List of tools to Analyze data

Tools of analysis

1.0 Financial tools

Cash flow,
Fund Flow-(credit items are taken),
Ratio Analysis Example-PV ratio=(sales/contribution),
Balance sheet (B/s) Ratios,
Profitability Ratios,
Capital Ratios,
Activity Ratios (Inventory Turnover ratio, Receivables turnover, Payables turnover, working capital turnover, Fixed assets turnover ratio),
Liquidity Analysis-Current ratio, Quick ratio=cash + marketable securities +acccounts receivable(no BP)/current liabilities,
Cash ratio, cash +marketable securities/current liabilities, cash flow from operation ratios, cash flow from operation/current liabilities, Total Debt to Total capital ratio, Gearing ratio,
Equity to total capital ratio,
Debt to Equity ratio,
Fixed charge coverage ratio,
Gross margin=Gross profit/sales, operating margin=operating income/sales,
Common size statement,
BEP (Break even point/analysis),
Income statement analysis,
YOY (Year of year, quarter by quarter),
Annual reports.
2.0 Tools from Economics
PLC (Product life cycle),
IPLC (International Product life cycle),
Demand forecast.

3.0 Costing tools
Marginal cost analysis,
Unit costing.


4.0 Statistical techniques
Pareto (80/20),
Fish bone,
Brain storm,
6 sigma,
Probability,
Hypothesis testing,
Chi test=relationship between two variables,(if the sample is not either normal, poison, binomial, N>50, n>5),
T-test =small samples,
F-test=tests the variance of two independent samples(Annova),
Z-test=big samples N>30 ,
LP(linear programming),
PERT ( Program [or Project] Evaluation and Review Technique),
CPM (Critical Path Method),
Theory of games/Game theory,
Simulation.

5.0 OR/OM tools (Operations Research & Operations Management)
Assignment model,
Annova,
Rank co relation,
KP(Karl Pearson's method of ranking),
Spearmen's,
Time series,
De seasonalise,
Trend projection,
Force field analysis,
Moving averages,
Delphi.


6.0 Marketing Tools
Positioning,
Perceptual gaps,
Identification of core areas,
Does economies of scale make sense, (in case merger's are on the cards)
Suppliers position-consolidated or fragmented, refer to a Software by the name "smart business"
Comparative position,
Perceptual maps,
Customer requirements, - gaps - Management (mgt) perception-quality specification gaps-delivery gap
Our capabilities,
which markets to operate in,
besides what we do,what others do,
which we don't' -gaps,
segregation of market from product and
customer point of view,
Market (mkt) size,
Where do they others focus-IPR etc..,
How complete is the offering, growth rates, secondary sources-press releases, analysts reports,
Who is the identified competition, i.e, product form (coke Vs Beer) or in the place/rank form 1 vs 2, 4 vs 5,6....
Mkt research (secondary to know more),
Whether consolidation helps,
Common practices such centralization and
Cost cutting measures commonly adopted,
Consolidation of vendor (backward integration) - do we have a vendor data base,
Has the influencer in a decision process being reached effectively (if not efficiently -is cost of reach considered) -Efficiency of reach
Count of errors in any process Vs effective processes -finish the o/p i.e. no of pieces within time span,
Initiators contact,
Buyer bargaining power,
User,
Payer influences on decision,
Mkt research for more info,
Changes in the industry ,
What are the relative strengths(SWOT) and
Areas where competitors are good, their patents, any product line where they have domination, VS our SWOT,
The kind of approaches,(LG-rural Vs Samsung-urban),
Do they use any data base,
Softwares, to be organized,
Strategies of the competition,
Margins the competitors work on, and
Eventually markets, margins per product line per region, is there a posibiilty for creation of a new market, as this is easier to convert non users to users, than to make product changes or fight for competitors customers,
Ansoff matrix,
Will any JVs help,
Are strategic partnership of any use, in terms of ROI
M&A,
Will Diversification help,
Any issues with (our) manuals,
Service,
Accessories,
Delivery of all the above,
Warranty attractiveness,
Sales force mix and
HR mix,
Gestation period for decisions, -hp Carly quit and revenues exceeded dells,
4 Cs
Customer solution
Customer cost
Convenience
Communication
7s strategy-(things that are hard to change and soft and easier to change)
Skill-soft
Shared values-soft
System-hard-tracking sys in place
Structure-hard
Style-soft
Staff-soft
4Ps
Product bundling-packaging-positioning-branding-quality-updates and customer's opinion-
Price
Place-handling,
Promo
+ 4 more Ps
Physical evidence
Processes and procedures-training gaps-customers & employeePeople
Patriotism

