How is the Marketing Concept and Its Implementation Responding to Developments in the Macro-Environment - Essay Example

College: Organizational culture and Knowledge management Introduction Marketing is mainly concerned with trade or exchange. The basic form of trade started when humankind started producing surplus. Humankind produced agricultural products and exchanged them with manufactured goods like earthenware or textiles. Such exchange brought about areas that promoted trade for instance, local markets and village fairs. The development of trade and marketing enabled individuals to specialize production of certain products and services to be traded in markets for ore products required. In the 18th century, the economy of UK changed during the early industrial revolution, leading to rise in industrial production and subsequent loss of dependence on agricultural products. Prior to the industrial revolution, the distribution and production of goods was mainly in small scale, (Cant, 2006, p.33). Consequently, industrialization leads to a dramatic increase in productivity, because of technology development. As a result, enterprises enlarged, production increased, and products became more standardized. Companies produced in large numbers for local, national and international markets. Factory systems grew leading to migration of people from rural homes to new and quickly expanding industrial cities and towns. Because of rapid developments during the industrial revolution periods, companies produced volumes more that the local economy could accommodate. Therefore, consumption spread over wider geographical distances, leading to loss of immediate contacts between the producers and the markets. A number of thinking entrepreneurs organized their business transactions in a (marketing oriented” way to deals with this problem, even though the terms “marketing orientation” or ”marketing” were rare until the twentieth century, (Hult and Speh, 2010, p 45). For producers to manufacture products and services that would attract and sell in vastly scarce markets, they had to analyze, interpret and understand the wants and needs of consumers and product, which would appeal and fit in with the wants and needs of such consumers. The process of correlating the firm resources to the wants and needs of the market place is known as entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs had to sense the requirements of the market in terms quality, prices and design, and later plan production and distribution strategies to meet efficient demands of consumers at a profit. Emergence of industrialization led to specialization and further division of labour, leading to increased productivity, which further reduced costs, and thus the products selling price. Consequently, the increase in work specialization led to increased desire for trade, (Kotler, Keller, Dubious and Marceau, 2006, p 105). Production in large scale led to marketing channels emerging to improve product distribution, and meet the effective demand for more goods by the vast markets. Such developments established essential foundations for the contemporary industrial economy that is still grounded on the critical concepts of exchange and trade. In the mid nineteenth century, Britain dominated the forces of the world economy. The main factor outlining Britain's industrial growth and development was the emergence of international trade. This was because, Britain was the first to secure raw materials supplies, and had a dominated the supply of manufactured products in the expense of underdeveloped nations that collectively formed the British Empire. Later, the United States and Germany emerged as competing industrials nations/powers. Even though United Kingdom experience stiff competition from the economically developing nations in the sectors of coal, steel and textile, British economy still dominated the economy till the first world war. Other countries generated more income that led to rise in effective demand for raw materials, goods and services. The United Kingdom total trade value increased although its international trade share significantly decreased. Complete understanding of the notion and nature of marketing orientation gives customers the first priority; it is paramount to trace its developmental history as it happened in United Kingdom, and examine the various philosophical options that pertained in conjunction to business at various periods, (Kotler and Kotler, 2001, p. 77). Adam Smith states that consumption is the main end and aim of all interests of production and the producer’s interests ought to be considered, only as long as it may be crucial for enhancing the interest of the consumer. However, he further, noted that producers do not consider this obvious logic significantly. Researches confirm that the notion of marketing orientation and giving customers the first priority has only been given critical attention in the recent past. Under the concept of marketing, the customer is the center of business focus. Companies no longer focus of sales or production as the basis to growth, survival and prosperity, but the satisfaction and identification of the consumer's wants and needs. In a marketing based organization, the entire company acknowledges the primary significance of the consumer and recognizes that satisfying the consumer determines the success of a business. In the modern world, marketing has increasing changed, adopting modern technologies in marketing strategies, such as internet marketing (e marketing), mobile marketing and database marketing. Until recent, brand, markets, service, consumers and products were primary components of marketing. Integrating these sectors with modern electronic communication network has become one of the key developments. Marketing responds to modern technological advancements by integrating these fundamental and necessary components to the marketing concept. Marketers have, for the first time, established their own marketing communication and network information using modern techniques to increase the values of marketing, (Jain, 1993, p. 55). Use of internet marketing and database marketing has helped organization and companies to erase barriers and borders allowing networking on a global scale. Organizational culture and Knowledge management