Product Life Cycle (ANSWERED)

QUESTION

Discussion must be in current APA format and must include a reference list. Reference sample make sure to include DOI-Drollinger, T., Comer, L. B., & Warrington, P. T. (2006). Development and validation of the active empathetic listening scale. Psychology & Marketing, 23(2), 161-180. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20105

There are a total 5 references needed from scholarly articles and 1 biblical reference for the 3 biblically citations. The annotated bibliography will only be on the 5 scholarly references.

The Thread
After you have chosen your key topic(Product Life Cycle), use the Internet to search for at least 5 scholarly resources that relate to the topic and have been published within the last 5 years. Academic articles and journals must be reputable and obtained from professional websites that address the content of this course. Popular magazines and online sources such as Wikipedia are not permissible.

After reading the articles, select 1 article relating to your key topic that you wish to use in your thread. Adhere to the following format:
1. Key Concept Explanation: Define your key topic by using a source other than the textbook. Give a clear, concise overview of the essential elements relevant to understanding your key topic. In addition, explain why you are interested in this topic (e.g., academic curiosity, application to a current issue related to employment, or any other professional rationale). This section must be at least 100 words.
2. Comparison: Compare your research with what you have studied during the module in which the key topic/thread is assigned. Note differences or commonalities about your key topic, providing evidence that you have extended your understanding of this topic beyond the textbook readings. This is an opportunity for you to cite the additional articles you originally researched. This section must be at least 200 words.
3. Article Summary: In your own words, provide a clear and concise summary of the article you selected. This section must be at least 200 words.
4. Biblical Integration: Include at least 3 appropriate biblical references. Explain the relevance of your key topic to God’s law and how it can be applied in a Christian context. This section must be at least 100 words.
5. Application: Specifically state how your key topic has been applied to real-world businesses or describe the potential your key topic has to influence today’s business world. Your application must possess a professional rationale that demonstrates the significance of your key topic. This section must be at least 100 words.
6. Annotated Bibliography: Cite the articles you researched in current APA format. An annotation must accompany each citation. Each annotation will consist of a descriptive and evaluative paragraph that is at least 75 words. The annotations are designed to help your classmates in their understanding of your topic. In addition, provide a persistent link for each article.

ANSWER

Key Concept Explanation

Product life cycle (PLC) refers to a product’s lifetime in the market, i.e., the time between its introduction and its decline or removal from the market. Typically, products often go through different stages during their life cycle. These stages include introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Some researchers include additional stages such as product development (at the begging of the life cycle) and withdrawal (at the end of the life cycle), making it six stages instead of four. I am interested in this topic because studies show managers can use the concept to optimize sales and profits and ensure continuous growth. Therefore, the concept can be useful in strategic management, explaining my interest.

Comparison

The common theme between my research and course content is the product lifecycle stages. The four main stages are introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. The core characteristics of these stages are also similar. Another similarity is the applications of PLC. Forecasting, product planning, advertising/marketing, and pricing or cost strategy emerged as a common theme in the application of PLC.

However, my research revealed that this lifecycle does not apply to all industries. The four-stage lifecycle applies to industrial or non-durable products, but other business sectors will have different PLCs. According to Rink and Swan, firm characteristics influence a product’s lifecycle. This concept echoes Mitchell and Clark’s (2019) assertion that non-profit organizations should have a customer-centric lifecycle instead of an organization-centric one. Prasad et al. (2019) report that the PLC of the service industry differs from the PLC of industrial products. These studies suggest that a product’s lifecycle depends on firm characteristics or the industry or sector it belongs to.

Unlike the course literature, my research emphasizes a lot on PLC sustainability. Sustainability assesses a product’s cost and social and environmental impact in each lifecycle (Kenneth Udokporo, 2021). Managers can create sustainable PLC by performing social life cycle assessment, lifecycle costing, and environmental lifecycle assessment. These assessments can provide sustainable solutions and improve products’ social performance and stakeholders’ well-being.

Article Summary

Prasad et al.’s (2019) article is divided into four parts: the first part discusses the product lifecycle of industrial products, while the second part discusses the lifecycle of the service industry. The third section discusses a model managers can use to design their PLC, while the last part discusses the product lifecycle of products in the international market.

The authors outline the characteristics of each of the four PLC stages and inform managers what to expect in each stage. The following are the lifecycle stages of a service company: the pre-introduction stage, service design, post-launch, retail lifecycle, innovations, accelerated growth, maturity, and decline stage. The authors also recommend using the Engineering-PLC model to engineer a product’s lifecycle. The authors argue that traditional PLC models view each stage as an isolated entity, but the Engineering-PLC model takes an integrative approach. It promotes the inter-connections between stages and accounts for the value chain itself. This model recommends a six-phase lifecycle: needs recognition, development/design, production, distribution, usage, and disposal/recycling. The last part of the article discusses the PLC of products designed for the international markets. The authors indicate that an international product lifecycle has four stages: the innovator country’s export strength, Foreign Production, export competition in a foreign market, and import competition.

