Question:

Answer:

Question 1

            The target customers of the respective company named Pure Food Company are the individuals or patients who are having different difficulties related to eating or dental issues as well. The respective company provides texture modified food items wherein the taste will remain the same and it is easier to feed the patients as well. The patients are the ones who are having difficulties dementia, Alzheimer’s as well as Parkinson. The main aim of PFC is to provide real food solution to the different patients (Broner, Lorenzoni & Schmukler, 2013).

Question 2

The four stages of product life cycle are as follows:

• Beginning phase is wherein merchandise is properly implemented in the market and this will help in proper development of the clear identity in competitive market. In this particular stage, there is negative kind of image as the volume of sales is less and the cost is huge in nature
• The second stage is the growth stage wherein the revenues and the sales starts growing properly and in this stage there is huge competition in market as well. Due to the huge amount of competition in the market, there is huge investment made by the company that is done on advertisements as well as convincing the customers and profit may decline as well
• The third stage is the maturity stage that includes proper awareness of the brand and this helps in growing the entire sales of the company as well. The loyal customers make purchase and this will help in gaining competitive advantage as well (Zalengera et al., 2014)
• Lastly, the decline stage wherein due to the unfavorable conditions there is decline in revenues as well as sales of the respective company due to change in trends

The stage of PLC wherein PFC is offering their target customers the GROWTH STAGE wherein the revenues and the profit will increase and the competition will increase to a great extent as well. The target buyers will make huge purchase and this will help the company to be more recognized in nature.

Question 3

Two types of equity finance are as follows:

• External Finance
• Internal Finance
• Financing with self earned money wherein the new business has just started off and this will include the money of the owner or the investor who has made the purchase to start off the entire business (Benmelech & Dvir, 2013)
• Venture capital is the equity finance wherein in order to expand the entire business, the venture capitalist and this kind of capital has substantial amount of risk that is involved in it

The venture capital is one of the good options that can be adopted by CEO of the company who will be the institutional investors of the company. This will help the respective company in generating growth in the business as well. This will help in generating new trend in the business that will be strong as well as growing in nature (Nellemann et al., 2014)

Question 4

Four appropriate sources of short term borrowing to CEO of PFC Company are:

• Entering in overdraft agreement with the Bank, this will help PFC in borrowing money for setting their business in an effective manner. There can be necessity of the collateral security with interest that will be involved in it as well
• There can be different other discounts such as invoice discounting and this will help PFC in taking different commercial bills to make the payment less and the collection of the rest amount will be done on the due date from customers
• Proper selling of the investments can help the respective company in making payments in different installments and this will help them to grow faster in the competitive market as well (Baker, 2014)
• Proper advances to customers is essential in nature as this will help the entire company in making advance payments from customers and this will help in channelizing the different operations as well

Question 5

Economic Environmental Factors

• With proper implementation of the offering different discounts and promotions along with keeping the prices low in nature (Armstrong et al., 2015)
• Proper kind of options has to be adopted and this has to be made available to the customers for convenience of customers

Political environmental factors

• There are different trends that affects PFC in having positive impact on healthier options of providing proper and healthy food
• The company targets patients who are having different eating issues along with swallowing issues as well that will help in improving international trade

Socio Cultural environmental factors

• Different usage of slogans can help in making brand successful in nature
• The appropriate kind of change in the company can affect the customer base

Answer to Question 6

The types of intermittent production system are as follow:

Batch production flow:

In this production flow, the process is divided into various jobs. The tasks are divided based on some specified sequence, which is predetermined or as it may be instructed by the customer (Weske, 2012). The batches are also produced in anticipation of demand. Examples may include heavy machines or medium machines.

Jobbing production flow:

In the jobbing flow, the firm accepts the order from the customer to produce a single unit of a particular design or many units as per the specification provided by the consumer (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2014). The price of the contract is kept fixed from before at the time when the contract was received. Examples may include repair shop services or manufacturing a special machine.

Project production flow:

This is with respect to a particular order. In the given case, the company accepts and produces a single order at a time and finishes the order within a specified period for a specific cost. Examples of this may include construction of roads, dam and airports.

