Market Factors:

Real Market Growth - Percentage annual unit growth rate of served market over last 3 years.
Example: Market of 20 million units which grows to 21 million, 22.05 million and 23.25 million has a growth rate of 5% per annum.
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Number of Immediate Customers Accounting for 50% of Sales - The number of customers purchasing directly from this business required to account for 50% of sales.
Example: Counting from the top, this business has 4 immediate customers which account for 20% 15% 10% and 5% of sales, giving 4 as the number which account for 50% of sales.
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Competitiveness Factors:

Beginning Market Share - Percentage calculated as prior year sales billed by this business as a percent of the total sales to the served market.
Example: Sales of $10 million divided by served market sales of $100 million gives a beginning market share of 10%.
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Beginning Market Share Rank - Beginning market share rank (1 = largest, etc.) of this business.
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Beginning Relative Quality - An index describing prior year customer perceptions of the total performance-in-use of the offering of this business relative to the offerings of its leading competitors. Total quality includes product-, service-, and image - related attributes that count throughout the product use cycle. Common product attributes include speed, durability, etc. Common service attributes include availability, technical service, etc. Image attributes are limited to those cases where customers want the brand image per se (e.g. Gucci label on hand bags):

Index		Beginning Relative Quality
1		Much worse than the competition
2		Somewhat worse than the competition
3		Equivalent to the competition
4		Somewhat better than the competition
5		Much better than the competition

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Change in Relative Quality - A change in relative quality index during the prior year.
Example: Prior-year ending index of 4 less prior-year beginning index of 3 gives a change in relative quality of 1. Note that the ending index for the prior year is the beginning index for this year.
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Beginning Relative Direct Cost - An index describing this business' prior year cost to produce and deliver its offering relative to the delivered costs of its leading competitors. In estimating relative cost, consider the type and source of raw material used, operating process and scale, the cost of distribution, etc.:

Index		Beginning Relative Cost
1		Much higher than the competition
2		Somewhat higher than the competition
3		Equivalent to the competition
4		Somewhat lower than the competition
5		Much lower than the competition

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Beginning Percent of Sales Accounted for by New Products - Percentage calculated as prior year sales of new products as a percent of total sales. PIMS defines new products as products introduced during the 3 preceding years.
Example: For 2001, new products should include those introduced in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

New products differ from product improvements and product-line extensions. New products are characterized by one or more of the following: a long gestation period, major changes in manufacturing process, separate promotional budgets, or separate product management. An example of new product is color television added to a line of black-and-white televisions. An example of a product improvement is the annual model changes of automobiles. An example of a line extension is the addition of a plum flavor to a line of jams. In PIMS, product improvements and line extensions are not considered "new" products.
Example: New-product sales of $2 million, line-extension sales of $1 million, total sales of $10 million gives percent new-product sales of $2/$10 or 20%.
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Beginning Relative Percent Sales of New Products - Percentage point difference calculated as this business' prior year percent sales of new products less the average percent sales of new products of its leading competitors.
Example: This business' sales of new products of 10%, competitors' sales of new products of 15% gives this business a relative percent new products of -5%.
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Marketing Effort Factors:

Sales Force Expenses - Percentage calculated as sales force expense as percent of sales. Sales force expense includes 1) compensation and expenses incurred by sales people, 2) commissions paid to brokers or agents, and 3) the cost of sales force administration. The cost of auxiliary services performed by sales representatives should not be included.
Example: Sales force expense of $1 million, sales of $10 million gives a sales force expense of $1/$10 or 10%.
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Media Advertising Expenses - Percentage calculated as media expenses as percent of sales.
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Sales Promotion Expenses - Percentage calculated as promotion expense as percent of sales. Promotion expense includes all expenditures for catalogues, exhibits, displays, trade shows, premiums, coupons, samples, and lost sales dollars related to temporary price reductions.
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Total Marketing Expenses - Percentage calculated as total marketing expenses as a percent of sales. Total marketing expense includes sales force, media advertising, sales promotion and other marketing expenses. Other marketing expenses includes expenses such as marketing administration and market research. The costs of physical distribution should not be included.
Example: Sales force of $2 million, media advertising of $1 million, sales promotion of $1 million, other of $0.5 million, and sales of $15 million give a total marketing expense of $4.5/$15 or 30%.
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Total Marketing Change - Percentage calculated as change in budgeted total marketing expense as a percent of prior year total marketing expense.
Example: Budgeted marketing of $4.5 million, prior year marketing of $4 million gives a marketing change of $0.5/$4 or 12.5%.
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Capacity to Serve Factor:

Beginning Capacity Utilization - Percentage calculated as prior year sales as a percent of standard capacity. Standard capacity is the sales value of the maximum output this business can sustain with facilities normally in operation and current constraints (work rules, technology, etc.)
Example: Sales of $10 million and standard capacity of $15 million gives a capacity utilization of $10/$15 or 66.7%.
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