Some Dangerous Axioms of Production Elimination Decision‐making

Questions the tendency to associate the product‐elimination decision only with ‘weak’ products, in addition to the desirability/relevance of comprehensive and systematic product elimination procedures and the necessity for formal product elimination programmes. Points out, however, that herein the objective is not to pour a critical scorn on basically useful guidelines and valuable work, nor is it to propose a new theory. Focuses on rational, formal, ethical and dynamic aspects of the product elimination process and bases the study on three stages: a pilot study; an interview survey which involved 20 in‐depth company interviews, ranging from two days to one week duration each; and a mail survey, which resulted in 94 completed mail questionnaires — which constitutes a 31 per cent response rate. Sums up by indicating that the recorded experiences have indicated that there is a need for much deeper analysis into produce elimination theory and company practices.