Answer to Question 7

Importance of research and development

Research and developed plays a vital role in the innovation of a service or a product. The research and development is the main ingredient behind the success of a product. It provides the platform to foster creativity and innovation. A proper research and development facility may help the company in gaining advantage against the competitor. This advantage is considered crucial in the business environment, as there is intense competition. Sam and his partners, for PFC wanted to develop a product, which had high nutritious value as well as one with a good taste (Ebert et al., 2014). The partners analysed the market and researched upon the various reasons why people faced problems while eating.  After their research, the formed a niche market catering to the needs of the people who had problems while eating. They consulted with chefs, food scientists, doctors and dentists and finally came up with a product, which was healthy and tasty as well.

Answer to Question 8

Part 1

The three objectives of human resource planning are as follow:

• Human resource planning helps in analysing and assessing the number of people, which is needed in the organization for the future as well present endeavours of the firm. The relevant skills that are required in the firm are analyzed and the recruitment is planned.
• To determine the training needs of the employees.
• To minimize the imbalances present in the firm. The organization needs to employee the right people at the right time.

Part 2

The human resource plan of PFC should be genuine and realistic. The balance between the supply and demand should be maintained in order to reduce extra labour costs. The main skills for the marketing team are communication and organization (Griffin & Pustay, 2012). The marketing team must be organized and be able to communicate to their customers and convince them to buy. The staff can be hired through campus requirements or through job portals available online.

Answer to Question 9

The three stakeholders for PFC are as follow:

• Sam Bridgewater- He is the main mastermind behind the product idea and the company is his concept. He has the highest stake in the company.
• George Bridgewater and Maia royal (Partners) – They are the partners of the firm who have invested their time and energy as well as funds into the business (Myers, 2013). They have a large stake in the success of the business.
• Customers- They is the reason the company was developed. They satisfaction of customers is of utmost importance.

Answer to Question 10

The self- management skills are one of the most important skills required by any CEO. They are important in the success of a business.

Given below are four most important skills for self-management

• Stress management- Conducting a business is not easy. Therefore if faced by stress the CEO should know how to manage it in order to not hinder his thinking ability.
• Time Management- the CEO has a lot of burden on his shoulders and limited time. Therefore, the CEO needs to have acute time management skills that will help him to prioritize the tasks based on their importance. (Hall & Rusher, 2013).
• Organizing Skills- Organization is the key to success. If the CEO has proper organization skills then he will be able to manage all the interrelated tasks and make his business successful.
• Decision Making Skill- Business involves taking important decisions. Therefore, the CEO must have the decision-making skills so that whenever such a phase comes, the CEO can take a decision that benefits the whole organization.

Therefore, if the CEO of PFC has these self-management skills then he will be able to successfully take the business to new heights.

 

 

References

Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M., & Brennan, R. (2015). Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education.

Baker, M. J. (2014). Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.

Benmelech, E., & Dvir, E. (2013). Does short-term debt increase vulnerability to crisis? Evidence from the East Asian financial crisis. Journal of International Economics, 89(2), 485-494.

Broner, F. A., Lorenzoni, G., & Schmukler, S. L. (2013). Why do emerging economies borrow short term?. Journal of the European Economic Association, 11(suppl_1), 67-100.

Carroll, A., & Buchholtz, A. (2014). Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management. Nelson Education

Ebert, R. J., Griffin, R. W., Starke, F. A., & Dracopoulos, G. (2014). Business essentials. Pearson Education Canada.

Griffin, R. W., & Pustay, M. W. (2012). International business. Pearson Higher Ed.

Hall, C. M., & Rusher, K. (2013). Risky lifestyles? Entrepreneurial characteristics of the New Zealand bed and breakfast sector. Small in Firms Tourism, Michael, HC and K. Rusher (Eds.). Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 83-98.

Myers, M. D. (2013). Qualitative research in business and management. Sage.

Nellemann, C., Henriksen, R., Raxter, P., Ash, N., & Mrema, E. (2014). The environmental crime crisis: threats to sustainable development from illegal exploitation and trade in wildlife and forest resources. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Weske, M. (2012). Business process management architectures. In Business Process Management (pp. 333-371). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Zalengera, C., Blanchard, R. E., Eames, P. C., Juma, A. M., Chitawo, M. L., & Gondwe, K. T. (2014). Overview of the Malawi energy situation and A PESTLE analysis for sustainable development of renewable energy. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 38, 335-347.