Margins in a market-ex 100cc bikes when compared to >100<250,>100},
What is the kind of investment required to enter newer markets,
Entry and exit barriers,
Legal issues,
Are there any culture issues (customers and employees),
Talk to competitor's customer,
Especially a lost customer,
Industry scenario and org SWOT,
Client/customer analysis
(How he functions),
Features of clients-
purchasing function-centralized-
orientation-production/engineering dominated/fin (financial)-mkt-delivery time-qly(Quality)-
kind of relationship-nature of industry-
prefer leasing-service contract-sealed bidding-
service contract-sys purchases-
industry size-
company size-
location-what tech do we focus on-& them-user status(medium-hi-low),
service requirement-customer needs few/more services-
urgency-application in our product-size of order-
similarity in values-
attitude towards risk-loyalty based/oriented.
Price-Oriented Customers,
Limit quantity purchased,
Allow no refunds
Make no adjustments
Provide no services
Purchasing Orientations- Buying
Procurement
Supply chain management
Product-Related Purchasing Processes-Routine products
Leverage products
Strategic products
Bottleneck products
e-Procurement,
(for a recommendation format see Boston Consulting Group formats)
Price in comparison with competitors & PLC, and all other Ps,
Environment,
Changing society,
Technology,
Politico/legal challenges,
Demographic features of custo(Customer),
how does the customer use it,
where does he buy it from,
When customers buy
How customers choose
Why they prefer a product
How they respond to marketing programs
Will they buy it (again)? repurchase
Focus on city size,
Social class,
Psycho graphics and
Lifestyle of custo,
All these parameters with weight-age
Satisfaction surveys,
Complaints box,
Various uses of the same product,
Importance of those uses,
Customer attitudes groups :
Convenience oriented,
Enthusiastic,
Disinterested,
Decorator,
When was the last usage of the product,
Competitor analysis, and
Sources of ideas-
customers,
employees,
vendors,
ad agencies,
invest bks(Banks),
consultants,
brokers,
distributors,
research firms,
tele calling agencies,
trade shows,
competitors &
Their patents,
we compete for not only in the product form but for the same budget of the customer,
competition analysis: diet coke Vs other colas, Vs video rentals-
to realize the potential of
Distributors,
retailers,
sales persons,
identify org (organizational) strength in terms of resources,
capabilities (competencies),
patents, etc...,
compatibility issues,
how fast u expand, - on local soil, and foreign soil,
at moments of truth - sales mix,
make or buy process as per competence,
production is as per demand-unutilized capacity for contract manu(manufacturing),
branding,
warranty,
getting our old custo itself,
economies of scale,
manage growth consistently
structured analysis,
product or concept,
name,
product
path of positioning - earlier and now,
features,
benefits,
org-corporate-MNC-Indian subsidairy-product development-
sales force-
customer-perception of the product-FGD(focus) -innovator-follower
envirno(environment)-PEST
purch(Purchase) behavior-low involvement-lifestyle
discretionary inc (disposable-nessasary exp),
how will the competitors react -
competition here is not only direct but alternate goods (diet pepsi has beer & video library as competition against it)-competition is for the budget of money and not the form of product alone.
margins for each market, nations in which they operate-GDP, macro eco factors, -world bk report, & Dun and Bradstreet publications (e.g. Exporter's guide) ex:Price Waterhouse publications,
Is the offering too similar to the competitors -atleast any positioning diff(different),
If we want to enter newer markets -do we have entry barriers,
check suppplier strength in that mkt-could be geographically different,
are the competitors bundling (package deals),
sale process-
lead generation-
qualification-ppt-
follow up
software help-
collections-
CRM-
data base entries-
analyze the data base-
select custo-
target-
build metrics-
privacy-
personal attention to big players-
single contact,
custo location,
history,
likes,
status, (active/inactive/payer),
needs,
future needs,
some times deleting custo makes sense,
selling off busi with low ROI, and ending product line,
is upgrading easy on the product-dummy connections-
compatible with other products of competitors,
make or buy decisions,
competitor may be providing services,
scope to integrate two or more of our products, -ex: an admin soft with pateint admin soft, time in which new product developments can be launched, cost structure, costing techniques, -traditional costing, target cost,
Structured way of analysis -
custo analysis,
competition analysis,
mkt analysis,
lean(val add Vs non val add),
inventory ctrls,
does interviewing the employees of our suppliers help,
service contractors, -enggs,
You understand the way they work,
New avenues of advertising -on net & cell phones etc...,
Cross elasticity- substitutes,
Products which move through marts - observe the percentage of shelf space, product placement, and in-store promotions.
If sales is growing faster in volume than revenue, then it is harmful, for b2c products
Does the retailer have dedicated sales persons,
Does the product placement cater to the average height of the customer, Product placement in malls - If the user's/buyer/payer's average height (women or children for example) depending on the product's target customer,
Nearer to the entry of the chain store,
To better understand consumer behavior, we might conduct market research, possibly through focus groups,
Customer observation, and
price sensitivity studies. are there mechanisms to find when stock out happens,
frequent shopper program,
where consumers accumulate points that entitle them to future discounts on merchandise.
offering fewer product lines, so that it can consolidate its buying power and negotiate prices with suppliers that are competitive, strategy is a long term plan or set of actions which guides and aligns each activity in the organization towards the business model,
bcg guide line: Potential acquisitions Industry threats Market opportunity
Customers Competitors Projected Profitability
Pricing International expansion Promotion
Store growth Potential entrants Cost structure
Toy suppliers Process re-engineering Implementation
Organizational effectiveness
when the organizations has multiple offerings or is thinking of multiple offering, is there any overlap in customers,
what do custo like,
is your client in the traditional mkts or virtual, if ur client is not in traditional, then what feature can make or stimulate the experience, shop outlay or layout Vs the competitor,
see BCG last lap or end there are a sequence of questions,
sell the brand of the name of the train, ex: shatabdi express =kurkure express- pricing - auction, ticket backs,
7.0 Costing tools
abc-inventory, ABC -activity based,
absorption,
product costing(for each product line),
batch costing,
contract costing,
process costing,
job costing,
Hybrid Costing(Similar conversion activities different materials),
Operation Costing (High-volume production of several products lines differing in some ways),
Activity Cost Pool-Assigns product costs on a single volume related base,
identify cost drivers,
high cost items,
cost variance analysis=std costs(forecasted) & actuals-y the variance, (Size of variance
Dollar amount (Amount parameter)
Percentage of standard
Recurring variances
Trends
Controllability
Favorable variances), have contingencies been built in the system, structure of ratios: Liquidity ratios
Solvency ratios
Turnover ratios
Profitability ratios
Equity-related ratios,

