Strategic Marketing and Market Orientation - Assignment Example

Running Head: STRATEGIC MARKETING Strategic Marketing [Writers’ name] [Institution’s name] . Strategic Marketing Answer1 Market Orientation: A Historical Analysis Market orientation has been defined as a stage of development of an organization, or as a level that reflects an organizational maturity that parallels with the development of a national economy, from a historical point of view. A market orientated organization seems to be one that is based on antecedents of market orientation. These antecedents are based on organizational and managerial characteristics. Antecedents to MO Antecedents of market orientation often refer to organizational factors that enhance or impede the implementation of the business philosophy represented by the marketing concept. According to Kohli et al. (1990) there are three hierarchically ordered categories of antecedents. These are individual managerial, inter-group and organization contextual factors. Individual managerial factors Research by Kohli et al. (1990) has indicated that senior managers have a powerful influence in fostering a market orientation. Webster (1988) avers that a market orientation originated with top management and that customer oriented values and beliefs are uniquely the responsibility of top management. Felton (1959) likewise, asserts that the most important element of a market orientation is an appropriated state of mind and that it is attainable only if the board of directors, chief executives and top-echelon executives appreciate the need to develop this marketing state of mind. In other words the commitment of the leadership of an organization to a market orientation is an essential prerequisite. Inter Group/Departmental Dynamics Interdepartmental dynamics refer to formal and informal interactions and relationships among organizational departments. Ruekert and Walker (1987) suggest that interdepartmental conflict, which often is triggered by departments being more important and powerful, may be detrimental to the implementation of the marketing concept. Kohli et al (1990) argue that interdepartmental conflict tends to lower the market orientation of an organization. It is further argued that interdepartmental conflict appears to inhibit market intelligence dissemination, an integral component of a market orientation. Factors in the Organizational Context Concern for ‘others’ ideas Concern for others ideas refer to openness and receptivity to the suggestions and proposals of other individuals and groups. Structural forms Structural characteristics of an organization can influence its market orientation. The Managerial and Organizational Characteristics of a Market Orientated Company What seems to be the strength of a market orientated company are the organizational characteristics, this consists of three structural variables, theses variables are based on the Antecedents of marketing orientation. These variables seem to play an important role in the company. They are formalization, centralization, and departmentalization. Formalization Formalization as a characteristic is the most important characteristic , it holds the strength of the of an organization as it represents the extent to which rules characterize roles, authority relations, communications, norms and sanctions, in addition to procedures. Centralization Another characteristic which I would say is important is Centralization as a characteristic of an organization refers to the opposite of the total of delegation of decision-making authority all the way through an organization and the degree of participation by organizational members in the decision-making process Departmentalization Departmentalization; it’s a characteristic of market oriented organization which reflects the number of departments the organization is divided into. In my point of view organizational behaviour is categorized and compartmentalized into organizational dimensions like formalization, centralization, and departmentalization may perhaps have conflicting effects on the new behaviour” (Kotler 1996 p 4). These variables play an important role because while these variables might encumber the initiation stage of innovative behaviour, the equivalent variables possibly will in fact assist the completion stage of innovative behaviour. This suggests that formalization, centralization, and departmentalization are the three characteristics of an organization. Managerial characteristics play an important role in a market oriented company, Top Management Support Top managers are the ones who play a core role in shaping an organization's values as well as its orientation. After analyzing the managerial characteristics of a marketing oriented company, I came to the conclusion that the vital theme in these writings is that until and unless an organization gets comprehensible signals from top managers regarding the significance of being approachable to customer needs, the organization is not probable to be market-oriented. The most important part of these characteristics is that reinforcement given to employees by top management as it helps in persuading individuals in the organization to track changing markets, share market intelligence with others employees who work with in the organization, and be responsive to market needs. The best part about the managerial characteristics is that the development of marketing orientation ought to start with leadership from the CEO. Top Managers Risk Posture A second antecedent of market orientation is completely based on top managers' risk posture. The most important and best part about this is that responsiveness to altering market needs frequently calls for the introduction of new products and services so that evolving customer needs and expectations can be fully met, thus this gives a complete view of how marketing managers position their products; even though these new products, services, and programs regularly run a high risk of failure and are likely to be more salient than