ESTABLISHING THE SMALL SCALE ENTERPRISE

Unit 4
Opportunity Scanning and Identification 5

Unit 5
Market Assessment for SSE 17
Unit 6
Choice of Technology and Selection of Site 27

BLOCK 2
ESTABLISHING THE SMALL
SCALE ENTERPRISE
This block entitled establishing the Small Scale Enterprise is devoted to the activities
which form essential prerequisites for establishing a small scale enterprise. Every
enterprise is it large or small begins as an opportunity identified, defined and
assessed.
The first unit in this block on Opportunity Scanning and Identification discusses the
processes for opportunity scanning for the small entrepreneur and the self-employed.
Before you set up an enterprise you will have to go through the exercise of assessing
the market demand of your output, be it a service or a product. The second unit of
the block entitled Market Assessment for SSE gives you an idea of the basic
marketing concepts involved, and the methods you can use to assess market
potential for your product.
Sometimes, application of particular technology or, the possibility of exploiting
Locational advantage itself presents an opportunity for successful entrepreneurial
ventures. These, then, become the cause for setting up the enterprise. On the other
hand, whatever the reason for setting up of an enterprise, choice of appropriate
technology and selection of site for the enterprise remain important managerial
decisions. The last unit in the block is devoted to issues of selection of technology
and site, and discusses the decision criteria, problems and techniques associated with
the decisions.
UNIT 4
OPPORTUNITY SCANNING AND
IDENTIFICATION
Objectives
After going through this unit you should be able to:
 Define an entrepreneur and entrepreneurship
 Explain what entrepreneurs do and how do they do it
 Define a business opportunity and discuss the best way to identify it
 Elaborate upon the framework for identification of a small scale enterprise in
India under the present conditions.
Structure
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Understanding Entrepreneurship
4.3 Alternative Fields of Self-employment
4.4 Identification of an Opportunity
4.5 The Zeroing in Process — Final Stage
4.6 An Attempt at Integration
4.7 Summary
4.8 Self-assessment Questions
4.9 Further Readings
4.1 INTRODUCTION
In terms of the processes through which an enterprise gets established in India, this
Unit discusses how an opportunity is identified by one who wishes to set up his own
enterprise. The process by which an opportunity is identified is at times described as
Opportunity Scanning or Sensing and Identification (OSI). An opportunity is
identified and an enterprise established so that the person who carries out all the
operations is self-employed, earns some income and in some cases profit. This
whole activity is at times covered under one term entrepreneurship and
entrepreneurs are also self-employed.
In this unit Entrepreneur and Entrepreneurship are viewed as synonymous with self-
employment. Such identification does not hold well under all circumstances but in
order to explain OSI we have taken the terms as synonymous.
In a developing economy like India there should not be dearth of opportunities. One
reads about innovative devices conceived and manufactured by engineers and
technicians. One also comes across interesting success stories of entrepreneurs and
businessmen describing a life span from rags to riches. Presently, in our country
several schemes of promotion and assistance for setting up small scale units or small
businesses by new or first generation entrepreneurs are being implemented by the
Central and State Governments. New product lines, new processes and new
technologies have made India their home in only recent past.
We know from available literature on development what do entrepreneurs do but
relatively little about how they do it.
Let us begin by stating what entrepreneurs do. Entrepreneurs engage themselves in
the following three interrelated activities viz.:
a) Identification of bussiness opportunity.
b) Establishment of an enterprise based on the opportunity. Entrepreneurs also
engage in a subsequent activity viz.
c) Managing the enterprise as a profitable and growing concern.
Activity (c) however, is not discussed in this unit though many of its implications
will be found in identification of a project. We in this unit deal with (a) and (b)
above.
The main focus of the unit is an Opportunity and how to identify the same. The
term opportunity also covers a product or project and hence identification of a
product or project or opportunity, all these three terms is used as synonyms.
4.2 UNDERSTANDING ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Entrepreneurship can be understood by answering the two questions of what and
how but it would be clear that it is confined to practice, it is an action and decision
oriented practice. Hence, one of the crucial areas for us to understand is what an
entrepreneurial decision is. For this unit such a decision primarily relates to OSI.
This is because large part of the success of an entrepreneur depends upon the
opportunity. The opportunity again could relate to product, technology, market or
organization. In this way entrepreneurial decisions turn out also to be developmental
decisions.
Let us now understand an entrepreneur and qualities he possesses. One author has
described the qualities of an entrepreneur as follows:
i. A strong desire for independence and ability to stand alone;
ii. Drive and energy and organizing ability;
iii. A desire to diversify, expand and innovate;
iv. Technical and managerial competence;
v. Above average intelligence; and
vi. Capacity to take risks.
Above qualities have been found in successful entrepreneurs irrespective of country,
industry, size, product line and cultural background of the entrepreneur. It would
mean that these qualities have an element of universality.
Activity 1
Survey a few successful as well as struggling entrepreneurs. Using the questionnaire
given in Unit 2 or one of your own, identify five qualities of entrepreneurs that set
them apart. Also ask the entrepreneurs themselves to rate these qualities in order of
importance.
4.3 ALTERNATIVE FIELDS OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT
An individual who wants to take to self-employment would in the first place like to
look at the universe of self-employed persons. He may find that different persons are
self-employed in one of the following fields of business and economic activities.
This can be described as the first scanning of the universe of self-employment.
Self-employed Individuals
(1) (2) (3) (4)
Industry Trade Commercial Service Professional Service

Transforming raw Buying and Banking, Engineers,

materials into selling of Insurance, Chartered
finished products products or warehousing, Accountants,
with the help of consumables at a Transport Agency Architects,
machinery’ i.e. Price. work etc. Doctors,
manufacturing Consultants,
Beauticians
The above can be described as career alternatives in self-employment. It will also be
Opportunity clear to the reader that alternatives (1) and (2) would demand less of
professional qualification as against (3) and (4). When we refer to OSI we shall keep
(1) and (2) in our mind. Industry and trade are very inclusive sectors because
manufacturing and trading activities will cover a vast number of items. For example,
if we take the sector \of small scale industry, Industrial Policy of the Government of
India has reserved a total of 836 products for exclusive manufacture by small scale
industrial units. In a similar manner items to be traded in would reveal almost an
inexhaustible list. The question therefore still remains unanswered even when
someone identifies industry or trade as the activity for self-employment—in
industry which product and in trade which item. By describing the above
alternatives we have only made the broad alternatives available and for us
alternatives (1) and (2) are more relevant as against (3) and (4). Let us now discuss
OSI in a more detailed manner
Activity 2
Contact 10-15 self-employed individuals. Classify them according to Figure-1.
Question them to find out why they chose to go in for this particular stream among
the SSI opportunities open to them.
4.4 IDENTIFICATION OF AN OPPORTUNITY
In spite of increasing literature on lives of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship
development comparatively little is known about how an entrepreneur identifies an
opportunity. It is therefore; somewhat difficult to state in any categorical manner as
to how an intending entrepreneur should proceed. What is needed is a step-by-step
account of how should one undertakes such an activity. Literature on management
science, particularly those areas which deal with business policy, corporate planning
and strategy formulation and implementation do however, offer useful insights into
managerial processes which are at times close to entrepreneurial pursuits.
In identifying his opportunity an intending entrepreneur like an individual
businessman is required to understand the environment in’ which he would operate.
At the opportunity stage again government policy and the market for the
product/service would be the first to be taken for examination. This is generally
termed as the external environment. Government policy for large or medium
industry is regulatory but for small industry it is both developmental and
promotional.
The major tools which our entrepreneur uses in this activity—OSI—are two viz.
scanning of his environment and assessing his own strengths and weaknesses in
relation to opportunities in the market and competitive threats to the same. The
former can be a more general, all inclusive activity while the latter is a more specific
and situation-oriented activity. This is known in managerial jargon as SWOT
Analysis meaning thereby Analysis of Strength and Weaknesses on the subjective
side and Opportunities and Threats in the market or the objective side. These tools
are important and are generally employed in the working of a business unit. But they
can be extended into areas about setting up of an enterprise and likewise identifying
an opportunity.
Why and How of a Small Enterprise?
An important tool in the identification of a business opportunity is the SWOT
analysis. Let us now enumerate why and how small enterprises are established. In a
sense this enumeration is parallel to SWOT analysis. Analysis of factors which have
led individual entrepreneurs to set up their small enterprises reveal a surprising Scale
degree of uniformity the world over, A small entrepreneur, the owner-manager of a
small unit, enters this world because of:
a) Love for doing independent business—or being one’s own boss;
b) Small business provides scope for taking initiative, organizing activities and a
kind of freedom which owner-managed small units alone can offer.
c) Self-employment being an income generating activity, as an alternative to
wage , employment;
d) The flexibility in several operations which again is available in a small unit.
Another set of data on how were typical small scale units set up by identifying an
opportunity reveals the following factors. This data is based on Indian small
industry.
 Entrepreneurs have selected products based on their own experience or their
partners experience in the line;
 Entrepreneurs have selected products based on the expansion/diversification
plans of their own or any other on-going business known to them;
  Entrepreneurs have selected products which are likely to have ready demand
either in the local or regional market.
 Entrepreneurs have selected products whose imports are banned or controlled
by the government. This factor has been found applicable in identification of
opportunities in small, medium and large scale industrial units;
 Entrepreneurs have selected products which show high profitability;
 Entrepreneurs have selected products based on certain specific advantages
available to that product — such as, reservation of product lines for small
scale units, certain regions or locations;
 Entrepreneurs have selected product lines guided mainly by changes in certain
aspects of industrial policy—more specially change in control and regulation
of prices of raw material or products.
 Somewhat similar to the above is the situation when entrepreneurs come to
know of a product line as a result of reports by government committees on
policy. Entrepreneurs' selection of computers or electronic products can be
attributed to recent approach of government policy to these products.
Taking the two sets of factors we can say that the entrepreneurs have moved in a
certain manner. The opportunity— product or service—appears to emerge through
an interaction between the immediate or related environment of the entrepreneur to
the somewhat remote or unrelated aspects of environment. We can also view it
alternatively as proceeding from the more specific to general or may be micro to
macro part of the environment. What appears to take place is an opportunity
envelope with positive and negative or favourable and unfavorable factors attached
to different opportunities. This envelope tells us how an opportunity is finally
identified by an entrepreneur.
The combination of factors in such an envelope is not, in any sense, a unique or
unusual combination. Our main concern in collecting these factors is to isolate the
more important general factors—factors which seem to be generally applicable —
and another category of factors which are specific to any opportunity or
opportunities.
The above two methods of analysis can be placed in an alternative framework of
scanning the environment and the individual comparing himself against the
environmental subsets. As has been pointed out, the individual refers to the
'immediate' and the 'remote' environment. More accurately, his own strengths and
weaknesses arising from the immediate environment in relation to the remote
environment: Now, in India this remote environment, or large part thereof, is
government policy and the market for the product. It is an interaction between the
immediate and the remote environment which seems to explain, even in a
rudimentary way, how opportunities or project ideas may be generated. It is a
process of back and forth, as it were and the individual may be in a position to
monitor his thinking.
Hen or Egg
In identifying an opportunity the entrepreneur passes through several processes.
Some leading to enchantment and others to disenchantment. At one stage he likes the
opportunity; at other he turns his mind to another. Nevertheless, two stages can be
clearly located. In stage one, the entrepreneur tries to generate ideas or opportunities
and in stage two he identifies the opportunity. In stage one most of the
entrepreneurs are likely to encounter a situation resembling the Hen or Egg
controversy. Ask any one who wants to select a project; his obvious answer would be
an “a project having a good market”. Now, how without knowing the product
could one determine the market? Whose market will you find out without deciding
the item? It is necessary therefore to find a way out of this tangle. One of the
methods employed by experienced entrepreneurs is to generate ideas about a few
projects.
In such an attempt he makes use of his experience, background, contacts,
observations, information’s obtained from friends, development agency, policy of
the .government, schemes of concessions and incentives. All of these, put together,
may offer a few ideas to be examined as opportunities.
We give below two situations to explain what has been discussed.
In Jana Aranya of Satyajit Ray there is a sequence in which two co-students
Khokan and Bishuda are seen conversing with each other. Khokan is searching for a
job while Bishuda is running his own business. Bishuda advises Khokan to observe
the market and supply what the consumers want — what they are prepared to pay
for.
A second situation is as follows:
Ashwin works in the purchase department of a state-owned road-transport
corporation. As such, he knows about many components and spares which are being
purchased. Having been in this department for many years he also knows which
components are purchased in large quantities and more often. Being an engineer he
turns his mind to the prospects of manufacturing some of them.
In the above two situations which one, do you think, is at the idea stage and which
one at the opportunity stage. Alternatively, what is the difference between
opportunity sensing and opportunity identification. This distinction is very important
for those who are consciously making an attempt to identify an opportunity.
Imagine that as a result of the above analysis you have been able to prepare a list of
the following opportunities. These are:
1) Nails, hinges and industrial fasteners (industry)
2) Cold storage services (service based business)
3) PVC moulded shoes (industry)
4) Xeroxing unit (service based business).

