Dicision Making...

Parag is dabbling with the idea of bringing a new business of aquaponics to India. Aquaponics is a food production system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In normal aquaculture, excretions from the animals being raised can accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity. In an aquaponic system, water from an aquaculture system is fed to a hydroponic system where the by-products are broken down by nitrogen-fixing bacteria into nitrates and nitrites, which are utilized by the plants as nutrients. The water is then recirculated back to the aquaculture system.

Aquaponics, in general, holds huge potential for solving a number of problems. First of all, it supplies natural nutrients to plants and this means that artificial fertilizers do not need to be added to the produce. Also, due to nature and high quality of nutrients added, it increases the yield of crops to almost twice of what conventional agricultural practices do. This organic food produced using aquaponics is huge a gain for the producer as the space requirement for the setting up an aquaponic production unit is not that much. So effectively, when compared to conventional agricultural practices, a greater and better quality of crops is produced in a lesser space by using aquaponic techniques.

But there is a flip side as well. The cost of installation of an aquaponics production facility is substantial and on top of that, considerable training is required in order to draw maximum benefit from the technique. The Indian market also faces the additional challenge of very little awareness about the technique and this makes it even harder to convince farmers to adopt such a radical idea.

Parag has experimenting with the technique and has set-up the first aquaponic farm in North India on his own farm land. He has done so with the help of a French consultant and now wishes to float a business around this idea. He has already set-up a facility for producing aquaponic units on a commercial scale and has taken on board the French consultant as his partner in the venture.

In terms of order of priority, rate the following challenges that Parag faces:

I. Convincing farmers for the adoption of the technique

II. Calibrating the system for Indian conditions and setting up a training facility

III. Setting-up a production facility that can make aquaponic units

Parag is dabbling with the idea of bringing a new business of aquaponics to India. Aquaponics is a food production system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In normal aquaculture, excretions from the animals being raised can accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity. In an aquaponic system, water from an aquaculture system is fed to a hydroponic system where the by-products are broken down by nitrogen-fixing bacteria into nitrates and nitrites, which are utilized by the plants as nutrients. The water is then recirculated back to the aquaculture system.

Aquaponics, in general, holds huge potential for solving a number of problems. First of all, it supplies natural nutrients to plants and this means that artificial fertilizers do not need to be added to the produce. Also, due to nature and high quality of nutrients added, it increases the yield of crops to almost twice of what conventional agricultural practices do. This organic food produced using aquaponics is huge a gain for the producer as the space requirement for the setting up an aquaponic production unit is not that much. So effectively, when compared to conventional agricultural practices, a greater and better quality of crops is produced in a lesser space by using aquaponic techniques.

But there is a flip side as well. The cost of installation of an aquaponics production facility is substantial and on top of that, considerable training is required in order to draw maximum benefit from the technique. The Indian market also faces the additional challenge of very little awareness about the technique and this makes it even harder to convince farmers to adopt such a radical idea.

Parag has experimenting with the technique and has set-up the first aquaponic farm in North India on his own farm land. He has done so with the help of a French consultant and now wishes to float a business around this idea. He has already set-up a facility for producing aquaponic units on a commercial scale and has taken on board the French consultant as his partner in the venture.

In terms of order of priority, rate the following challenges that Parag faces:

I. Convincing farmers for the adoption of the technique

II. Calibrating the system for Indian conditions and setting up a training facility

III. Setting-up a production facility that can make aquaponic units

Parag is dabbling with the idea of bringing a new business of aquaponics to India. Aquaponics is a food production system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In normal aquaculture, excretions from the animals being raised can accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity. In an aquaponic system, water from an aquaculture system is fed to a hydroponic system where the by-products are broken down by nitrogen-fixing bacteria into nitrates and nitrites, which are utilized by the plants as nutrients. The water is then recirculated back to the aquaculture system.

Aquaponics, in general, holds huge potential for solving a number of problems. First of all, it supplies natural nutrients to plants and this means that artificial fertilizers do not need to be added to the produce. Also, due to nature and high quality of nutrients added, it increases the yield of crops to almost twice of what conventional agricultural practices do. This organic food produced using aquaponics is huge a gain for the producer as the space requirement for the setting up an aquaponic production unit is not that much. So effectively, when compared to conventional agricultural practices, a greater and better quality of crops is produced in a lesser space by using aquaponic techniques.

But there is a flip side as well. The cost of installation of an aquaponics production facility is substantial and on top of that, considerable training is required in order to draw maximum benefit from the technique. The Indian market also faces the additional challenge of very little awareness about the technique and this makes it even harder to convince farmers to adopt such a radical idea.

