that involves managing the flow of finished
products and information to business buyers and ultimate consumers (people like you
and me).

4. Differentiate pull and push strategies?

- With a pull strategy, a company manufactures according to current demand, which is
satisfied from (a small) inventory. When pieces are removed from stock, replacements
are automatically ordered from suppliers.
- With a push strategy such as Manufacturing Resources Planning, on the contrary,
production is based on estimates of future demand, and begins according to the
planned production lead time.

UNIT 9. QUALITY
1. What does the word ‘quality’ mean to you? Brainstorm as many ideas as
possible.
- A quality product does not necessarily have to be the best possible. Consumer
expectations will be very different for goods and services sold at different prices.
A quality product does not have to be made with the highest quality materials to
the most exacting standards, but it must meet consumer expectations and be fit for
purpose.
- A quality product does not have to be expensive. If low-cost light bulbs and
clothes pegs last for several years in normal use, then they are likely to meet
consumer expectations and be of the required quality. A low-priced product can
 be considered good quality if it performs as expected. On the other hand, even a
highly priced good may still be of low quality if it fails to meet consumer
requirements.
- Quality is therefore a relative concept and not an absolute one: it depends on the
product’s price and the expectations of consumers.
2. Differentiate quality control and quality assurance.
Quality Control Quality Assurance

The checking for quality at the end of the
production process, whether it is the
production of a product or service.
A traditional way to make sure that products
went out of factories with no defects was to
have Quality Control departments whose job
it was to take samples at regular intervals to
check for errors. If errors or faults were
found then a whole batch of production
might have to be scrapped or reworked. The
Quality Control department would check
that quality was being maintained during the
production of goods, try to eliminate errors
before they occurred, and find any defective
products before they went out of the factory
to customers. A business may also use a
'mystery customer' to test out the service to
check if the quality is as expected.
Advantages:
• Tries to eliminate faults or errors before
the customer receives the product or
service
• Less training required for the workers.
Drawbacks:
• Expensive as employees need to be
paid to check the product or service.
• Identifies the fault but doesn't find why
the fault has occurred and therefore is
difficult to remove the problem.
• Increased costs if products have to be
scrapped or reworked or service
repeated.
The checking for the quality standards
throughout the production process, whether
it is the production of a product or service.
The business will make sure quality standards
are set and then it will apply these quality
standards throughout the business. The
purpose of quality assurance is to make sure
that the customer is satisfied, with the aim of
achieving greater sales, increased added value
and increased profits. To implement a quality
assurance system, several aspects of
production must be included. Attention must
be paid to the design of the product, the
components and materials used, delivery
schedules, after- sales service and quality
control procedures.
The workforce must support the use of this
system or it will not be effective.
Advantages:
• Tries to eliminate faults or errors before
the customer receives the product or
service.
• Fewer customer complaints.
• Reduced costs if products do not have to be
scrapped or reworked or service repeated.
Drawbacks:
• Expensive to train employees to check the
product or service.
• Relies on employees following instructions
of standards set.

3. What is TQM?
Total quality management (TQM): the continuous improvement of products and processes
by focusing on quality at each stage of production.

4. How does TOM affect business?

Total quality management (TQM) is based on the principle that everyone within a
business has a contribution to make to the overall quality of the finished product or
service.
+ TQM often involves a significant change in the culture of an organization.
Employees can no longer think that quality is someone else’s responsibility. The
search for quality must affect the attitudes and actions of every employee.
Examples include:
• A truck driver who drops off supplies to retailers is the internal customer of the
team loading the vehicle. Goods must be handled carefully and loaded in the right
order. The truck driver has to face the retailer if goods are damaged or the wrong
ones are delivered.
• A computer assembly team is the internal customer of the teams producing the
individual components. A fault with any component means the assembled computer
will not meet quality standards.
+ The TQM concept has revolutionized the way workers view quality. The aim is
to make all workers at all levels except that the quality of the work they perform
is important.
+ TQM eliminates the need for a separate quality control department with
inspectors separated from the production line itself.
+ TQM aims to cut the costs of faulty or defective products by encouraging all
workers to ‘get it right first time’ and to achieve zero defects.
=> Advantages:
• Quality is built into every part of the production of a product or service
and becomes central to the ethos of all employees

• Eliminates all faults or errors before the customer receives the product or service as it
1h0a5s a 'right first time' approach.

• No customer complaints and so brand image is improved - leading to higher sales.

• Reduced costs as products do not have to be scrapped or reworked or service

repeated.

• Waste is removed and efficiency increases.

Drawbacks:

• Expensive to train employees to check the product or service.

• Relies on employees following TQM ideology.

5. How do companies spend time and money to ensure quality?

- Engineers have to spend time with marketers during the development of new products
to facilitate design-for manufacture. There have to be supplier capability surveys to
make sure that suppliers can achieve the quality levels that they claim. There have to
be regular meetings, education and training about quality improvement.
- The company has to inspect and test incoming material, material that is being
processed, and the finished product. There is also the cost of buying and servicing any
equipment used for measuring and testing.
 - There may be scrap, rework, re-inspection, re-testing, etc. If these continue at a high
level, then perhaps there will be a fundamental review of suppliers and materials.
- Time is needed to process customer complaints, to process customer returns, to deal
with warranty claims and to handle product recalls.

