Motivation and Marketing Mix - Literature review Example

?Motivation and Marketing Mix Motivation Theories of Taylor and Maslow Volumes have been written on employee motivation so as to determine the direction that organizations should maintain in HR management. Evidently, understanding various theories helps managers to enhance employee retention and productivity by utilizing motivation as the key factor to improve individual efficiency. Taylor’s theory on motivation is seen founded upon on his “Scientific Management Principles.” Whereas, Maslow’s content theory of motivation is based on a Hierarchy of Needs. According to Gibson (1996, 235-38), evaluating his observations, Taylor had distinctively indentified three major assumptions related to human behavior at work: 1) man is a rational economic animal who always tries to maximize his economic gain; 2) people react as individuals rather than as groups; 3) people can be used in standardized approach like machines. In the same way, Maslow’s theory was based on two key ideologies; they are classification of human needs and consideration of the relationship between the classes. Taylor held a fundamental and straightforward idea of what motivated people at work—money. According to his opinion, each worker should get a fair days’ pay for a fair day’s work, and the pay should be on the basis of amount produced using the piece-rates method. Thus, his theory explains that employees who do not delver a fair day’s work should be paid less or nothing and those who deliver more than a fair day’s work, going beyond the target should be paid higher. However, according to Maslow, an employee’s career begins at the bottom of the hierarchy, where he would primarily try to meet his basic needs. Moving higher on the hierarchy, he secondly searches for his psychological needs and safety needs at the next level. When these needs are met, they are no longer motivators for him, so he would then want to satisfy his social needs, which the employer must use as a motivator. Finally, the esteem needs of an employee acts as a motivator such as, given appreciation for a job well done, awarding a promotion, etc. For example, as noted down by Oyedele (2011), a multi-national company in Nigeria watched their production increasing by more than fifteen percent after they had installed a ‘cold water tap’ and a ‘color television’ in the junior staff waiting room; the employees felt a sense of belonging in the organization and worked hard. Apart from these, the apparent weakness of Taylor’s ideology is that it leaves out the significant differences between different kinds of people. It is hard to make sure that a “best way” is going to suit everyone. In the same course, the Maslow model seems impracticable with the real-life practice as individual behavior may respond to not just one, but several needs at the same time. 2. Benefits of having a motivated work force In fact, employee motivation is one of the significant factors which help the organization to improve employees and thereby organizational performances, and hence, having a motivated workforce helps to achieve the competitive advantage that the organization tries to accomplish. There are many advantages of having a motivated workforce to the organization. First of all, an enhanced employee performance and efficiency helps the organizations to acquire higher productivity. According to Calrk (2003, p2-3), an organization having a motivated workforce can reduce their costs as the employees would not only work faster, but utilize their inventiveness to propose developments to the course of action which can lead the organization to save millions of dollars of overall cost . In the same way, motivated manpower will increase the quality of products produced by the organization (PSP Metrics, n.d). A team working efficiently will bring out the best quality products and thereby reduce the cost of resources for work. This process helps to boost up the product value in the market making sure that the product release cycle is reduced to its minimum. Moreover, motivating the workforce will reduce the employee turnover rates of the organization. In other words, it will reduce the number of employees leaving the organization, and thereby help to cut down the training and recruitment costs. It creates within the employees “the will to work”, and the organization will have lower degree of absenteeism as the individuals feel contented with their working environment. A contented and satisfied employee will always give the firm a good fame which makes it easier for the management to recruit best and efficient employees. Finally, a motivated group of employees contribute to a better society as they constitute a happy group of people. 3. Benefits of using different motivation approaches Understanding how and why to motivate the workforce is a significant part of managerial ability. Managers have the ability to motivate the employees effectively using methods like psychometric test and physical observations of the individuals, finding out the needs of the workforce in order to assess the kind of motivators to be used. It is essential for the organization to follow different motivation theories as motivation to some may mean a ‘fat salary’ whereas to others it may mean having a smart and hygienic environment to work, getting an opportunity to train and develop a career, or being contented or satisfied with the job. There is no rule that salaries and wages are the ultimate motivators for employees to improve the productivity. The employees should feel a sense of belonging in the organization which makes them work harder and qualitatively. According to Oyedele (2011), it was awards and recognition in the organization and not the payment or overtime helped firms