Product Elimination Decision Research Articles

The role of cognitive and demographic profile of future managers on product elimination decisions

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to determine how managers’ decisions to discontinue products may be affected by their cognitive and demographic characteristics. Research in product management and entrepreneurship has primarily focused on the introduction of innovations and the marketing of emerging and existing products in the marketplace. Considerably less research has focused on product elimination and how marketing managers decide to remove poorly performing products from a given product portfolio. Nevertheless, product elimination decisions are critical to maintaining business health and protecting firm profits, and are a commonly encountered decision for entrepreneurs and managers of existing products. This study empirically explores the role of factors that may affect a manager's decisiveness in eliminating poorly performing products from a product portfolio.Design/methodology/approachUsing a simulated business environment, this study empirically explores the role of factors that may affect a manager’s decisiveness in eliminating poorly performing products from a product portfolio. Product portfolio decisions are presented to a sample of emerging managers using a computer simulation, and the impact of manager characteristics, namely, cognitive style, gender, academic profile and entrepreneurial intentions on product elimination decisiveness is examined using regression analysis.FindingsThe findings indicate dominant effects for cognitive style and academic profile in driving the decisiveness of product elimination decisions.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings highlight the importance of the academic profile and cognitive style of those entrusted with managing product portfolios, especially as is related to product elimination decisions.Practical implicationsThe findings imply a need for determining the optimal fit of candidates for product portfolio management roles, based on factors such as cognitive style, academic performance and academic area of specialization.Social implicationsGiven the role of entrepreneurial enterprises in enabling social equity, this research highlights the need for entrepreneurial education focusing not only on product introduction but also product omission.Originality/valueThis research expands prior research findings on innovation, promotion and elimination of products by asking what happens at the end of a product’s life when the prospects for a product are no longer strong. The research shows that some managers are less decisive and therefore may be challenged when handling product portfolios with sub-performing products. The findings indicate cognitive and academic influences on product elimination indecisiveness and open new avenues for further examining similar influences in managerial decision-making. This line of work therefore encourages inquiry into the drivers of the important decision of product elimination.

An empirical investigation into the determinants of decision speed in product elimination decision processes

This paper considers the determinants of decision speed in the area of product elimination, i.e. the decision of the firm to discontinue a product's manufacturing process. Because temporal efficiencies are beneficial to organizational action, scholars have sought to understand what determines decision speed. Non-routine decisions (e.g. mergers and acquisitions) have traditionally been the focus of decision speed research and calls for investigations with more routine decisions as units of analysis remain largely under-addressed. A more routine decision is product elimination. Whereas other product management decisions continuously attract research attention, product eliminations remain comparatively understudied, despite their importance, especially in today's global financial stringency. The knowledge gap is particularly evident in key organizational aspects of product elimination processes, like decision speed. Drawing on theories of the correlates of business strategy and organizational work, as well as on decision speed and product elimination research, this paper empirically tests a framework for main and moderating effects on product elimination decision reaching and implementation speed. Results from 175 consumer product elimination decisions show speed's dependence on (a) structural and temporal characteristics of decision making (i.e. locus of tactical responsibilities and decision authority in product elimination processes; polychronicity), (b) decision-specific factors (e.g. life stage of the product), and (c) environmental conditions (i.e. complexity; turbulence). The results enrich product elimination and decision speed research. Also, because consumer goods manufacturers eliminate products frequently, the results provide managerially useful insights into conjectures promoting or hindering temporal efficiencies in product elimination processes.

Outcomes of decision speed

Purpose– This paper aims to consider decision speed’s role in the largely neglected decision area of product elimination.Design/methodology/approach– Drawing on an inter-disciplinary theoretical background (e.g. organisational, decision speed and product elimination theories), the authors develop and test a framework for decision speed’s effects on the market and financial outcomes of a stratified random sample of 175 consumer product eliminations.Findings– In contrast to decision speed research that hypothesised (and often failed to confirm) linearity, results show inverted ∪-shaped decision speed-to-decision outcomes relationships, with curvatures moderated by product importance, environmental complexity and turbulence.Research limitations/implications– Findings are suggestive of several implications for the above theories (e.g. contribution to the dialogue about performance-enhancing value of rational vs incremental decision-making; evidence that excessive decision speed may become too much of a good thing). Certain design limitations (e.g. sampling consumer goods’ manufacturers only) point at avenues for future inquiry into the product elimination decision speed-to-outcomes link.Practical implications– Managerially, the findings suggest that product eliminations’ optimal market and financial outcomes depend on a mix of speed and search in decision-making and that this mix requires adjustments to different levels of product importance, interdependencies with other decision areas of the firm and environmental turbulence.Originality/value– The paper makes a twofold contribution. It enriches decision speed research, by empirically addressing speed’s outcomes in relation to a decision area that is not necessarily strategic and represents the first explicit empirical investigation into outcomes of decision speed in product line pruning decision-making.

