Assignment: The 7 P's - Process

IB BUSINESS & MGMT HL C 2024
2024-10-31T15:22:41Z

Due: Nov 10, 2024 by 11:59pm

PROCESS

1. "Process" may seem boring, but it can actually be quite creative. One of the key things about process is making sure a customer stays engaged while waiting. How many of you like to wait in lines? Wait for web pages to load? Yeah, none of us. Here are some examples of how companies improve wait time through their process:

Mirrors have long been used in places with lifts (elevators), such as in hotels and department stores. Customers do not necessarily notice the waiting time - and hence refrain from being annoyed at the business - as they stare at themselves in the mirror! The same reasoning applies when customers enter the lift - there are mirrors inside too for this reason.

Music and entertainment is a major feature at many theme (leisure) parks. Disneyland operators try to sidetrack time-conscious customers by providing music, live entertainment and use of large movie screens to distract customers whilst they wait in line for thrill rides and other attractions. This all helps to provide a better overall experience for their customers.

Whilst waiting at supermarket checkouts, you may notice the ‘bins’ next to the counter. These are a last minute attempt by the supermarkets to lure customers to buy miscellaneous items (hence the term ‘bins’) such as confectionery and batteries. The other purpose is, again, to distract people waiting in the queue.

Airline companies often overbook the number of seats on a flight. This is because, statistically, flights are rarely booked at full capacity. However, as a result of the policy, airlines sometimes face the problem of overbooking and will need to ‘bump off’ customers, i.e. to offer them compensation for having to wait for the next available flight. Similarly, people who value time less conscientiously may purchase stand-by tickets which are cheaper but more inconvenient.

Women’s clothes retailing is a massive industry. However, women are often accompanied by their husbands, boyfriends or partners who tend to have less patience in a shopping mall – look out for this next time you are out shopping! Marketers have noticed this fact and have responded. Many retail outlets now provide newspapers and male-orientated publications (such as motor vehicles or male fashion magazines) so that the girlfriend or wife can shop in peace! The retail outlets hope that this strategy will then allow the customers to spend much longer in their shops, thereby increasing the chance of more sales.

7-Eleven convenience stores, the Japanese-owned multinational company, charges higher prices than supermarkets for the same products. The surcharge is ‘justified’ as most of their stores are open 24-7, so customers pay for this convenience and the opportunity cost of having to pay higher wages to staff working unsociable hoursBrainstorm your own examples you have seen.

2. Ok, now think about processes at companies that consumers (WE) don't like very much but we put up with because we have to.

Examples- arriving on time at the doctors office and then waiting 25 minutes to see the doctor

- waiting on hold to cancel a subscription/order because you can't do it online

- waiting in line for school lunch each day, wasting half of our lunch time.

- arriving 60 minutes early to wait in queue to buy Taylor Swift tickets, and then waiting 90 minutes after the queue begins to actually buy tickets (just me? ok).

Brainstorm your own examples of poor process you have to put up with.

Assignment:

A. Write down your list of examples from 1 & 2 above

B. Why can the companies with poor process in #2 above still stay in business? In other words, why do you have to put up with the poor process?

C. Think of a company with a poor process and suggest an inexpensive way the process could be improved.

D. Remember the Boston Consulting Group Matrix?! If a company has a poor process for a product and is still succeeding as a company, which quadrant of the BCG Matrix might the product be in?

PROCESS

1. "Process" may seem boring, but it can actually be quite creative. One of the key things about process is making sure a customer stays engaged while waiting. How many of you like to wait in lines? Wait for web pages to load? Yeah, none of us. Here are some examples of how companies improve wait time through their process:

Mirrors have long been used in places with lifts (elevators), such as in hotels and department stores. Customers do not necessarily notice the waiting time - and hence refrain from being annoyed at the business - as they stare at themselves in the mirror! The same reasoning applies when customers enter the lift - there are mirrors inside too for this reason.

Music and entertainment is a major feature at many theme (leisure) parks. Disneyland operators try to sidetrack time-conscious customers by providing music, live entertainment and use of large movie screens to distract customers whilst they wait in line for thrill rides and other attractions. This all helps to provide a better overall experience for their customers.

Whilst waiting at supermarket checkouts, you may notice the ‘bins’ next to the counter. These are a last minute attempt by the supermarkets to lure customers to buy miscellaneous items (hence the term ‘bins’) such as confectionery and batteries. The other purpose is, again, to distract people waiting in the queue.

Airline companies often overbook the number of seats on a flight. This is because, statistically, flights are rarely booked at full capacity. However, as a result of the policy, airlines sometimes face the problem of overbooking and will need to ‘bump off’ customers, i.e. to offer them compensation for having to wait for the next available flight. Similarly, people who value time less conscientiously may purchase stand-by tickets which are cheaper but more inconvenient.

Women’s clothes retailing is a massive industry. However, women are often accompanied by their husbands, boyfriends or partners who tend to have less patience in a shopping mall – look out for this next time you are out shopping! Marketers have noticed this fact and have responded. Many retail outlets now provide newspapers and male-orientated publications (such as motor vehicles or male fashion magazines) so that the girlfriend or wife can shop in peace! The retail outlets hope that this strategy will then allow the customers to spend much longer in their shops, thereby increasing the chance of more sales.

7-Eleven convenience stores, the Japanese-owned multinational company, charges higher prices than supermarkets for the same products. The surcharge is ‘justified’ as most of their stores are open 24-7, so customers pay for this convenience and the opportunity cost of having to pay higher wages to staff working unsociable hoursBrainstorm your own examples you have seen.

2. Ok, now think about processes at companies that consumers (WE) don't like very much but we put up with because we have to.

Examples- arriving on time at the doctors office and then waiting 25 minutes to see the doctor

- waiting on hold to cancel a subscription/order because you can't do it online

- waiting in line for school lunch each day, wasting half of our lunch time.

- arriving 60 minutes early to wait in queue to buy Taylor Swift tickets, and then waiting 90 minutes after the queue begins to actually buy tickets (just me? ok).

Brainstorm your own examples of poor process you have to put up with.

Assignment:

A. Write down your list of examples from 1 & 2 above

B. Why can the companies with poor process in #2 above still stay in business? In other words, why do you have to put up with the poor process?

C. Think of a company with a poor process and suggest an inexpensive way the process could be improved.

D. Remember the Boston Consulting Group Matrix?! If a company has a poor process for a product and is still succeeding as a company, which quadrant of the BCG Matrix might the product be in?