Question: Mr. Sinha, a senior executive of LSP, observes that their business in India is not vibrant. LSP faces stiff competition from Indian and global players, except in rural areas. Interestingly, most of their sales in the rural area are from cough syrup, used as sedatives by teenagers. Mr. Sinha is planning the following actions to improve business in the long run.
Invest in development of new drugs.
Increase sales of cough syrup in the rural markets.
Try and cut costs.
Recruit more medical representatives in the rural areas.
Which of the following sequences is best arranged in the descending order of appropriateness?
The question mentions that the sales of LSP in India are bleak and it faces stiff competition from foreign and local players, except in rural areas where it has high cough syrup sales. In the light of such a background the company intends to improves sales in the long term.
Statement I is the best option from the perspective of the company. Hence, it is the most appropriate course of action.
The next immediate step the company can take to improve business in the long term is to cut operating costs; the process may be time consuming but is an efficient one in the long term aspect of the country's operation.
As the issue of teenagers abusing cough syrups as sedatives is an ethical issue, increase in the sales of cough syrup will be beneficial to the company but not the teenagers. Hence, it can create trouble for the company in the long run. So, statement II is least appropriate.
The motive behind sending more medical representatives to rural areas is unclear from the question. It can either be to create awareness regarding the ill effects of substance abuse or to sell more number of cough syrups. Hence, statement IV is ruled out.
Thus, the correct descending order of the statements is I, III, and II.
Hence, the correct answer is option 1.