Drive To Business Success
0422 Marketing Principles
TOPIC OR UNIT OF STUDY
Product Management
CONTENT STANDARD(S) AND OBJECTIVE(S)
 Explain the nature and scope of the product/service management function (text & discussion)
 Identify the impact of product life cycles on marketing decisions (Activity #1)
 Describe use of technology in the product/service management function (Activity #4)
 Explain business ethics in product/service management (Activity #2 & 3)
 Identify consumer protection provisions of appropriate agencies (Activity #2 & 3)
 Explain the concept of product mix (text instruction)
INTRODUCTION
How does a company manage its products or services? And how long can a company sell a product? As
a purchaser you may never have given this a thought. In this unit you will be given the opportunity to
view the sales life of products and what kind of ethical and legal issues are involved with manufacturer
liability.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
How can the service management function affect a company’s success or failure, and affect the
product’s life cycle, as well as the company’s product mix decisions?
INTEGRATION OF ACADEMICS, TECHNOLOGY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP
To complete this project, students will use terms and concepts learned, to complete the following
academic, technology, and entrepreneurship activities:
1. Academic activities – textbook, visual concept production, critical thinking and writing skills;
2. Technology activities – website research, use of MOS Word, and graphic production;
3. Entrepreneurship activities – developing critical analysis skills, building evaluation skills and selfmotivation skills.
STUDENT INVOLVEMENT IN PLANNING PROCESS
Student and peer cooperation will occur during the case study project as students work to create
understanding of case studies, then to make responses to student answers when grading.
TASK(S)
 Read the textbook before beginning the research product/service management functions with
an ethical dilemma
(45 min)
 Illustrated product life cycles visually to demonstrate understanding with example (30 min)
 Research choice of automobile (Activity #1) create a product life cycle visual graphic (15 min)
 Complete a practice case study from the textbook to illustrate the correct way
(60 min)
 Read & review case study (Activity #2) then answer questions presented
(60 min)
 Evaluate peers answers with rubric(Activity #3), then respond to Q#4 & review
(60 min)
 Review product mix and consumer protection agencies from the textbook.
(30 min)
 Research the service management function (Activity #4) using web pages
(90 min)
 Discussion as unit wrap up & review textbook
(30 min)
RESOURCES
Websites: http://businessspring.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/case-study-fordpinto/blocksonl.people.cofc.edu,
www.ford.com,
www.gm.com,
www.honda.com,
www.toyota.com,
www.volkswagon.com .
Armstrong, Gary, and Kotler,Philip, “Marketing, An Introduction” Prentice Hall 2000
TECHNOLOGY USE
Computers and Internet-Websites as listed above and Microsoft Office Suite software
EVALUATION
Authentic assessments will be evaluated with the rubrics that are located on each activity
Activity #1 – Product life cycle
25 pts
Activity #2 – Case study project
24 pts
Activity #3 – Case study assessment
6 pts
Activity #4 – Research worksheet
25 pts
Total points per unit
80 pts
TIMELINE
Block scheduling-1 week (5 days), periods-2 weeks (10 days). This includes time for lecture, textbook
readings, and discussions. Depending on student’s ability, extended time may be needed on some
projects.
Day 1
Read the textbook before beginning & discuss product/svc management
45 min
Illustrated the product life cycles visually
30 min
Introduce & start Activity #1
15 min
Day 2
Continue activity #1 - researching and creating a visual graphic
45 min
Practice case study with students from the textbook
45 min
Day 3
Start activity #2 - reading case study then answering questions
60 min
Finish with activity #3 – evaluate peers, then respond to Q#4
30 min
Day 4
Review & discuss results with case study
30 min
Review product mix and consumer protection agencies from the textbook
30 min
Start activity #4 using company’s web pages, research the service mgmt
30 min
Day 5
Finish activity #4, research the service management function
60 min
Unit wrap-up, questions & discussion
30 min
CONCLUSION
At the end of this project, students will have applied skilled with the product/service management
function to an ethical dilemma. Consideration will be given to product mix and protection agencies, and
students will have used critical thinking skills to complete research assignments.
Product Life Cycle
Each Product has a Life cycle which consists of Product Development, Introduction, Growth, Maturity,
and Decline. Choose an automobile of your choice and research the automobile.
Life Cycle Stage
Product Development
Introduction
Growth
Maturity
Decline
Company Effort
What thoughts did the company have when they created this
automobile? What was their target market?
When did they first introduce this product to the public? What type of
promotion or advertising did they use?
What did the company do after introducing the product to the public to
continue selling the model as the year continued? How did it gain
popularity? What changes were made to the product?
At the height of the sales, how much were sold? Who was buying them?
What were some incentives that manufacturers
When did they automobile start to lose popularity? Did it lose popularity?
Why do you think the manufacturers stopped creating that car?
Draw a diagram of the automobile’s life cycle (see example at bottom). For each stage write a one
sentence description of what was going on with the automobile in each stage of its life cycle.
Points
4
4
4
4
4
5
Description
Points Earned
Product Development stage clearly defined and illustrated
Introduction stage clearly defines and illustrated
Growth stage clearly defined and illustrated
Maturity stage clearly defined and illustrated
Decline stage clearly defined and illustrated
Life cycle is contains the make and model of the automobile, graphics, and
has a neat and professional appearance.
