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The Product Design Team at Cell Phone Maker Sapling, Inc

question 137

Multiple Choice

The product design team at cell phone maker Sapling, Inc., has had a fantastic string of successes over the past four years. The first phone it released helped Sapling dominate the marketplace with its line of powerful and highly photo-capable devices. Lately, however, the team's manager, Serena, notices that the team seems content to rest on its laurels and bask in past glories. The team spends a good deal of time in meetings tracking the sales of last year's model and speculating about how big everyone's bonus will be. In the team's early days, the ergonomics specialist, Fritz, and the audio designer, Astrid, would argue over the ideal placement of the headphone jack and built-in speakers, but now they have built a strong bond and constantly agree with the other's proposals. With respect to group cohesion, which of the following approaches should Serena adopt to restore the team's capacity for innovation?

Definitions:

Sales Mix

The proportion of different products or services that a company sells, representing the combination of sales that impacts overall profitability.

Total Profits

The sum of net income or net earnings of a company after all expenses, including taxes and costs, have been deducted from total revenue.

Contribution Margin Ratio

A financial metric that calculates the proportion of revenue that exceeds total variable costs, thus indicating how much revenue contributes to fixed costs and profits.

Sales Dollars

The total revenue generated from the sale of goods or services before any expenses are deducted.