This is the smaller list from which the final opportunity/project will be selected. This
can be described as the “zeroing in process”. The stages through which you pass
may be described by different expressions, such as “entrepreneurial scanning for
projects”, “entrepreneurial selection matrix”, “entrepreneurial musings”,
“entrepreneurial rambling”, etc. Whatever description you might prefer, the activity
involves some of the major steps described above.
Activity 3
Going back to the sample you took for Activity 2, discuss with the entrepreneurs to
find out exactly how they identified their opportunity.
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4.5 THE ZEROING IN PROCESS - FINAL STAGE
How should the intending entrepreneur arrive at the final project? What additional
processes and criteria of selection should he use? In several respects the final
selection should follow the course of action adopted in the previous stages, but with
a difference. The examination of each of the areas such as market, raw materials,
total investment — amount and technology of plant and equipment — location and
the type of organization i.e. private ownership, partnership, etc. will be in greater
details. In other words, each of the areas will be examined in terms of all the relevant
details. Secondly, the interrelationship between each of the areas will have to be
fully worked out. An example should make this clear.
An engineer who would like to make one of the components of bicycle on a small
scale obviously cannot meet the total demand for that component. His whole
approach in examining this item will be governed by either a local dealer or meeting
part of the demand by a cycle manufacturer. This would mean that from the two
industrial products and two business opportunities he will first decide whether he
selects industry or business. After doing this he will choose either a product or a
business line as the case may be.
In these situations you will be required to work out the interrelationship between
different areas. From the point of view of the entrepreneur, it is necessary to
remember that each of the areas has to be evaluated (a) independently and (b) in
relation to each other. This can be almost a continuous process wherein you would
be moving from one area to the other and it will be a "back and forth" process. (See
Exhibit 1.) It must be emphasized here that no area should remain without a detailed
examination.
Exhibit-1
OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFICATION - AN
INTERDEPENDENCE PROCESS

Product Form of business R.M.

Location Entrepreneur Market
Working capital Total investment Labour

The most important areas will be demand and market, investment, plant and
machinery and technology working capital, total investment, raw material
availability — indigenous or imported — and the price, price-cost-volume
relationship and the location of the project. It will be easy to understand that these
areas are closely interrelated and cannot always be examined independently. To
provide a reckoner we give below a check list in the form of a framework for
Product/Service Selection.
Framework 1 for Product/Service Selection
 Industrial/ Total Market/ R.M./ Location Others Overall
Product/ Investment competition Merchandise Labour rating
/business Utilities
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Nails/hinges
etc.
PVC moulded
shoes
Cold storage
service
Xeroxing
Unit

Clues on how to use the framework:

2) Put High, Medium or Low as per your financial strength
3) Competition could be stiff or moderate
4) Could be easily or not easily available t
5) Could be favourable or unfavourable
6) Could be again favourable or unfavourable
7) Acceptable — Not acceptable

The overall assessment is thus an outcome of subjective and objective factors

relevant to each product/service line. Finally you should emerge with your
opportunity.
Activity 4
For any one of the products given in the framework (figure 3) completes the
columns, by finding out relevant data, in respect of your own town/ locality.
What we have done so far is a step-by-step approach to opportunity sensing and
selection. An important aspect of this approach should now be understood. When an
idea is in the process of becoming an opportunity one tends to examine it broadly in
terms of: ‘whether this is a line for me or not’. Alternatively, ‘do I have all that
the line would demand’? In this process we examine a potential opportunity from
the point of view of becoming The Opportunity. This is often termed as Project
Formulation meaning thereby the process and steps through which an opportunity
becomes a project in which the individual is willing to invest his time, money and
other resources. The manner in which the individual would pass from the stage of
sensing to identification and final selection is almost imperceptible. But the
opportunity must be transformed into a business and project formulation is the most
important stage in this.
An opportunity which does not result into a business or industry is not an
opportunity for us. It is just a vague idea. The entrepreneurial process, to which we
referred at the beginning of this unit, should be understood in terms of what happens
in (a) identification of an opportunity and (b) setting up an enterprise based on the
same. A small case can perhaps illustrate this.
Two friends Sudhir and Vikram were travelling from Ahmedabad to Bombay by a
day train — a distance of 492 kms. On their way after Baroda their train stopped at a
station Bharuch situated on the banks of the river Narmada. Young teenagers with
packets of roasted peanuts crowded the compartment and almost every passenger
purchased one packet. Sudhir and Vikram also did the same and started munching.
"The peanuts are really good" tells Sudhir to Vikram — the latter nods. Both of them
reached Bombay by afternoon and part company. While Sudhir went home Vikram
took the next train to Bharuch. In Bharuch he contacted shopkeepers and those who
roast peanuts. He finalized a business deal for them to send a pack of 25 Kgs of
roasted peanuts daily to Bombay. From the third day his business started. He was
selling packets of roasted peanuts in Bombay.
You would have noticed that in the above case there is almost no time gap between
(a) and (b). But the pertinent question for us is how Vikram examined “selling
roasted peanuts” as a business proposition? In other words, how did this idea make
its headway into a business opportunity for Vikram? We list below the kind of
questions that Vikram must have turned in his mind.
i. Who will buy this and who will be my principal buyers all through the year?
ii. In what packet size and at what price could I sell it in the Bombay market?
iii. How much will it cost me per kg. Of roasted peanuts plus packaging and
Transport in Bombay?
iv. Given the quality and price of other substitutes to peanuts in Bombay will my
price per packet be comparable to the cost at which I shall be receiving the
same in Bombay from Bharuch?
To the above main questions a few supplementaries can be added but our objective
in the above enumeration is again to lay bare the process, through which this random
idea was turned into a business. When you are about to consider an opportunity as a
possible business your mind begins to visualize what the business would be like
when it is established. What kind of a shop/factory shed what merchandise /raw
material etc. and how the business will look like when it starts functioning. This
ability to visualize or draw a mental picture is called simulation. This is a well-
known technique of management. In other words, with regard to your opportunity
you should be able to visualize the same as a running enterprise. You can do this
better if you have the required experience and a keen sense of observation.
Mere simulation is not enough without a sound backing of calculations as to how
much will it cost and how much will it earn. This requires abilities and skills from an
altogether different field viz. costing and accounting. Since in a small enterprise
almost every activity and decision is taken by the entrepreneur-owner-manager he
ought to have these abilities and skills. Perhaps, you should now be in a position to
understand how an opportunity is transformed into a business or industry.
To recapitulate, an opportunity which is likely to be accepted finally as The
Opportunity is broken up, as it were, into components as follows. An opportunity has
thus:
a) Demand and marketing component
b) Costing and pricing component
c) Financial component in terms of term-loan and working capital
d) Locational component — where are you located
e) Merchandise, raw material and processing, manufacturing component i.e.
production component.
You have to visualize the opportunity as passing through the above to be able to say
that this is The Opportunity. Such an examination should enable you to answer the
following basic questions.
a) The product/service is needed i.e. it has a market;
b) That there is enough room in the market for a volume of production that you
intend to produce; and
c) At that volume you will be producing it cheaply enough to earn some profit
for you. Market or Need, Enough Volume and cheaply enough are the three
catch words for you.
In the case of a servicing unit, say a Xeroxing centre, you should be able to translate
the above in terms of the same three catchwords. This gives you a formula with
which the opportunity is completely screened as a business venture, an opportunity
is now a business. Another way of defining this is to say that a business opportunity
implies a series of activities in which you will decide to invest your time, money and
organizing ability. In short it is an opportunity “worth investing in”.
Opportunity Identification and Promotional Policy
Small enterprise, small scale industry and many other self-employment based
activities form the principal objective of the industrial policy of the Government. Let
us examine how these policies and programmes are helpful to an individual at the
two stages of an enterprise viz. identification of an opportunity and setting up the
same as a business or enterprise.
Opportunity Scanning and Identification
i. Identification of an opportunity a) Reservation of 836 products for
exclusive manufacture by SSI
b) Government purchase programme
for products of SSI
c) Liberal financial assistance for
term-loan and working capital
d) Availability of infrastructure
facilities like shed, water, power,
roads etc.
ii. Setting up an enterprise e) Facilities for acquiring machinery
on hire-purchase basis, allocation
of scarce raw materials etc.

