Discuss the different approaches to implementing the marketing strategy. (Without advantages and disadvantages)
- Implementation through top down
Marketing strategies are developed and articulated by top management, thereafter, cascade to frontline managers and employees for implementation. - Implementation through organisational design
Modifying the design of the organisation for marketing strategy implementation. The organisation’s structure can be altered, new employees can be hired, compensation plans can be altered, and new technologies can be adopted. Top management still articulates the strategy; however, the implementation is adaptable. - Implementation through organisational culture
The marketing strategy and its implementation become extensions of the organisation’s mission, vision, values and culture. If all employees adopt the values in the organisation’s culture, they will instinctively know their roles in implementing. Employees can independently design their own work procedures, as long as they’re in line with organisation mission, goals and objectives. - Implementation through collaboration
Top management and lower level frontline managers work together to formulate the marketing strategy and how it will be implemented. The role of top management is to give guidance during creation. This is common in complex, uncertain and unstable environments that require multiple viewpoints. Frontline managers bring their perspectives, which is more in tune with the needs and wants of customers.
Briefly explain internal marketing and what are some internal marketing efforts?
Internal marketing is to ensure personnel are collectively part of the implementation of the articulated marketing strategy. The object is to achieve personnel at every level who are motivated, customer-conscious and driven by the strategy.
Internal marketing efforts:
- Ensuring all employees understand the products and services of the organisation
- Providing appropriate incentives and benefits to personnel
- Ensuring employees adopt a customer-centric attitude
- Encouraging personnel to contribute to generating ideas for products and services
- Ensuring all personnel understand their jobs and how they contribute to overall strategy
- Ensuring that the climate of the organisation is dynamic and inspiring for personnel
Discuss the three dimensions that define organisational structure
- Degree of formalisation
Refers to the degree to which formal rules and procedures guide decisions and working relationships. Firms with highly formal procedures are mechanistic. Firms with fewer formal procedures are organic. Organic organisations encourage horizontal and vertical communication with flexible roles and responsibilities. Benefits to organic organisations include rapid awareness and response to competitive and market changes that ensure effective implementation. - Degree of centralisation
Refers to the degree to which top managers have authority to make decisions or delegate authority to other employees.
Centralised structures benefit mostly from stable, non-complex environments.
Decentralised structures have a variety of views and decision-makers. In addition, are able to produce more new ideas and better implement marketing strategy in the long term. - Degree of specialisation
Refers to the degree to which tasks and activities are divided. Highly specialised organisations have a higher level of ‘specialists’ who direct and perform their work efforts in a set of well-defined activities. On the other hand, organisations with lower specialisation tend to have less expertise.
Drawback of low specialisation: More work will need to be done by staff to understand the market, and implement.
Drawback of high specialisation: Can be less collaborative and cohesive in performing strategic tasks. Conflict between different specialists.
What are the various factors that influence organisational culture?
- Business environment
Societal values and practices at large will effect perceptions about work, money, status and the nature of jobs. As well as in the market, the level of competitiveness, the speed of change and demands of customers all influence the culture of the organisation. - Leadership
The leaders and founders of an organisation all play a key role in creating and sustaining the culture of an organisation. The leaders of the organisation set the prescription for how things should be done. They also assist in structuring relationships and interactions. - Socialisation process
Through the socialisation of staff in the organisation, the culture is created and sustained. Socialisation can be formal or informal. Formal socialisation occurs when management guides expected behaviour through formal policies and procedures, for example, induction, training and development. Informal socialisation occurs through informal interactions between staff. Staff gain knowledge on how they should behave and perform.
What are the two types of marketing strategy controls?
- Input controls
These are actions taken prior to implementation. They include human resources and financial resources.
Human resources:
Recruitment and selection of competent staff, continuous training and development of staff is necessary to ensure high levels of commitment to strategy. Compensation is also important for effective implementation.
Financial resources:
Capital for infrastructure, research and development. - Output controls
Include actions taken after implementation. They ensure outcomes remain in line with anticipated results. In order to ensure accurate assessment, all performance standards should be based on marketing objectives.
What are the four elements of a marketing audit?
- Comprehensive
It evaluates all the marketing related activities of an organisation - Systematic
It involves an orderly diagnostic analysis and evaluation of an organisation’s environment, marketing objectives, activities and strategies that directly or indirectly influence an organisation’s marketing performance. - Independent
It needs to be conducted by objective individuals who were not involved in development and implementation of the strategy. It can be done internally by one not involved, or externally, such as a management consultancy firm. - Periodic
It needs to be conducted after a consistent amount of time. Particularly yearly or every two years.
What are the five types of marketing audits?
- Marketing environment audit
- Marketing strategy audit
- Marketing systems audit
- Marketing productivity audit
- Marketing function audit
What are the elements of a balanced scorecard?
- The financial perspective
How the organisation wishes to be viewed by shareholders. For example, ROE, net profits, cash flow, operating income - Customer perspective
How the organisation wishes to be viewed by customers. For example, On-time deliveries, sales % from new products, customer satisfaction. - The internal business process perspective
Which processes the business must excel in to satisfy shareholders and customers. For example, cycle time, unit costs. - The organisational learning and growth perspective
Which changes and improvements must the organisation learn in order to realise its vision. For example, time to introduce new products, process time to maturity.
What are the benefits of a balanced scorecard?
- Strategic planning
- Communication of the strategy
- Alignment of all the divisions and activities
- Decision-making
- Tracking of performance in implementing the strategy
What is performance gap analysis?
Performance gap analysis involves identifying the gap between actual and desired performance. As a result of strategic assessment, the gaps in operations, market and strategy can be identified.
From a gap analysis, organisations can formulate a plan of action in order to ensure the gap is filled.
What is the contingency plan?
Often, the assumptions that marketing strategies are built upon are taken to be factual, and little attention is paid to creating a contingency plan, should these assumptions fail.
These assumptions can range from market-related to operation-related assumptions. The contingency plan outlines the corrective actions that need to be taken as a form of crisis management if the assumptions underpinning the marketing strategy are violated.
Good contingency plans include clear information to assist decision-makers in making appropriate corrective decisions.
