Chapter 15

Question 1

Define a business firm

Answer 1

An organization that serves its customers in order to earn a profit

Question 2

What are the 3 levels of strategy in organizations

Answer 2

1. Corporate level
2. business unit level
3. Functional level

Question 3

Describe the corporate level

Answer 3

• top management directs overall strategy for the entire organization
• management at the corporate level focuses on the interests of the shareholders of the firm, as measured by stock performance and profitability

Question 4

Describe the business unit level

Answer 4

• has business unit managers who set the direction for individual products and markets
• strategic direction is more specific at the business unit level of an organization

Question 5

Describe the functional level

Answer 5

• each business unit has marketing and other specialized activities such as finance, manufacturing, or human resources.
• The name of a department generally refers to its specialized function, such as the marketing department or information systems department.
• At the functional level, the strategic direction becomes very specific and focused

Question 6

Which level would each scenario go to

1. In a large corporation with multiple business units, marketing may be called on to assess consumer trends
2. Marketing may be asked to provide leadership in developing a new, integrated customer service program across all business units
3. Marketing may implement an advertising campaign

Answer 6

1 = corporate level
2= business unit level
3 = functional level

Question 7

Organizations need a reason for their existence - and direction. This is where their business, mission, and goals converge. What applies to which organizational level in businesses

Answer 7

Business and mission apply to the corporate and business unit levels, while goals relate to all levels

Question 8

Define strategy

Answer 8

An organizations long term course of action that delivers a unique customer experience while achieving its goals

Question 9

What do business plans do

Answer 9

• The business plan is a valuable tool for organizations to get ideas and goals down on paper, It is a document that can help convey the value of your company to investors, employees, and future partners.
• business plans help identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a business, as well as help develop accurate financial forecasts

Question 10

In the article Marketing Myopia what happened

Answer 10

Railroads as organizations were cited to have narrow, production oriented statement of their business: “We are in the railroad business” - this narrow definition of their business lost sight of wo their customers were and what their needs were

–> railroads only saw other railroads as competitors and failed to design strategies to compete with airlines, barges, pipelines, trucks etc.

–> would have fared better recognizing that they are in the transportation business

Question 11

Define mission

Answer 11

Statement of the organization’s purpose and direction

Question 12

Define goals/objectives

Answer 12

Targets of performance to be achieved within a specific time frame.

• take a mission and translate it into targeted levels of performance to be achieved within a specific time frame

Question 13

How can marketing managers tell if they are making progress towards their strategic direction for their organization

Answer 13

• can measure performance by using marketing dashboards

The digital age we are in right now allows us to execute marketing plans with an aim-fire-adjust approach - after we execute a part of the marketing plan, we use the metrics to quickly adjust our plan and get closer to our desired result

Question 14

define a marketing dashboard

Answer 14

A visual computer display of essential marketing information.

Question 15

Each variable in a marketing dashboard is called a

Answer 15

Marketing metric - A measure of the value or trend of a marketing activity or result.

Question 16

Asking an organization where it is at the present time involves

Answer 16

• identifying its customers, competencies, and competitors

–> Strategic directions must be customer focused and provide genuine value and benefits to existing and prospective customers. There should be clear competency for the organization and a good understanding of competition

Question 17

Knowing where the organization is at a present time enables managers to set a direction for the firm and commit resources to move in that direction. Two techniques that aid in these decisions are

Answer 17

1. business portfolio analysis
2. market product analysis

Question 18

Describe business portfolio analysis

Answer 18

• developed by Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

uses quantified performance measures and market growth rates to analyze a firm strategic business units as though they were a collection of separate investments

• used at the business level, has also been applied to the product line or individual product or brand level

Question 19

If you are looking at the current market and current product, what market product strategy would be used

Answer 19

Market penetration - Ex. Selling more Ben and Jerry’s super premium ice cream in North America

Question 20

If you are looking at the current market and a new product, what market product strategy would be used

Answer 20

Product development - Ex. selling a new product such as frozen yogurt under the Ben and Jerry’s bran in North America

Question 21

If you are looking at a new market and a current product, what market product strategy would be used

Answer 21

Market development - Ex. selling Ben and Jerry’s super premium ice cream in Brazil for the first time

Question 22

If you are looking at a new market and a new product, what market product strategy would be used

Answer 22

Diversification - Selling a new product such as breakfast cereal in China for the first time

Question 23

After an organization assesses where it
s at and where it wants to go, it must work out how it will get there. What must it decide

Answer 23

• how to allocate resources
• how to convert plans into actions
• how results compare with plans, and whether deviations (results that differ from expectations) require new plans and actions

Question 24

Define the strategic market process

Answer 24

Approach whereby an organization allocates its marketing mix.

Question 25

Define a marketing plan

Answer 25

Road map for the marketing activities of an organization for a specified future period of time.
- helps business develop the right products to address customer needs, establish the best way to promote the business, and determine where the product will be distributed. Also includes advertising and communications

Question 26

The marketing plan is divided into what 3 phases

Answer 26

1. Planning
2. Implementation
3. Evaluation

Question 27

The planning phase of the marketing plan consists of what three steps

Answer 27

1. situation analysis
2. market product focus and goal setting
3. The marketing program

Question 28

Describe the situation analysis stage of the planning phase of the marketing plan

Answer 28

• First stage of the planning phase
• taking stock of the firm or products past performance, where it is now, and where it is headed in light of the organizations plans and the external factors and trends affecting it
• *start with a swot analysis –> translate the results of the analysis into specific actions to help the firm grow and succeed
• after consider industry analysis, competitor analysis, company analysis, customer analysis

Question 29

Describe the Market product focus and goal setting stage of the planning phase of the marketing plan

Answer 29

• 2nd stage for planning phase
• Determine which products are directed toward which consumers
• Decision often base don market segmentation
• goal setting involves setting measurable marketing objectives to be achieved

Question 30

Describe the marketing program stage of the planning phase of the marketing plan

Answer 30

• 3rd stage for the planning phase
• Step 2 had addressed the who and what aspects of the marketing plan, the how aspect is step 3 in the marketing plan - it involves developing the programs marketing mix ad its budget

Question 31

Describe the implementation stage of the the marketing plan

Answer 31

• 2nd phase of the marketing plan
• involves implementing the marketing program that emerges from the planning phase

Question 32

What are the 4 components of the implementation phase of the marketing plan

Answer 32

1. obtaining resources
2. designing the marketing organization
3. developing schedules
4. executing the marketing program designed in the planning phase (use marketing tactics)

Question 33

Define marketing tactics

Answer 33

Detailed day-to-day operational decisions essential to the overall success of marketing strategies.

Question 34

Describe the evaluation phase of the marketing plan

Answer 34

• used to determine if the plan is moving in the right direction
• compare the results of the marketing activities with the goals laid out in the marketing plan to:
  –>identify deviations (planning gaps)
  –> and to act on these deviations - correcting negative deviations and exploiting positive ones
  –> dashboards can assist in this