f) Marketing assistance.

It will be seen that taking all the promotional measures, various requirements of
opportunity identification and project formulation are adequately covered. To these
must be added entrepreneurship and self-employment development programmes
with different target groups such as, unemployed youth, technicians, women, SC/ST
group, rural youth etc. The promotional umbrella thus covers a wide range of areas
but its main focus is opportunity identification by a young man to set up a small self-
employment based unit of his own. For a detailed information based survey of
promotional policies, measures and authorities engaged in the same, see Framework
2. (This part of our analysis will be understood fully if it is taken along with Unit 3
Institutional Interface.)
4.6 AN ATTEMPT AT INTEGRATION
It should be clear now that analysis of opportunity alone is not sufficient, nor is
analysis of strength and weaknesses. Areas of promotional policies need to be
integrated at every stage in the whole process of opportunity sensing and
identification. To illustrate this we give below two ways of understanding the entire
process. One, how a rugged experienced entrepreneur would go through this
exercise and two, a diagrammatic representation of the same:
An experienced entrepreneur would evaluate an opportunity somewhat as follows:
1) How large is the gap between demand and supply in the market and what is
the nature of competition in the market for this product.
2) Is the product covered under any of the promotional policies of the
government so that either entry into business or competitions in the market are
facilitated?
3) Are there any special product/service specific problems that he will face and
can him avail of any part of promotional policies to soften the impact of these
problems.
4) Based on all such product-market-policy, policy-product-market type of
analysis he will finally conclude that the opportunity is worth-investing-in.
The same process is represented diagrammatically wherein the SWOT framework is
shown and its visualization by an entrepreneur as not a static but manipulable
framework.
Framework 2
Opportunity Identification through SWOT

S O
 W T

Notes:
i. The four rectangles represent the subjective and objective side of an
opportunity respectively,
ii. Dotted lines which enlarge S and O can be due to
a. Policies which help new, first generation self-employed entrepreneurs and
hence add to their strengths
b. policies of reservations of products etc. may enlarge the field of
opportunities and contract that of threats,
iii. The SWOT framework can be a manipulable framework.
List of official measures and programmes of assistance
To the small scale sector in India
Both the Central and State governments have been giving several incentives,
assistance and concessions as part of promotional measures to achieve higher rate of
industrial growth, dispersal of industry, development of economically backward
areas and bringing into the mainstream a new class of entrepreneurs. An attempt is
made in the following to place the totality of promotional measures in a conceptual
framework with the names of the agencies providing the same.
The different promotional schemes of the State only seen from the major policy
decisions of the Central government:

Focus Objectives Statutory

Authority
A. Promotion of New Enterprises
1. Entrepreneurial Self-employment-programme educated DIs
development unemployed programme DIs
programmes Half-a-million jobs programme
DIs
Jawahar RoigarYojna etc
DIs
Higher capital ceilings, public
2. Ancillary Sector schemes, scrutinizing of licenses,
development compulsory development of ancillaries
 3. Rural industries Loans to artisans, supply of SISO/ DIs
project Programme improved tools, liberalized
credit
4. Backward area Concessional refinance capital SISO/ DIs
development subsidies, selection of growth centres,
programme industrial potential surveys
5. Lead bank scheme Banks area development programmes Nationalized
Intensive district Zero industry districs—target banks
campaigns for promoting Tiny/SSI unit All agencies
self-employment based industry -
cum-business activities
B. Provision of In-puts
1. Plant and Hire purchase facility NSIC/SSIDC
machinery SFC
2. Raw materials Quotas for scarce materials, Local SSIDCs/DIs
supply depots
for imports and strategic local materials STC/MMTC
DIs
Canalizing of imports
3. Finance Grants SFCs
Loans for fixed assets Banks
Loans for working capital NSIC/SSIDC
RBI
Guarantee for loans
IDBI
Credit guarantee scheme
Refinance facility
4. Industrial estates Subsidized rents DIs
Hire purchase facility SSIDCs/
Common service facilities IIC
C. Technical
Assistance
1. Industrial extension Common workshop facilities, Tool room
service assistance, technical advice
Training (labour & Management)
SISIs
Design assistance
2. Research and Prototype-cum-training centre NSIC
development Product & Process developeme4nt DRDC/NRLS
Knowhow development
3. Modernization Covers selected industries where SIDO/SISIs
programme modernization is required
4. Appropriate Experimental projects in product line to Ministry of
technology cell save foreign exchange or generate mass Industry
employment
D. Marketing
Assistance
1. Government Reservation of 222 items for NSIC
procurement from SSI, price preferences, /DGS&D
registration scheme
2. Export promotion Procedural assistance SIDO/TDA
Marketing assistance EPCs/DEP
3. Import substitution Import licensing, according priority to SIDO/
projects CCI&E
4. Quality marketing ISI standards, test laboratories SISIs
schemes
5. Subcontracting Part of ancillary development SIDO
exchanges Programmes

