Report which critically assesses the reasons for the success or Essay

Report which critically assesses the reasons for the success or failure of an innovation - Essay Example The process of innovation starts when the product is first conceived and moves towards its realisation. This involves a number of factors that are controllable and certain others that are not controllable. Almost all of the controllable factors are internal to the company. These include project management and implementation from ground zero to creating the product with specific advantages. The controllable factors also include the internal knowledge on the product and the product market, the amount of efforts that the company spends in pre-development activities. There are also a number of uncontrollable factors which are primarily external to the company. These include the changes that come about in the market potential for the product, the market itself and the competitor response to the product development. There are also other factors like the capital requirements and the legal factors which could turn out to be very important when the product hits the market. The aim of this paper is to study a product that was launched in the company. This would analyse the various factors that influenced the launch of this product, both controllable and not controllable. This study would also look at the reasons why the product behaved the way it did in the market and what could have been done in order to rectify these conditions. The final deductions are put down under the conclusion while the rest of the paper carries the initial study and analysis. Product The product identified for this purpose is the launch of the Azotobactor bacterial based bio fertilizer by the company that is being considered. The company launched the product in 1998 in the markets of Europe and Latin America after a pro-longed development effort and observation of how agriculture is practiced in those countries. The company has been selling fertilizers for about 25 years prior to that. As an effort towards test marketing the company did sell some of the products in Bio fertilizer range that they have been selling in UK for six months before going for a full fledged launch of these fertilisers. The study is taken up to cover the entire project till the launch was formally completed in 2004 and the product moved into the maintenance mode. Controllable Factors The developments of any of the products have both controllable and not controllable factors influencing them. In order to analyse the effect of these factors, the history behind the product launch has to be taken note of. This product was launched by a chemical fertiliser company as a new entrant into the bio fertiliser market or the organic fertiliser market. With the increasing tendency of making the fields more and more chemical, with both chemical fertilisers and pesticides, the bio fertilisers were looked at as the future fertilisers. It was expected that these would stand the test of time and would be the best regenerative alternate for chemical fertilisers. With this in mind the company embarked on the mission to launch the bio fertilisers in Europe and in the Latin American markets. They were not the first to bring it, though, the rest of the industry that tried did not meet with specific success either. There was also an imminent need that the company also gets into this ban d wagon. There were a number of products which were being called the bio fertiliser

Demand and Factors that Determine the Demand for Rail Transport Assignment

Demand and Factors that Determine the Demand for Rail Transport Between London and Preston - Assignment Example According to the law of demand, with other factors held constant, generally, the demand decreases/increases with the increase/decrease in price of the good. This relationship between demand and price is plotted on a graph as a â€Å"demand curve† as shown in Figure 1. What factors determine the demand for rail transport between London and Preston? The demand for rail transport between London and Preston depends on the following factors: 1. Price of rail travel between London and Preston: The most important factor that determines demand of this transport is the price of rail ticket to travel between London and Preston. Travelers would compare this price of ticket to cost of using alternative transport. This is important not only for people travelling once in a while but also for frequent travelers. If there exists considerably reduced fare possibility for frequent travelers, the demand could be expected to be higher from these frequent travelers would have lower cost of travel. 2. Time taken by rail travel between London and Preston: Time taken to travel by train is another important factor. If the time taken by train is considerably longer than other means of transport, the demand may be lower for rail travel. 3. Quality of rail service between Lo ndon and Preston: The quality of service could also be an important factor. It includes not only the quality and comfort of travel by train but also other factors like the frequency of trains, on-time arrival, and the time of departure/arrival of trains. Frequency of trains is important so that if consumer(s) change their itinerary suddenly, if there are alternative trains frequently running, they would not be forced to shift to another means of transport. Next, if the trains are frequently running late, consumers may not find the rail travel very efficient. Also, if the departure and arrival times of trains are not convenient, consumers would not find rail travel very attractive. For example if trains arrive only late at night or if the trains run during the entire length of the day, consumers may be put off. 4. Attractiveness of alternative modes of travel between London and Preston: There could be several other ways consumers to travel between London and Preston. If these service s are more attractive, then demand for rail travel would be low. The attractiveness of these alternatives also depends on the relative price of these modes, relative comfort, and other factors. Some of these are discussed below for the three other possible modes of transport a. By car: Several factors could influence the attractiveness of going by car instead. These factors include: fuel price (cost of taking the car), relative length of time taken to drive compared to rail travel, and quality of highways (comfort of ride). b. By air: Factors influencing the relative attractiveness of air travel are: price of air travel, relative total time taken to get from â€Å"door to door†, and of quality air transport services. However, there is another important factor here which is the distance of nearest airport from Preston. c. By bus: Factors influencing the relative attractiveness of bus travel are: price of bus tickets, time taken by buses, and the quality of bus services. 5. Day of the week and seasonal effects: The day of the week could be an important factor. For example, if business travel is frequent on this route, then weekends may see a much lower demand. Also, Seasonal effects are likely to significantly influence demand. For example, during Christmas the demand may be