Discussion Questions

Part 1:  Choose a quick service restaurant like  McDonalds, Taco Bell, Arby’s, etc. and  select 8-10 of their products  from their menu. Select products that represent different quadrants.  Place them into one of the four quadrants and  justify your placement.  Be certain to consider the axis legend as illustrated in your text. 

Part 2: Then apply one of the four basic marketing  strategies for the company to do for that product.. Discuss at least  four of the products you identified in Part 1. (Build, Hold, Harvest,  Divest) Discuss what you think they should do and why. 

Remember, not all products that are “dogs” are totally lifeless and  should be divested. Think about the vinyl record. Just a short time ago  it was considered to be a “Dog,” but today’s world has seen it come back  and be highly successful.  Also, think about a balanced portfolio. See  the text for more on that concept. (Another words, it is not healthy for  a company to have nothing but “Cash Cows” or very few “Question Marks”  or “Stars.” There always needs to be new products being introduced or  soon the company will die with its “Dogs.”)

Properly format with bullets and/or paragraphs. Support your work  with in-text citing and a reference section. You do not have to “draw” a  quadrant. Rather simply label paragraphs or bulleted headings with the  name of each quadrant and explain your ideas under each respective  heading.