4.7 SUMMARY
Identification and analysis of an opportunity represents first step towards
establishing an enterprise. Opportunities manifest themselves in a number of ways;
an effective technology, a cost effective method of doing an activity, a Locational
advantage or simply a distinctive competence to enumerate a few. This unit on
opportunity scanning and identification discusses the process of OSI and the various
frameworks used to analyze an opportunity. It also presents a list of measures and
programme developed by the state to assist the small entrepreneur. A concise
description of the type of assistance and the authority concerned, to help the
entrepreneur locate the information, assistance relevant to, his needs during
opportunity definition and enterprise establishment.
4.8 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS
1) What do you understand by OSI? What is the role of OSI in successful
enterprise management?
2) What are the main techniques utilized for opportunity scanning and
identification? Discuss with examples.
3) Using the framework 2 given in the unit, carry out an opportunity analysis for
the following:
a. A beauty saloon
b. A fast food restaurant
4) How would you use SWOT analysis to identify opportunities for SSI/Self-
employment? Discuss with examples.
4.9 FURTHER READINGS
Richard M. Hodgills, Effective Small Business Management, Academic Press
Incorporated, Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich.
UNIT 5 MARKET ASSESSMENT FOR SSE
Objectives
After reading this unit you should be able to:
 familiarize yourself with the concept of marketing orientation
 appreciate the importance of the need for market assessment
 outline the aspects involved in market assessment
 Understand some broad issues involved in the analysis of market demand,
competitive situation, and trade practices.
Structure
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Marketing Orientation
5.3 Need for Market Assessment
5.4 Market Demand Analysis
5.5 Analyzing Competitive Situation
5.6 Understanding Trade Practices
5.7 Summary
5.8 Keywords
5.9 Self-assessment Questions
5.10 Further Readings
 5.1 INTRODUCTION
A firm is not an isolated economic unit. It must interact with the external
environment. When there is a shortage of raw materials the production suffers,
development of a substitute product affects the demand for the existing product, and
entry of a new unit manufacturing the same product increases competition. The
external environment also imposes certain restrictions or constraints on it which may
be in the form of legal obligations or social responsibilities. Legal obligations are put
through government rules and regulations. Social responsibilities refer to things like
fair trade practices, welfare of the employees, and protection of the environment.
Several opportunities and threats are provided by the external environment which
must be taken cognizance of to be able to survive.
Interaction with the market, however, is most pervasive and intense. The only
successful product, by definition, is one that sells. In order to sell a product, a firm
has to deal with a large number of customers. It has to constantly interact with
selling agents like distributors and retailers. It has to make sure that the product
remains fine tuned to the needs of the market — the actual customers, to be precise.
It has to sharpen its market focus so as to be perceived, and appreciated, as
consistently delivering some ‘advantage’ to its customers. It has to develop
‘marketing orientation’ in its outlook. All this requires a thorough and sound
assessment of the market in which the owner of a small enterprise has to operate.
Before we try to understand the process of market assessment, let us reflect upon
what is meant by ‘marketing orientation’ referred to above.
5.2 MARKETING ORIENTATION
Since companies have to operate in dynamic exogenous conditions, they adapt their
business philosophies to what seems to be appropriate at the time. Marketing theory
has altered accordingly. The early orientation in marketing was production
orientation. This orientation was held at a time when there was general scarcity of
manufactured goods in the market. Under this orientation, the major task in
marketing was to make, the product widely available to the consumers at an
affordable price. Look at the following definition of marketing:
The performance of those business activities that direct the flow of goods from
producers to consumer or user:
The next phase was of selling orientation. Under this orientation, the emphasis
shifted to undertaking an aggressive selling and promotion effort to sell what a firm
produced. There was little research into what the customers wanted. All selling
efforts were directed towards achieving the firm's objectives of profitability, sales
growth, or return on capital" employed. Customers were considered to be no more
than the means of achieving these objectives. Consider, for example, the following
definition of marketing:
The performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services
from producer to consumer in order to satisfy customers and accomplish the firm’s
objectives:
(E.J. McCarthy, Bf.sic Marketing, 1964)
As the industrial activity intensified, the competition increased, and the customers
became more discerning. They were no more ready to buy what was offered to them.
This change increased the need to improve product features, distribution, and to use
advertising and personal selling. A new, more scientific approach, called marketing
orientation, emerged. The approach relies on first finding out what the customers
want and then creating and developing products or services that satisfy their wants.
The effort is to create a product that satisfies the wants of the customers rather than
to change their wants to suit the product. The main issue is not to produce something
but to produce according to what is wanted by the customers. Selling focuses on the
needs of the seller; marketing on the needs of the buyer. When this is clear, one
would be able to offer a product that is saleable through usual marketing efforts. Fig
5.1. Illustrates the difference between the selling and the marketing orientation:
OBJECTIVES
PRO Pricing Sales
FIR DUC
M T
Personal selling Profits
Advertising

(a) Selling orientation

Product policy Customer’s
EXTERNAL satisfaction
Pricing
Branding Sales
Short term & long
PRO Advertising
FIR DUC term profits
M T personal selling
Goodwill for the firm
Physical Brand image
distribution Expansion and
ENVIRONMENT
Channels diversification
 (b)Marketing orientation
Fig 5.1: Difference between the selling and the marketing orientation
Under the marketing orientation, instead of being ‘company centred’ the definitions
of marketing moved their focus on ‘exchange’ and ‘value to the consumer’. Have a
look at the following widely accepted definition of marketing:
Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain
what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and values with
others.
(Philip Kotler, Marketing Management, 1988)
Thus marketing lays emphasis on forming relationships with the customers, and on
beneficial exchanges rather than one sided rip offs. In simple terms, at the
conception stage itself of a new firm, the owner should think of the 'benefits' his
product will offer to the customers. The benefits may be tangible or intangible.
Tangible benefits are those which can easily be measured, assessed, or compared.
These may be in the form of better product quality, durability, lower price, easy
availability, good after-sales service, installment facility, or better packaging and
presentation. Intangible benefits are those which are to be felt or perceived as a
consequence to the use of a product or service. As an example, you may feel that the
use of a particular product enhances your status in the society. Or, the use of a
product may give you a feeling that you are being appreciated as a person with
simple and sober tastes.

Activity 1
Try and spell out the tangible and intangible benefits that you look for while buying
the following products or services:

