How to Prepare a Plan to Introduce a New Product

One of the great challenges facing new product is that you must often battle for market sometimes with big businessmen who can afford to run more advertising, offer lower prices, and who are better established in the market place. There are some generally accepted strategies to use when you are facing challenge like this (tackling the market). These strategies have been used successfully by companies of all sizes to drive sales and carve out a sustainable position in the market. Those market strategies include the followings;

Step 1: Create your Mission Statement - What is the vision of your business? What are its objectives, goals and aspirations? And most importantly: how does your new product align with these? By crafting a focused Mission Statement and integrating it with your product, you establish the framework and foundation of your product introduction efforts. Think of this step like a compass; it won’t tell you precisely where to go, but it will tell you in which direction to head.

Step 2: Analyze your Target Customers - Who are your customers? What motivates them to buy your new product? What are their perceptions of value? By carefully understanding your target customers, you position your product into their world –because you can have the “latest and greatest” product available, but if it doesn’t fit a customer need or solve a customer problem, it won’t win their business.

Step 3: Analyze your Target Markets - Categorize your customers in terms of practical and useful groups, such as by industry, geography, vertical, and so on. Appreciate the fine distinctions between how these different target markets will perceive, evaluate and demand your product. As a bonus, the insights that you glean from this step will prove invaluable as you develop your sales and marketing material, too.

Step 4: Scope out the Competition - Even if your product is a major advancement on what your competitors are offering, don’t assume that you’re going to blow them out of the water. Rather, perform a careful analysis of your competitors’ operations. Learn how they position, price and distribute their products. Also pay attention to their marketing to see how they both respond and react to market changes. Remember, while it may be tempting to conclude that some or even all of your competitors are “flawed” or “incompetent” or anything else negative, the fact remains that they are your competitors, and you have to respect them as such. Besides, you’ll have plenty of time to prove your product’s superiority once its strategically and effectively introduced!

Step 5: Position your Product - Based on the insights and information gleaned from the above steps, focus specifically on your new product and analyze its position. How is it different from what’s available? How is it the same? Remember, even if you clearly see it as different than what your competition offers, don’t assume that your prospective customers will see things as clearly. So go beyond physical or specification distinctions, and anticipate how your product will be perceived by your customers and in your marketplace. When you do this, you’ll likely be surprised –perhaps even amazed –that you need to proactively make key adjustments to avoid having your product misunderstood by the very people you need to impress.

Step 6: Create your Action Plan - Here’s where you’ll take everything from steps 1 through 5 and put it into a structured action plan –which, in effect, will be a project. As such, make sure that you use robust and easy-to-use project management software here, so that you can clearly see how your action plan holds together –or how it doesn’t. Remember, many products “lose their way” on the way to market. This is either because too much time was spent in one or more steps, or more often, not enough time in one or more steps. Creating your action plan with the help of professional project management software will help you objectively see whether you’re positioning your product to successfully make to market.

Step 7: Execute your Action Plan - After all of the hard work invested in the previous steps –especially step 6 –it’s time to hit the switch and execute your action plan. Again, be sure that you use the right project management software here to keep everything on track; especially as it relates to costs and resource allocation. It’s fine to spend a few weeks on market research or performing a S.W.O.T. analysis. But a few months? That may be far too long. If left unchecked, these mistakes derail and undermine your product launch goals.

Furthermore, you may not want to “waste time” preparing to introduce your product if there’s a spectacular opportunity for you to win customers from your competition. All of this makes sense, and the advice here isn’t to spend months on end planning and preparing your product for market. Rather, the advice here is to impress upon you that once your product is launched, trying to “go back in time” and take care of any of these steps is risky, costly and can be fraught with quality problems. In other words, the old adage “an hour of planning saves a week of correction” most certainly applies. So do yourself, your business and especially your future happy customers a big favor:  spend the required time on the steps above, and you’ll position your product to be a huge success.

January Disease: How to Cure It

> Most times people overspend in December, lavishing on Christmas and New Year celebrations. Come January, bank accounts are empty. As a results many people find themselves in serious debts. Here are few tips to help you survive January (cure it) after spending much in December.

1. Stop the unnecessary - if you are used to have two bottles of beer everyday after work you can "take a leave" and try to work hard and leave working place late so that you use the time to do other productive things.
2. Remember the basics - there are somethings that you make you must think of whenever you make your budgets. Make sure you have enough food in your stock so that you do not suffer the whole of January. Electricity, and water bills should be given the priority.
3. Do the extras - if you have the potential or a talent of doing something else more than your daily job then use that as a source of increasing your income. For example; if you can consult people in different issues then do that and charge them some amount to fix the gap.
4. Be strong and careful - remember that the crisis is not on your side only, many may be going through the same situation so be careful on who you want to help and even if you are very emotional then be strong when the "beggars" come to you asking for help. Conning is at peak during this time.
5. Have plans - sometimes it is hard to stay away from friends or a family. These can convince you to go and spend in a hotel or a bar, do not lie to them. Tell them the reality of your situation but also have plans that you are not dragged everywhere they want you to go. That will cost you.
6. Be happy and accept the situation - thinking of the crisis may led you to other problems like inefficiency or even worse. Just be happy and accept that January is for brokers and it will not stay that way for the whole year, there is hope for Sunshine. 