Market exit and barriers to exit: Theory and practice

This article examines market exit, barriers to exit, modes and strategies of exit, reasons for exit, and the consequences of exit through a literature review of the academic literature and the popular press. There is very little empirical research in this area. The article attempts to analyze the applications of market exit and barriers to exit theories, and consequences of exit with recent examples taken from newspapers and popular business magazines. Despite the fact that there are strong barriers to exit, companies are sometimes forced to exit markets. Market-exit or product-elimination decisions influence employees, distributors, suppliers, and customers. This influence is usually negative and is in the form of cognitive dissonance. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

A Comparative Study of Product Launch and Elimination Decisions in UK and US Companies

Investigates approaches to product launch and elimination decisions in samples of UK and US companies, which is a gap which was identified in the literature. Identifies different approaches to tackling each of the decisions, and different approaches within each sample. There are also differences between the countries. These results provide new insights, as well as support for some previous empirical results. Discusses directions for further research.

Industrial Product Elimination Decisions: Some Complex Issues

Industrial product management benefits from efforts to distinguish more clearly between product elimination and product replacement problems. Two basic approaches to the product elimination problem are contained in literature: the theoretical/normative approach to modelling the decision process, and the empirical approach based in observation, description and analysis, of how firms actually detect and eliminate or replace weak products. Several authors have commented about the difficulty of reconciling apparent differences in the two approaches. Reports an intensive involvement in an in‐depth case history of a major firm′s behaviour when confronted by a significant product elimination decision. This study attempts to bridge the gap between theory and practice and suggests several propositions that await verification.

″Project Dropstrat″: Product Elimination and the Product Life Cycle Concept

This research represents the first attempt to examine the product elimination decision over the Product Life Cycle (PLC). Two research hypotheses were put forward proposing that: (a) a product may be dropped from a company′s product line irrespective of its position on the PLC, and (b) the stage of the PLC does influence the product elimination process. These exploratory propositions were assessed against data from a cross‐sectional sample of British manufacturing companies. The data were secured by means of a mail questionnaire and involved 156 recently discontinued products. The results of our study confirm both research hypotheses. Products may be eliminated irrespective of their position on the PLC and the elimination decisions made at the early stages of the PLC are triggered by different problem situations and involve different evaluation factors and elimination strategies than those made at the later stages of the PLC.

A Theoretical Model for Product Elimination Decisions

All products eventually reach a point in their life cycle where they should be eliminated from the product line but this decision is generally ignored by management for several reasons. However, current developments in new manufacturing technology will force management to implement strategies for eliminating a product at an appropriate time in its life cycle. A model is presented based on the Theory of Shock Models which could help management decide when to terminate a product.

Linking different types of product elimination decisions to their performance outcome: ‘Project dropstrat’

The purpose of the study presented in this paper was to identify different types of product elimination decisions and to determine their relationship to the performance outcome that they achieved. The underlying hypothesis was that there is a linkage between a type of product elimination and the outcome that it achieves. This exploratory proposition was assessed against data pertaining to 156 recently discontinued products provided by an equal number of British manufacturing companies. Eight different types of product elimination decisions and four independent dimensions of the performance outcome of a product elimination decision were uncovered in our research and our findings clearly indicated that different types of product eliminations are indeed closely tied to the outcome results that they achieve. Specifically, the product elimination decisions which were the result of a proactive search for elimination candidates guided by strategic considerations were more successful than those which were the result of a passive response to a problem or crisis situation.