Tangible benefits Intangible benefits

Toilet soap ......................................... ...........................................
............................................ ...........................................
Wedding suit/saree .......................................... ...........................................
 ........................................... ...........................................
Hair dressing ........................................... ...........................................
........................................... ...........................................
Air travel ........................................... ...........................................
........................................... ...........................................
Whatever benefits that are offered should be of real value to the customers. It must
be remembered that a product which lacks real appeal cannot be salvaged in the long
run by any marketing inputs like heavy advertising. It is important, therefore, that
the owner of a small firm finds out the wants of the customers and offers a product
that is able to satisfy at least some of those wants. As shown in Fig.5.1, under the
marketing approach, we achieve sales and profits through customer satisfaction.
Many decisions at the time of launching of an enterprise like the scale of operations,
the choice of technology, the level of product quality, and the price to be charged
will be influenced by the wants of the customers. When this kind of marketing
orientation is present right from the beginning, one can be sure of the effectiveness
of the marketing efforts.
The marketing orientation will force an entrepreneur to seek answers to many hard
questions—relating to product quality, price, market segments, technology of
manufacture, marketing inputs etc. — before setting up his venture. The exercise
will enable him to move ahead with greater confidence and confront the problems
that may arise during the later stages in a professional manner rather than getting
caught unawares.
5.2 NEED FOR MARKET ASSESSMENT
To determine what the customers want is not an easy task. The market is composed
of a large variety of customers who differ in their education, employment, income,
status, preferences, likes and dislikes, and opinions. Some may be located nearer you
in your town or state, and the others in distant states or even in other countries.
Depending upon several factors like the resources available, the scale of operations,
and the impact on profitability, one has to decide which customer groups, called
target segments, and is of particular interest to the firm. The identification of the
target segments helps in making a rough estimate of the market demand for the
product.
Once an estimate of the market demand for the product is made, one has to look for
the competitive situation prevailing in the market. A firm cannot just pursue its own
policies without regard to what the competitors are doing. Competition may be from
other small firms or even from large, well established companies. The nature and
extent of competition will put several constraints on the marketing policies of a firm.
For example, it may not be possible for it to charge a price that is higher than what
the competition is charging, especially during the first one or two years. A detailed
analysis of the competitive situation will also help in identifying the gaps and
opportunities that may be available for exploitation.
One of the most disturbing thoughts that come to an entrepreneur's mind during the
conception and implementation stages of setting up a small enterprise is how he
would reach the numerous prospective customers. They may be scattered in a wide
geographical area. Many products are such that they require the help of marketing
intermediaries — wholesalers, distributors, retailers etc. — to reach the ultimate
consumers. Through their contacts, experience, and specialization, these
intermediaries make the product available and accessible to the target markets. Since
intermediaries are independent organizations, they have their own ways of doing
business. Their expectations and requirements regarding price, discount, credit,
promotional support, and mode of delivery of the product may vary quite
considerably. However, these usually conform to the trade practices that are
prevalent in the market. Understanding the prevailing trade practices, therefore,
forms an essential part of market assessment exercise.
These three things — namely, analysis of the market demand, the competitive
situation, and the trade practices — are important for sound market assessment. We
shall now consider each one of them in some detail.
5.4 MARKET DEMAND ANALYSIS
One of the trickiest questions that haunt an entrepreneur is: Whether the product or
service that he wishes to offer to the market will have sufficient demand or not?
Proper demand analysis and forecasting helps in formulating effective marketing
programmes. For example, the price to be charged for a product, the advertising
budget to be allocated for its promotion, and the sales promotion tools to be M,
employed, will all be based, at least to some extent, on the assessment of its demand.
If a firm is able to make an accurate prediction about the level of demand for its
products, many decisions pertaining to marketing, inventory control, purchasing,
production, personnel, and finance become exceedingly simple.
The actual situation, however, is not so simple. The demand picture for most
products and services is very complex and unstable. Even after much advancement
in the field of marketing, demand forecasting remains a grey area. There are a large
number of variables and assumptions involved in any exercise of demand estimation.
Many factors that impinge upon the demand for a product are external to the firm
and hence uncontrollable. These include behaviour of the customers and
competitors, government policies, technological breakthroughs, and general
economic conditions. Many assumptions are required to be made which may or may
not come true. The process becomes more complex for products which are
innovative and yet to be tried in the market.
Notwithstanding such complexities, potential investors will wish to see, and rightly
so, some evidence that there is a reasonable prospect of marketing their project's
output in a profitable manner. Rightly, because starting a new business is no time for
self-deception and some hard questions asked in the beginning may save a lot of
money and trouble later on. One must be able to provide satisfactory answers to
questions like: 1) who would buy the product? 2) Why would they buy it? And 3)
How many would buy it? The exercise of market demand analysis will provide
some insights into these questions.
Market Demand
According to one definition, demand refers to the willingness and ability of
consumers to buy products and services. Thus, when the consumers have both
willingness and ability to buy a product, we say that there is demand for it. This is a
very broad definition and if we consider all the potential customers who have the
willingness and ability to buy a product we arrive at what is termed as its ‘total
market’ or its ‘potential market’.
A firm has its own area of operations and is normally concerned with the demand for
the product in that particular area or market. We, therefore, narrow down our
definition of demand by making certain qualifications and concentrate on what is
Market Assessment for termed as ‘market demand’. Consider the following
definition given by Philip Kotler (1988):
Market demand for a product is the total volume that would be bought by a
defined customer group in a defined geographical area in a defined time period in
a defined marketing environment under a defined marketing programme.
As clear from the definition, there are eight elements or variables which must be
understood in order to determine market demand.
1) Product: The class of product has to be clearly defined. For example, a
manufacturer of fans must decide whether its product is table fan, ceiling fan,
pedestal fan, exhaust fan, cooler fan, industrial fan, or a combination thereof.
Then there are various sizes and other features in each class. Opportunities
available to the manufacturer differ according to the exact nature and
specifications of the product.
2) Total volume: We have the question of how total volume is measured. It can be -
measured in terms of physical volume (i.e. in terms of units sold), in monetary
terms, or both. It can also be measured in terms of per cent of total market, i.e., in
relative terms. As an illustration, a demand analysis for shoes may reveal that in
one particular region, the number of pairs of shoes sold is 1000, valued at Rs.
50,000. In another region, the number may be 750, valued at Rs. 150,000. It is
evident that depending upon our requirement, the data on total volume must be in
appropriate units.
3) Bought: The third element ‘bought’ needs also to be understood. Do we have to
assess the volume ordered or booked, dispatched, paid for, received, or
consumed? The figures may vary according to the basis used. In the case of food
grains we normally refer to quantity consumed, and in the case of construction
industry we refer to orders booked. The relevance of the correct understanding of
the term ‘bought’ becomes clear when we look at the example of the scooter
industry in India. Only a few years ago there was a huge order booking and a
customer had to wait for several years before he could get the delivery. Many
people had booked scooters in anticipation of the high premium that was
prevailing in the market. As the supply position improved, the premium reduced
considerably and many of them cancelled their bookings. Thus, the figure of
order booking was portraying a distorted picture of the actual demand for
scooters.
4) Customer group: Market demand for a product should be measured for the
customer group that is of interest to the firm. Examples are a manufacturer of
brief cases who estimates the volume to be bought by the high income group
people, and an educational institution that estimates the demand for its courses
from the already employed and the unemployed youth. -
5) Geographical area: The geographical boundaries within which market demand
is to be measured must be clear. This is particularly true for a small enterprise
since its operations are usually confined to small areas. Service establishments
also have to define their geographical boundaries while estimating market
demand. A Yoga centre or health clinic enjoys considerable demand in a
metropolitan city but the concept is yet to establish its utility and acceptance in
smaller towns and rural areas.
6) Time period: Demand estimation must always be for specific time-period — for
the next season, for the coming year, for the Plan period, and so on. When the
time frame is a year or so, we call it short range forecasting, and when it is in
terms of several years ahead, long range forecasting. As we increase the time
frame, the forecast becomes more tenuous as the environmental factors may
change beyond our present imagination. Thus, for products like computers and
fashion goods it is almost futile to make any long range forecasts.
7) Marketing environment: Market demand is influenced by many external
environmental factors. These include general economic conditions, technological
breakthroughs and developments, government policies, political changes,
changes in consumer behaviour and competitive situation, and even natural
phenomena like rainfall and weather conditions. A cold drink manufacturer has to
make certain assumptions about the length and severity of summer period in the
region of his interest; a film maker about the tastes of his audience; a helmet
manufacturer about the new legislations that may be put into force for the scooter
drivers; a TV manufacturer about the technological developments that may take
place in the field of electronics in general and reception and transmission of
audio and video signals in particular; and so on.
8) Marketing programme: Finally, there are controllable factors which the firms
use to influence the demand for their products. These may be termed as
marketing efforts or marketing programmes of the sellers. These include pricing
 strategies, advertising, sales promotion, and personal selling. The marketing
efforts proposed or assumed should be specified in order to determine market
demand.
The definition of market demand, although lengthy and complex, gives us an idea of
all the factors and conditions on which the demand for a product depends. Company
demand can be derived from the market demand. It is the company's share of the
market demand.
It must have been abundantly clear by now that market demand analysis is a
complex exercise. Very few products or services lend them to easy forecasting. For
an accurate and reliable forecast, many factors have to be considered and
consequently the cost becomes prohibitive. Fortunately, a small entrepreneur does
not need to go for high sophistication and can manage within modest costs. At the
project planning stage his primary concern is whether there is enough demand for
the product or service that he wishes to produce. An experienced entrepreneur has to
make the following comments on the process of demand analysis:
“If we are contemplating the manufacture of an item on a small scale, we should see
that it has enough existing sales in the market we have chosen to cater to. If the total
sales of the item in the chosen market are more than ten times our contemplated
level of production, we do not have to worry too much about the demand for our
product at the planning stage. Adding a small unit is not going to alter the production
figure of the industry in a substantial manner, and, I am confident, with proper
efforts and planning, one can snatch, over a period of two or three years, around ten
per cent of the market share so as to achieve the targeted sales. In case the product is
an innovative one, we should be satisfied if it has sales potential large enough to be
tapped with the help of limited marketing inputs that we can afford to support.”
Still, some efforts have to be made to arrive at the broad demand estimate. A firm
can have both household as well as institutional demand for its product. The demand
from the household customers is generally met through the dealers and, as such, a
rough estimate of demand from such customers can be made by personally
contacting the dealers selling the item. Similarly, contacting the relevant institutional
customers should be able to give an idea of the demand from this quarter. Besides
helping in the exercise of demand estimation, such contacts with the dealers or the
institutional customers will help the entrepreneur in:
 a. Assessing the customers' requirements in terms of price and quality;
b. Getting information on various aspects of buyer behaviour;
c. Getting an idea of the nature and extent of competition, and strengths and
weaknesses of the competitors; and
d. Getting some knowledge of the prevailing trade practices.
Such personalized contacts can be gainfully made only when the customers are
concentrated in particular areas. In case the customers are scattered in wide areas,
published data regarding domestic production, installed capacity, exports and
imports, raw materials availability, number of units producing the item, their
geographical dispersion, and general health of the existing units may be of relevance
in assessing the demand potential for a product at the firm's level. One has to find
out the right sources of such data. One serious limitation of published data is that it
is usually available after considerable time lag. The data should be analyzed in light
of the firm’s typical requirements.
In some cases, it might be useful to conduct a sample survey; maybe, by sending a
questionnaire through mail to a small but representative number of potential '22
customers. It is advisable to take the help of an expert in the designing of the
questionnaire, selecting the sample, and analyzing the data for arriving at the
demand Market Assessment for figure. While designing a survey plan for a small
enterprise, one must bear in mind the cost aspect and try to strike a reasonable
balance between the cost and the refinement of demand estimate. A broad but
reliable estimate of demand achieved through cost-effective and simple methods
should be sufficient to serve the purpose.

Some institutional customers like Directorate General of Supplies & Disposal

(DGS&D), and State Directorates of Industries enter into rate contracts with the
manufacturing units for meeting the bulk requirements of government offices. To be
able to enter into rate contract with these agencies, a firm must have enough
financial resources, and production capacity to execute bulk orders that may be
placed on it. It may be difficult for a new firm to capture this market in the initial
stage and as such this point must be kept in mind while estimating the demand.
Activity 2
An entrepreneur who plans to manufacture shoes opines: “Since the population is
increasing every year, the demand for shoes is bound to increase with time. I,
therefore, don’t see any problem for my firm from the demand side.” What are your
comments?
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
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5.5 ANALYSING COMPETITIVE SITUATION
For any business, the understanding of the competitive situation is extremely
important. In fact, it may be a matter of business life and death.
A typical small enterprise may face competition from other small firms, and from
large companies having established and well known brand names. The exercise of
demand analysis would have already given the entrepreneur a fairly good idea of the
nature and extent of competition prevailing in the market. He would have got a
rough assessment of the market share being enjoyed by each competitor. However,
the true nature and extent of competition can hardly be judged from the market share
being enjoyed by each competitor. In a vast country like India, the nature of
competition may vary drastically from market to market. We have highly price-
sensitive markets as well as price-insensitive, quality-sensitive markets. It is,
therefore, important for the entrepreneur to study the competitive situation with
reference to the chosen market segments. In case of many products, the household
and the institutional markets may have altogether different types of competition. In
order to assess and understand the competitive situation, an entrepreneur should try
to answer the following questions:
1) How many firms are in competition with him?
2) What are their market shares?
3) What are the strengths and weaknesses of their products?
4) What kind of consumer image does each product enjoy?
5) What trade practices do the competitors employ?
6) Who are the major customers of each brand?
A study of this kind can be systematized by using a chart shown in Fig. 5.2. The
exercise of preparing the chart may be quite tedious but the help it will provide in
understanding the competitive situation would justify the work involved.
Competitive Market Price Product Product Discount Credit Major
Products share features image to terms customers
dealers
BRAND ‘A’
BRAND ‘B’
BRAND ‘C’
Fig. 5.2: A framework for understanding the competition
This kind of rigorous analysis will bring to light where the entrepreneur can score
over the competition, where the competition has an edge over him, and what are the
areas of opportunities and threats. The analysis will help him tune his marketing
efforts to the requirements of the customers and the trade. Correct understanding of
the nature and extent of competition is essential as the whole process of marketing
planning revolves around this understanding.
Activity 3
Take any product of your choice and try to fill up the chart shown in Fig. 5.2.
Mention below what you think needs to be done to get the information that you do
not possess?
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5.6 UNDERSTANDING TRADE PRACTICES
Once a product or service comes into existence, it has to reach the ultimate
customers. An entrepreneur may either do it on his own or take the help of
middlemen, called intermediaries, like distributors and retailers. In case of many
products, due to the nature of the product, the dispersion of the customers in large
geographical areas, or their buying habits, it may not be feasible for a firm to reach
the ultimate customers directly. For example, if it is almost customary for the
customers to buy detergent powder from the retailers, k is neither easy nor fruitful to
approach them directly through own salesmen or through mail. There are many
products like woollen garments, plastic toys, crockery, stationery items, and utensils,
which are sold only after the customer examines and evaluates the various options
available to him. It, therefore, becomes almost a necessity to employ middlemen to
sell such goods. Even those companies making high-value products like computers
and machine tools are today taking the help of middlemen in order to expand their
markets. The study of trade practices in this light becomes important.
There are many types of intermediaries like distributors, wholesalers, retailers,
commission agents, brokers, super-bazars, and export houses. Each one of these
performs particular functions for the manufacturer. The kinds of services they offer
are different. Some invest money in stocks before selling them for a profit. Some
just provide the service of consummating a sale for a nominal payment or charge.
Depending upon the kind of service provided, each has its own terms and conditions
of business.
An entrepreneur must try to understand the trade practices that are relevant to his
product. If middlemen are to be employed, the chain of distribution, the selling load
to be taken by each member, the discounts to be offered to them, and the general
credit terms, have to be studied. It is important to know where the distributors and
retailers are to be appointed and what are the available modes of transportation to
reach them. The prevailing sales tax and other legal implications in selling to the
middlemen situated in different locations should also be studied.

