Case study

Paul is a newly appointed Sales & Marketing (S & M) Senior Manager in a company named EmbraceU. Paul used to work in a medium-scale multi-national corporation as a Sales Manager. Paul has approximately six (6) years of experience as a Sales Manager in the environment of the cosmetic industry.

When Paul joined EmbraceU last week, he got to know that the company is now getting ready to launch a new series of skincare and cosmetic in the market. The top management has decided to have the launching activities and roadshow done at the main central court of Gurney Plaza because this mall has the highest customer flow among all the malls in Penang. The objective of the launching and roadshow aims to increase the brand awareness of this new series and increase the sales of the company.

In one of the top management meetings, Paul was instructed by the top management personnel to work closely with the Production Department to work out a new series of skincare. This new series of skincare aims to slow down the aging process of users, particularly users with sensitive skin. Most importantly, the top management wants the S & M and Production Department to highlight that this new skincare can cure the sensitivity of skin that arise from the long hour of wearing a face mask. Paul is instructed by the top management to formulate a strategic plan for this new product.

Among many employees in the department, two employees caught my attention of Paul. Ally is the Assistant Manager of the S & M department and has been with EmbraceU for eight (8) years. Ally is very dedicated to her job. She is very serious in her work, and she seldom jokes with other colleagues. She is also a good performer.

Another employee, Kim, a fresh university graduate, joined the company two (2) months ago. She has a double degree in Marketing and in Management. Kim has a totally different personality as compared to Ally. Kim is very cheerful and likes to joke with other colleagues. She is also very helpful. Sometimes, Kim also gave some advice to her other colleagues in the Admin Department (because she is a graduate major in Management, apart from Marketing). As a result, many colleagues like Kim very much.

Question

While Paul is thinking about the launching of new products and the future skin care for sensitive skin, he became a little skeptical. Paul is not so sure whether it is now a suitable timing to have a strategic plan made for the said future skin care.

(a) With the two approachesyou have learnt in Decision Making, determine the correct approach for Paul to apply in decision making.

(b) Discuss FIVE (5) reasons for the choice of approach which you made in (a).