International Marketing as an Indication of the Development and Growth of an Organization - Case Study Example

Strategic Marketing Table of Contents 1.0 Executive Summary 2 2.0 Introduction and Business Selection 3 3.0 SMART Objectives of Strategic Planning 3 4.0 International Marketing and Clothing Industry 5 4.1 Porter’s Five Forces and attractiveness to the company 5 5.0 The International Marketing Environment 7 6.0 Relevance of Marketing Research for Strategic Decision-Making 7 7.0 Conclusion 8 8.0 References 9 1.0 Executive Summary Strategic marketing plan is a tool that every business or sales manager needs to effectively achieve the objectives of the company. This report explores the subject of Strategic marketing relative to international marketing as it regards the development strategies of Marks Company. This is a company that deals in the production and supply of clothing and domestic home products. Development herein refers to the company’s intentions of introducing its products into countries it is yet to establish itself. The report purposes to provide the company with the necessary information that it can use to amend or improve the marketing strategy. Over time, Marks has grown and diversified its business operations on a local scale. Therefore, the information availed in this report is necessary for the company to explore foreign markets. The precise objectives of the report include an evaluation of the importance of international marketing for Marks, analysis of the various factors of international marketing such as industry attractiveness, assessing the international marketing environment in terms of industry competitive forces, discussing the relevance of strategic marketing research and the importance of differentiation as a competitive advantage. The report also adopts an order that avails substantial information in marketing that the company can use in development of a strategic plan for marketing. 2.0 Introduction and Business Selection From a global point of view, the international economy continues to grow in all aspects including products introduced to the markets. The development of a company is defined by the success of the marketing strategies employed. The clothing industry is an interesting sector because of its dynamic nature. Marks Company operates in the production and supply of clothing and home products. The company currently leads in the provision of women-wear and lingerie in the United Kingdom with continuous growth geared towards menswear, kids wear and more. Even though it already operates in the United Kingdom, the company’s management desires to explore other feasible continents for internationalization. To achieve this, the company requires a strategic marketing plan. It is headquartered in London, England. The company puts most of emphasis on product quality and respect for customer by implementing stock sizing systems and giving fair value for the prices. After opening a few shops around England, the Company is supposed to stretch to Asia and America then later on to other regions. In view of this, the report documents a detailed discussion on strategic marketing, planning and international marketing (Chae, 2012). 3.0 SMART Objectives of Strategic Planning These are the Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound objectives of the company. Application of SMART Objectives is essential since it is a tool that provides the company with a structure for implementation and the ability to track the progress. It gives a clear picture of where the company is headed in terms of development. Implementation of SMART Objectives would make Marks Company a potential employee globally with increased responsibility. The multiple objectives in this result in probable projects on contract and many projects translate into company growth (Shahin & Mahbod, 2004). The Marks Company has the broader goal of internationally commercializing is products to reach more people and widen its customer base. SMART Objectives will help with categorized strategic tasks to be undertaken in an action plan. Component Consideration Response Specific Detailed description of objectives. Answers the Ws of who, what, where, when and why. Marks Company aims at expanding be selling existing clothe and home products to new segments and countries. The clothe products are currently targeting women and kids only while home products are for every modern household. The company aims to venture into Asia first then America. The population in Asia is a potential market considering the number of women, children and modern households. Measurable Gives descriptive measures that define quantity, quality and cost. Provides a validation of success by focusing on observable action, quantity, quality, efficiency and flexibility to measure outcomes The Asian market it quite conscious about fashion and dressing styles. The company has to take into consideration the trends in this market to produce clothes appropriately. In April 2014, Marks Company is to move into China and to Japan by July. The company is to produce twice what it does currently in UK and compare the sales. Current production lines cannot suffice Asian market. The company has to expand in this respect by April 2014. Profits will be focussed on acquiring more machinery and recruiting more employees. Attainable Defines achievability of the goal with the available resources and in time frame The facility resources of production and staff are currently sufficient to produce a wide market like Asia. The company has to install such production infrastructure in a period of 3 months beginning January 2014. The company has spread across UK and so the logistics of shop establishment in new markets will not be much of a challenge. With additional resources and labour, the goals are achievable. Relevant Give importance of the goal and how they help achieve the company’s objectives. The goal of venturing into Asia and America opens a wider customer base to the company. It achieves the objective of internationalization. Time-bound Goal objectives to give a definite target date or period for completion. Required resources to be acquired by April 2014. The current profits are sufficient to acquire the infrastructure for bulk production. Recruit employees in China and Japan by July. Observe performance in these two Asian countries through August to validate expansion to other Asian regions. Table 1 SMART Objectives of Marks Company 4.0 International Marketing and Clothing Industry As theorised by Kotler, Armstrong, Wong and Saunders (2008), for a particular company to survive and participate effectively in the international market, efforts of improving management effectiveness are necessary. The Marks Company seeks to internationalize its operations in the clothing industry, also referred to as the textile industry. Labour employment in the clothing industry has continued to grow, an indication of the industry’s growth. However, this can be perceived as a response to the previous situation whereby there is a significantly active clothing industry yet with fewer workers employed. The industry remains attractive because of its diversity and dynamic nature. The formal clothing manufacturing industry is made up of a wide range of firms that from large-sized, to micro-enterprises with different employee capacities. According to a research conducted by Bennett for the International Labour Organization (2003), in South Africa alone, there are 1500 formal clothing firms. Taking an average number slightly less than this to be in most African and American countries, the two continents are still deficient in supply of clothing products. 