to motivate some employees; adding to this, he brings out the example of a Nigerian multi-national firm whose production increased by more than fifteen percent within a year when it introduced a cold water tap and a color television on the junior staff waiting room. In fact, these two motivators would not have influenced the entire workforce as each individual has his own motivational preferences. So having different motivational theories enables the management to use each of them appropriately when necessary, in order to motivate each employee in order for increasing the productivity of the firm. With the help of appropriate motivation theories such as, Taylor’s and Maslow’s, the managers can utilize their leadership abilities in handling the employees and understanding what motivates each of them. For example, the Kellogg Company, one of the world’s leading producers of breakfast cereals, uses motivational techniques to develop the business into a ‘great place to work at’ (Kellogg's case study). Using motivation techniques, irrespective of what their roles are, encourage everyone to live by the ideals of the organization. Subsequently, the whole team forms an organizational culture where everyone has ownership over their own works and always attempt for continuous development and industry-leading outcomes. Implementation of motivational principles can influence the behavior of employees within the organization. So by understanding the effects of various motivation theories and techniques, an organization can make its work more exciting and interesting experience for the workforce together with developing a more productive, profitable and competitive business. 4. Four Elements of Marketing Mix It is evident that JD Groups has been utilizing the 4 Ps of market mix. It is one of the UK’s lading retailers of fashionable sports and casual wear, founded in 1981 in Mossley, in Manchester (JD Sports). The JD sports and fashion group had been expanding through an organic growth process for almost twenty years until the recent years when the company made a number of acquisitions. Throughout its course of action, JD has been focusing on the 4 Ps of marketing mix in order to effectively put its products in the market based on the customer needs. First of all, the product element of the mix encompasses factors such as quality, design, after-sales service, and branding. JD’s lifestyle sportswear targets different groups of customers with its global power brands. They are long-established brands, backed by large marketing budgets which help the firm to increase sales and maintain consumer demands while facing its competitors in the global market. Generally, retailers have no words on what the manufacturers produce. However, the JD Group utilizes the buying power and knowledge of the market to take ideas while developing a product. For example, the brands like Adidas Forest Hills and Adidas Training PT were exclusively manufactured for the firm. Moreover, the company functions on an Ethical Trade Initiative Base Code, which ensures health and safety, suitable working hours, fair wages, proper working environments, and social and environmental factors. The price element of the marketing mix depends on various factors such as its cost of production, required profit margin, price set by competitors, and the extent the consumers are willing to pay. The most significant part of a marketing strategy is to get the price right, as the price of a product is directly linked to income generation, payment of debts, re-investments, and profit creation. The company should make sure that the price set by the firm is perceivable for its consumers considering the value for money in relations to the quality of goods and services (JD Sports). Moreover, the JD Group adopts a number of pricing strategies such as, market penetration, competitive pricing, and strategic pricing. The highly significant place element of market mix for the JD Group is high streets, out of town locations, shopping centers and e-commerce. The firm adopts innovative displays and creative imagery to provide a distinctive shopping experience. The right location for a product plays a key role as it can maximize sales, control costs, and thereby increase profits. Today, the firm also provides the e-commerce facilities through which consumers experience high standards of service and functionality. Finally, promotion enables the firm to pass information to consumers and persuade them to buy its products. The promotion also helps to create a new brand image for the firm and to develop a market share, thus creating a competitive advantage in order to keep itself unique. The JD group implements a mix of two promotion techniques, such as above-the-line and below-the-line (JD Group). The above-the-line techniques include product placements in various publications, paid-for advertising in magazines and newspapers, multi-media advertising, etc. Likewise, its below-the-line techniques deals with the e-mail service, sales incentives, celebrity programs, sponsorships, product endorsement with celebrities, partnership with media agencies, etc (ibid). 5. “The demand for sportswear and casual clothing is more likely to be price sensitive” Price can be regarded as the most influential factor among the 4 Ps of marketing mix. It is essential for every firm to price its products at a level that the people can get the maximum value out of it. Among the different kinds of choices that a firm should make during the course of brining a product or service into the market, pricing is the most significant decision to be made as it directly associated with the profitability of the product. There are great price fluctuations in the market. Even though the demand for necessities, such as clothing, bread and fuel is unlikely to change, the demand for sportswear and casual clothing is more likely to be price sensitive, because the market is going through challenging business environments. In the same way, unemployment levels are increasing and the inflation rates are at their peaks, resulting in consumers having reduced disposable income. Therefore, there is greater chance for demand falling for non-essential goods, such as branded clothing and sportswear as income reduces. Thus, demand for such products remain price sensitive and are easily impacted by price fluctuations. 