Implementing Strategies: Marketing Issues - Essay Example

1) Implementing Strategies: Marketing Issues Suppose you came up with an idea to organize your own business. The best way to do business in todays competitive world is to find your own narrow niche. 1. How would you identify the marketing niche that is not filled yet A market research is to be undertaken and proper segmentation of the market is to be carried out. This will help us in identifying the segments that are not addressed by other competing products in the market. Segmentation itself can be done on multiple basis; in terms of clients, products, geographic locations, etc., Once done, in every segment, competing products have to be identified and listed. If we are able to identify a segment that is not catered to by any of the competing products, then that market segment is a niche segment for the specific for product line. 2. How would you conduct a marketing research of the demand in that niche Market research can be either qualitative or quantitative. In order to carry out a research work, the following steps need to be adopted. 1. Selection of the type of research. Qualitative or Quantitative; what kind of data is going to be collected and the nature of analysis that will be performed on the data and the target that we need to achieve by doing this exercise. 2. Choose the method of contact otherwise recruit the people who will get in contact with the sample group. 3. Questionnaire is to be designed or a discussion guide for appropriate data collection is to be prepared. 4. Recruit the relevant people by suitably interviewing them and then selecting them. They need to be trained on the questions and the aim of the questions. Then the recruits need to be sent out to the field to collect the relevant data from the planned samples. 5. Compile the data thus collected and plan analyze the data based on the plan already worked out. 2) Implementing Strategies: Managing Technology I do some research for Enterprise Portfolio Management Office in AAA of Northern California. What this office does is Project Portfolio Management (PPM) - a new discipline in organizations, the one that links strategy formulation with the strategy implementation through selecting, prioritizing, optimizing and controlling project portfolio (the set of all projects in an organization). PPM is used the most in IT management (because IT was always the leader in project management), but now PPM is used to manage any portfolio of projects. Please study some of the articles on PPM: 1. http://www.projectperfect.com.au/downloads/info_PPM.pdf 2. http://www.grantthornton.com/downloads/APM_whitepaper_100814.pdf 3. http://www.welcom.com/content.cfmpage=530 1. What issues would you consider when selecting projects to implement your strategy The following issues need to be considered while implementing the Project Portfolio Management Strategy in the company. 1. Projects should be aligned with initiatives and the business objectives of the company. Initiatives become the projects and transcend annual budget borders. 2. While selecting the projects we need to look at which of them would need a closer watch, a bird's eye view, resource sharing and appropriate use of all available resources. 3. Initiatives are made, followed through, altered and appropriately projected to ensure clearer and firmer picture. Only those initiatives and projects that subscribe to this view needs to be brought under the scope of this initiative. Those projects where we might like to reap the following rewards, we need to implement the new strategy. 1. Faster and transparent change management 2. Quicker results since we have a close watch on the progress of the initiatives. 3. Minor projects will remain minor and not become a major issue that needs to be tackled post haste. 4. Initiative objectives are transparent and targets are achieved there rather than have the project dictate the objectives. 5. Portfolios can be constantly altered to enhance gains 6. A bird's eye view of the overall initiative is seeable. This will establish links across projects and it is easy to identify what leads to what or what could stop the progress of which job. This will improve the overall performance of the system. 2. What parameters would you consider to control projects Projects have to be identified and once they have been brought under the scope of the work being carried out, then the following parameters need to be identified and considered to control the project execution and gains out of the projects. 1. The first step is to perform a system scenario analysis (SSA) to identify the resources required, the skills to be mapped, competencies and risks we are undertaking by taking up the project. 2. Rank projects in terms of their priorities and importance. We need to evaluate their net asset values and where they fit in among themselves. And when the portfolio changes what happens to these also need to be monitored. 3. Prioritize, Schedule and fund the projects identified. Nurture, Sustain, Maintain and Retire the projects based on these schedules. Fund utilization and needs need to be continuously monitored so that it does not exceed the budgeted. 4. Prioritizations need to be communicated to all the concerned and any changes in them also need to be communicated to the appropriate people. This control on the information flow is critical and needs to be monitored. 5. Monitor results against valuation projections. 6. Reassess projects as they progress through the project cycle. They should also ensure all the metrics for the projects are appropriately monitored and controlled. This will ensure availability of resources, funds and also time. Also we need to monitor that one project does not adversely affect the others in the pipeline. 3) Evaluating Strategies: Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System Read "Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System" article from the Reserved Readings section. The final results of any corporation can be measured in financial terms (profit, revenue growth, etc.) Why do you think it is important to control not only financial performance of a company, but also such parameters as learning and growth, internal business processes, and customer satisfaction, taking into account that all these additional measures finally lead to improved financial results Financial performance of a company is what every shareholder is finally interested in. However, in order to realize a strategic growth and sustain the same, the company needs to work towards strengthening its existing resources. Learning and growth of the people in the company will result in better results all through. This will also result in building up effective business processes that will ensure timely completion of jobs and at the prices the management wanted. This would ensure customer satisfaction and result in increased financial results. For a sustained growth, a company needs to look at all these parameters including learning and growth, internal business processes and customer satisfaction. 