4.1 Porter’s Five Forces and attractiveness to the company This is a model used to analyse the five major forces that have direct effect on the strategy of the business. These forces are majorly as a result of the external environment. It sufficiently covers all factors including cultural aspects, Asian cultures in this case, (Welsh, 2005). User preference The clothing industry is largely influence by fashion and dressing trends. Strategic planning is essential for Marks to recognize the rate of fashion change and its trend so as to produce that which the customers prefer. A strategy can be intended or implemented as a result of emergent issues. The people of Asia have other local cloth and home product shop to compare with Marks Company (Porter 2008). The company can also produce its own unique designs and sell their ideas to the people. Regional acceptance This factor is a representation of Porter’s point of Barrier to entry. Every country of governmental region has its own laws or regulations that address matters relating the cloth production industry. This is about a potential market to which access is determined by the laws governing the subject region (Bruner, Kumar 2007). Regional acceptance also is under the influence of a firms products and how they relate or conflict with the country’s culture and social aspects. Competition The manner in which Marks will avail their services and products will depend on the strategic plans put in place and will also determine their competitive advantage. Competition in the clothing and textile industry remains vigorous and stiff because of the diversity and the fast pace at which fashion trends change. A competitive advantage must form part of the strategic plan since it puts one firm over the others. Competition in this industry ensures that only quality and customer-desired products are availed in the market. Power of the supplier The bargaining power of the Marks company as the supplier is their ability to convince the customers in targeted markets to chose cloth and home products from Marks over others. This may be considered as a result of quality service that is driven by how competitive a market is. This relates to how the products from Marks company ogre with the cultural and social beliefs. The company is supposed to win the preference of the customers. It is supposed to enhance cooperation wit the public. Relationship between the company and the customers is essential for the company to understand the needs of the customers, their preferences and responses. Alternatives The presence of other companies offering the same services as Marks only presents a competitive environment. In this the success and growth or development depends on its strategic planning (Lafley, 2009). The presence of alternative firms in Asia and America is vital to bring competition to the market, which is essential for the growth of the industry. 5.0 The International Market Environment Achieving competitive advantage is categorically a primary goal to every firm, organization or company that aims at advancing internationally. According to Kauffmann and Roesch (2012), this is achievable by designing and deploying marketing plans with ability to sense or realize and meet demands of customers. The environment created by international marketing is engulfed in various factors that influence the expansion of an organization. Some of these aspects enhance while others hold back expansion, growth and development. These aspects are in particular categories of issues so as to facilitate a detailed understanding of the global marketing environment for purposes of strategic marketing. It is vital to note that strategic marketing grows beyond just production but it demands for innovative ways. 6.0 Relevance of Marketing Research for Strategic Decision-Making Marketing is entirely vital for a sound business health yet it requires detailed research to be embedded in strategic planning. Marketing research defines the intended process of finding, satisfying and retaining customers. Information gathered from marketing research will enable Marks to formulate a feasible marketing plan and means of evaluating success. It is also a very important business tool that a company like Marks can use to know the types of clothing products that can be profitable to introduce in the targeted market. Therefore, before Marks develop any strategic marketing plans, it is of the essence that it conducts an extensive market research on the Asian and American markets as the target markets. 7.0 Conclusion International marketing is an essential indication of the development and growth of a particular organization. It also justifies the management, marketing and planning or decision-making strategies that the organization employs. Marks is a leading retail company in the United Kingdom, this makes there expansion to global levels necessary and almost authentic, given the universal trends in the business sector. Internalization comes with a number factors or issues that require analysis before any decisions are taken. Accordingly, the report achieves the objective of establishing the importance of international marketing, strategic management and analyzing the factors in the international market environment. 8.0 References Bennet, M. 2003. Organizing in the Informal Economy: A Case Study of the Clothing Industry in South Africa. Geneva: International Labour Organization. Bruner G, Kumar A, 2007.Attitude towards location. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 17(5). Chae, R. 2012. Introduction to Korean Society and Culture. South Korea: Dankook University. Kauffmann, L. and Roesch, J. F. 2012. Constraints of Building and Deploying Marketing Capabilities by Emerging Market Firms in Advanced Markets, 20(4). Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Wong, V. and John, S. 2008. Principles of marketing. Pearson Education. United States: Prentice Hall. Lafley A, 2009. What only the CEO can do. Harvard Business Review, 3(5), p.67-89 Porter, M. 2008. The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy. Harvard Business Review, 86(1). Shahin, A. Mahbod, M. A. 2004. Prioritization of key performance indicators: An integration of analytical hierarchy process and goal setting. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 56(3). Welsh, R. A. 2005. How Cultural Differences Affect Your Global Marketing Message, [online] Available at: http://www.rawpowerwriting.com/article.asp?id=9 [Accessed 7th August 2013]. Read More