Implementation

Question 1

Define Implementation

Answer 1

Marketing strategy concerns the issues of what should happen and why it should happen. Implementation focuses on actions: who is responsible for various activites, how the strategy should be carried out, where things will happen and when actions will take place
(Jobber & Ellis-chadwick, 2013)

Question 2

what stage does implementation fall in the smm process

Answer 2

second to last

Question 3

what are the barriers to implementation

Answer 3

lack of commitment from management 
power and politics
short term focus
overestimation of capabilities
over ambitious objectives
analysis rather than action 
inconsistant objectives
underestimation of costs involved

Question 4

Barriers to implementation - lack of commitment from management

Answer 4

management commitment in implementing strategy is crucial to organisations successful execution of the strategic planning process (Mcdonald, 1990)

• Suter (1996) revealed that managers’ commitment on the formulated strategy enhances the functional performance and improves organizational performance.
• The closeness of the marketing managers’ to the customers and other stakeholders enables them to detect and judge the inclusion of the potential strategic issues into the organization’s strategic agenda. Also, marketing manager’s involvement enables the strategy to be fully integrated into planning and budgeting and into day-to-day decision making

Question 5

Barriers to implementation - over ambitious objectives

Answer 5

even when an organisation is sucsessful in producing a good marketing plan, it is not uncommon to find too many objectives, however it is rare to find any prioritisation to these objectives or to find any allocation of time resource. The key role of senior management is to concentrate lower-level management attention on factors that are both high leverage and action- able in order to get the essential jobs done effectively. (McDonald, 1990)

Question 6

Barriers to implementation - inadequate communication

Answer 6

Inadequate communication and flow of information which result from poor internal and external relation- ships are known to have a detrimental impact on implementation. (Dibb, 1997).

Question 7

barriers to implementation - overestimation of capabilities

Answer 7

Problems of understanding: these include lack of marketing knowledge and skills; confusion about basic marketing concepts; poor understanding of marketing planning jargon and procedures; con- fusion about how marketing planning fits into strategic planning (Dibb, 1997)

Question 8

barriers to implementation - short term focus

Answer 8

most managers prefer to sell products they find easiest to customers offering the least resistance. by developing short term tactical marketing plans managers are meerley extrapolating their own sucsess. companies led with a proactive orientation that stretches beyond the short term show results visibly better than companies with a short term focus (McDonald, 1990)

Question 9

short term focus barrier solution

Answer 9

develop the strategic marketing plan first, doing so places greater emphaisis on scanning the external environment, identifying and developing appropriate strategic responses involving all levels of management (Mcdonald, 1990)

Question 10

importance of implementation

Answer 10

Ewing 1968 states that planning enables organisations to maintain flexibility, stimulating a cooperative and enthusiastic approach to company problems, enabling managers to make more appropriate decisions, leading to socially and economically positive results

Question 11

discuss implementation

Answer 11

The implementation phase of strategic marketing translates into policies and procedures for areas of the organization such as, procurement, human resources, (Lorette, n.d)

Question 12

why make an issue out of implementation

Answer 12

because most change initiatives in organisations fail, many marketing plans fail because the planner did not consider the fact that the organisation wasn’t capable of implementing the plan

Question 13

facilitating implementation

Answer 13

without carful planning of the exercise the likelihood of reaping the full rewards and benefits is significantly reduced
- specify managerial involvement
- establish workable timeframes
- understand and control expectations
- create suitable control and communication
(Simkin, 1996)