In many cases, it is seen that the price of the product, especially when it is
manufactured by a new, small enterprise, is determined by what the middlemen are
ready to pay. They also dictate other terms of business like the length of the credit
period to be allowed to them. Bigger among the trade members may even ask for
their own brand name to be put on the product. A study of the trade practices in the
beginning will provide some insight into how the product shall ultimately reach its
customers, what are the costs involved, what infrastructural facilities are to be
provided for, what kind of product features the trade members are looking for, and at
what price they are willing to buy it. A realistic assessment of this kind will help in
ultimately bringing out a product that is saleable through normal marketing efforts,
and in formulating policies that are in tune with the market requirements.
5.7 SUMMARY
A small enterprise has to constantly interact with the external environment,
especially the market in which it has to operate. Its marketing efforts must stay fine
tuned to suit the requirements of the market in general, and the needs and wants of
the customers in particular. To be successful, it has to develop marketing
orientation in its outlook. At the planning stage itself, the owner must think of the
benefits — both tangible and intangible — that his product will offer to the
customers.
In order to understand the external environment pertaining to the market, and to
determine the needs and wants of the customers, an entrepreneur needs to undertake
the exercise of market assessment. This exercise will provide answers to many
questions such as: Who is likely to buy my product or service? Why would they buy
it? How many would buy it? What kind of competitors do I have? What are their
strengths and weaknesses? And what are the trade practices in respect of my
product?
Three aspects need to be delved into in order to complete the exercise: 1) Market
demand analysis, 2) Analyzing competitive situation, and 3) Understanding trade
practices. Once this exercise is completed, the owner would be able to move ahead
with much greater confidence and sagacity.

5.8 KEY WORDS

Marketing orientation: A marketing approach that relies on first finding out what
the customers want and then creating and developing products or services that
satisfy their wants.
Target segment: A fairly homogeneous group of customers (market segment) to ^
whom a company wishes to target its marketing efforts.
Demand: The willingness and ability of the consumers to buy a product.
Market demand: Market demand for a product is the total volume that would be
bought by a defined customer group in a defined geographical area in a defined time
period in a defined marketing environment under a defined marketing programme.
Company demand: It is the company's share of market demand.
Sample survey: A marketing research method in which a representative sample is
drawn out of the population and a survey is then carried out to obtain the relevant
information.
Intermediaries: Marketing middlemen — like wholesalers, retailers, commission
agents — who perform a variety of functions in reaching a product from the
producer to the final consumer.
5.9 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS
1) What are the implications of 'marketing orientation" on the process of product
selection?
2) Think of the ‘benefits’ that an entrepreneur trying to establish a typing school
can offer to its customers.
3) Analyze the competitive situation with respect to the scooter market in India.
Does it face any competition from the moped and the motorcycle markets?
4) What kinds of intermediaries are involved in selling a) pressure cookers, b)
cigarettes, and c) life insurance?
5.10 FURTHER READINGS
Foster, Douglas (1982). Mastering Marketing, the Macmillan Press Ltd:
Jain, Vijay K. (1988). Marketing Management for Small Units, Management
Publishing Co:
Kotler, Phillip (1988). Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation,
and Control, 6th ed. Prentice Hall of India Private Ltd:
McCarthy, E.J. and Perreault: W.D. Jr. (1987). Basic Marketing, 9th ed., UBS India.
Steinhoff, Dan and Burgess: J.F. (1986). Small Business Management
Fundamentals, McGraw Hill Book Company.
UNIT 6
CHOICE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SELECTION OF SITE
Objectives
Upon completion of this unit, you should be able to:
 explain why product or service design is important to any organization
 discuss various stages involved in product design
 identify major aspects that determine process
  identify and discuss some of the criteria used to evaluate process
 explain why location decisions are important
 identify and discuss the general factors involved in determining the location of
a business
 use the techniques presented to solve typical problems
Structure
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Product/Service Design
6.3 Technology Determination
6.4 Selection of Site
6.5 Summary
6.6 Keywords
6.7 Self-assessment Questions
6.8 Further Readings
6.1 INTRODUCTION
Man has been striving to convert the scientific discoveries to application of human
needs through invention, development, and innovation. The results of the efforts will
be products and services to satisfy human needs. The backbone of any small
business is the products or services it offers. The decisions related to product and
service design will significantly affect the future of a small business organization.
The most effective way to approach a small business is either by creating a unique
product or service that would be in great demand or to adopt something that is
currently on the market.
Product and process go together and are critical elements of a small business
operating strategy. The environment in which small business prevails is dynamic and
pressures for change in product or service design can come from within the firm,
competitors, suppliers, legal sources and legislations. A manufacturer is liable for
any injuries or damages caused by a faulty product either because of poor
workmanship or design. This aspect, known as product liability, provided under
Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is a strong incentive for design improvements. The
relationship between the product selected and the organization structure can best be
seen by considering the technology by which the product is produced. For new
organizations the choice of product essentially determines the technology of
production.
Processes can be defined as the facilities, skills and technologies used to produce a
product or service. Technology selection will significantly affect the management of
human resources, plant and materials capacity of the operation system. It also affects
the external environment like markets, competitor’s arid society. The technology
chosen to produce should be flexible to take care of the changes in design of product
or service.
Decisions relating to location are dynamic in nature and are important to new
organizations. An ideal plant location is one where the unit cost of production and
physical distribution is minimum and revenues are maximum. It should also provide
an opportunity for the organization to grow. It is important to avoid a troublesome
location rather than finding an ideal site.
6.2 PRODUCT/SERVICE DESIGN
Decisions relating to the final product/service design will influence or determine the
firm’s image, profitability, opportunity and as well as the problems it may face in the
future. Product design specifications paves way for the Manager to take a decision
regarding process selection, quantity, quality, and type of materials, the required
labour skills and supervision to manufacture the product.
The first step in evolution of an effective operational system is the design of the
product or service that is to be offered. The path from conception of an idea to a
finished product depends upon the firm, the product and numerous other factors.
Figure 6.1 shows detailed stages involved in product design. The concepts of
standardization, reliability, product simplification, modular design, reproducibility,
maintainability, consumer quality level, value analysis -are important considerations
in evaluating designs in order to prevent unnecessary investment in equipment,
labour, materials and overhead costs.
From internal Collection of ideas From external
environment environment
 R&D  Consumers
 Production  Inventors
 Marketing  Competitors
 Employees  Vendors
 New Product development [General specification]

Feasibility Study

Market Technical Financial Economic

appraisal appraisal appraisal appraisal
 Demand  Materials and  Investment  Economic
 Supply inputs outlay costs and
position  Production  Means of benefits
 Structure of technology financing  Impact on
competition  Product mix  Cost of society
 Cost  Equipment capital  Self
structure choice  Projected sufficiency
 Imports and  Location and profitability  Employment
exports site  Breakeven
 Consumer  Layout point
behaviour  Work schedule  Cash flows
 Distribution  Investment
channels worthiness

Preliminary product design Prototype testing

Technical specifications technical/Market
ing
Detailed specifications

Functional design Form design Production design

 Market quality level  Physical appearance  Product simplification
 Materials selection —colour  Product diversification
 Reliability __style  Standardization
 Maintainability __fashion  Modularity
 Warranty guarantee  Personal identification  Value Analysis
 Patents, copy-right,  Packaging
trade-mark
 Pre-production run Manufacturing
Figure 6.1: Stages in product design

