Planning techniques Essay

According to the BCG matrix, companies contrast units can be categorized into 4 categories. These categories atomic number 18 based on the amalgamations of grocery store deal and foodstuff reaping relational to the biggest competitor. Based on BCG matrix, it is very good for the go with when its fruits have large market sh ar or the products market is growing very fast.The Boston Consulting Group Portfolio MatrixStars indicate that the business or the product has high market share and high growth.Large amount of money are invested and so these businesses/products are expected to generate considerable amount of hard hard currency. They are the leaders in that special business.Usually approximately in balance on net bullion f let loose. Nevertheless, if whatever effort is subscribe to to be made to keep the share it should been done beca workout if the market share is maintained then the returns provide be a hard cash cow. Cash cows are companies or products which hav e abject market growth and high market share.These are mature and successful businesses with high profit and cash generationThere is little need for investment because of the low growth. Dogs represent companies or products which have low growth and low market share.These businesses neither generate nor consume a large amount of money.The number of dogs in a company should be avoided and minimized. uncertainty marks display organizations or products with high growth and low market share.Question marks require huge amount of investment and have low returns because the market share is low.If the market share stays low than question marks exit constantly demand large amounts of money and as the growth terminates, they will convert in a dog.However, if the market share increases then the question marks may return into a star and ultimately a cash cow as the market growth slows.The BCG Matrix Method helps to understand a common dodge mistake puff by the companies which is having a on e-size-fits-all-approach to strategy. In such circumstances A.Cash cows Business Units will reach easily their profit target and their managers will be permitted to invest more money inthe businesses which are developed only not growing any more. B.Dogs Business Units will not condition investing in order to turn the business around C.Subsequently the investment made in Question Marks and Stars Business Units is mediocre and thus they do not have the opportunity to become cash cows. In this scenario there are only two things that the companies should do. Either these SBU should receive decent amount of cash to allow them to become a cash cow (or star), or companies should not invest anymore and turn up to take whatever amount of cash out of the question marks. Some of the drawbacks of the BCG Matrix are1.Having a high market share does not mean that the company or the product will be successful. 2.The attractiveness of markets is not indicated only by the market growth 3.It may happen that Dogs can get to higher returns than Cash Cows.Profit impact on market strategy (PIMS)The Profit Impact of commercialise Strategy (PIMS) is a program which started initially in the USA, to determine how profit impacted on merchandise strategy and vice versa. Based on the information collected from participating companies, PIMS estimated businesses market get and proposed practicable strategies. According to Lancaster, Massingham and Ashford (Essentials of Marketing, 4th edition, McGraw Hill), PIMS seeks to address three basic questions What is the typical profit rate for each reference of business?Given current strategies in a company, what are the future operating results likely to be?What strategies are likely to help improve future operating results?Dibb, Simkin, Pride and Ferrell (Marketing Concepts and Strategies, 4th European edition, Houghton Mifflin) have-to doe with six principal areas of information that PIMS holds on each businesscharacteristics of the business environmentcompetitive position of the businessstructure of the production processhow the budget is allocatedstrategic movementOperating results.Businesses which want to use the service have to present detailed information, containing details of their competitors and marketbalance sheetassumptions about future sales.In return, PIMS produces four reports, described by Lancaster, Massingham and Ashford as 1. A PAR report demonstrates the ROI and cash flows that are considered normal for that extra kind of business, displaying its market, competition, technology, and cost structure. 2. A Strategy Analysis report shows the likely do of strategy changes on ROI/cash flow both short and long term. This is achieved by analyzing the information of new(prenominal) companies in an analogue business making similar moves, from an equal starting-point and in similar business environment. 3. A Report on Look-Alikes (ROLA) analyzes strategically equivalent businesses more closely and then predicts the best combination of strategies for that particular company 4. An Optimum Strategy report is almost the same as ROLA because it recommends the best strategy for the company based on the experience of other companies in the same position. One of the disadvantages of this model is that the data has been misinterpreted in some cases. In addition, another area which can be argued is connecting the profitability to the market share.Shell directing Policy MatrixThe Shell Directional Policy Matrix is another refinement upon the Boston Matrix. It has two dimensions, vertical and horizontal. Next to the vertical axe are companys competitive capabilities and next to the horizontal axe are the prospects for sector profitability.Different strategic decisions will be implied depending on the position of a Strategic Business Unit (SBU) in the matrix.Each of the cells is explained belowDisinvest Disinvesting is the best option when the SBU is foot race in losseswith ambiguous cash flow because the situation is not going to ameliorate in the future. These liquidate or move the assets. Phased withdrawal SBUs with average competitive capability in low growth market has almost no chance to generate cash and as such they should be eliminated sequentially. Double or quit this is all about gambling. There are two possible options to take a chance and these are either to invest more in order to take full advantage of the prospects displayed by the market or to abandon the business. Custodial SBUs are just like a cash cow, milk it and do not commit any more resources. In this situation the corporate has to make a decision whether to get help from other SBUs or exit the scene to concentrate on more on other attractive business.Try harder SBU may be doing fine for the moment but the future does not look promising and thus additional resources to strength their capabilities will be required. By trying harder, the company may take advantage of the business prospect s thoroughly. Cash Generator This is like a cash cow where no further amounts of cash are invested and SBU may carry on with their operations because the generation of cash is strong and satisfactory profit is made. Growth In order to support product invention and R&D activities the SBUs need investment. So ensuring that enough resources are available is critical to grow the market. Market Leadership Significant resources are concentrated on the SBU and so it must be the first priority.SHELL DPM has its limitations. The first limitation is that it assumes that the similar factors are entirely applicable for appraising the prospects of any product/business.