According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing, marketing is the process of management that charged with the duty of identifying, expecting and satisfying the requirements of a customer profitably. The American association defines marketing management as the process of planning, organizing and executing the pricing, conception, distribution and promotions of goods, ideas and services to generate trade that meet the organizational and individual objectives, (Homburg, Kuester and Krohmer, 2009, p. 67). Marketing definition by the chartered Institute sums up the general objectives of marketing, but the American marketing Association believed that their definition is sufficient. In the modern world, marketing has advanced in almost all the nations across the globe. Currently marketing is central to business planning that transacts in a highly competitive environment. Similarly, marketing oriented companies accomplish their business objectives by expecting and identifying changing wants and needs, of particularly identified target markets. Therefore, business planning begins with consumers, and it is marketing responsibility to marshal such needs into corporate, business plan through marketing plan. As a result, it is from the consumers requirements and resulting marketing planning to satisfy these requirements, that other related operations in business transactions assume their respective leads. Modern marketing entails identifying a firm’s vision definition and vision as well as implementing policies, which will allow the firm to strive to maintain its vision and act in accordance with its vision statements. Marketing strategy, on the other hand, is the process of planning, organizing and implementing the policies of the firm towards attaining the goals of the firm in accordance with its vision. The strategy involves the overall ones like product differentiation, price reduction for the growth of market share and market segmentation, and other various strategies of marketing. Marketing strategy implementation is motivated by key competition in industries dominated by one firm; marketing requires only little spur to accelerate consumption. For a long time, utilities relied on overall mass marketing programs to sustain and increase their levels of sales; they enjoyed dominated markets. Utility firms had fixed market locations and steady demands that made an advanced marketing concern unnecessary. Currently, however, several companies experience some competition, irrespective of the industry, because of deregulation and industrials globalization in the world, (Kotler, 2000, p. 98). As a result, marketing strategy has turned out to be more critical to ensure continued profits in companies. The main aim of marketing management and general marketing is developing the competition concept. It is concerned with competition for scarce resources. The objective of aggressor organization is to enhance its position in the market against their competitors. The defenders (competitors can be other suppliers, organization, customers or distributors. The organizational culture and marketing management knowledge is aimed at maintaining the position and the competitive advantage of a firm or company in the marketplace, (Kerin and Hartley, 2009, p. 56). Terms such as attack, campaign and defeat, are often using in marketing. In marketing, the goal is one firm win and the other to lose the battle, often called the 'zero sum game' notion. Hence, marketing and business strategies are often linked with military and political strategy. Marketing management is a viewed as a business function that gave rise to marketing. Experts agree marketing management entails a progressive planning of the marketing activities of a firm in response to the ever changing and transforming external and internal conditions. Some scholars argue that marketing management focus on consumer centered business approach. Researches indicate that, across the globe, each country is faced with several challenges concerning marketing management. Advanced distribution systems and communication technologies and the emergence and growth of international, and global marketing, have increased the need for marketing management challenges that transverse international and national boundaries. Literature reveal that comparative marketing can be identified mainly as cross-national customer behavior. Global marketing focus on how to shape and adopt management programs, policies and structures to personnel at the local level, channel organization and institutions. Comparative management investigates on certain issues of local culture that allows adaptation and modification of marketing strategy for success, (Novick, Morrow and Mays, 2008). The success of marketing strategy is determined by the level of conformity to the consumer cultural values and norms, and conformity with the beliefs, values and morals of employees in different countries. The achievement of any marketing strategy or business organization is dictated by the ability of its management, (Jain, 1993, p. 234). Marketing should be attentive about the executives in an institution; therefore, managers’ at all level s should comprehend the general principle of marketing to facilitate making of amicable decisions in their positions of responsibility. CEOs and founders of successful firms take the leading responsibility and role in marketing their firms, products and services. They establish and manage their marketing strategy, manage sales efforts and majority even present themselves in TV commercials for in an effort of marketing their products and firms. The principle-marketing executive takes the marketing management responsibilities, which involves, control, planning and implementation of marketing activities. This person is charged with such immense and dynamic responsibilities and is a vital affiliate of the company's management, and may be given titles like the director of marketing, president of marketing, manager of marketing or sales and marketing manager. The abilities and skills of the marketing executives are continually proved in the marketplace when a sale is lost or made. The managers use the components of the marketing mix, such as promotion, price, distribution and product to satisfy the market needs, (Hutt and Speh, 2010, p. 400). The process of