Pure Food Co – Target Segment, Product Life Cycle Stage, Equity Finance, Short-term Borrowing, Environmental Analysis, Intermittent Production Systems, Research & Development Importance, Human Resource Planning, Stakeholders, Self-management Skills

Target Segment of The PFC

1 The target segment of the PLC are the citizens of New Zealand who are facing eating problems due to some illness. The people who have issues with eating habits due to some injuries are the main target segment of the company. The company offers Texture Modified Food or TMF for these kind of patients. The healthy diet which is required by the people of this kind is provided by the organization. The food products are texture modified and the taste of the food is also great which solves the problems related to eating faced by these people (Aghdaie & Alimardani, 2015).

2 The product life cycle of a particular company mainly refers to the stages through which a product has to go through during its life cycle in the market. The stages of product life cycle include, introduction, growth, maturity and decline.

• The introduction stage is that time of the life cycle of the product where the company tries to build the awareness regarding the products in the market. The marketing mix of this stage includes, the product, the pricing of the products, the distribution of the products and the promotional activities related to the product. The branding of the products is established in this stage with the help of the trademarks and patents. The pricing is decided based on the costs of developing the products and with the aim of building market share as well. The distribution of the products is done based on the segmentation of consumers. The promotional activities are performed to communicate with the consumers in the market (Hellweg & i Canals, 2014).
• The next stage of the product life cycle is the growth stage of the products in the market. This stage is also divided into four parts including, the product, pricing, distribution and promotion. The additional features can be added to the products so that it grows in the market. The pricing is adjusted based on the demand of the product in the market. The distribution channel is widened as the demand for the product increases and the products are thereby promoted to a bigger audience.
• The third stage of the product life cycle in the maturity stage of the product where the products have to encounter the competition in the market. The company may aim to enhance the features of the products to differentiate it in the market. The pricing can also be lowered down to face the competitors and more intensive type of distribution takes place at this stage. The promotional activities of the organization aim at creating the difference of the products (Gmelin & Seuring, 2014).
• The last stage of the product life cycle is the decline of the products. In this stage the company aims at trying to rejuvenate the product and reduce costs as well.  The organization may as well take the decision regarding the discontinuation of the products in the market. The stage in which the product of the organization is the Introduction stage as the company is aiming at introducing the new type of food in the market after studying the demands (Restuccia et al. 2016).

3 Equity can be defined as the ownership related to the business owner and the other stakeholders of the company as well. The two types of equity financing that can be applicable for the business of PFC are Angel Investors and Venture Capital.

• Angel investors are mainly some wealthy individuals or those groups of people who are interested in investing money in the business or the equity financing related policies. These people mainly invest in small businesses or start-ups. They provide funds for the growth of the companies as well (Belo, Lin & Yang, 2017).
• Venture capitalists are those people who are interested in the business operations and they take a portion of the business ownerships in return for financing the business. They look for returns that are high.

The CEO of PFC can aim at getting some angel investors for their business so that they do not have to give up a part of the ownership of their business to get the capital that is required for their business operations. This type of financing will also help in the growth of the company without having to increase their partners as well as profit shares of the business (Warusawitharana & Whited, 2015).

4 The four types of short term financing policies that can be obtained by the CEO of PFC are working capital loans, trade credit, loans from creditors and factoring services.

• Trade credit is mainly to the type of credit that is offered by a trader or supplier to another trader so that he can purchase the services or foods without making the immediate payments. The goodwill of the traders and strong relationships can be reason for providing trade credits. This type of credit will pose less threat towards the profits of the company as they are already working in the market and their goodwill will help them in getting these credits (Gong, Chao & Simchi?Levi, 2014).
• Working capital loans can be explained as the loans that are taken to finance the everyday operations of a particular company. This type of loan will be feasible for The Pure Food Co. as they need the capital to expand their operations and not for any long term purchases.
• Creditors are those provide money or loans to any business owner in a secured or unsecured manner. They can also charge specific interest on the amount of money borrowed by the business owners. The CEO of PFC can also opt for this type of loans for short term purposes.
• Factoring services is the way by which the organizations can get capital by selling the receivable accounts to a third at discounted rates. The CEO of The Pure Food Co. can also arrange for capital for the operations of the organization using this process (Gong, Chao & Simchi?Levi, 2014).

5 Political factors of New Zealand,

• The political condition of New Zealand is stable in nature and is suitable for any kind of business.
• The labour laws of the country are however strict in nature and the labour are also quite expensive. Pure Food Co. has to keep this cost in mind while performing the business operations in New Zealand.

