Unisa Employment and Careers Expo Success - Case Study Example

Marketing This section looks at the ways that have been utilized to make the UniSA employment and careers Expo a success to all the involved stakeholders. The methods used ensure that all the stakeholders benefit from the expo especially the students make contact with most reputable employers in the country. Marketing is part of management that entails identification, anticipation and satisfaction of customer need and requirement in a profitable manner (Crouch, 2002). It is also defined as an organizational function and a set of methods of creating, communication and delivery of values to customers (Davidson & Rogers, 2006). Marketing also involves maintenance of strong customer relationship in a way that benefits each and every organization and its stakeholders. Marketing can also be defined as a mode of communication that makes a product or a service known to its target customers (Crouch, G.I, 2002). The primary objective of marketing is to ensure that all customer needs are satisfied without compromising those of the stakeholders. An organization that intends to market its product must carry out a PESTLE analysis to realize the challenges that face the organization in delivering customers satisfaction and requirement (Davidson & Rogers, 2006), therefore, the organizers of UniSA Employment and Career Expo should put all principles of marketing in place. The PESTLE analysis is crucial to any company to achieve its objective because there is a possibility of eliminating the challenges as they occur. This is due to the changing environment in the components of PESTLE, for example, in economic analysis an organization needs to consider the changes in costs of marketing to avoid incurring losses. This is important in the success of the UniSA Expo (Fenich, 2005). Any organization that is successful in marketing has put in place marketing strategies so as to penetrate the market. The marketing strategies include market segmentation, positioning, product differentiation and application of the marketing mix, therefore; these strategies must be put into consideration for the UniSA employment and career Expo to be a success. Market segmentation is a technique where the entire market is divided into small segments considering customer needs, taste and behavior that might lead to demand of different products from the same company (Fenich, 2005). This strategy helps a company to satisfy needs of its diverse customers. This strategy has been utilized fully during the organization of this UniSA Expo because there are different target customers. Positioning involves how a product is defined in the minds of customers using different attributes of such a product. The tools of positioning during this Expo include internet, social media, branding, direct sales, advertisement, public relations and sales promotion. These tools have been used in making the Expo a success to all involved stakeholders. The tools have promoted the awareness to all the intended participants. This is extremely positive because it will increase attendance and all the stakeholders will benefit from the Expo (Beldona, Morrison and Anderson, 2003). Product differentiation is a strategy in which companies present their offering in different ways from those of the other companies (Beldona, Morrison and Anderson, 2003). For the stakeholders to benefit the companies, should present unique ways of graduate recruitment so as not to outdo each other, thus portraying the Expo as a failure. Product feature and benefit is also a component to consider during the analysis because each and every feature is crucial in determining the market share. During this Expo, the venue of the Expo was such a strategic one because of its location in an area where there are many hotels. This feature will help the participants in getting accommodation and any other hotel service necessary to the stakeholders (McCabe & Savery, 2007). The market mix or the 4 P’s as they are referred by many people is a vital tool in the field of marketing. It is, therefore, essential to analyze how it has been used in planning the 2012 UniSA Expo. Market mix is a component of attributes that help companies to enjoy lion share in the market (Fenich, 2005). There are seven components of the market mix namely, price, product, packaging, place, planning, promotion and people. Product is what a company offers to its customers considering the different taste and preferences in order to deliver satisfaction (Rogers, 2008). During the Expo, the students have their skills as their product while the companies have employment as their product. Price is the value attached to the product and should be considered for the success of the 2012 UniSA Expo. The price is also to be considered of ensuring that the Expo takes place this includes the delegates’ fees and payment for the venue (Rogers, 2008). Price should not exceed the expected returns from any project. Packaging is how a product is presented to its intended customers. Packaging is pivotal in ensuring that a company enjoys a significant market share by attracting customers (Cheung & Law, 2002). Place is an aspect that looks at activities that ensure the product is available to customers. It also includes the ways customers know the features of a product and how to access it. In this case website and the internet are the best examples of sources of information. The social media and information technology has been on the fore front in the organization of all the other UniSA Expos. Planning is an aspect that helps in analyzing the market so as to the best ways to penetrate the market (Boo, Koh & Jones, 2008). Promotion is an aspect that entails provision of information and focuses on persuading customers to go for a given product. The tools of promotion include posters, media and any other tool that provides information to customers (Cheung & Law, 2002). During the UniSA Expo, provision of bus transport was part of the promotion. People this includes people who deliver the product to its intended customers in this case people include all those to give lectures and all companies taking part in Expo (Boo, Koh & Jones, 2008). Human Resources This section looks at the roles of a human resource department in every company during recruitment at UniSA Employment and Career Expo. The section helps in identifying the required skills to work in a certain field. The organizers of the event have an objective of helping the students in identifying and appreciate a range of career opportunities. It also helps identify and understand the areas and opportunities available to train on them. The human resource department helps the students in understanding different employment opportunities available to them (Hinkin & Tracey, 2003). The human resource department in many companies taking place in the UniSA Expo ensures that their companies hire only the best candidates in the field. The human resources go for quality when hiring. They also advertise and make people that there are vacancies to be filled in their organization (Hinkin & Tracey, 2003). The department also ensures that all the students get the necessary information to help them in applying for jobs in such companies. The information is through brochures, flyers and handouts. There so many challenges involved during the organization of the UniSA Expo, they include cost; the cost of organizing the event was so high and yet the funds available were limited. This made difficult to deliver the desired quality of services at UniSA Expo (McCabe, 2008). Another challenge is limited opportunities for fresh graduates in these companies. This is due to lot students graduating from universities. Another challenge is political influence from politicians that the companies especially the public companies do not hire freely but experience pressure from the politicians and the government (Weber & Roehl, 2001). For future UniSA Expo to be a success the above challenges must be eliminated. References Beldona, S, Morrison, A.M, Anderson, D.J, 2003. ‘Information exchange between the convention and visitor bureaus and hotels in destination marketing: a proposed model’, Journal of Convention & Exhibition Management, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 41-56. Boo, S, Koh, Y & Jones, D, 2008. ‘An exploration of attractiveness of convention cities based on vsit behavior’, Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 239-257. 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Empirical Evidence’, Journal of Management Development, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 103–116. McCabe, V.S, 2008. ‘Strategies for career planning and development in the convention and exhibition industry in Australia’, International Journal of Hospitality Management, vol. 27, pp. 222–231. Rogers, T 2008. Conferences and conventions: a global industry. New York: Butterworth-Heinemann. Weber, K & Roehl, W, 2001. Service quality issues for convention and visitor bureaus, Journal of Convention and Exhibition Management, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1–17. Read More