6. Use of Marketing Mix Marketing is based on the idea that the company needs to produce a particular product that a specific group of people want, putting it in those markets where the same people are involved frequently, and pricing it at a level that the people think they can get the maximum value out of it (Mind Tools). These factors can be easily evaluated by the management through an efficient handling of the marketing mix. According to Kotler (2001, pp. 256-7), the marketing mix or the 4 Ps of marketing can be explained as the different kinds of choices that a firm should make during the course of brining a product or service into the market. One of the most evident examples of efficiently utilizing the 4 Ps of market mix is JD Group. JD is the UK’s lading retailer of fashionable sports and casual wear, founded in 1981 in Mossley, in Manchester (JD Sports). The JD Group follows a B2C (business to consumer) organizational structure through which it is able to provide exactly what the customers need, outperforming its rivalries in the market. The marketing strategies adopted by the firm helps to remain steady in challenging business environments, such as the consumers’ reduced disposable income. At this juncture, JD concentrates on the 4 Ps of marketing mix in order to efficiently market its products according to the customer needs. In detail, the market mix comprises of the 4 Ps, namely, product, price, place and promotion. The product in the mix includes the factors such as quality, design, and after-sales services and JD’s lifestyle sportswear targets different groups of customers with its global power brands. In the same way, the firm takes into consideration the buying power and knowledge of the market to make decision while modernizing a product, in order to meet the expectations of the customers. The firm takes the price factor of marketing mix into account so as to ensure that the price of the products is perceivable for its consumers. The consumers should be turned willing to buy the products when they consider the value for money in relation to the quality of goods and services offered to them. Moreover, implementation of a number of pricing strategies enables the firm to take a competitive advantage in the market. For example, the JD Group had put into practice various pricing strategies such as, market penetration, competitive pricing, and strategic pricing, which helped the firm to maintain the prices of its product with an adequate profitability, and to attract maximum customers. Likewise, place contributes a significant element to the marketing mix. The JD Group executes innovative and creative outlet structure to enhance its customers with a distinctive shopping experience. In the same way using techniques like e-commerce facilities will provide consumers with high standards of service and functionality. Finally, a firm can make use of the advantage of promotion in order to pass information about its products to consumers and thereby creating interest and desire in them to buy the products. Thus, the 4 Ps of marketing enables the organization to identify the marketing offers in terms of product, place, price, and promotion; the 4 Ps also help to plan a new project, or evaluate an existing one, to optimize the impact with its target market (Mind Tools). The marketing mix principles can be utilized to help the management in deciding how to introduce a new product into the market. It can also be utilized to evaluate the existing market strategy and whether it should be developed or not. Moreover, the marketing mix enables the company to identify the marketing elements in order to efficiently positioning the market offer. References Arthur Hunt Human Resource Consulting 2009, How to Market Yourself! XXV.EUFASA Conference in Parague, viewed 9 Dec 2011 www.eufasa.org/...Prague/How%20to%20market%20yourself.ppt Calrk, RE 2003, Fostering the work motivation of individuals and teams. Performance Improvement, volume 42, No. 3, pp. 1-13. Viewed 9 Dec 2011 http://www.cogtech.usc.edu/publications/clark_fostering.pdf Gibson, JL 1996, Organization Theory and the Nature of Man, The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 9, No. 3. Pp. 233-245. JD Sports case study: Creating a winning marketing mix, The Times 100,viewed 9 Dec 2011 http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/jd-sports/creating-a-winning-marketing-mix/introduction.html Kotler, P 2001, Marketing Management, Millennium Edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc. Kellogg's case study: Building a better workplace through motivation The Times 100, viewed 9 Dec 2011 http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/kelloggs/building-a-better-workplace-through-motivation/introduction.html Mind Tools, The Marketing Mix and 4 Ps, viewed 9 Dec 2011 http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_94.htm Olufemi, O 2011, How Managers can Motivate their Employees. SciTopics. Viewed 9 Dec 2011 http://www.scitopics.com/How_Managers_can_Motivate_their_Employees.html PSP Metrics, n.d, Achieving a Motivated Workforce, Pittsburgh, viewed 9 Dec 2011 http://www.psp-hrd.com/articles/Achieving%20a%20Motivated%20Work%20Force.pdf Read More