PGD IIBM 404 Product & Project Life cycle Management

Cases –

Case-1 –VidMark, manufacturer of Cell Phones, is currently developing a new model VidPhone X70 that will be released in the market, when development is complete. This phone will be revolutionary in that it will allow the user to place video phone calls. VidMark is concerned about the process to be followed, ensuring time to market is minimum and also about the present competitive

environment which is prevailing in the market. They are also unable to work out a structured Forecasting mechanism to arrive at realistic Market potential, considering that at present, in spite of their aggressive marketing, they are not able to penetrate Market beyond 12% against the Brand Leader NOKIA which is enjoying a Market Leader position with 37.1% market share.

VidMark Marketing has come with novel idea of moving into Rural sector ,wherein the usage of Cell phone ,at present does not exceed 3 \1000.Considering Rural market is expanding at the rate of 12-15 % ,the Management is of the opinion that VidPhone X70 may not be a success if focus is done on Rural market.

Considering the present market scene, what would be your strategy for VidMark to follow in terms of

i)- Whether to launch the Product in Rural Market without assessing the Urban developed Market.

ii)- Considering that Urban market is already dominated by NOKIA, what would be your strategy in introducing a parallel product ,resembling NOKIA and capture sizable portion of developed market before venturing into Rural market.

iii)- Your recommendation must be build up on the framework of a structured process of Product development.

Case-2 –Dell has developed a set of highly specialized systems that support its make to order operating strategy. Dell has created a set of propertiery logistical process that range from the design of its web page through its information system infrastructure ( a process that has proven difficult for others to imitate. Dell owns the data about the

people buying and in which combinations. It also has been vertically integrated into final assembly facilities that are designed to efficiently produce in lot sizes of one. Finally when it outsources components, Dell uses long term relationship with its suppliers and links them into its information system to support quick response.

To give further structure of Dell organization, they have a total of 64 Relationship \ Partnership Vendors located within a radius of 10 kms.As such any requirement as envisaged by Customer ,even a specific configuration gets delivered the same day or maximum 24 hrs,however small is the order.

In one of the forums, the Dell Marketing Manager has outlined the internal mechanism, with which Dell works, ensuring customer satisfaction on parameters of cost, quality & delivery.

In anticipation that you are actively associated with Dell, what would be your process management ensuring the best management

practices which are being followed by Dell. Needless to mention, Dell enjoys a tremendous amount of customer loyalty.

Case-3 – Project Management at Delhi Metro - Traffic issues in major Indian cities has been a cause of major concern for Planners in India. Considering the population in major cities like Delhi is increasing at a rate of more than 20 % annually, the city planners are required to

think in terms of long term solution to such burning issues. Delhi Metro is one such project. The phase 1 of this 3 phase project alone is going to cost Rs 10,500 Crores.It is critical for People of Delhi, because when completed, Delhi had 244 Kms of Metro Rail network, which helps people reach their offices much more conveniently and safely..The phase of project was completed in year 2001.After the completion of

this phase 1 DMRTS is able to carry 21.8 Lakhs passengers per day, resulting into 2500 less Buses on the road, increase in average speed of road buses from 10.5 km per hour to 14 km per hour, saving of 20Lakh man-hours per day due to reduced journey time and saving a fuel cost worth Rs 500 Crore per year.Mr. Shreedharan, the MD of the project ,is considered to be the foremost Project manager in the country for

completing such a complex project in time. Further his ability to execute such a complex project of great significance to the economy in timely and cost effective manner and with desired quality, has been a benchmark for such larger infrastructure project.

Deriving your inference from a project like Delhi Metro, what would have prompted Mr. Shreedharan to execute this project with a

very fine & detailed plan. Work out modalities for required to work out a successful project like Delhi Metro

Assignments –

1- Analyze 4 phases of Product Lifecycle in the context of any NOKIA model, considering that NOKIA has outsourced its low segment range of models to subcontracting, but the Design specifications have been defined by NOKIA.

2- What is the importance of Customer relationship in ,Supply chain management ,ERP ,& system development for a make to order product./ What will be different phases of Product life cycle management will play and their importance in dealing with a competitive FMCG product in the market.

3- Describe the product design philosophy behind Industrial design and design for manufacture assembly. What is the relevance of Industrial design in customer focused product development?

4- Your MOM is tired of making Tea. She thinks that a major fraction of her time is spent in the kitchen making Tea as every visitor to your house is customarily offered Tea. She has recently seen a Tea vending Machine at the Railway station and other places. How you describe above as a process

management activity? What are the different processes are followed in each case/ What are the USP’s of each activity?

5-Ahuja’a Sub shop makes custom submarine Sandwiches to order. They are analyzing the processes at their shop.

Devise a general process of flow, considering a separate person is working at each of the steps in the process. What type of mechanized process you would follow?