Service systems like entertainment centres, health centres, hotels, public Choice of
Technology and transportation, retail establishments, educational institutes, personal
services, financial services etc., have acquired a greater importance in today’s
business world. The concept of designing the services is more difficult than product
designing. Service organizations will concentrate more on lines of services offered,
level of service and service availability in designing services.
Service organizations deliver their services mainly through the human resources of
the productive system. The technology of transformation should be flexible enough
to allow variation in needs of the customers. Since human resources are flexible and
trainable, they can at tune to almost any service requirements which the environment
needs. While designing the services, care is taken regarding methods of delivering
the service rather than engineering specifications and productive process
technologies. In fact it will be difficult to specify the service prior to the start of
service. Market acceptability of intangible services are determined through surveys
rather than through testing and demonstration. Services must be specified in a way to
assure their conformity to the intended function, right timing, optimum cost and
right quantity.
Activity 1
Select two service organizations and two product organizations from the SS1 sector,
study them to find out:
a. What were the considerations used in designing the product/service?
b. How do considerations for designing services vary from designing those for
product?
6.3 TECHNOLOGY DETERMINATION
Process decisions commence with product analysis that extends to every
subassembly, raw material or component comprising the final product. Before taking
up the process selection issue, the fundamental question to be considered is whether
to make or buy the product. New and small enterprises concentrate on increasing the
turnover through the buying process. Make or buy is a strategic decision and must be
made periodically on each material or component required by the finished product.
Some of the factors influencing make or buy decision are:
1) Idle facilities
2) Plant capabilities (Product quality, quantity and service, Personnel, equipment,
future capabilities)
3) Economic advantage
4) Suppliers reliability (Quality, quantity, service, schedule)
5) Trade relations
6) Employment stabilizations
7) Trade union views
8) Alternative resource uses
9) Legal restrictions (Patents)
Make or buy analysis provides the planners with the comparison whether produce or
buy. After arriving at the decision of making the product ourselves the process
determination phase can begin. The major aspects that determine process are
technological and sequential. Technology can be defined as a combination of labour,
machines, processes, energy and other inputs directly involved in the transformation
of materials into products. Technology has Increased the outputs of industrial and
non-industrial sectors. It has improved the quality and reliability of the products, and
saved the capital costs. Technology has not only been a primary source of improving
productivity but also created new resources. Technological considerations occur at
two levels.
1) General technological feasibility.
2) Specific choice of equipment.
General technology feasibility may be thought of decision regarding the theoretical
feasibility of the making the product (Major technological choice), the general
nature of the processing system (Minor technological choice), the specific
equipment to be employed (specific component choice).
Sequential considerations are those that aim at determining the most efficient
relationships between processing steps. Firms using existing technology should
maintain a continuing interest in improving it as long as changes are economically
desirable and can be justified. Increasing the output rate, reducing unit costs and
improving the yield are the motives for seeking improvements in existing
technologies
Service organizations must decide how wide and deep their lines of service shall be.
In many situations, firms depend on the financial resources to provide a wide range
of lines. To arrive at the level of service the organization has to trade off between its
ability to supply the services against the need to operate economically at the same
time. The managers need to plan how long the service will be available in a day and
week. It is also essential to locate the service ideally to provide better service to the
customers.
Various criteria for evaluating production process and equipment selection are
1) Product/service requirements
2) Technological feasibility
3) Financial considerations
4) Labour and skill requirements
5) Output and capacity needs
6) Compatibility with existing facilities
7) Flexibility
8) Raw material requirements
9) Size and weight limits imposed by plant or building
10) Maintainability
11) Spare parts inventory requirements.
The selection of the most desirable technology can be aided by tools like economic
analysis, capital investment analysis, linear programming, marginal analysis,
breakeven analysis, and incremental analysis. Motion and time study, work
standards, and work measurement are the aids for integrating the human factors in
process equation. For further reading you can refer Work and Job Design (Blocks 2
and 3) of MS-5 Management of machines and materials.
The sources of process knowhow for small manufacturing units are as follows:
1) National Research and Development Corporation. Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research.
2) Private research laboratories recognized by CSIR like Shri Ram Research
Institute, New Delhi. Gharda “Research Centre”. Bombay or Shroff Technical
Services, Bombay.
3) Individuals who have experience in similar lines.
4) From turnkey suppliers of plant and machinery.
5) Foreign Technology.
 Following is a list of institutions equipped with the facilities of pilot plant,
prototype product manufacturing facilities, testing of product, R and D of new
products:
1) Industrial Research Laboratories set up by different State Governments.
2) Central Institute for Plastics Engineering and Training Madras/Ahmedabad.
3) Prototype Training Centres of Small Industries Service Institute located at
different places in our country.
Activity 2
Contact five entrepreneurs in your town and study them to gather the following
information:
a. What were the criteria used while selecting the technology in use?
b. What were their sources of information regarding the technology?
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
6.4 SELECTION OF SITE
Any new organization has to take the major strategic decision on locating its
facilities. The general objective in selecting a site is to minimize total cost of
production and distribution. The selected site should also maximize revenue and
provide an opportunity for further growth and expansion. Regardless of the type of
business, there are some general factors that will influence locating an operation.
The most important factors may be:
1) Personal factors.
2) Economics (Purchasing power of community, number of people employed in
the area, per capita retail sales etc.).
3) Competition
4) Geographic considerations.
5) Local laws and regulations.
Small business can avail benefits provided by the government through its policies on
licensing, locating public sectors, subsidies, financial concessions, taxes, duties, and
establishing industrial estates.
General procedure for making location decisions
Selecting a facility location usually involves a sequence of decisions. The general
procedure proposed by William J Stevenson for making location decisions consists
of the following steps.
1) Determine the criteria that will be used to evaluate location alternatives, such
as increased revenues or community service.
2) Identify factors that are important, such as location of markets or materials.
3) Develop location alternatives.
i. Identify the general region for a location.
ii. Identify a small number of community site alternatives.
4) Evaluate the alternatives and make a selection.
A summary of the factors that affect location is provided in Table No. 1.
Table 1: Factors Affecting Location Decisions

Level Factors Considerations

Region/ Location of raw Proximity, modes and costs of transportation,
Country materials or quantity available Proximity,
supplies distribution costs, target market,
Location of Trade practices/restrictions
Markets Labour Availability [general and for specific skills], age
distribution of work force, attitudes toward work,
union or nonunion, productivity, wage scales,
unemployment compensation laws
Facilities Schools, churches, shopping, housing,
Services Attitudes transportation, entertainment, etc. Medical, fire
Taxes and police Pro/con State/local, direct and indirect
Communit
y Environmental State/local
regulations Cost and availability Bond issues, tax abatement,
Utilities low- cost loans, grants
Development
support
Site Land Cost, degree of development required, soil
Transportation characteristics, room for expansion, drainage,
Environmental parking Type [access roads, rail spurs, air freight]
/legal Zoning restrictions
Source: Production and Operations Management by William J. Stevenson, Richard
D. Irwin, Inc. Illinois; 1982
To make a thorough evaluation of pertinent factors involved in plant location it
would be convenient to classify Locational problems as follows.
1) Single facility location
Many Locational problems like location of a manufacturing unit, a warehouse etc.
which may fall under single facility location require the selection of a site. An
important assumption made here is that revenue, costs and other facility
characteristics of the firm do not depend on the location of other facilities of the firm
or competitors. Single facility location situation can be evaluated by qualitative
factor rating and Locational break-even analysis.
Procedure for qualitative factor rating
1) Identify and evolve a list of relevant factors.
2) Allot a weight to each factor to indicate its relative importance [weights may
total 1.00] among the factors considered to take a decision
3) Establish a common numerical preference rating scale [0-100 points] to all
factors.
4) Score each potential location based on comparison with other potential
locations.
5) Multiply the preference rating by the weights and obtain resultant weighted
score.
6) Sum up the weighted scores for each location
7) The location with the maximum points is desirable.
Example 1
Tamil Nadu Glass Company is evaluating three locations for a new plant and has
weighted the relevant factors as shown in Table 2. Scores have been assigned with
higher values indicative of preferred conditions. Using these scores, develop a
qualitative factor comparison for the three locations.
Table 2
Trichy Madurai Coimbatore

Score Weighted Score Weighted Score Weighted

score score score
Relevant Assigned
factor weight
Product- 0.35 55 19.25 40 14.00 35 12.25
ion cost
Raw 0.20 75 15.00 80 16.00 74 14.80
Material
supply
Labour 0.15 55 8.25 72 10.80 60 9.00
availab-
ility
Cost of 0.10 82 8.20 70 7.00 50 5.00
living
Environ- 0.02 65 1.30 60 1.20 70 1.4
ment
Markets 0.18 80 14.40 90 16.20 85 15.30

Total 66.40 65.20 57.75

Location
Score

Weighted scores are computed by multiplying the score times the assigned weight
[for example, 55X0.35=19.25]. Weighted scores for each location are summed up to
obtain total location score. Based on this data, Trichy is preferred location.
Procedure for Locational break-even analysis
1) Determine all relevant costs that are associated with the locations.
2) Classify the costs for each location into annual fixed costs [F C] and per unit
variable costs [V C]
3) Plot the costs associated with each location on a single chart of annual costs
on Y axis versus annual volume of X axis.
4) Choose the location with the lowest total [T C] at the expected production
volume [V]
Example 2
Potential locations at Trichy, Madurai, and Coimbatore have cost structures shown in
Table 3 for a product expected to sell for Rs. 150/-.
 a. Find the most economical location for an expected volume of 7,000 units per
year.
b. What is the expected profit if the site selected in [a] is used?
c. For what output range is each location best?
Table 3
Potential location Fixed cost per year Variable cost per unit