The Identification of Weak Industrial Products

Discusses product line change ‐ the process by which a company alters its product offering ‐ and how it is one of the most important kinds of business activity. Suggests that product modification and product elimination decisions be treated together as two amongst a number of alternative courses of action. States that the concern is with the “weak product identification” stage of the product modification/elimination process. Posits that there are a number of key performance dimensions/criteria though some of the approaches in this category are concerned only with identifying weak products. Aims to put forward some empirical evidence with regard to the identification of weak products. Implies, in conclusion, that the study indicates that the identification of weak product activities does not resemble the normative models in this area. Identifies that further research needs to be conducted and that these researches should include performance measures to allow normative conclusions to be drawn, perhaps using company interviews

Advisors and decision-makers in product eliminations

This article reports on the product elimination decision within selected sectors of the British engineering industry. The study identified and examined the key organizational participants in product elimination activities. The marketing function and a top management committee generally assumed a significant portion of the product elimination decision making. The results of the study suggested that the people responsible for product elimination varies considerably among companies, depending on such factors as size, product diversity, operations technology, and market competition.

Product Elimination Decision Making: Does Formality Matter?

This research presents (a) a methodological framework for examining formality as an ingredient of a company's product elimination process, and (b) some exploratory findings showing the manner in wh...

Product Elimination Decision Making: Does Formality Matter?

This research presents (a) a methodological framework for examining formality as an ingredient of a company's product elimination process, and (b) some exploratory findings showing the manner in which formality varies across different organizational settings, and its effects upon the content and managerial effectiveness of the product elimination process.

The product-elimination decision and strategies

This study identified the elimination strategies used by companies to implement the elimination decision, which includes the following options: (1) phase out immediately; (2) phase out slowly; (3) drop the product from the standard range and reintriduce it as a “special” sell out. The study also determined that the “phase out slowly” strategy is generally preferred and that “stock on hand” and “replacement product development” are two of the main factors influencing the formulation of phase out plans. A systematized model for the implementation of the product elimination decision based on the findings of the study is described.

Multivariate Analysis of Ordinal Variables Revisited

Previous articleNext article No AccessCommentary and DebateMultivariate Analysis of Ordinal Variables RevisitedJae-On KimJae-On Kim Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Sociology Volume 84, Number 2Sep., 1978 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/226794 Views: 8Total views on this site Citations: 11Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1978 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Tamsin K. Saxton Experiences during specific developmental stages influence face preferences, Evolution and Human Behavior 37, no.11 (Jan 2016): 21–28.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2015.06.001Ramon Llopis-Goig Dimensions of cosmopolitanism and their influence on political consumption: an analysis focused on Spanish consumers, International Journal of Consumer Studies 37, no.55 (Jan 2013): 481–489.https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12016Jan Gertheiss, Franziska Oehrlein Testing linearity and relevance of ordinal predictors, Electronic Journal of Statistics 5, no.nonenone (Jan 2011).https://doi.org/10.1214/11-EJS661George J. Avlonitis, Paulina Papastathopoulou Marketing communications and product performance: innovative vs non‐innovative new retail financial products, International Journal of Bank Marketing 18, no.11 (Feb 2000): 27–41.https://doi.org/10.1108/02652320010315334 Don Sherman Grant II , and Michael Wallace Why Do Strikes Turn Violent?, American Journal of Sociology 96, no.55 (Oct 2015): 1117–1150.https://doi.org/10.1086/229651Grahame R. Dowling, David F. Midgley Using rank values as an interval scale, Psychology and Marketing 8, no.11 (Jan 1991): 37–41.https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.4220080104Emin Babakus, Carl E. Ferguson On choosing the appropriate measure of association when analyzing rating scale data, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 16, no.11 (Mar 1988): 95–102.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02723328George J. Avlonitis Product Elimination Decision Making: Does Formality Matter?, Journal of Marketing 49, no.11 (Nov 2018): 41–52.https://doi.org/10.1177/002224298504900104JEFFERY SOBAL Students' Health Concerns, Youth & Society 17, no.22 (Aug 2016): 171–188.https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X85017002004Arnold Binder Restrictions on statistics imposed by method of measurement: Some reality, much mythology, Journal of Criminal Justice 12, no.55 (Jan 1984): 467–481.https://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2352(84)90094-1Robert P. Gephart Multiple R, the ?Parametric Strategy,? and Measurement Imprecision, Sociological Perspectives 26, no.44 (Aug 2016): 473–500.https://doi.org/10.2307/1389195

Add soft data to product elimination decisions

Add soft data to product elimination decisions

Modeling the product elimination decision

Modeling the product elimination decision