UNIT 10. MARKETING

1. What is marketing?
Marketing is the act of promoting and selling products or services in order to meet customers'
needs and achieve business goals.

2. Differentiate market segment and market segmentation.

- The difference between market segmentation and market segment is that
the former is the process, whereas the latter is the result. In order to create
market segments, the business needs to go through the process of market
segmentation.
- The reason market segmentation is so critical to business is because it is
difficult to satisfy the needs of all consumers with the same products and
messaging. Consumers have different interests, needs, goals, likes and
dislikes, so businesses need to cater to groups of consumers in different
ways according to their traits.
- Market segmentation is the process of categorizing the market into
different groups, according to demographic, geographic, behavioral and
psychographic traits. The target market is the market segment that the
business is focusing on for a specific product or marketing campaign.

3. Differentiate market leader and market challenger; market follower and market
challenger; market niche and market follower.
● Market leader and market challenger:
- Market Leader: A market leader is a company that holds the highest market share in a
particular industry or segment. Their primary aim is to maintain or expand their
market dominance. They focus on increasing market share through innovation, new
product development, aggressive marketing strategies, and maintaining high-quality
standards. The objective is to remain ahead of competitors.
- Market Challenger: A market challenger is a firm that seeks to challenge the market
leader's position. They aim to increase their market share by employing various
strategies such as product innovation, pricing strategies, aggressive advertising, and
improving services. Challengers can either target the market leader directly or focus
on gaining share from other market followers.
● Market follower and market challenger:
- Market Follower: Market followers are companies that usually hold smaller market
shares and adopt strategies to maintain a stable position. They tend to imitate leaders'
products, improve upon existing products, offer competitive pricing, and strive to
keep manufacturing costs low while maintaining product quality. However, they may
struggle to compete directly with market leaders and challengers due to resource
constraints.
- Market Challenger: A market challenger is a firm that seeks to challenge the market
leader's position. They aim to increase their market share by employing various
strategies such as product innovation, pricing strategies, aggressive advertising, and
improving services. Challengers can either target the market leader directly or focus
on gaining share from other market followers.
● Market follower and market niche:
- Market Follower: Market followers are companies that usually hold smaller market
shares and adopt strategies to maintain a stable position. They tend to imitate leaders'
products, improve upon existing products, offer competitive pricing, and strive to
keep manufacturing costs low while maintaining product quality. However, they may
struggle to compete directly with market leaders and challengers due to resource
constraints.
- Market Niche: A market niche refers to a specialized segment within a broader
market that caters to specific customer needs or preferences. Companies targeting a
niche focus on a particular product, customer group, geographic region, or a specific
market segment. They aim to serve the unique needs of a smaller, specialized market,
providing products or services that may not be addressed by the market leader or
followers.

4. What are the four stages of a product life cycle?

● Introduction: This is when the product has just been launched after
development and testing. Sales are often quite low to begin with and may
increase only quite slowly. But there are exceptions, such as a newly
launched music download by a global rock star.
● Growth: If the product is effectively promoted and well received by
customers, then sales should grow. This stage cannot last forever.
Eventually, sales growth will begin to slow. The slowing down of sales
growth may take days, weeks or even years. This leads the product into
the next stage. The reasons for growth slowing or sales falling include
increasing competition, technological changes making the product less
appealing, changes in consumer tastes and saturation of the market.
● Maturity or saturation: At this stage, sales fail to grow, but they do not
decline significantly either. This stage can last for years, as for example
with Coca-Cola. The saturation of the consumer durables market is
caused by most consumers having already bought the particular product
they want. The best recent example is mobile (cell) phones. Although the
world market has grown phenomenally in recent years, sales growth has
slowed dramatically and analysts forecast it will end altogether. This is
explained by the high proportion of the world’s consumers who already
possess a mobile phone. It is only when their mobile phone breaks down
or is replaced by newer technology that consumers will buy a new one.
This is why all phone companies are working so hard 1o1n6 the next
generation of mobile phones (5G and beyond) to make existing models
obsolete.
● Decline: During this phase, sales will decline steadily. Either no extension
strategy has been tried or it has not worked, or else the product is so
obsolete that the only option is replacement. Newer products from
competitors are the most likely cause of declining sales and profits. When
the product becomes unprofitable or when its replacement is ready for the
market, it will be withdrawn.

5. Discuss marketing strategies.

A company's marketing strategies - sets of principles designed to achieve long-term
objectives obviously depend on its size and position in the market.
- The aim of a market leader is obviously to remain the leader.
- To protect a market share, a company can innovate in products, customer
services, distribution channels, cost reductions, and so on.
- Market followers are in a difficult position. They are usually the favorite target of
market challengers.
- Small companies that do not establish their own niche - a segment of a segment -
are in a vulnerable position.