Finance and Marketing Issues - Essay Example

? Role of Marketing in Strategic Planning Kotler et al (2009) defines strategic planning as the process of developing and maintaining a feasible fit between the ever-changing marketing opportunities in business environments and the skills, objectives and resources at the disposal of the organization. Like marketing strategy, the company strategy must also be customer oriented to ensure improved company-customer relation hence improved profits. Strategic planning contemplates the current available decision choices and their future impacts on the business. Marketing is a particularly fundamental function for strategy formulation in a business. It informs a strategy, counsels it, reviews it and provides insights into strategy formulation in an organization. An outstanding marketing department is involved in a continuous cycle of measure-analyze-plan-measure. This cycle is as well a key ingredient of strategic business management function. Therefore, in essence, marketing is a key element of strategic management function. Great marketing can help the company in identifying and addressing improvement strategies to customers in either product differentiation or distribution channels (Kotler et al 2009). For example, forecasting is part of strategic planning, sales and marketing forecasts as always the main tools used in budgeting for the marketing function. In marketing research, the Research and Development personnel are essential for effective results analyses and interpretation. Kotler et al (2009), the chief aim of strategic planning is promoting the discernment of the company in the minds of the customers and consequently to increase customer relation and profitability of the business. Business strategic planning has to be undertaken to ensure the evaluation of all the options in a given situation. In such considerations, only the marketing function and research and development function are involved in result oriented research for improvement of service to the customer. Marketing Function versus Other Organizational Functions The marketing function of a business is the process that combines the product with pricing, promotion and distribution to reach the respective customers or end users. Marketing is one of the most significant functions of a business since it has a direct impact on sales and profitability of the business as well as customer relation. Because of this importance, the marketing function has a greater interrelation with other business functions like finance, accounting, production, research and development, technology, procurement and human resource among others. Building a profitable customer relationship in the marketing function requires interaction with the other business functions (Kotler et al 2009). I. Finance and marketing Every marketing plan always includes a primary financial dimension. Key aspects of a marketing planning and control are budgeting and profitability analysis. These issues require high resolution on significant financial issues like the definition of profits (e.g. Returns to equity or returns to investment) and determination on the appropriate controls for such profits (e.g. Taxes or inventory evaluation). All marketing decisions are investment decisions aiming at profitable customer relation hence adequate financial information is significant. Nevertheless, marketing is essential for the finance department since the information generated from marketing is used in financial analysis and forecasting (Kotler et al 2009). For example, the marketing team in organization utilizes the annual company financial reports and other financial documents to help them with budgeting. This helps to reduce duplication of work in the marketing team for employing financial personnel since the financial personnel are already available in the company. The marketing team is, therefore, able to apply financial performance indicators to their relevant respective market segments to ensure that they always remain relevant to customers. II. Production and marketing Effective marketing involves the production mix. The product mix includes among others branding, packaging, labeling and packing. These elements of product mix are essential ingredients for equipping the consumer with details about the product and the company as a whole. The interrelation between marketing and production is dual. While production determines the amount and types of products to be marketed, marketing identifies the essential elements that customers require, and that can be integrated in the product for the benefit of the customer (Kotler et al 2009). The interdependence between marketing and production is always evident new product development where through market survey, marketers are able to identify the customer needs then prescribe the same to the production department. However, the discrepancy between the two departments may result if the final product does not reflect the customers’ needs or on which department to take credit for an increase in sales or a successful product in the market. III. Customer service and marketing If not all, many consumer and industrial products require pre and post-purchase service. Although customer service is an element of the marketing mix, to some extent, it does not fall in the marketing portfolio of a business. The main function of customer service is the reception and service of complaints from customers (Kotler et al 2009). Satisfactory solution of customer complaints ensures satisfied customers hence a profitable business. If the customer service can serve as many complaints as the customers’ presents them the rating of the business increases in the minds of the customer and hence easy and less tedious marketing for the marketing team (Kotler et al 2009). The marketing team is the face of the organization to the customer. If in case customer service is poor, the marketing team may have difficulty in convincing the customers to think otherwise about the company. IV. Procurement and marketing From marketing research, the company can obtain details on the extent to which consumers are able to accept new products or the ideal product description that customers desire. On the other hand, procurement research objectively identifies and evaluates new materials and sources of supply then procures them before supplying them to customers. This shows an interrelation where marketing function identifies new opportunities in the market while the procurement function rushes to exhaust the opportunity so that the customer is always served to the best of their desire (Kotler et al 2009). Kotler et al 2009 relates inefficient market information to inefficient procurement services to customers. The marketing team should provide the procurement team with effective information on the location and description of customers for efficient delivery systems. V. Research & Development and marketing If there is no link between the Research & Development function and the marketing function, the result may be “achievement of a researcher's dream but a marketer’s nightmare.” The primary interaction between these two functions revolves around new product development. Each one of the stages of product development requires close collaboration between the two roles to guarantee that the new product addresses the demands of the customer. The marketing function identifies the customer needs and the level of acceptance of new products after which the research and development function design the products with the prescription from the marketing function to ensure that the customer is served effectively and efficiently (Kotler et al 2009). Additionally, market information is particularly essential. Market segments and positions must be understood if products are to be developed that serve their needs. The marketing team has to understand the customer environment, taste and preference, as well as consumption pattern. Through this, research and development team will be able to satisfy customer needs in their new products. References Kotler P., Harker, M., Armstrong, G., and Brennan, R., (2009) Marketing an Introduction, Pearson Education Limited. Harlow Essex. Read More