Parag has experimenting with the technique and has set-up the first aquaponic farm in North India on his own farm land. He has done so with the help of a French consultant and now wishes to float a business around this idea. He has already set-up a facility for producing aquaponic units on a commercial scale and has taken on board the French consultant as his partner in the venture.

In terms of order of priority, rate the following challenges that Parag faces:

I. Convincing farmers for the adoption of the technique

II. Calibrating the system for Indian conditions and setting up a training facility

III. Setting-up a production facility that can make aquaponic units

n the years 2011 to 2013, Bicromax established itself as the No. 2 player in the Android mobile phones market in India. The low cost phone manufacturing company saw its phones, which were feature rich yet priced very economically, being snapped up all segments of the market. Having completely captured the low price segment of the market, Bicromax forayed in the middle price segment in 2013, and gave the number 1 player in the market, Bamsung, a run for its money.

Bircomax, as it achieved a larger scale, gradually improved its services and expanded its wing. Its distributors shot up all over the country and so did its service centers. Also, considering the growth of the company, Bicromax decided to invest heavily in advertising and marketing in 2012, and started TV advertising in 201(3) The early impact of these ads was huge and Bicromax grew at an unprecedented rate in 201(3)

But things started to change in 201(4) Two players, Botorola and Miomi, entered the market in an unconventional way and took the market by storm. These two companies got into an exclusive tie-up with India's largest e-commerce website, Blipkart and started to sell their phones only through these websites. The two companies, selling directly through the e-commerce giant, eliminated the need to setting up a distribution network and investing in direct marketing initiatives through television. These two companies solely focused on selling online and passing on the cost benefit to the consumer. The quality of the phones put up by the two companies is as good as the frontline players and this has meant that their phones have been readily accepted by all. These companies sold their phones through 'flash sales' organized on the website, with their latest phone models being sold out within seconds on these websites. This form of marketing has had a tremendous impact on the psyche of the customers and has further fuelled the demand of these phones. The target of these companies has the middle segment of the market, price-wise.

You have been the Vice President, Sales of Bicromax, India for the last four years (2011 to 2014) and have seen the company grow. The last year has been the most challenging as the role of Bicromax has changed from being a challenger to the big companies to a company which is being challenged by other companies. In the last one year, the sales growth of Bicromax has reduced to 15% (in comparison to the 85% figure the year before that) and the number of new product launches has been limited to 8, the lowest in the last 4 years. Also, Bicromax is suffering from job attrition right now with a number of employees joining jobs offered by the company competitors. Also, despite repeated attempts, the company has failed to break through into the premium mobile phones segment and continues to be known as a low to medium price segment company.

In the years 2011 to 2013, Bicromax established itself as the No. 2 player in the Android mobile phones market in India. The low cost phone manufacturing company saw its phones, which were feature rich yet priced very economically, being snapped up all segments of the market. Having completely captured the low price segment of the market, Bicromax forayed in the middle price segment in 2013, and gave the number 1 player in the market, Bamsung, a run for its money.

Bircomax, as it achieved a larger scale, gradually improved its services and expanded its wing. Its distributors shot up all over the country and so did its service centers. Also, considering the growth of the company, Bicromax decided to invest heavily in advertising and marketing in 2012, and started TV advertising in 201(3) The early impact of these ads was huge and Bicromax grew at an unprecedented rate in 201(3)

But things started to change in 201(4) Two players, Botorola and Miomi, entered the market in an unconventional way and took the market by storm. These two companies got into an exclusive tie-up with India's largest e-commerce website, Blipkart and started to sell their phones only through these websites. The two companies, selling directly through the e-commerce giant, eliminated the need to setting up a distribution network and investing in direct marketing initiatives through television. These two companies solely focused on selling online and passing on the cost benefit to the consumer. The quality of the phones put up by the two companies is as good as the frontline players and this has meant that their phones have been readily accepted by all. These companies sold their phones through 'flash sales' organized on the website, with their latest phone models being sold out within seconds on these websites. This form of marketing has had a tremendous impact on the psyche of the customers and has further fuelled the demand of these phones. The target of these companies has the middle segment of the market, price-wise.

You have been the Vice President, Sales of Bicromax, India for the last four years (2011 to 2014) and have seen the company grow. The last year has been the most challenging as the role of Bicromax has changed from being a challenger to the big companies to a company which is being challenged by other companies. In the last one year, the sales growth of Bicromax has reduced to 15% (in comparison to the 85% figure the year before that) and the number of new product launches has been limited to 8, the lowest in the last 4 years. Also, Bicromax is suffering from job attrition right now with a number of employees joining jobs offered by the company competitors. Also, despite repeated attempts, the company has failed to break through into the premium mobile phones segment and continues to be known as a low to medium price segment company.