Academic Integrity: tutoring, explanations, and feedback — we don’t complete graded work or submit on a student’s behalf.

ll 3 5:19 Case Study w Question sheet-NP Case Study Sharp Fashion Calculators Co

ID: 389621 • Letter: L

Question

ll 3 5:19 Case Study w Question sheet-NP Case Study Sharp Fashion Calculators Company Name: Sharp Corporation Headquarters: Osaka, Japan Products: Audio visual (TV, VCR, camcorder, LCD TV, stereo, radio cassette, car stereo), telephone, home appliance, office cquipment, and calculators Division Name: Information Systems Group Location Nara, Japan Products: Copiers, word processors, facsimiles, calculators, clectronic notcbooks, printers, typewriters, registers, post systems, and programmable sequencers Market: General consumer, offices, postal systems, manufacturing industry The Challenge Although Sharp developed the first transistor electronic calculator in 1964, and continued to lead the calculator field with smaller, lighter products, it sl faced severe competition. In the mature, saturated market of the mid-1980s, Sharp needed to develop a scries of calculators that would differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack and bring in new customers. The Response To satisfy the growing trend towards uniquc, pers onalized products, Sharp decided to design calculators which were not only functional, but which could also be used as "fashion" accessories. In a project that threw convention to the wind, Sharp designers challenged Engineering to make totally new "packages" for their mature calculator electronic technology, to make calculators designed to intrigue and capture the buyer's attention. Issues .Choosing a long-term image strategy for an established company Creating competitive advantage when neither product nor process technology is proprietar)y Taking a design-driven approach to reach new customers in a saturated market Background Named after the Ever-Sharp pencil developed by its founder in 1915 and headquartered in Osaka, Japan, Sharp is a world leader in calculators, microwave ovens high resolution LCDs (liquid crystal displays), and consumer and office electronic equipment

Explanation / Answer

2. The best practices which I feel that deems fit for the development of Sparky are:

3. In the given case, the company Sharp is quite eager to develop a design image and have a product revamp. However they had not done a proper market study and demand analysis of the consumers. For a new feature or new product to be successful, it is imperative that the feature or the product is desirable by the consumers or has a product appeal in the consumer range. This needs to be addressed to facilitate the product acceptance in the market. Also all parts of the product must have a functional requirement and a production justification associated with it. But in the current scenario, the pull-apart case has just an aesthetic appeal to it and has no functional justification associated to it. Also to accommodate the pull-apart feature, the functional features are getting compromised. This must not be done. Because in the end, the technical capabilities and features of the product are the winning factors for any product.