Business

Part A Product Idea Generation

Check List Method
The checklist method involves the use of related ideas or questions in developing completely new ideas or allowing the manager to focus on specific areas. Since the checklist can take any form and content, a completely original one was developed as follows with answers relative to our situation also presented

QuestionsResponsesWhat Do Customers Value In Recessionary TimesEconomy, Effectiveness and EfficiencyDoes the Present Product Offer any of these Individual products do but there is low chance that any car will offer all three. An SUV might be effective, but it is hard to see how it can be fuel efficient and economic at the same time. Similarly, a sedan might have the desired effect and be fuel efficient but come at a premium price tag.  What can we change Given the brand values and loyalty that the top car manufacturers command and the relative skill level of its resources, it will be easy for them to come out with a new product offering that is economic, effective and efficient, that is, combining the three attributes that customers value in recessionary times.Where do we startBy choosing a benchmark.Who do we benchmark against and whyThe Japanese car manufacturers as they are the leaders in the manufacture of fuel efficient cars that come at an economic price tag and have effective usability. What will our product look likeOur product will be a present car offering that is molded into a Triple E package.ResultWe aim to mould the present product offering into a Triple E package that corresponds with Japanese standards as far as possible.

Forced Relationship
This implies the development of new product ideas based on finding linkages between differing product combinations. The process as applied by the author is given below
Elements  Recession  CarsFormsRelationship  CombinationIdea  PatternAdjectiveRecessionary CarsCheap  economic carsNounRecession CarsCars available at affordable prices without the luxury wear and look of their expensive colleagues and which focus on the objective of transportation.Verb CorrelatesCars Drive Recession

Recession inspired carsSuggests a link between cars driving the recessionary times away.

Cars based on the no frills concept. Lower luxuries, more focus on getting the job done at an economic price tag.

Attribute listing
This involves looking at positives and negatives of a product offering to seek a new product idea. The process as applied to our case is presented below

PositivesNegativesLuxuries with a lot of on board amenitiesSome luxuries seldom used. The common man with a cell phone with internet connectivity has little use for an on board telephone system and GPS technology if he knows where he lives and works.Speed and engine power leading to a thrilling experience for the customer. Cost prohibitive as efficiencies only realized when high speed achieved which is not possible in many inner city areas.  Smart cars with social appealLead to social distortion of the notion of a car itself, that is, a mode of transportation as opposed to a societal differing mechanism.

Result Cars should be more focused on getting the job done and not become a matter of societal differing, that is, the economic perspective should be looked at from a rational perspective.

Part B Product Development Stage
On a basic note, all three ideas above point to the need for cars to focus on their core usage, that is, on the need to be transportation mechanisms with a focus on fuel efficiency and economic price. Presently, the major car manufacturers in the United States offer automobiles that are geared at the societal effect of having a nice car with hundreds of on board amenities. The end result is that cars have become a cyclical product and seen as a luxury which affects the fortunes of car manufacturers to a great extent as sales of new cars fall and people switch to public transport systems or retention of their present automobiles.

In this scenario, what is expected of the major car manufactures is that they would somehow tone down the luxurious aspect of the automobiles they manufacture and concentrate on the core aim of providing a means of safe economical transportation at an affordable price. All US manufacturers can do this easily given the fact that they have an excellent team of experts at every level of the value chain and the fact that in most cases, the focus will be to take an existing product and produce a toned down version of it. Thus, minimal changes in the product line are required with the overall marketing strength of these companies leading to efficient product differentiation.

Hence, to capitalize on the opportunity available, it is recommended that present product offerings be toned down and marketed appropriately to capture a huge market of commuters that prefer private transport. This would involve, lowering the extra content that goes into any particular model in the production stage while taking out uneconomical parts (such as huge engines and replacing them with more fuel efficient ones) and then differentiating the product in the market through appropriate marketing techniques.

Part C  E Commerce
E Commerce may be used extensively in this case with respect to understanding customer reaction to the intended product offering (market research) and in the final commercialization of the idea (sales channel). As an alternative to E Commerce, market research may be done physically by actually visiting the customers and  or sending surveys to households. On the other hand, traditional dealership channels may be used to sell the product.

However, both of these methods are cost prohibitive when compared to E commerce and in recessionary times, with a focus on delivering an economic product offering, cost inputs should be minimized as much as possible.