Executive summary
This research paper captures the need for the creation of a product that satisfies the requirements of a new market. It examines the manner in which a new product development team of the Chocolala Company defines its strategy for the project. The team evaluates the company’s internal strengths, threats and weaknesses that help it in the identification of a new market. These aspects help the team to determine the components that give the product an edge over similar commodities produced by rival companies. The concepts also form the basis for a marketing plan and analysis. The plan focuses on the growth strategy of the company.
The structure helps the team to predict the expectations of the consumer (Van Mieghem, 2008). The business engages the consumer before the actual product development phase. The new product will comprise of sugar- free chocolates of different flavours. Foods with increased sugar levels continue to pose challenges to people due to their health repercussions. The chocolates will thus appeal to clients that purchase sugarless products. The team will conduct intensive research that aims at improving the company’s market opportunity. The Chocolala Company is an organization that deals with the production of chocolates to its clients.
Introduction
Many companies in the world continue to adopt new technologies in order to improve their performance in the market. The Chocolala Company in the UAE began its operations in 2013. It deals with chocolate, cocoa and candies. The company continues to improve its production processes in order to secure huge profits. The company will adopt innovative measures to boost its success like the adoption of sales targets for its staff. The Chocolola Company will adopt a leadership program to enable it to promote the motivation of its workers. The preliminary financial evaluation will involve the assessment of the company’s financial records to establish whether the company can finance the research project. The financial evaluation will engage economic experts within the team to examine the viability of the project (Westcott, 2010).
The company will also integrate organizational culture and values geared towards innovation. The need for innovation in the company will be brought about by the development of new markets, technologies, change in politics and laws. Innovation within the Chocolala Company will improve the sales of the new product. The concept will also reduce the production costs of the new chocolate products.
Product innovation charter
The Chocolola Company will develop an innovation charter to guide the production of the new chocolate products. Strategic planning will serve as a basis for the new products’ development. The product innovation charter will aim at providing an integrated goal that will define the products’ development process. The innovation charter will include the target objectives that the company will adopt in order to make reasonable profits through the sale of chocolate bars. The regulation will define the long and short term market objectives for the sugar -free chocolate bars. The charter will focus on producing healthy chocolate bars for the target market.
It will also define the organization’s corporate social responsibility within the UAE. This aspect will help job seekers within the UAE to access employment opportunities in the Chocolala Company. The target market will include people above the age of 45 years who are vulnerable to terminal diseases like diabetes caused by excessive consumption of food with high sugar levels. The charter will define the company’s plan of achieving a competitive advantage over other businesses.
Market trend and analysis
The new product development team will assess the needs of the market through conduction of oral interviews with clients in shopping malls within the UAE. The team will examine the reasons why many people above 45 years do not consume chocolate bars. The hypothesis will link the reduced sales of chocolates among people of above 45 years to the high sugar levels in the chocolates. The team will also conduct surveys to determine the people who buy chocolates in large numbers. The market analysis will incorporate the strategy of marketing of the new products and the nature of the products, including their ingredients. The trend analysis will define the tastes and preferences of the target market. The analysis will integrate measures of profit maximization. The market and trend analysis will comprise of additional research, sales forecasting and risk management.
Market opportunity and identification
The Chocolala Company’s new product development team will embark on research to identify new markets and opportunities. The team will conduct a SWOT analysis to identify the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in regard to the identification of a new market and emergent opportunities. The research team will focus on using the reputation of the company as a leading chocolates’ producer within the UAE and beyond. The company may face initial challenges of penetrating the new market due to the existence of similar products from rival companies. The PESTLE analysis will help the team to overcome business rivalry in view of political, environmental, socio-cultural, technological, legal and economic factors. The government must issue legal permission for the production of the chocolates.
Communities within the UAE culturally consume pepper, meaning that it would be a good idea to include it among the ingredients of the chocolate. The chocolates must be affordable to people of all socioeconomic statuses. The market strategies may include the use of social media like Twitter, that is normally used by populations above the age of 45 years within the UAE.
Idea generation
The concept of idea generation will integrate analysis techniques like SWOT, PESTLE and market opportunity identification. The new product development team will use a focused group discussion (FGD) to collate and evaluate the value of all the ideas from different team members. The adopted ideas will help the team in the innovation process. Many ideas will help the team to choose from a broad spectrum of concepts. The team will conduct an opportunity analysis to support the ideas’ screening phase. The objective of this phase will be to select appropriate ideas before the company adopts them.
The team will examine the company’s mission and vision statements in order to align them to the objectives of the production of the sugar-free chocolates. The team will also analyze the operations management of the Chocolala Company to determine the capacity of the organization to meet the supply and demand challenges that the new products may face in the market. The new product development team will generate ideas through visual images. The images may not be as costly as other techniques of idea generation. Pictures appeal to the emotions of human beings and hence bring out the real perceptions of people towards certain commodities in the market. The team will use the improvisation method that involves the use of written articles to capture ideas from the new product development team members.
Product concept development
The Chocolala Company will develop its product concept development in accordance with its market objectives. The company will identify the core statements that will guide the sale of sugar- free chocolate bars in the UAE. The statements will guide the members of the sales of the company to make necessary interventions to safeguard the quality of the products.
Five concept statements
- The sugar -free chocolate bars will meet the needs of the target market.
- The sugar- free chocolate bars will perform competitively against similar products from rival companies.