Total points ______ of 25 pts
Case study power point
Click to view the Ford Pinto Power Point
Thought Questions:
Q1: Summarize the case
Q2: Why can the situation be debated?
Q3: In a debate about the situation which course of action would you support?
Q4: If you were the owner of a Ford what would be your response or concerns?
Notes:
On a sheet of paper, write these questions and answer fully and thoughtfully. You will be graded on the
completeness of your answer, and will share those answers with your classmates. Peers must take on
the role of Ford and respond to question #4 incorporating Ford’s product mix as a solution to response.
Project these questions and answer to students after they are finished. Have students trade papers and student
evaluate classmates answers based on answers shown. Use rubric below for scoring.
A1: In a response to the Japanese intensive competition in late 1960s, Ford CEO, Lee Lacocca decided to build a
car, the Pinto, which weighed less than 890 Kilograms, and will be sold at $2,000 price point. Lee decided to be
finished with the car in 2 years.
In pre-launch tests, Ford discovered that if the car got hit from the back, the gas tank will cause the car to catch
fire. Yet Ford did not modify the Pinto’s to fix the problem, nor did it follow the idea of placing a rubber protective
guard between the fuel tank and the back of the car that could cost them $7-$11.
Hence, Pinto car caused more than 13 fires in 2 years and a lot of people got killed during theses accidents. The law
suits against Ford represent a loss for Ford in terms of reputation, legal costs, project management, and other
failures.
A2: Although that competition game should be played fairly and honestly, it seemed that honesty was not one of
the major principles that Ford as an organization followed in the late 1970s. This is because Ford was not honest
about its accomplishments and the nature of Pinto car. Because Ford believed that lawsuits overall costs will be
less than recalling and restructuring the Ford’s car, however Ford clearly knew that people’s lives were in danger
and did not take any step to fix the problem.
It is unethical what Lee, Ford’s CEO, did with not paying any attention or care about what may an ineffective car
cause to Ford’s customers, which in return hurt Ford’s reputation in a great way. One should think of Ford’s Pinto
case as lesson of business ethics that every organization should be aware of to avoid such decision in the future.
A3: The Ford Pinto case draws attention to three major decision flaws:
First: It is wrong for a corporation to make decisions and sacrifice the lives of its customers in order to reduce the
company’s cost or increase the profits. Human lives have value and it can’t be justified by any analysis that
includes costs or benefits.
Second: However, there were several options for fuel system redesign, Ford made the decision of not fixing the
obvious problem internally. Gaining a large market share can be an excuse to many organizations, but on the other
hand, a part of any organization mission is to provide products and services that help improve customers’ lives and
serve them better than competitors, not the opposite.
Third: Ethics should be one of the guiding principles to do a business. It is a huge responsibility that touches
customers’ lives and how they view a certain organization or business. A decision maker role in such situations is
critical. That decision in particular contains major failures. In terms of costs, safety and Ford’s publicity, it was the
worst decision according to Ford’s history as one of the leading auto companies.
Sources:
http://businessspring.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/case-study-ford-pinto/
blocksonl.people.cofc.edu
Case Study Grading Rubric Handout
Student Name: _______________________________________________________________
Peer Grader: _________________________________________________________________
Grading Rubric
Topic
Completeness
Critical
thought
Grading peer
Peer response
Details
Question must be answered completely, 5-6 sentences, fully developed
sentences (3 pts for each question)
Q#1- ____________________________
Q#2-____________________________
Q#3-____________________________
Q#4-____________________________
Questions must show evidence of critical thought, and use marketing
concepts learned in class (3 pts for each question)
Q#1- ____________________________
Q#2-____________________________
Q#3-____________________________
Q#4-____________________________
Total points applied by peer
When answers are revealed, peers will grade each question and make
thoughtful comment for each question. (1 pt per question)
Q#1- ____________________________
Q#2-____________________________
Q#3-____________________________
Student took on the role of Ford and gave a thoughtful response to the
answer given. (3 pts)
Total points added to peer grader by original student
Total project
Points
___ of 12 pts
___ of 12 pts
____ of 24 pts
___ of 3 pts
___ of 3 pts
___ of 6 pts
___ of 30 pts
Service Research
The core service strategy in the automobile industry is transportation. The problem solving benefit is
how to get from one place to another quickly and safely. However, most automobile companies attempt
to differentiate their products with many additional benefits. The varied approaches to service are
almost as varied as the automobile manufacturers themselves. Examine the following websites:
www.ford.com, www.gm.com, www.honda.com, www.toyota.com, www.volkswagon.com . Rather than
just examining the automobiles, look closely for services used by each company.
1. What do you think are the primary services offered by the various automobile manufacturers?
Use the grid so you can compare the companies against each other.
(9 pts)
Company
Service 1
Service 2
Service 3
Ford
GM
Honda
Toyota
Volkswagen
2. What are the common services that seem to be present in the majority of the service strategies?
How do the companies seem to differentiate themselves with respect to service?
(5 pts)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Did you observe any service-profit chains in the websites you examined? Describe them. (3 pts)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Did you observe any attempt by the various automobile manufacturers to do interactive
marketing with respect to service? What did you observe?
(3 pts)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. If you were choosing a new car, truck, SUV, or can, which manufacturer’s product would you
choose? Explain your choice.
(5 pts)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Total points _____ of 25 pts