How to Increase Positive Thinking in Your Life

What you can do to increase positive emotions and take advantage of the "broaden and build" theory in your life? Well, anything that sparks feelings of joy, contentment, and love will do the trick. You probably know what things work well for you. Maybe it's playing the guitar. Maybe it's spending time with a certain person. Maybe it's carving tiny wooden lawn gnomes. That said, here are three ideas for you to consider.

1. Meditation -- Recent research by Fredrickson and her colleagues has revealed that people who meditate daily display more positive emotions than those who do not. As expected, people who meditated also built valuable long-term skills. For example, three months after the experiment was over, the people who meditated daily continued to display increased mindfulness, purpose in life, social support, and decreased illness symptoms.

2. Writing -- This study, published in the Journal of Research in Personality, examined a group of 90 undergraduate students who were split into two groups. The first group wrote about an intensely positive experience each day for three consecutive days. The second group wrote about a control topic. Three months later, the students who wrote about positive experiences had better mood levels, fewer visits to the health center, and experienced fewer illnesses. (This blew me away. Better health after just three days of writing about positive things!)

3. Play -- Schedule time to play into your life. We schedule meetings, conference calls, weekly events, and other responsibilities into our daily calendars... why not schedule time to play? When was the last time you blocked out an hour on your calendar just to explore and experiment? When was the last time you intentionally carved out time to have fun? You can't tell me that being happy is less important than your Wednesday meeting, and yet, we act like it is because we never give it a time and space to live on our calendars.

Give yourself permission to smile and enjoy the benefits of positive emotion. Schedule time for play and adventure so that you can experience contentment and joy, and explore and build new skills.

TEN FACTS ABOUT L.O.V.E

Love is one of the most important, yet most misunderstood emotions we experience. Human brains are naturally wired for connection with others, and we experience loneliness and rejection as painful threats to survival. For both biological and cultural reasons, many of us believe we need a lasting love relationship to be truly fulfilled. Yet, in reality, love is not necessarily a lasting, unchanging state, nor is it something that we find outside of us. Rather, the potential to love lies within us – it’s a willingness to open our hearts and care about others. Long-time love is not automatic, but takes hard work, unselfishness, and a willingness to be vulnerable. Below are ten science-based facts to help you understand what love really is – and what it isn’t.

1. Love is Different than Passion or Lust - Although physical attraction is an important part of love for most of us, emotional love is different than lust.  That is why one-night stands and alcohol-fueled hookups don’t automatically lead to long-term relationships. Studies that scan the brain in real time show that we manifest lust or in motivation/reward areas of our brains, while love lights up the parts of our brain, connected to caring and empathy.

 2. Love Is Both a Momentary Feeling and a Long-Term State of Mind - New research shows we experience love in the moment as a state of communion or deep connection. Two hearts beat together as one (there’s something in that stereotype) in a resonant rhythm. In this moment of connection, people in love mirror each other’s facial expressions, gestures, and physiological rhythms. On the other hand, love can also be a lasting mental and emotional state in which we care deeply for the wellbeing of another, feel moved by their pain and motivated to help relieve their suffering or protect them. We also share in the joy when they feel happy. Witness all the proud parents at college graduation ceremonies!

3. Building Lasting Love Relationships Takes Work - A meta-analysis (numeric research summary) of the best studies of long-term loving relationships highlighted a couple of behavior patterns that couples with lasting love share. Among them, partners think of each other positively when they are not together, support each other’s personal growth and development, and undertake shared experiences in which they can learn and expand themselves.

4. We Can Actively Increase Our Capacity to Love - Research on Mindfulness and Self-Compassion show that practicing these strategies regularly can change our brains to be more positive and empathetic in a matter of months. Monks who regularly practice compassion meditation have a different rhythm of brain alpha waves than beginning meditators or the average person. Mindfulness and compassion meditations increase activity in brain centers connected with empathy and positive emotions, and decrease activation of fear centers, as well as making our brains more interconnected – a brain pattern associated with the secure attachment pattern.