8.0 Strategy Tools

Identification of core areas,
Does economies of scale make sense, (in case merger's are on the cards)
Whether consolidation helps,
Consolidation of vendor (backward integration) - do we have a vendor data base,
Will any JVs help,
Are strategic partnership of any use, in terms of ROI
M&A,
Will Diversification help,
If there is an entry into any new mkt then it needs to be lowest-cost method of entry,
If labor costs are high does it make sense to outsource,
Their economies of operation,
Some times purchases could be for the sake of building synergies-strategy and as investments-
You should know when to pull out in that case, and
When to buy,
Look for overlaps in systems,
Soins(solutions) in the IT area,
Having fewer suppliers,
Will redesigning of the product decrease overlaps,
risks of newer competition
risks of imitation
Nature of mkts- concentrated, Vs spread,
Changes in the assembly line, -subassembly lines,
Can the players come together and fund elections, or bargain with govt,
Risk analysis as in, risk to imitation of business model or competency
Competition arising from new competition 9.0 Inventory tools
Exercise methods such as back order inventory methods,
If the costs of inventory are hi, JIT, and other best practises,
If vendors r using common process-anything common, they can integrate ops to gain advantage,
Vendors may have supplier overlap,
5s of quality tools, spic and span,
has the organization used tools such as MDSS-mkt decision support sys, MKIS-mkt info sys, ERP, MRP,

10.0 Management tools
People's co-operation, make the ceo talk to the branch heads abt the effectiveness to each branch,
ownership structure changes things-franchisee of retail formats too help,
for better efforts,
superstores in rural markets served mainly by mom-and-pop stores and small discount retailers.
As u grow more clout with suppliers, u begin to buy out other discount retailers and convert their stores to the Ur format.
size of the existing store,
local real estate costs,-will leasing help,
does contract labor help,
11.0 Procurement tools
Virtual ordering-like cisco, sales of one channel Vs another, store Vs store walmart Vs foodworld, (branch Vs Branch) volumes (units Vs Amt), %s
how fast is the environment changing,
should the business model change accordingly,
should the top mgt change accordingly,


