MANAGING PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Competency 327.2.2: Introducing New Products and Services €“ The graduate evaluates new product and service concepts, evaluates feasibility, defines the product or service, and justifies the financial investment.
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Introduction:

As a business manager, you will often be asked to evaluate and expand current business and marketing models. For this task, you will be selecting a business that has no current online system or that would like to expand its online presence. When selecting a company, you should consider the types of services or products that the company offers and how they would translate to an online environment. For example, it would be easy for a book store to sell books online. However, a beauty salon would have a harder time. Though the salon might be able to sell services online, customers would actually have to go to the physical location to receive the service. Whatever type of company you choose, make sure it fulfills the objectives of the task.

Note: Any information that would be considered confidential, proprietary, or personal in nature should not be included. Fictional names could be used instead of the actual names of people, suppliers, the company, or other identifiable information. Also, company specific data, including financial information, should not be included, but should be addressed in a general fashion as appropriate.

Task:
A. Create a sitemap for the website proposed for the online expansion which shows the structure of the website and necessary pages.

Note: A sitemap is a visual tree representation of all the components of the website plan.

B. Provide a design mock-up of three website pages based on the proposed online business expansion strategy.

Note: The mock-up can be done using a website platform (e.g., Google sites, webs.com, wordpress.com) or using multimedia software (e.g., PowerPoint, Keynote, Photoshop). The mock-up should be a good starting point for a website developer and should maintain a common theme. It should include a header, main content area, sidebars, and footer.

C. Discuss the scope for your projected web development and maintenance, including the following:
€¢ Components of the website such as pages, functionality, applications, and other necessary elements specific for this business.
€¢ Analysis of the development and maintenance costs associated with the website. Cost estimates should be presented for the development, design, and other activities identified in the scope of work.

D. When you use sources, include all in-text citations and references in APA format.

Note: Please save word-processing documents as *.rtf (Rich Text Format) or *.pdf (Portable Document Format) files.

Note: When bulleted points are present in the task prompt, the level of detail or support called for in the rubric refers to those bulleted points.

Note: For definitions of terms commonly used in the rubric, see the Rubric Terms web link included in the Evaluation Procedures section.

Note: When using sources to support ideas and elements in a paper or project, the submission MUST include APA formatted in-text citations with a corresponding reference list for any direct quotes or paraphrasing. It is not necessary to list sources that were consulted if they have not been quoted or paraphrased in the text of the paper or project.

Note: No more than a combined total of 30% of a submission can be directly quoted or closely paraphrased from sources, even if cited correctly. For tips on using APA style, please refer to the APA Handout web link included in the General Instructions section.