Strategic Marketing Management - Essay Example

These are things you have asked for: How does portfolio analysis link with the strategic marketing plan Which PLA best fits your organization strategic fit 2) The PLA cons (I can see the pros on your essay but not cons) 3) Impact of the strategic decisions that the tool addresses. 4) I can see usefulness and limitations of PLC but where did you write how to use PLC as a tool choice. 5) Can u write the usefulness of PLC in today's very changing environment Strategic Marketing Management Auditing tools are techniques which aid managers in understanding the current situation of a company to be able to come up with strategies that will enable them to attain company goals.

Auditing tools significantly bridge the gap between where the company "is" and where it "wants to be." Portfolio analysis tools are auditing tools which are used to identify and evaluate the various business makeup of a business entity. The flexibility of portfolio analysis tools enables managers to apply it to products, brands, and strategic business units. It should be noted that portfolio analysis aids a company in achieving main goals-maintain a balance portfolio and develop sustainable competitive advantage.

However, it should be noted that portfolio analysis tools should be applied with caution as each of the individual technique has limitations. These are further elaborated on the discussion of the different tools. The three main portfolio planning tools are The Boston Consulting Group Growth-share Matrix, General Electric Market Attractiveness Competitive Position Model, and Shell Directional Policy Matrix. The Product Life Cycle (PLC) as a portfolio analysis tool highlights four stages in a product's life cycle-introduction, growth, maturity and decline.

This technique stresses that products life is limited and each stage in the life cycle offers different levels of potential gains. Thus, companies should employ the right strategies to maximize cash flow. PLC is valuable as a marketing tool because it emphasizes product termination, growth projections, different marketing objectives and strategies in each stage, product planning, and dangers of overpowering. However, it is also recognized that PLC is limited as each product follows a unique life cycle (e.g., fads and classics), PLC is the result of marketing efforts and not the cause, the time span of each stage is unpredictable, and misleading objectives and strategies.

The PLC can always be a good tool choice for companies in coping up with the stages that their products undergo. In each stage, like introduction, growth, maturity, and decline, the companies can implement different marketing strategies to maximize profits. For example, in the maturity phase, the company can try to gain a sizeable income by introducing new uses of the product in consideration. As the current business environment is increasingly becoming more competitive, companies can pursue their goals by understanding the simple and basic concepts of the PLC as an auditing tool.

The core is being able to use PLC to maximize cash flow. The tool also gives managers specific ideas of what to expect in the life cycle stages of products and brands regarding the level of profit. The Boston Consulting Marketing Growth Share Matrix is a grid which relates market growth rate and relative market share. The two main goals of this auditing tool is to analyse its current business portfolio and decide which businesses should receive more or less investment, and develop growth strategies for adding new products and businesses to the portfolio at the same time deciding when products and businesses should no longer be retained.

Four types of SBUs are distinguished-star, cash cows, dogs, and question marks. There are three reasons why the BCG matrix is highly regarded as a management tool-it is simple, it is memorable, and it is useful. However, this tool is often criticized because it takes a very simplistic view of the world and it doesn't bring any qualitative measures to bear. It should be noted that some high growth markets are not necessarily attractive and some low growth ones not necessarily unattractive. The Ansoff Matrix's main goal is to aid management in deciding the product and market growth strategy.

Ansoff's product/market growth matrix suggests that a business' attempts to grow depend on whether it markets new or existing products in new or existing markets. Market penetration is a company's strategy which aims to serve current market with its existing products. Market development is offering new markets with existing products. Product development is offering new products to current market while diversification is offering new products to new markets. However, this tool is also flawed with its simplistic view of the business environment.

The General Electric Market Attractiveness Competitive Position Model or McKinsey Matrix is a modification of the BCG matrix. We should note that market attractiveness replaces market growth while competitive strength replaces markets share. Factors that affect market attractiveness are market Size, market growth, market profitability, pricing trends, competitive intensity / rivalry, overall risk of returns in the industry, opportunity to differentiate products and services, segmentation, and distribution structure.

Meanwhile, those which affect competitive strength are strength of assets and competencies, relative brand strength, market share, customer loyalty, relative cost position, distribution strength, record of technological or other innovation, and access to financial and other investment resources. Thus, companies should look into this factor in coming up and implementing their strategies. Managers should be cautioned of the use of this tool as the survey which generated the essential conclusions are strongly inclined only in the steel industry.

This tool is also highly recommended with large established companies but not start-ups. In summary, it was discussed how auditing tools specifically portfolio analysis tools aid managers in decision making. This paper has shown that these techniques help marketing managers in attaining the company's goals. However, it is worth mentioning that the uses of these tools are also limited depending on the organization's needs. Thus, managers should be sharp in discerning what tools to use and how they can benefit the business as a whole.