Strategic Market Planning of Teratech - Case Study Example

Teratech Teratech, a Relationship Management (CRM) service provider, is a dominant player in their field of business. Their clientles are in the pharmaceutical industry. CRM is a relatively new concept that evaluates relationships between the customer and the products/services. Teratech does not only provide technical solutions and services but also ensures on focusing the needs of the customer. Even though the CRM service provider industry is relatively young, the competition is very competitive. Since the industry is technology dependent, advances in application and software solutions might create an exponential growth to the service provider. The first provider to tap these advance resources would gain a bigger share in the market, lead the CRM service industry and have the first market entrant advantage. In the first quarter of 2005, Teratech aimed to go beyond the basic CRM functions and venture into modeling and analytics. The growth opportunities in predictive modeling and analytical CRM software is very big for the five-year-old company. Grabbing this opportunity would give a strategic advantage to Teratech, since the company is considered as a CRM expert for the pharmaceutical industry. According to Teratech's CEO, Jack Dwyer, developing a new analytical CRM product would assure the stakeholders continued sales and revenue growths as well as market leadership in the industry, while compensating the declining sales in the last quarter of the previous year. The new product is one of his corporate strategies for continued success of the organization. He is looking forward to an exceptional business performance of the company for three years. Jack Dwyer is a self-made man, who worked his way up to become a respected CIO in his previous job before he founded Teratech. He is a successful man with a 20-year experience in a leading technology service firm and a bold vision for Teratech's future. His vision for Teratech is to become the preferred solutions provider for pharmaceutical companies and the forerunner in the industry. This is the ideal end-state goal of Teratech. With the development of a new analytical software, Teratech's customers can identify trends, understand customer behavior, explore simulated scenarios and predict outcomes. This software would complete the company's CRM package of product functionality and analytical capability. The package is very marketable and salable to loyal customers as well as new recruits, as shown by the optimism of the sales team members. This would enhance the company's competitiveness in the market. The existing products and the development of a new analytical application software would answer to the vision of the CEO and help the company achieve its goal. However, development of a new product does not end on the salespeople. New product development is a company wide operation. It also involves other teams such as marketing, finance, human resource, and technology development teams. The marketing team is optimistic that the new product would answer the customer's concerns on the current product and return on their investment. The relatively new concept of CRM in pharmaceuticals and pharmacy-related industries is still at its infancy stage and the customers are still uncertain on its applicability. The development of the new product would assure the customers of its added benefit. The pharmaceutical companies would be able to maximize the value of their customer and market data as well as enhance their marketing strategy for optimum effectiveness. In the ultra-competitive environment of the pharmaceutical industry, the new product can address both the effectiveness and efficiency of their marketing campaigns. The success of the new product in the market would boost Teratech's expertise and market image, such that, the marketing team are challenged to cater new industries and access new technologies. Finding new markets or even creating a new one would be a blue ocean strategy for the team. Furthermore, Christine DeFalco, Chief Marketing Officer, is concerned on how the product would be priced, promoted and placed in the market. She is also concerned on meeting and exceeding the current needs of the pharmaceutical industries as well as the current customers' service issues. With intensive market research and careful establishment of the marketing plan and framework, the team can figure out the problem and create solutions. The finance team, on the other hand, is troubled on the resources needed to be allocated for the development of the new product. The estimated budget from conception to roll-out is at $100MM and the time needed for the development of the technology is about two years. The sizable expense of developing and launching a new product as well as the high risk of failure worries the team. The human resource team is challenged to manage expenses for the year. Their VP of Human Resource, Chris Riggs, is concerned about staffing and is considering freeze hiring for new employees and replacements for the year; and even considered on decreasing the headcount. The technology development team is having problems with their talent pool considering the company-wide plan of Riggs and his team. Wendy Martin, Chief Technology Development Officer, has reservations on how the new product is going to be supported and developed. Her team members are preoccupied with enhancements and upgrades of existing products. Her team members are also roughed up with technical support to customers. Her team might even be coping up with the beefed up quotas for the year of the sales team. The current skills assessment of the technology development team showed that the team is inadequate and weak to support the development of the new product. This is the biggest challenge of the team. Although, according to Christine DeFalco, the current problem can be addressed through additional budget for new talents and technology as well as internal changes once the Board of Directors approve and the project moves forward. Fortunately, Teratech is fitted out with highly respected and successful top management brass. The knowledge, experiences and strengths of the management team leverages the company and equipped them to face the challenges in the industry and its competition. Since the company is still five-years of age, the workforce is even primed to handle internal and external changes. The entrepreneurship present in the a young company is high and the motivational spirit is eminent. The organization is ready to exploit new opportunities in the market and face the risks. With the ample amount of resources, the right talent pool, and the timely release of the new product, Teratech would become the preferred CRM solutions provider for the pharmaceutical industry. References: Abell, Derek and John Hammond, Strategic Market Planning. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc. 1979. Best, Roger J. Market-based Management: Strategies for Growing Customer Value and Profitability. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1997. Best, Roger, and Reinhard Angelmar. "Strategies for Leveraging Technology Advantage." Handbook on Business Strategy. 1989 Day, George. "Building a Market-Driven Organization." Market Driven Strategy. New York: Free Press, 1990. Fleming, John H., and Jim Asplund, Human Sigma. New York: Gallup Press, 2007. Levitt, Theodore, "Marketing Myopia" Harvard Business Review(July-August1968):45-56 Read More