- The sugar- free chocolate bars will create employment opportunities for job seekers in the UAE.
- The sugar -free chocolate bars will create profits for the Chocolala Company.
- The sugar- free chocolate bars will penetrate outside markets and achieve a global appeal.
The Chocolala Company will assess the difference of its chocolate products with others. The company will use the concept statements to appeal to the customers that will buy and use its products. However, the company will need to test its products before it conducts its final launch. The testing of the products will give an insight into the success probability of the new sugar- free chocolates. The company will need to establish patent rights for the new chocolate products. Market testing and development will reveal the real target market of sugar- free chocolates. Product concept development and testing will include ways of efficient production of the sugar- free chocolates.
It will also state the social and economic benefits that will accrue from the products. The customers of the new products of the Chocolala Company will mostly consider the chocolates’ health benefits to them. The company may test the effectiveness of the products by engaging clients who may have consumed them. Product testing may also involve the survey of additional features of the new sugar- free chocolates like the ingredients. The unique features of the products may influence the consumers to buy them.
The full-screen technique
The new product development team will engage in this technique that involves a comparative dimension on different products using screen technology. The company will sample the slides containing different information for consideration by the team members. The Chocolala team will analyze the products with the best possibilities of penetrating the market depending on the needs of the market and the quality of the chocolates. This process will enable the new product development team to compare the merits of every slide on the screen. This aspect will achieve accurate projections of the expected products in the market.
Sales forecasting and financial analysis
The accountants within the new product development team may not achieve accurate sales forecasts. The concept may, however, be the backbone of the organization’s plan. The Chocolala Company will measure its growth through its sales. The company’s sales forecasts will determine its expected gains at the end of a particular period. For instance, the company will intend to sell ten million chocolate bars per month. The sales forecasts will assist in the development of the company’s market strategies which will help it in its financial projections. The company will use the available data to make an initial forecast of the business. The company will make the forecasts for the sales of its new products through the number of its sales employees. It will engage its economic experts to carry out financial analysis (Drew, McCallum & Roggenhofer, 2010).
The company will conduct a financial analysis to define the viability and profitability of the products. Reports from this analysis will assist the company in making a decision on the marketability of the products. The profitability of the company will be directly dependent on financial analysis. The company will ensure the adoption of effective strategies for making profits from the products and risk management mechanisms. The team will need to secure the stability of the company to ensure its survival. The company will adopt comparative financial assessments of its sugar- free chocolate products. This aspect will involve the use of ratios like the balance sheet and income statements. Financial analysis will also determine the lending rate of the business. It will also determine whether the company needs a loan or not (Christensen & Overdorf, 2010).
Product protocol and development
The Chocolala Company will set sales targets for the new products. The target group will help in the estimation of the profit estimates of the company through demographic calculations. The presentation of the products in terms of their appearance to the clients will be crucial in their performance, in the market. The products must have unique features that differentiate them from others in the market. The product protocol identifies the unique features that define the sugar- free chocolate bars. The product protocol and development will provide an analysis of the risk factors posed by the market environment.
It will also provide a comparative perspective of the performance of the products against similar ones. It will also provide financial analysis regarding the sales volumes of the new products in the market (Cachon & Terwiesch, 2009). The concepts will stipulate the nature of discounts that the Chocolala Company will offer its clients for the sugar- free chocolates. The product protocol will define the price of sugar- free chocolates. The product protocol will also include legal requirements. The company’s products must comply with the required statutory standards.
Product launching planning
The Chocolala Company will introduce the sugar-free chocolates to the market at this stage. The company will seek to establish an appropriate launch of its new products. The company will need to establish its value chains that include the supply chains, infrastructural and market logistics and define its production process. The business will need to identify ways of sustaining customers’ relationships and distribution channels. The Chocolala Company will also need to integrate globalization mechanisms for its new product in order to reach new markets. During this stage, the business will also need to identify its business innovation partners across the globe to help it in technology transfer.
This fact will help Chocolala Company to minimize operational costs. The company will also need to identify areas of complexity in terms of competitive interaction and cost-effectiveness in its operations management. The media will partner with the company to ensure the effective introduction of the sugar- free chocolates to the market. The sugar- free chocolates may also be introduced to the market before their official launching.
Diagrams
In this stage, the Chocolala Company will need to review its disruptive technology policy for its product. The business will need to assess all its inputs into the product because certain innovations may be counterproductive in the market. The organization will need to create mechanisms of sustaining its sugar-free chocolates like finding new ways of improving the product. The disruptive innovation policy will help the business to determine the worth of the product in the market, including its accessibility and affordability. The disruptive policy will include ways of effective product advertising of the sugar-free chocolates like the use of media.
References
Cachon, G & Terwiesch, C 2009, Meeting Demand with Supply: An Introduction to Operations Management,McGraw-Hill, New York. Web.
Christensen, C & Overdorf, M 2010, Meeting the challenge of disruptive change. Harvard Business, Vol. 78. no.2, pp.67-76. Web.
Drew, J, McCallum, B, & Roggenhofer, S 2010, Journey to Lean: Making Organizational Change Stick, Macmillan Publishing, New York. Web.
Van Mieghem, A 2008, Operations Strategy: Principles and Practice, Dynamic Ideas, Belmont. Web.
Westcott, R2010, Stepping Up To ISO 9004: 2000: A Practical Guide For Creating A World-class Organization, Paton Press, USA. Web.