marketing management commences with marketing analysis, which is a critical evaluation of the present marketing condition. After analysis, marketing managers generates a marketing plan that should be effectively implemented. Control, which is the last management function entail ensuring that the plans are properly implemented, and objectives of the organization are achieved. An institution or firm’s market is the basis of the model and the central point of marketing activities and programs, (Kotler, 2000, p. 23). Thus, marketing managers attempt to learn more about the market fir the products of their firms. This is because the unpredictability and complexity of human behavior, thus, the market for the products of a company is hard to comprehend and predict. While marketing the products of a firm the managers should first, identify the target customer, why they think the product is purchase, the location of customers, when and how the product is purchased. These issues will necessitate the process of marketing decisions making and planning. In the modern world, goods and services are more knowledge-based, and knowledge has become a primary factor to competitive benefit attainment. In the contemporary era of knowledge, the basis for firms' competition has shifted from properties, equipment and land to skill, management, innovation and utilizing knowledge, (Novick, Morrow, and May, 2008, p. 212). Societies can anticipate advancement and developments with more in the future. Addition of information capacity in organization and their need to be utilized in organizational decision have led to knowledge management. Creating and maintaining competitive advantage needs leveraging the overall knowledge base of a firm and facilitating a learning organization. Similarly, internal marketing debates in an institution are extremely critical. The growth of an organization into the knowledge-led organization may be promoted by internal marketing. Internalization promotes the right function of knowledge management, also can be utilized as knowledge and learning management enrichment. Knowledge management plays a significant role in the success, in a competitive environment, thus, categorizing knowledge management as part of the marketing strategies of the organization is paramount. Knowledge management as the process of achievement, discovery, develop maintenance, sharing occurrence, evaluation and utilizing the right knowledge in the right time by the right person in an institution that appear through relating human resources, communications and information technology, and generating right structures to attain organizational goals is necessary. Homburg (2009) argues that, through the process of Knowledge management an organization attain skills internalizing knowledge (learning), externalizing knowledge (codifying) and transferring and contributing knowledge, (Homburg, Kuester and Krohmer, 2009, p. 45). Marshall and Johnston (2011), on the other hand, states that Knowledge management is the means by a firm create wealth from its intellectual capital or knowledge (Marshall and Johnston, 2011). Knowledge management guides and promotes an organizational decisions as to where, how and when to generate and account for current or new knowledge. The marketing challenge that knowledge managements tries to resolve is that, mostly knowledge gained through experience is underutilized, as it is not officially shared. The main aim of knowledge management is to provide a company capacity to be extra largely effective by completing the organizational memory. The installation of knowledge management is perceived as a process of organizational change that encompasses learning and constantly need a broad organizational, cultural change, (Keegan and Keegan, 2009, p. 67). Kotler and Kotler, (2001), argue that managers should view a company as an internal market, in that there exists an internal supply chain, such as a company’s internal customers and suppliers, as an indication of a better situation with superior quality by meeting the internal customers’ requirements. This is to say that, the requirements of the staff must be first met before proceeding to meet the needs of the customers, (Kotler, 2000, p 1). Internal marketing is considered as considering the company’s staff as customers, and work as internal goods that need staffs and jobs for it to appeal to markets and customers. Cant, (2006), agrees that, internal marketing is initially designed for managing and teaching human forces to offers quality services, (Hutt and Speh, 2010, p. 23). Jain (1993) reveals seven approaches of internal marketing activities. These includes management support, teaching, mutual intercommunications, tools for human resources and staff management, promoting internal relationships and communications, market division, foreign communications, and market research, (Jain, 1993, p.99). Kerin, Hartley and Rudelius, (2007), suggest internal marketing is any form of marketing within an organization emphasizing on the staff concern to internal activities that contribute to the foreign market function that requires a change. In addition, Clow and Baack, (2012) maintains that internal marketing encompasses a planned attempt overwhelm organizational opposition to change and to motivate, align and integrate workers towards the efficient implementation of functional and corporate strategies, (Novick, Morrow and Mays, 2008, p. 129). Internal marketing promotes an organization's ability to acquire knowledge and adds the appropriate purpose of knowledge management. A research conducted by Marshall and Johnston, (2010), concerning Taiwan's high-tech industries, the impacts of organizational culture and internal marketing on knowledge management on industry's information technology has been analyzed. The study revealed that organizational culture and internal marketing have useful impacts of knowledge management, (Kerin and Hartley, 2009, p 98). Experts agree that management of knowledge is not just processing of information, but testing, diffusing needs, coding and unifying new, modern knowledge to modern processes, educational programs and designs that are in an individual's mind and such a shift is form more explicit to tacit, (Keegan and Keegan, 2009, p. 78). The process of knowledge renewal is vital to create confident