Economic factors of New Zealand,

• The economic condition of the country is quite stable in nature and this will help in the company in expanding their operations.
• The population of the country is not high and this leads to abundancy of any type of goods. The unemployment rate of New Zealand is also quite low in nature (Ho, 2014).

Social factors of New Zealand,

• The social system of New Zealand is quite supportive in nature for any type of business related activities.
• The strong political system of New Zealand has proved to be beneficial for the good social environment of the country. Pure Food Co. can gain a lot of momentum in New Zealand owing to the welcoming nature of the people in the country (Ho, 2014).

6 The process of intermittent production system refers to the process in which the goods are manufactured based on the orders placed by the customers and the production is not continuous in nature. The variety of products in the intermittent system of production is quite huge and the sizes and designs of the products are different. The system of intermittent production is flexible in nature.

Examples of intermittent production are, the job of the goldsmiths is purely based on the orders that are received from the customers and their requirements. The jewellery is not produced on a continuous basis. The work of the tailors is also based on an intermittent system of production and the products or garments are manufactured by the tailors based on the orders that are received and not on a continuous basis. The food industry is also an example of intermittent system of production where the food is produced based on the orders of the consumers and the restaurants do not prepare the dishes on a continuous basis (Ferreira et al., 2016).

The production pant of the company is situated near the Auckland airport and it is known as FoodBowl which is a state-of-the-art system of production. The manufacturing process is refined in nature.

7 Research and development is important for the production system of Pure Food Co. The company has conducted extensive research about the different types of patients and the problems of eating related to the patients. For example, the eating difficulties of the patients related to the different patients related to dementia, cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s. The company then prepares the food items based on the needs of the patients.

8 The three objectives of Human Resource Planning process are as follows,

• Raising the level of job satisfaction is one of the main aims of the HR planning process. The workforce can be improved in this manner as well.
• The management of the workforce ranging between different ages is another objective of Human Resource planning. The engagement of employees in the work process is the function of HR planning.
• The management of the top level of employees is another objective of the HR planning process.

The management of workforce is the major function of HR planning process of PFC for the sales and marketing team of the organization (Nagendra & Deshpande, 2014).

9  The three stakeholders of the company are the patients, the employees of the organization and the partners of Pure Food Co. The patients are most stakeholders of the company as they are target consumers. The importance of the employees lies in the production process and the significance of the partners is providing the capital for business.

10 The different types of self-management skills Sam Bridgewater, the CEO of PFC are,

• Personal development which refers to the development his personal abilities and ways by which he manages the business process.
• Self-management of workers which refers to the management of the employees of the organization (Ulrich & Dulebohn, 2015).
• Self-managed economy, which refers to the management of the economy that affects the business.
• Self-care which refers the ways of managing one’s personal health and other issues (Johnson, McMorris & Scal, 2014).

References:

Aghdaie, M. H., & Alimardani, M. (2015). Target market selection based on market segment evaluation: a multiple attribute decision making approach. International Journal of Operational Research, 24(3), 262-278.

Belo, F., Lin, X., & Yang, F. (2017). External equity financing shocks, financial flows, and asset prices.

Ferreira, T., Baptista, A. A., Azevedo, S. G., & Santos, F. C. (2016). Lean Manufacturing Implementation in Intermittent Environments: A Framework. In Transactions on Engineering Technologies (pp. 237-248). Springer Singapore.

Gmelin, H., & Seuring, S. (2014). Achieving sustainable new product development by integrating product life-cycle management capabilities. International Journal of Production Economics, 154, 166-177.

Gong, X., Chao, X., & Simchi?Levi, D. (2014). Dynamic inventory control with limited capital and short?term financing. Naval Research Logistics (NRL), 61(3), 184-201

Hellweg, S., & i Canals, L. M. (2014). Emerging approaches, challenges and opportunities in life cycle assessment. Science, 344(6188), 1109-1113.

Ho, J. K. K. (2014). Formulation of a systemic PEST analysis for strategic analysis. European academic research, 2(5), 6478-6492.

Johnson, K. R., McMorris, B., & Scal, P. (2014). Work with me: Improving self-management skills through youth centered communication. Journal of adolescent health, 54(2), S39.

Nagendra, A., & Deshpande, M. (2014). Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) in HR planning and development in mid to large sized organizations. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 133, 61-67.

Restuccia, M., Brentani, U., Legoux, R., & Ouellet, J. F. (2016). Product Life?Cycle Management and Distributor Contribution to New Product Development. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 33(1), 69-89.

Ulrich, D., & Dulebohn, J. H. (2015). Are we there yet? What’s next for HR?. Human Resource Management Review, 25(2), 188-204.

Warusawitharana, M., & Whited, T. M. (2015). Equity market misvaluation, financing, and investment. The Review of Financial Studies, 29(3), 603-654.