5. Love Is Not Just In Your Head - A large body of research shows that loving connection is essential to long-term physical health. Loneliness and lack of social connections has been shown to shorten our lifespans as much as smoking. Just being a member of a Church, synagogue, or community group lessens this effect.  For men in particular, marriage improves long-term health and the death of a spouse is a risk factor for earlier death. We don’t know if this is because wives encourage their spouses to eat properly and go to the doctor or if it’s due to the emotional and physical connection.

6. If We Focus on Love, We Can Enhance It - When we deliberately focus our attention on loving feelings and actions towards our loved one, we begin a positive spiral of mutual appreciation, happiness, and reciprocity.  Let’s face it, we all want to be thought about, cared for and appreciated. Research on gratitude shows that expressing gratitude in words or actions actually creates positive emotions in the giver as well as the receiver.

7. Love Is Not a Fixed Quantity - Loving one person a lot does not mean you have less to give to others. In fact the opposite is true. Love is a capacity you can build within yourself with mental concentration, emotional engagement, and caring actions.  When we focus on and savor our loving feelings for one person, the internal feelings of satisfaction and connection we experience can motivate us to be more loving in general.

8. Love is Not Unconditional - One of the preconditions for loving feelings is a sense of safety and trust. In order to connect lovingly and empathically, your prefrontal cortex has to send a signal to your amygdala – the brain’s alarm center, to switch off your automatic “fight or flight” response. People with childhood trauma, neglect, abuse, or other experiences that threaten secure attachment, may have a harder time switching off “fight-flight-freeze” and feeling safe enough to love. This reticence can be overcome with therapy or, sometimes, by a partner who repeatedly demonstrates trustworthiness and care. However, if your repeated expressions of care are not reciprocated by any heart softening in your partner, it could be time for you to consider moving on. 

9. Love is Contagious - Expressions of caring, compassion, and empathy can inspire these feelings in others.  This may be why great leaders, such as the Dalai Lama or Nelson Mandela, inspire us to be our best selves and help their followers calm down “fight or flight.” The story is told that Black youth in South Africa, suffering with years of oppressive apartheid rule,” were ready to take up their guns in violent uprising, but Mandela persuaded them that this was not the right way. Instead, he set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a forum for people to confess political crimes and for victims to work towards forgiveness. 

10. Love Is Not Necessarily Forever, but It Can Be - Shakespeare famously wrote in Sonnet 116 that “Love is not love that alters when it alteration finds.”  We now know that fixed, unchanging love is possible, but not the norm.  In fact, some theorists even question the idea of a fixed, unchanging “self.”  We are not the same person today as we were 10 years ago. Life experience can alter our biology, thought patterns, and behavior.  Therefore, relationships may be challenged when one person’s needs change or people grow in different directions. That being said, researcher Art Aron and colleagues at Stony Brook University have shown that a minority of people reporting long-term, intense love for their partners look the same as newly in love individuals on brain scans, when thinking about their partners.

In summary, love is part hearts and flowers and the stuff romantic movies are made of, and part hard work and commitment. We can love many people, not only our partners and love makes us healthier and happier.  A peak experience in the moment, love can also be a lasting facet of our lives, encompassing many different relationships and experiences.

GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OF INDUSTRIAL CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

In any healthy relationship between employer and employees, conflict is a normal part of that relationship. However, in order to promote sound labour relations and industrial harmony as the essential elements of national development we have to understand well the concept of industrial conflict and the methods to manage it.

Industrial Conflict: What does it mean?

Generally, the term Industrial Conflict refers to all expressions of dissatisfaction with in the employment relationships, especially those pertaining to the employment contract.

Industrial conflict can develop through various stages, here I will refer them as Stages of Conflict Manifestation.

What are those stages?

1. Latent - is the stage in which conflict does not emerge in open. That means, although the parties to the conflict realize the fact of conflict for various reasons they do not show it openly.
2. Perceived - is the one which people perceived that conflicting conditions exist in the workplace. The perceived conflict may be true or otherwise but there is potential ground for the perceived conflict to turn in to real conflict.
3. Felt - this is a stage where parties to the relationship realize the existence of conflict.
4. Manifestation - is the one which recognize the conflict and expressing it openly. Is where conflict expresses itself in various ways, either through physical aggression or verbal aggression.
5. Conflict after math - is the effect of the past conflict. That means, the way the conflict was resolved impact the conflict situation at the workplace. This implies that. "the end of one conflict is the beginning of the other conflict." The outcomes of the past conflict may possibly cause emergence of new conflict especially if were suppressed.

NOTE: If you understand the conflict situation and how far it has reached, you can sometimes manage that conflict easily before it becomes serious. For that case, it is necessary for managers to understand those stages above.

In order to manage conflict effectively, managers also should be aware of methods of conflict management. To understand those methods, one will be able to manage industrial conflict easily.

What is Conflict Management?