well-known products. Some theorist argue that argue that if top management demonstrates a readiness to take risks and to acknowledge infrequent failures as being normal, junior managers are more apt to recommend and introduce new offerings in response to changes in customer needs ( McQuarrie, 1996 p 45). If top management is risk aversive as well as fanatical of failures, subordinates are less likely to give attention to generating or disseminating market intelligence; they also give less attention to things like responding to changes in customer needs. Thus it can be said that in such conditions, management ought to undertake market-oriented activity whilst maintaining the flexibility to change resources and adjust to potentially viable market trends. Attention has to be given to listening and responding to customer needs. A failure to adapt can submit an organization competitively unstable. More Autonomy to Employees Market oriented organization’s mangers involve their employees in the decision making process. Answer2 Federal express and market orientation Federal Express, part of transportation powerhouse FedEx Corporation, connects areas that generate 90 per cent of the world's gross domestic product in 24 to 48 hours with door-to-door, customs-cleared service and a money-back guarantee. The company's unmatched air route authorities and infrastructure make it the world's largest express transportation company, providing fast, reliable and time-definite transportation of more than 3.1 million items in 215 countries each working day. FedEx has more than 136,000 employees, 49,929 drop-off locations, 645 aircraft and 42,000 vehicles in its integrated global network. The company maintains electronic connections with more than a million customers via FedEx Ship Manager at fedex.com and FedEx Ship Manager Software. Formalization FedEx seems to be following the concept of Formalization as they realize that formalization is important for an marketing oriented organization, as it is the extent to which rules can define the important roles, authority relations with the organization , communications with employees and customers , norms and sanctions of the organizations , as well as procedures that it has to consider . Departmentalization FedEx has 5 departments They are as follows 1. human resource department 2. finance 3. administration 4. costumer care 5. marketing Autonomy Of Employees In FedEx there is anatomy of employees. FedEx has organized their organizational decision-making in innovative ways to get employees more occupied in their jobs -- by means of policies similar to self-directed work teams, total equality management, quality circles, profit-sharing, and diverse other programs. Since FedEx believes in employee anatomy it also has profit-sharing as well as gain sharing for their employees. Centralization FedEx management uses the concept of Centralization for its decision making; as the managers are the delegation of decision-making authority throughout the organization and the participation of the employees in decisions making, leads the organization towards gaining market intelligence. Thus, the literature suggests that structural characteristics of FedEx can influence its market orientation. Interdepartmental dynamics FedEx believes that their should be interdepartmental communication at all times, this communication should be on both bases formal and informal. For one executive in FedEx noted that to improve its market orientation, the organization encouraged communication across departments. FedEx’s manages interdepartmental dynamics through appropriate in-house efforts. Some inexpensive ways FedEx’s uses to deal with them are (1) lunches which are on interdepartmental level; (2) sports days that have need of different department teams, and (3) in-house publications like that make fun of different interdepartmental relations. Further complex efforts comprise of (1) changing employees departments, (2) training on cross-department level, and (3) senior department managers spending one whole day with their executives efforts like these appear to promote interdepartmental relationship and a close relationship with managers. Support of Top Management The CEO and top managers set the vision and values. They set the goal categories that will meet the needs of customers, employees, and owners. They set the policies that govern much of the relevance function. They ensure that the necessary processes are implemented to give people feedback. The direct manager's function, in this context, is to participate in actual goal setting to make the established goals clear and to focus on the accepted goals, making them relevant. The direct manager then provides feedback to people as a coach would provide feedback to players. The players can see the scoreboard, but are more productive when they receive feedback as to the meaning of the score to them personally and as a team. (http://safari.adobepress.com/0130353310/ch02) Risk Posture of Managers The managers of FedEx believe in risk taking. FedEx’s managers went in to the Chinese market with an aggressive, high risk, added investments approach to extend its services network in China which assisted the company to become the leaders in the higher market. References McQuarrie, Edward F 1996. The Market Research Toolbox: A Concise Guide for Beginners. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications p 45 Kotler, Philip, and Alan R. Andreasen 1996, Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations, 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, p 4. http://safari.adobepress.com/0130353310/ch02 retrieved on 4 July 2007 Ajay K. Kohli, Bernard J. Jaworski 1990; Market Orientation: The Construct, Research Propositions, and Managerial Implications Journal of Marketing, Vol. 54, No. 2 p 1-18 Robert W. Ruekert, Orville C. Walker, Jr 1987; Marketing's Interaction with Other Functional Units: A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Evidence Journal of Marketing, Vol. 51, No. 1 pp. 1-19 Read More