Trichy Rs. 1,50,000 Rs. 75/-

Madurai Rs. 2,00,000 Rs. 50/-
Coimbatore Rs. 4,00,000 Rs. 25/-

a) For each set, equate total costs to the sum of fixed costs and variable costs.
TC=FC+VC [V]
Trichy: TC = Rs. 1, 50,000 + Rs. 75 [7,000] = Rs. 6, 75,000.
Madurai: TC = Rs. 2, 00,000 + Rs. 50 [7,000] = Rs. 5, 50,000.
Coimbatore: TC = Rs. 4, 00,000 + Rs. 25 [7,000] = Rs. 5, 75,000.
Total costs for Madurai is least hence the most economical location for an expected
volume of 7,000 units per year.
b. Expected profits [Choosing Madurai] =
Rs. 150X7000 - 5, 50,000 = Rs. 5, 00,000/year.
c. Plotting for each location the total costs on Y axis and volumes on X axis, we
have
i. Total cost curves of Trichy and Madurai intersecting at 2000 units, and Rs. 3,
00,000.
ii. Total Cost curves of Madurai and Coimbatore intersecting at 8000 units and
Rs. 6, 00,000.
Hence for volumes
Up to 2000 units Trichy will be preferable,
Between 2000 units and 8000 units Madurai will be preferable,
For 8000 units or more Coimbatore will be preferable.
Activity 3
With respect to enterprises studied for Activity 3, study the criteria used for selection
of site. To any one of the enterprises, apply the break-even analysis to determine
whether the location decision was justified on this basis.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
2) The multi facility location
In the case of single facility location problem we have been concerned to select the
Minimum cost location, whereas in a multi facility location problem we must select
the location which when added to existing locations minimizes the cost of the entire
system.
Location of multiple factories and warehouses
In this type of location problem, total distribution costs and perhaps total production
costs will be affected by the location decision. This problem is usually formulated by
considering a production distribution network of plants and warehouses with
criterion of minimizing a transportation cost, subject to satisfying overall supply and
demand requirements. The transportation linear programming [L P] method may be
useful. For further reading the reader can refer Chapter 6 “Location and
Distribution” of Modern production/operations management, Elwood S. Buffa,
Wiley Eastern Limited, 1983.
3) Location of competitive retail stores
Many retail location problems can be formulated with the criterion of maximizing
revenue. These problems typically occur for retail stores, departmental stores and
restaurants, where the revenue of a particular site depends on the intensity of
competition from other competitor's locations nearby. Most retail location models
are based on the assumption that revenue is proportional to the size of the facility
and inversely proportional to the time the customer has to travel to the facility. The
basic statement of the retailing model developed by D.L. Huff is Eij = Pij Ci
Where
Eij = expected number of customers at i likely to travel to shopping center j.
Ci = number of customers at i.
Pij = probability of a customer at point of origin i travelling to shopping center is
a function of the size of shopping center j, the travel time for a customer at point of
origin i to travel to shopping center], and the effect of travel time on various types of
trips.
4) Emergency—Service location
A significant class of location problems concerns the delivery of emergency services
like fire, police, and ambulance. These problems often have minimum response time
as a decision criterion, since time is of the essence in delivering emergency service.
These problems illustrate location decisions where a measure of service, such as
response time, is the most important location criterion. Emergency response time can
be estimated for different location sites by using simulation models. These models
permit the incorporation of factors such as density of calls, speed of travel,
dispatching rules, and number of vehicles available. For further reading the reader
can refer Chapter 6 “Location and Distribution” of Modern production/operations
management, Elwood S Buffa. Wiley Eastern Limited, 1983.
Activity 4
Study the location criteria applied for the establishment of
a) A retail store
b) An emergency service outlet
How do these criteria vary and why?
6.5 SUMMARY

Product of service design and process selection form an important part of operations
strategy. Decisions on what to produce and how to produce are central to all other
elements of operations strategy. Ever changing nature of environment subjects
product and service design to continual changes for improvements. Product
improvements come from internal and external sources. Product feasibility is
carefully assessed before a product is designed. The primary concerns in product
design relate to standardization, reliability, simplification, reproducibility,
maintainability, and modular design. Process determination consists of evaluating a
series of decisions on the alternative ways of producing a product/service, the type
of technology to adopt the plant and machinery to be employed, the work flow
system 34 for the product/service and the method of performing the job.

The location of a facility involves far-reaching decisions which affect a new

enterprise. Many factors like location of raw materials and sources of supply, labour
supply, market considerations, community related factors, site related factors, and
climate influence location of a facility. On a long-term basis these factors exhibit a
potential impact. A common approach to take a decision on locating a facility is to
classify the location problem as single facility, multiple facility, retail stores, and
emergency service and apply appropriate tools and superimpose the solutions with
behavioural aspects to arrive at a solution which may not be an optimal but an ideal
one with minimum problems.
6.6 KEY WORDS
Capacity: The amount of output that can be realized under a specific set of
conditions, circumstances, and time. It generally refers to an upper limit on the rate
of output.
Design: A detailed plan for a product or service that may include drawings,
sketches, and measurements.
Effectiveness: The actual accomplishment of multiple objectives with a possible
prioritization within objectives. “Doing right things”
Efficiency: Producing the desired output of goods and services with a minimum of
effort, expense, waste, resources, and time. It is measured in total by dividing output
by input. “Doing things right”.
Maintainability: It refers to the ability of a product or system to stay in operating
condition with a reasonable amount of effort.
Modular design: It allows manager a variety of final product models with only a
few basic components. Modules are common components grouped into
interchangeable subassemblies.
Planning: The managerial function of projecting appropriate action well on time
about a predetermined objective together with the means needed to achieve that
objective:
Process: The sequence of steps or the system used to convert inputs of labour,
materials, and machines into outputs of semi finished or finished parts, components,
or products.
Productivity: A measure of the relationship between the output’ of goods or services
and the resources required for their production. “Efficiency of production”
Products: Tangible outputs resulting from combining materials, labour, capital, and
managerial skills.
Prototype: A model of a product or part of a product; first embodiment of features
of a product to be used for testing.
Quality: Is a measure of how closely a good or a service conforms to specific
standards.
Reliability: It refers to the ability of a product, part or system to perform its
designed function satisfactorily for a specified period of time under a given set of
conditions.
Reproducibility: It refers to the ability of the productive system to produce products
of desired quality consistently.
Research: The deliberate and planned effort to seek anything new such as new
relationships or new applications.
Research and development: Research with subsequent efforts to more Cleary
defines uses and applications.
Services: Activities performed to provide people with benefits such as transportation
or health care.
Simplification: It refers to reducing unnecessary variety in product line by
decreasing the number and variety of products produced.
Simulation: Is a means of modelling the essence of an activity or system so that
Experiments can be conducted to evaluate the systems behaviour or response over
time.
Specification: Is a detailed description in form of measurements, quantities, or
qualities, required of a product or service if it is to meet the design requirements for
function and aesthetics.
Standardization: It refers to the attempt to gain uniformity in characteristics of a
product such as size, shape, colour, quantity, and performance’
Strategic: In application to goals and strategies, the identification of those most
important to a firm’s long run survival and prosperity.
Strategy: The plan of activities identified as being necessary to achieve a specific
goal or objectives.
Technology: Is the systematic process of using scientific, material and human
resources to produce goods and services for human purposes.
Transformation: The act or means for converting inputs of one form into outputs of
another.
Technological feasibility: When a process or machine is inherently capable of
performing the necessary transformation requirements set forth in the design
specifications.
Value analysis: The use of comparative cost and function figures in making
purchasing and design decisions. It aims at ensuing that every element of cost
contributes proportionately to the function of the product.
6.7 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS
1) What are the basic steps in system of bringing a product/service from an idea
to a finished product/service?
2) How does production design relate to technology determination and
equipment selection?
3) The swastik company is considering starting a manufacturing plant in either
Madras, Coimbatore. Or Madurai. The company has collected the economic
and non economic data shown below.
Factor Madras Coimbatore Madurai
Transportation
Cost/week RS. 860 RS. 660 RS. 490
Labour costs per Rs. 1100 Rs. 1080 Rs. 1260
week
Selected criteria
scores
(based on a scale of
0-100 points)
Raw material 45 85 75
Housing facilities 55 35 40
Maintenance 60 80 75
facilities

Company has pre-established weights for various factors, ranging from 0 to 1.0.
They include a standard of .2 for each Rs. 10 per week of economic advantage.
Other weights that are applicable are .35 on raw material, .15 on housing facilities,
and .3 on maintenance facilities. Develop a qualitative factor comparison for the
three locations?
4) Describe briefly how transportation linear programming can be used to help
analyze location problems?
5) Describe how an entrepreneur may simultaneously consider both quantitative
and qualitative factors in facility location analysis?
6.8 FURTHER READINGS
Effective Small Business Management—Richard M. Hodgetts, Donald F.Kuratko,
Academy Press College Division, 1986.
Modem Production/Operations Management— Elwood S. Buffa, Wiley Eastern
Limited, 1983.
Production and Operations Management, a Problem Solving and Decision Making
Approach—Norman Gaither, The Drysden Press International, 1987.
Production and Operations Management—S.N. Chary, Tata McGraw- Hill
Publishing 36 Companies Limited, New Delhi, 1988.

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