environment in an organization. Absence of confident environment put people at a larger risk of performing knowledgeable activities, (Hutt ans Speh, 2010, p. 99). Internal marketing is significant in the field of establishing organizational confidence, as well as renewing knowledge by nurturing confident staffs, (Kotler, 2000, p. 81). Additionally, internal marketing aid the staff to realize "personal relevance" in the light of learning and knowledge management and conduct them with many interests. Internal marketing also functions to establish cooperation in an institution. It is the center of competitive benefits, (Cant, 2006, p. 60). For instance, diffusing and energizing phases, involve new learning behaviors, thus it may require high involvement of code breaking and human resource management and authorizing phases require high functional and support units. Similarly, internal marketing has achieved significantly in commanding and has performed the duty of guide great. The greater the corporation, within units, the more the transactions and dialogues, (Kotler, Keller, Dubious and Marceau, 2006, p.54). Marketing strategies are classified by the objectives they aim to accomplish to boost an organization's profits. The principal marketing strategies entails price reduction (to ensure the growth of market share), market segmentation and product differentiation. The marker share approach advocates for the reduction of the cost of production in a bid to reduce the prices by consumers. Through this strategy, firms strive to produce products efficiently and inexpensively and thus, capture the biggest market share. Based on this strategy, firms avoid marginally successful goods and various products lines and allocate few resources to product advertising and development. The competitive advantage provided by this strategy gives the ability to produce products at a reduced priced than the competing firms. Organizations that use this strategy, reduce their profit margin, and depend solely on sales volume to create profits. This price reduction approach has some challenges; for instance, finding markets with or without small number of low-cost retailers, competing with related firms using a similar strategy and losing flexibility because of scarce market and product line. The product differentiation approach comprises differentiating the firm's products from those of its competitors, through transforming and modifying the physical characteristics or the image physical of the products. Contrary though the market share approach, product differentiation needs an n increases prices of products to raise the profit margins. Firms adopt this strategy with expectations that customers will pay increased prices for high status products. Consequently, such firms attain either reduced market share or higher profits margin, (Kotler and Kotler, 2001, p 82). This marketing approach hinges on the creation of brand loyalty, quality goods, consumer likings of quality above cost, and continued product innovation. However, product differentiation has some limitations. For example, competing firms can easily patent the products, thus preventing the efforts of product differentiation. In addition, firms cannot hike their prices without risking losing their potential customers, regardless of whether they produce quality products or not. Market segmentation, on the other hand, is the process of dividing the general market into a numbers of smaller markets based on similar characteristics linked to the behavior of consumers. Once the market is broken into various segments, firms can introduce marketing programs satisfy the likings, interests and the requirements of the individual segments. In addition, firms or organizations can opt to court all the market segments through "differentiated marketing," to focus on few of the smaller segments marginalized by other firms through marketing niche (concentrated marketing), or to concentrate on individual customers or inferior markets via atomized marketing. It can also comprise two other strategies; this is because marketers can aim at different segments using product differentiation or price reduction approach. The growth of a segment triggers larger competitors to start targeting the segment, as well. Firms that concentrate on one or more segments are susceptible to changes in preferences and size of the segment. Thus, dwindling of the segment or decline in the taste of the firms products triggers the decline of the firm's revenues, (Novick, Morrow, and May, 2008, p. 68). Companies or firms have never had unique and powerful communication and information technologies to facilitate interaction with partners, audiences and clients. Also to capture, explore, store, find, exchange, analyze, use and present information and information data about them, and shape goods and services accordingly. Together with this, never before have, consumers anticipated interacting so closely with companies and each other. In its unique form, marketing now defined as a social process, involving human behavior for patterns focused on exchange of values or resources. Marketing is not just the traditional function focused on enhancing business profits, ((Homburg, Kuester and Krohmer, 2009, p. 33). Researches reveal that non-government organization, the private sector and public sector agencies are currently drawn to the social marketing potential. In this era of environmental destruction, climate change, rapid population growth, shortage of natural resource, poverty, hunger and inadequate social services, marketing has a role to play. Literature reveals that social marketing tools are used to enhance public health. Social marketing concentrate on transforming intractable behaviors in complex, economic, environmental, political, social and technological conditions with inadequate resources. If the main objective of business marketers is to meet the needs of the stakeholders, then the central principle of social marketers is to satisfy the social desire to advance the quality of life. The desired results of social marketing are ambitious; that is products are highly complex, target parties are challenging, the demand is hugely diverse, the fundamental engagement of final users is enormous, and competition is highly varied. 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