To manage conflict is to hold it in control, to keep it from getting out of hand. It can also means constructing a settlement in which people can live and work despite their differences.

What are the methods of Conflict Management?

Negotiation

Negotiation strategy is a starting point. Both sides approach the table with a wish list, and the items are discussed one by one. Negotiation is very much like a chess game; it takes skill and tact to win at both. A skilled negotiator aims to achieve the best outcome possible for her side. Becoming a skilled negotiator is not an overnight process, but rather developed by practice and formal education. 

Compromise

Both sides approach the table with a set of demands. These demands are discussed at length, one at a time. In the process of discussion, you give in a little; however, you expect the other side to give in a little too. You give in on some points, but not on others; the opposing party does the same. 

 

Collective Bargaining

Collective bargaining incorporates negotiation and compromise. Management gives in on some points, and the labor union gives in on other points. Finally, a contract is written up, specifying in detail all the agreements reached.

 

Arbitration

In arbitration, a neutral third party is contacted by both sides to settle differences. For arbitration to be successful, both sides have to agree to abide by the arbitrator's final decision. Arbitration is the last recourse before going to court. If arbitration is not successful, one party brings a lawsuit against another. The court system decides the final outcome, and all parties have to abide by the law. If one party decides not to, contempt-of-court charges are filed. The offending party is prosecuted accordingly.

GOOD ARGUMENTATION: Techniques and It's Importance

Good argumentation techniques are always beneficial. Your chances to win others are higher if you can:-

• prepare effective arguments and
• refute your opponents' argument.

By definition, it is the process of forming reasons, justifying beliefs, and drawing conclusions with the aim of influencing the thoughts and/or actions of others.

Argumentation Techniques

 In order to win your counterpart when you are arguing on a certain matter/issue you must use the following techniques, they will help you:-

•  Try to understand the position of your counterpart first, then react to it.
• If your counterpart's argumentation is weak, repeat your own good argumentation.
• If you are interrupted, insist on the right to finish what you were saying.
• Anticipate your counterpart's arguments by including them in your own argumentation.
• Use the persuasive power of examples. Ask your counterpart to provide concrete examples of how to apply his theories.
• Expose generalisation and inaccuracies.
• Stick to the facts of the issue.
• If somebody evades the issue, return to the subject 

Importance of Argumentation

Normally people arguing to each other due to different purposes, most of the reasons for people arguing to each other are briefly explained here below:-  

To clarify thinking as individuals or groups, Oftentimes, individuals and groups do not know what they believe but are still faced with information that requires interpretation. Argument can help individuals and groups learn about issues.

 To explain or defend actions or beliefs, People have reasons for doing what they do, though oftentimes the reasons are not made clear. Argument seeks to shed light on those reasons and make them explicit and open to scrutiny.

 To solve problems or make judgments, The world is filled with controversies about how best to act, all with competing interests and evidence that prescribe a particular direction. Argument helps facilitate decision-making about what actors should and should not do.

 To have fun, Participating in the clash of ideas can be an intellectually stimulating process that is primarily pleasurable. Argument is not always serious and deliberative; in fact, most arguments that people have are over relatively unimportant issues.

NOTE: Facts are hard to refute so gather some pertinent data before the argument starts. Surveys, statistics, quotes from relevant people and results are useful arguments to deploy in support of your case.

8 TIPS ON HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY CHAIR A CONFERENCE

1. It is the conference chairperson's responsibility to see that the atmosphere during the discussion is always friendly, communicative and fair.
2. The conference chairperson introduces the topic in an objective and informative way. He/She formulates the discussion goals for each item on the agenda. During a discussion, he/she must not initially express his/her own opinion or assessment as this would bias the discussion.
3. The chairperson speaks as little as possible in order to give maximum time to the conference participants. Conference chairmanship principally entails raising questions and giving the word to different speakers.
4. Questions from the chairperson should always be designed to stimulate dialogue and consequently should never be answered by the chairperson himself/herself.
5. Preference should be given to open questions (W-questions;who, why, where, when, e.t.c.) and information questions. Closed questions (which can only be answered with a "yes" or "no") can be fatal to a discussion.
6. Should a discussion peter out it is up to the chairperson to get it moving again by means of (open) questions, thought-provoking remarks and a summary of the proceeding so far.
7. The chairperson should make interim summaries to emphasize the thread of the discussion. At the close, the chairperson gives a general summary and his/her evaluation as to which of the goals formulated at the outset have or have not been achieved.
8. At the end of a conference,it is also up to the chairperson to formulate and delegate tasks to individual participants. No body ought to leave the conference without precisely knowing:  (a) what has been achieved in today's discussion, (b) what is my specific assignment until the next conference/meeting. (c) where and when is the next conference/meeting?