Every sector among the options requires intensive capital investment. However, only manufacturing and retails bury much of their working capital in form of inventory. Raw materials and WIP only present in manufacturing sector.
The manufacturing industry is undergoing massive change, rivaling the Industrial Revolution that began in England and continued on Detroit's assembly lines. But today's revolution is "smart," thanks to factories using artificial intelligence and robots.
A new trend is the "cobot" - a collaborative robot designed to work with humans. One company called Moduform uses them to make furniture in the U.S. The company credits using cobots for reducing their staffing turnover, since the robots do mundane repetitive tasks that bore humans, while people can now do cognitive tasks requiring judgment and diversified responsibilities. Other innovations include 3D printing, Artificial Intelligence and automation.
Today's artificial intelligence manufacturing revolution improves performance in two key areas of manufacturing: productivity and quality control.
Reference:
- The Key Characteristics of Manufacturing (bizfluent.com)
- CIPS study guide page 74-76
LO 2, AC 2.1

A responsibility assignment matrix[1] (RAM), also known as RACI matrix[2] (/#re#si/) or linear responsibility chart[3] (LRC), describes the participation by various roles in complet-ing tasks or deliverables for a project or business process. RACI is an acronym derived from the four key responsibilities most typically used: responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed.[4] It is used for clarifying and defining roles and responsibilities in cross-functional or departmental projects and processes.[5] There are a number of alternatives to the RACI model.
Role distinction[edit]
There is a distinction between a role and individually identified people: a role is a descriptor of an associated set of tasks; may be performed by many people; and one person can perform many roles. For example, an organization may have ten people who can perform the role of project manager, although traditionally each project only has one project manager at any one time; and a person who is able to perform the role of project manager may also be able to perform the role of business analyst and tester.
R = Responsible (also recommender)Those who do the work to complete the task.[6] There is at least one role with a participation type of responsible, although others can be delegated to assist in the work required (see also RASCI below for separately identifying those who participate in a sup-porting role).
A = Accountable (also approver or final approving authority)The one ultimately answerable for the correct and thorough completion of the deliverable or task, the one who ensures the prerequi-sites of the task are met and who delegates the work to those responsible.[6] In other words, an accountable must sign off (approve) work that responsible provides. There must be only one accountable specified for each task or deliverable.[7] C = Consulted (sometimes consultant or counsel)Those whose opinions are sought, typical-ly subject-matter experts; and with whom there is two-way communication.[6] I = Informed (also informee)Those who are kept up-to-date on progress, often only on completion of the task or deliverable; and with whom there is just one-way communication.[6] Very often the role that is accountable for a task or deliverable may also be responsible for com-pleting it (indicated on the matrix by the task or deliverable having a role accountable for it, but no role responsible for its completion, i.e. it is implied). Outside of this exception, it is generally recommended that each role in the project or process for each task receive, at most, just one of the participation types. Where more than one participation type is shown, this generally implies that participation has not yet been fully resolved, which can impede the value of this technique in clarifying the participation of each role on each task.
Reference:
- CIPS study guide page 17
- Responsibility assignment matrix - Wikipedia
LO 1, AC 1.1

A product's life cycle portrays the length of time a product is in the market; from the beginning of its introduction to consumers until it is removed from shelves and phased out. This cycle is often divided into four phases: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Depending on the relevant stage, companies will set an according strategy to achieve their desired targets. Pricing and promotions play a pivotal role in the design of these product life cycle strategies. Therefore, product life cycle management, the process of strategizing ways to continuously support and maintain a product, is seen more and more at pricing mature players and could bring real value to your company.
Introduction phase: during the introduction phase, the new product is introduced to consumers and a substantial amount of money is invested in advertising and marketing campaigns to bring awareness of the product to the customer. In this phase competition is low, but units sold will also correspondingly be quite low as well still. Consumers need to be convinced of the benefits of the product. Lots of articles never make it beyond this phase: e.g. 3D televisions.
Profits in the introduction stage tend to be low or there may even be a loss. This is because the cost of marketing to establish product awareness plus distribution costs can be far higher than the revenue received from sales. This can be offset to a degree by 'skimming' price in the very early stages. Skimming a price is where a business charges the highest price that it thinks the market will bear initially until product recognition brings in other buyers and then the price drop.
Growth phase: when it's shown there is proven demand for the product and consumers are buying it, the next stage will be its growth phase. This phase is punctuated by increasing demand, increas-ing production and an increase in the competitive landscape. Availability of the product is under-standably paramount during this phase, going out of stock is unthinkable during the growth period.
The electric car is an example of a product that is currently in the midst of the growth phase.
Maturity phase: normally the maturity phase is the phase that is characterized by declining production and marketing costs due to synergies and economies of scale. During this phase the first signs of market saturation occur and most consumers or households already own the product. Sales numbers still grow, but at a slower pace. In the maturity phase, price competition becomes intense, a broader range of distribution channels are deployed and competition is more focused on competitive pricing, marginal product differences or the difference in services or promotions. This period in the PLC is often said to be the 'cash-cow period'.
That being said, the idea of 'Maturity from the start' also exists. This occurs when a brand decides to launch a product extension and directly follows up the maturity phase of an earlier version of the product. For example, the iPhoneX followed up from the 'normal' iPhone-series and therefore the iPhoneX never had to undergo the introduction or growth phase, but immediately started in its maturity phase.
Decline phase: the final phase of the PLC is entered once the product loses market share to other, newer products and the competitive landscape becomes too hard to survive. During this stage, de-mand declines, companies are left with overstock with prices and margins getting depressed. Therefore retailers and brands normally start stunting with promotions during the decline of the PLC to sell their final stock.
A well-known example of a product that has been through the decline phase were the Nokia phones; sales results dramatically decreased after the introduction of the iPhone.
Reference:
- CIPS study guide page 90
- Adjusting your Pricing Strategy to the Product Life Cycle Stage (omniaretail.com)
- Price Skimming Definition (investopedia.com)
LO 2, AC 2.2