5. Identify and explain some problems and difficulties to marketing professionals in relation to change and development. Critically discuss the links between strategic marketing management and the change environment with particular mention of Levitt's (1960) seminal article" Marketing Myopia".
In the marketing context, change brought about by economic tough economy, disruptive technologies consumption and privation can all impact the steadiness of market environment (Sirmon, Hitt and Ireland, 2007). Global economy is accelerating quickly presenting way to competitive dangers and opportunities. Therefore, effective strategic planning is incumbent that may help marketers to endure and enhance their company performance in turbulent surroundings (Ireland and Hitt, 2005).
Change environment and proper marketing management:
Strategic management involves the role played out by professionals to align business firm with changing environment. Mostly business organizations are being governed on narrow eye-sight, therefore in order to effect a result of change and innovation, the corporate eye-sight of organization must be reexamined to specify market segments in a broader framework. This was the crux of Levitt's article "marketing myopia", i. e. marketers focus on the products rather than customer.
According to him the environmental change is not a major contributor in the issues faced by industries rather it's the constricted stance with their marketing professionals or decision manufacturers. It is simply the failure associated with the top management's inability to handle the business beyond the narrow confines of normal production methods.
False myths like prediction of an avid market share due to upsurge in population, lack of substitutes and total reliance on mass creation business lead to marketing myopia. Way of the marketers should be customer centric alternatively than product centric as Levitt has rightfully given the exemplory case of Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motors who adopted the strategy to decrease cost price of cars to attract more customers. Technology cannot always assure successful market results therefore sometimes businesses have to provide away their personal gains to gain permanent market success.
The strategic marketing management and its connection with the firm's environment play a vital moderating role. As both components are regarded active, it is less recurrent that the companies succumb to the tendencies of marketing myopia. Contrary to that if the marketing environment is static, myopic stance is inescapable and the organization must suffer the results. For staying away from myopia, a firm must modify with the changing market needs (Lichtenthal, and Iyer, 2003).
Presentation1JJ. bmp
Table: Typology of firm-environment links
To package with the change environment, companies can form new strategies using Mckinsey 7S Model which may have the propensity to foresee hard factors (e. g. systems, structure) and smooth factors (like culture, education degree of employees, shared beliefs etc). The technique is also ideal for merger and acquisition (Egner, 2009).
mckinsey-7s-model-software_business___production_barcode_software-31759-screenshot. gif
Hard Elements
Soft Elements
Strategy
Structure
Systems
Shared Values
Skills
Style
Staff
2. What are competencies and capacities? Argue the value of an marketing manager examining business competencies and capacities in the fulfillment of corporate and business and marketing aims. Use types of competences and capabilities to demonstrate your answer.
Competencies and capabilities:
These principles of strategic management refer to the ability of any business company to provide the services being promised to clients. Both are interrelated but vary in their applicability in the marketing framework. Competencies might be regarded as the abilities possessed by a firm on which the marketing manager or merchant can make strategic decisions. These can be as a result of providing higher level customer service or skills like usage of modern tools by the marketing company. An example of competencies could be the CRM initiatives of the true estate organization, Barratt Trends PLC.
Capabilities are shown through the business enterprise organization's actual habit encompassing the ability of the organization to grow its resource platform in order to realize competitive advantage on the market. They could be judged based on firm's values, resources and functions (e. g. communication and decision making structure).
Importance of marketing supervisor:
Every business group possesses some key competencies that must be critically evaluated for proper market functioning in arriving years. Therefore, managers of an business organization should start developing and planning strategies to achieve these competencies beforehand. For example with the wide scale execution of the e-tailing strategy, maintaining and developing of a website may be the competence that is regarded as essential for success among rivals (Sullivan and Adcock, 2002, p. 323).
Skills can be purchased in the retail sector yet the onset of developing skills is looked upon a better option.
Resources and skills for example the retail staff recruiting should be honed in to the capabilities for providing a service at a particular marketing level. Regarding to Kotler (1997) for providing satisfaction to the customers, a good marketing manager should be able to determine the needs for customer satisfaction and exhibit them through organization's features.
By strategically investing in resources, development of potential and competencies should be prepared by the marketing managers in relation to the marketing targets established by the company based on the knowledge of current business environment and strategies that are possible to do. Although development of competencies and features are sometimes difficult to regulate, managers must predict the future requirements by taking into account current needs (Sullivan and Adcock, 2002, p. 323).