4) The Future of Strategic Management Is Strategic Management a science or an art This is the question that has been discussed by different academics for a long time. The strategic management has greatly evolved during the last century from simple budget planning to providing company's sustainable competitive advantages in dynamic external environment. How do you see the Strategic Management in 100 years ahead Will it be more science or art How will it change and in what direction will it evolve Strategic Management will continue to be both a science and an art. An art since strategies are built over ideas and every human mind would conjure up different strategies at different points in time. A science, because more and more theories would come over and try to define the vagaries of the business world; Chaos theory or game theory and many a business process engineering will all step in to define what kind of changes will be required, in a worked out strategy to make it a success. The science of strategizing will possibly define templates and working methodologies that art would try to make use of. It is like the medium in painting and the idea itself that goes into making it. The ideas will change with age and perception of the individual, his geography and many other parameters. However, he might have to do his painting in one of the mediums that already exist or are created fresh. The science will help furthering the art of the Strategic Management. Strategic Management might find itself having more inroads made by science but it will continue to be predominantly an art though the percentage could have come down. Individual Questions 1) Implementing Strategies: Marketing, Finance/Accounting, R&D, and MIS Issues. Basing on business and corporate strategies developed in the previous parts of the Individual Project propose functional strategy of the company you analyze: - develop marketing strategy, including marketing segmentation and 4 P's (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion) - develop a financial budget for the period of your planning horizon, - develop R&D plan, - propose what Management Information Systems would you implement. When responding to this topic, change the title to your company's name. (Wal-Mart) Marketing Strategy and Segmentation We will take into consideration Wal-Mart for our current analysis purposes. Market segmentation can happen on three of the 4Ps and the fourth P will be an implementer of the others. If Wal-Mart has to grow swiftly, then it needs to address a majority requirement in the market. From the price point of view, majority of the people are not high value buyers and they are neither low value buyers. Instead they are mid sized buyers who would look for optimal price for the right product. From the product point of view, they are the buyers who look for reasonable quality. The positioning that Wal-Mart needs to do from the point of view of 4P analysis would be to provide the right quality in terms of known brands at the least price in the market. Now this should be available at the nearest place to the final user's home. May be this should be the corner shop. Wal-mart in turn ensured that they had a large chain of shops that catered to the requirements. The positioning, therefore, is: Best product at the right price at the next corner. By doing a SWOT analysis, we find: Strengths: This strategy would appeal to a large number of the population Weaknesses: The profit margins by selling at low prices will be very low and would require higher sale volume to survive. Opportunities: The low price market has not been grabbed by any competing company. Therefore it leaves open an opportunity to exhaust. Threats: The suppliers need to be consistent; the competition will build up over a period of time, needs to be faced and should be outpaced in terms of growth and spread. Financial Budget The financial budgets will go under the following heads: 1. Opening up of shops at every neighborhood: cost per shop x no. of shops 2. Purchase advances for getting the best price and all the best products in the market: USD These two will form the major financial heads for the marketing and market positioning strategies. R&D Plan R&D will be supportive to this positioning. One, market research will be one of the major areas that the R&D will work on. They will be conducting regular analysis and research on the best sought after products in the market and the prices that the company can buy at, by comparing the pricing of competing products. Two, the R&D will also concentrate on buying patterns of people and ensure that in case of a change in the purchasing power of people or in their buying patterns appropriate remedies are taken in the positioning strategy. MIS Plan The Management will require an real time information of what is happening in all the stores so that any corrective measures could be initiated immediately. One, the management would require a report on the products that are being picked up to the maximum and is there any change in them, then it has to be specifically brought out. Two, competitor information which would compare the products that move swiftly in Wal-Mart and those that move fast at other retailers. If there is any difference, then the same needs to be analyzed with reference to the positioning policy. If it is in line with the policy then the same may be ignored. If not, suitable remedial actions need to be taken. 2) Strategy Evaluation. You should develop a balanced scorecard for evaluating the strategies of your analyzed company, developed in the previous parts of the Individual Project Be specific, your evaluation criteria should be linked to your proposed strategy. When responding to this topic, change the title to your company's name. (Wal-Mart) 4. Basing on the strategies developed in Walmart such as SWOT, SPACE, BCG, IE, Grand Strategy and QSPM matrices: -develop strategy timeline and annual objectives -suggest the needed policies -propose how the company should modify its structure to implement strategy -what culture and motivation should support the implementation of your strategy. The strategy implementation plan will comprise of implementing four major initiatives on all the major sectors identified in the balanced score card. The timelines and plan for the same will be as below: 1. Maximize profits : 6 months 2. Learning Organization: 12 months 3. Supply Chain Management: Already under process and needs to be fine tuned within a period of 6 months. 4. Enterprise Wide Integration: This will bring together all the activities of the company and result in a seamless operation. This will require 6 months to implement. The annual objective will be to ensure the success of these initiatives resulting in the targets set in the balance score card. SWOT analysis of the new situation is already present in the previous section. In order to ensure that these are carried out seamlessly, staff should be trained and an implementation plan as a learning organization should be worked out. This will make the strategy transparent to the staff and let them understand whatever the company is trying to do and the staff involvement will be higher. Moreover, this will also result in an higher motivation. It is well known fact that the employee involvement is much greater a motivator than a salary rise. Read More