It has been stated that an industry or a market segment within an industry goes through four basic phases of development. These four phases introduction, growth, maturity and decline each has an implication for an organisations development of growth and divestment strategies. The following brief profiles relate to four commercial organisations, each of which operates in a different industry.

• Company A. A biotechnological product manufacturer established for three years and engaged in the rapidly expanding animal feedstuffs market.
• Company B. A multinational confectionary manufacturer, which has been established for many years and is now experiencing low sales growth but high market share in a long-established industry.
• Company C. A high street organisation, which has been very profitable but is now experiencing a decreasing market share and losses with the advent of on-line retailing.
• Company D. A small company established in the last year which manufactures state of the art door locks which replace the need for a key with computer image recognition of fingerprint patterns. Currently the product is sold to DIY chains within the UK.

Briefly explain the sales, cash flow and profit profiles for each of the four stages of the product life cycle and place the four companies products in the product life cycle model.