12.0 Marketing Research Process:
Step 1
Research Purpose
Problem or opportunity analysis
Which problems or opportunities are anticipated
What is the scope of the problems and the possible reasons?
Evaluation of decision alternatives
What are the alternatives being studied?
What are the criteria for choosing among the alternatives?
Research users
Who are the decision makers?
Step 2
Research Objective
A statement, in as precise terminology as possible, of what information is needed
Research Question
Hypothesis Development
Research Boundaries
Typical questions at this stage are:
- Should we rely on secondary sources such as the census?
- Which is more appropriate, an exploratory research with group discussions or a field survey?
- Is a mail, telephone, fax, or personal interview survey better for this problem?
Sampling
Type of Population
Question Form
Question Content
Response Rate
Costs
Available Facilities
Length of Data Collection
The specifics of measurements
ESOMAR (mkt research in the DM process -org),Case discussed:
Walmart's Mexico adventure
Issues-low per capita –purchasing power
infrastructure for logistics –ports etc…
selection of merchandise- snow skates in Mexico Wal-Mart
language labels in English for Spanish speaking people
currency crisis 4% depreciation PA Vs 45% rise in prices, against peso $
sys issues –excess inventory is replenished first -inventory sys was built that way
deficit
govt red tapisim
stock market optimism due to currency becoming cheaper outflow was more so they pegged it against a free float-lost 40% value
recession
tuff imports due to exchange rates hi
NAFTA free –cheap-jobs-distribution center
select a niche and operate there,
S&P rating,
errors on methods-
% on sales -wrong -as revenues go down u ad lesser.
Competitors may be ad diff stages- intro Vs mature- so promo budgets will be diffrent,
say if women obj-women apparel- by 20%, so as per target, how to decide how much part of the budget will go to that segment, -funneling -
how much existing customers-how many r women,
how many i want -
how many ppl do i talk to-
where r they,
out of every 5 ppl-1 buys-therefore how many should come in,
how will u go to the place-where they are located,
is it college girls-do i do it in front of the gate,
slow -transparent elevators-use the funds u saved on a hi speed elevator for the budgets,
sigma-shops r upscale-org of shop-commercial- offices,
* Abells Framework for defining the business
* Porter's Five Forces model
* Strategic Groups
* Stages in the Industry Life Cycle
* Role of Macro Economic Environment
* National Competitive Advantage
* Roots of Competitive Advantage
* The Value Chain
* Return on Invested Capital -cogs/sales, SG&A/sales, R&D/sales, wc/sales, PPE/sales(sales of goods & admin, ppe-plant property & equip)
* Economies of Scale & Learning Effects
cost goes down Vs a new curve is created blow the cost line
* Sequential and Parallel Development Process
id-concept-product-process-commercializations-done
* The dynamics of business level strategy
how each element affects others-done
* Focused vs Differentiation strategies
r u catering to just one kind of custo, -done
* Market Development and Customer Groups
* The Chasm
* Non Price Competitive Strategies proliferation-ex SUV sunglasses to go with it, etc...
ancillary industries and their support,
take dupoint
1 implementation
2 funding
3 id(identify) qualified suppliers - if u wanna try outsourcing -u hav a choice btn an org of 200 ppl and 1000 -the 1k ppl org makes more sense -as per industry stds
4 segmentation
5 if u r a product/process mgr- focus areas are either cost cut, increase reveunes, energy conservation, industrial relations, productivity improvement, org restructuring, counselling,
6 the solution must match the capabilities and needs (long & short term)
7 steps: mission & obj should be kept in mind,
mkt research,
segment,
plan,
org,
promote,
implement,
collect data, &
modify accordingly,
observe hit rates when it comes to promotional choices,
clean as per mechanics is different from what the manager thinks- u need to show them what u think, communicate thru their lang, translation of manuals would be difficult,
name -easy to pronounce, bad name -whirlpool, yahoo- does not give anything unique, but ppl are lazy to search, the uniqueness is just 1% used, so ppl r used to these things,
reward- give them vista OS,
what is being satisfied,
who is being satisfied,
how r they being satisfied,
issues with metrics,
method of measurement,
consistency with inspectors(two and more and same inspector),
compensation plan,
economic conditions,
industrial avg,
weight age in metrics,
distribution issues-on time,
margins,
projects can be done right from vendors place to customer- thru six sigma,
process improvements and best practices,
outsourcing of prdn,
sourcing,
distri, cus care,
servicing,
support,
forecasting issues,
policies,
relationship
CRM databses,
is franchising model better, e
eliminated redundancies,
lean methods(non val add),
where is BEP,
increase sales force,
supply chain -reaching on time,
patent ourselves,
tax haven,
SEZ,
best practises,
sales to custo- distributors,
wholesellers, (YOY, MOM) - relationship issues,
9 cell matrix GEs, lo med hi
mkt high retail star 4 TCS
growth med
lo dog investing will be lo med or hi as mkt share and mkt growth
mkt share

habitual behavior, cooker Vs microwave, 13.0 Operations tools
5S
Japanese Term
English Equivalent
Meaning in Japanese Context

Seiri
Tidiness
Throw away all rubbish and unrelated materials in the workplace

Seiton
Orderliness
Set everything in proper place for quick retrieval and storage

Seiso
Cleanliness
Clean the workplace; everyone should be a janitor

Seiketsu
Standardization
Standardize the way of maintaining cleanliness

Shitsuke
Discipline
Practice 'Five S' daily - make it a way of life; this also means 'commitment'
Mckinsey
3 ideas
mutually exclusive
why elevator14.0 HR tools
Performance mgt tool,