Biblical Integration

The PLC is characterized by a flow of resources, i.e., the exchange of substances, energy, and materials with the ecosphere. These processes result in considerable environmental impact, including depletion of natural resources (to support product development), environmental disturbances, and pollution (carbon emissions due to the product’s transportation through the supply chain).

In Genesis 1:26, God gives man dominion over all animals and plants, meaning humans have a social and economic right to the environment. However, in Genesis 2:8 and Genesis and Genesis 2:15, God also gives man the responsibility to take care of the Garden of Eden (Clemence, 2015). These verses imply that our entitlement to the environment comes with the responsibility of caring for it. Therefore, organizations must uphold and promote sustainability principles throughout the product lifecycle.

Application

PLC concept is applied in forecasting, product planning, advertising/marketing, and pricing (Prasad et al., 2019). For example, most managers often opt to pursue the low-price strategy when the product is in the introduction phase. This cost strategy might change as the product moves across the lifecycle (Prasad et al., 2019). Retailers and manufacturers also use the PLC principles to support their decisions. Retailers will use the push approach and expand their brands to different product categories during the growth phase, while manufacturers often inclined toward expanding their delivery network. Marketers use it to develop appropriate advertising strategies, while managers use it to develop corporate strategies and support their decisions during product development.

Annotated Bibliography:

Kenneth Udokporo, C. (2021). Understanding the Stages of the Product Life Cycle. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99036

This study describes the characteristics of each of the four PLC stages: the introduction phase, growth, maturation, and decline stage. The authors also report that the PLC concept can help support product development decisions, business strategy, and corporate strategy. They suggest models for detecting PLC stages but point out that these models are underdeveloped and have serious limitations. The authors also emphasize the importance of assessing product environmental performance and honoring sustainability in PLC. The article is peer-reviewed; hence, it is credible. The literature review is comprehensive, relevant to the study, and includes recent empirical research, demonstrating the article’s quality,

Mitchell, S. L., & Clark, M. (2019). Reconceptualizing product lifecycle theory as stakeholder engagement with non-profit organizations. Journal of Marketing Management, 35(1-2), 13-39. https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/81464/3/Revised%20paper%20with%20author%20details%20Revision%204.pdf

Mitchell and Clark (2019) argue that the PLC of non-profit organizations such as universities, sports clubs, trade associations, and social enterprises should be customer-centric instead of organization-centric. The authors propose a five-stage lifecycle for these organizations: incubation, interaction, involvement, immersion, and incapacitation. This article is credible because it is peer-reviewed. The authors used a narrative literature review design supported by empirical literature, enhancing the study’s quality. They also outline the study’s limitations, increasing its credibility.

Rezaei Kalvani, S., Sharaai, A. H., & Abdullahi, I. K. (2021). Social consideration in the product life cycle for product social sustainability. Sustainability, 13(20). https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/20/11292/pdf

These authors review published articles between 2006 and 2020 to identify how organizations can promote sustainability throughout the product’s lifecycle. The authors suggest that managers can achieve this by performing social life cycle assessment, lifecycle costing, and environmental lifecycle assessment. These assessments can provide sustainable solutions and improve products’ social performance and stakeholders’ well-being. The article is peer-reviewed, and the literature review was extensive and comprehensive, demonstrating the study’s quality and credibility.

Prasad, R. K., Jha, M. K., & Verma, S. (2019). A Comparative study of product life cycle and its marketing applications. Journal of Marketing and Consumer Research, 63(3). https://doi.org/10.7176/jmcr/63-06

This article discusses the product lifecycle of industrial products, service companies, the Engineering-PLC model, and the international market lifecycle. They discuss the challenges and opportunities of each stage in each category, providing recommendations on optimizing each stage’s outcomes. The article is peer-reviewed, meaning it is a credible source. The article presents information in charts and graphs and uses empirical and theoretical literature to support their suppositions, enhancing the article’s quality.

Rink, D. R., & Swan, J. E. (1979). Product life cycle research: A literature review. Journal of Business Research, 7(3), 219–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/0148-2963(79)90030-4

The authors conducted this study to examine the scope of PLC and identify research gaps. The authors found that forecasting techniques across PLC are merely successful, yet they are used extensively. They also found that research on the influence of firm characteristics on PLC is very limited. The authors also report that most researchers have focused on non-durable consumer products and ignored PLC of durable products, warranting further research into the area. The article is a high-quality, peer-reviewed article. The article’s quality is marked by the extensive literature review supported by high-quality empirical research. The study also adheres to the general precepts of primary research, demonstrating its quality.

References

Clemence, M. (2015). Environmental Justice for Sustainable Development: A Biblical Perspective. The Global Journal of Interdisciplinary Justice, 4(3), 33–38. https://www.walshmedicalmedia.com/open-access/environmental-justice-for-sustainable-development-a-biblical-perspective.pdf