PGD-IBM 403 – Global Environment, Sourcing & Business Development

CASES

Case-1 –An era of economic reforms ushered in India in 1991.hoeevwer even after Two decades, the progress of reforms and performance of economy presented a picture far from satisfactory. The Governments approach to reforms even appeared to be confusing. The Union Budget of previous years

had several proposals for further reforms, though hailed, and could not be carried forward in a desirable manner.

As against this background McKinsey Amplify global Institute, an arm of international consultancy , presented a report to the Government a report titled’ India; The Growth imperative ‘ containing a 13 items prioritized reform agenda that would make

India a very different & reformed country in next decade. With a GDP growth of 8.5 % per annum, doubling of real capita income and 22 million new jobs by 2020 outside Agriculture.

Considering the present state of Indian Economy and with inflation hovering around 10-12 % in all the sectors, make a detailed execution plan for 2011-2020 and describe what means

you wish to adopt to achieve a GDP growth of min. 9 % and containing inflation to less than 5 % .Needless to mention, cross border trade is free and as per WTO requirements the duty structure has to be user friendly.

Case-2 –The SWAP It has been reported in Newspapers that Reliance Industries entered into a swap deal; for the export and

import of 36 cargoes of naphtha over the next 6 months. Accordingly, three cargoes of 50,000 Tons each were to be exported every month from Reliance Petroleum’s Jamnagar refinery and three cargoes of the same amount were to be imported to the Reliance Industries’ Hazira Factory. The deal was done through Japanese Traders Mitsubishi, Merubeni,

itochu,Idmitsu and Shell. The export was done at around Arabian Gulf prices plus$22.

Reliance needs petrochemical grade naphtha for its Hazira facility which is not being produced at Jamnagar. Therefore its cracker at Hazira gets petrochemical grade naphtha from the international

markets in return for Reliance Petroleum selling grade naphtha from its Jamnagar refinery to the international oil trade.

If RIL imports naphtha for Hazira petrochemical plant, the company does not have to pay the 12.5 Tax, which it will have to pay on a local purchase, even if it is from Reliance Petro. Besides,

Reliance Petro will also get a 10 % duty draw back on its crude imports if it exports naphtha from the refinery at Jamnagar.

The export of naphtha with Japanese traders is being looked as a coup for Reliance as it gives the company an entry into large Japanese market.

Indian refineries have a freight advantage over the Singapore market and can quote better prices.

QUESTIONS

1- Examine the internal & external factors behind Reliance’s decision for the swap deal.

2- What environmental changes could make sweep deal unattractive in future./

3- Could there be any strategic reason behind the decision to import and export naptha ?

4- Should Reliance import and export naptha even if it does not provide any profit advantage ?

Case -3 – Mahindra & Mahindra –

Mahindra & Mahindra is a major player in tractor field and certain segments of the Automobile market in India. After an impressive growth for last few years, the Tractor market in India has been stagnating at about 5-7 % growth.

M&M has been selling its Tractors and utility vehicles in foreign markets including USA. Some of the components for its products have been sourced from abroad.

M&M has a 100 % subsidiary in USA, Mahindra USA with a strong network of 100 dealers.

Mahindra has a 5 % market5 share in the USA market in the 28-30 HP range.

As a part of strategy aimed at building global supply chain, Mahindra USA has signed a memorandum of understanding ( MOU ) with the Korean tractor major Tong Yang, a part of the $ 2 billion Tong Yang moolsam group, according to which Mahindra will source high

horse power ( mostly 25-40hp range) and sell them around the world under the M&M brand name. To start with the premium range of Tractors will be sold in USA.

M&M’s current tractor range is more utility oriented and lacks the aesthetic appeal that Tong Yang’s tractors have a must for a strong presence in the USA market.

Questions

1-What are the advantages and disadvantages of Global sourcing?

2 –how will the foreign market expansion will help M&M ?

3-how does the strategic alliance with Tong Yang benefit M&M ?

4 –What are the possible risks of the alliance? how they can be overcome \ minimized. ?

Assignments

1- A firm in international business encounters three different sets of external environment viz. Domestic, Foreign & Global.

MacDonald fast food chain has overcome challenges posed by these three environmental factors.

Describe the various strategies adopted by the Management of MacDonald to successfully launched their fast food chains in India.

2 –The WTO–World Trade Organization has certain principals and agreements. how it has impacted the Indian economy ?

How it would have fared if GATT would have continued?

3 –There are various theories of Investment ,one of which is ‘Market imperfections theory ‘ .How does it relate to Monopolistic Advantage theory and its relevance in Indian environment /

4 –The international trade & Balance of Payment of India can be evaluated with ‘comparative export performance’.

What are the current issues faced by India in order to maintain a uniform flow of foreign capital and how you will evaluate the same as per the current scenario /

5 –Michel porter has investigated a very fundamental question ‘why does a nation achieve international success in a particular Industry? He has attributed 4 major attributes of a nation to

shape up its environment . How you relate this to present economical environment of India?. Substantiate your argument with a very current relevant example and define the various parameters achieved in this discipline ?