Development of a Thinking-aid for the Sales Staff of a Small Computer-software Company and Remote Support for Its Continuous Use

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  • 小規模なソフトウェア開発会社における企画提案思考ツールの開発と遠隔支援
  • 実践研究 小規模なソフトウェア開発会社における企画提案思考ツールの開発と遠隔支援
  • ジッセン ケンキュウ ショウキボ ナ ソフトウェア カイハツ ガイシャ ニ オケル キカク テイアン シコウ ツール ノ カイハツ ト エンカク シエン

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Abstract

A thinking-aid for the sales staff was developed to facilitate their "creative" planning skills in a small computer-software company. The thinking-aid consisted of questions with regard to an article about a new product published in a newspaper or magazine that each sales staff member had read : (1) Who is the product customer? (2) What are the customer's needs? (3) What technologies are used to fulfill their needs? (4) How is the product different from others? And (5) How is the new product marketed to costomers? Upon completion, each sales staff member was to propose his / her own plan by changing either (6) the target customer, (7) the technology used, or (8) the marketing strategy. First, the thinking-aid was introduced to five members of the sales staff and was shown to be effective in improving their oral presentations at the weekly sales meeting. The sales staff's continuous use of the thinking-aid was maintained through fax and e-mail for four months. Then, five new members of the sales staff participated, and their planning skills were trained with the thinking-aid and feedback using fax and e-mail. The continuous use of the thinking-aid was maintained up to more than a year. It was demonstrated that the "creative" planning skill could be guided by a simple thinking-aid, and the use of the thinking-aid could be remotely supported using fax and e-mail.

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