MARKETING PROCESS

Marketing process

Marketing process

Q1.

A detailed review of relevant literature revealed little reference to strategic marketing decision-making process specifically. Hence, in order to build a theoretical research model of such process, the broader strategic management, decision-making process, marketing and marketing strategy literature was consulted. From this, a large body of research supported the proposition that any strategic decision-making process can be depicted as a series of “steps”, “things done” or “phases”, and that these are conducted in numerous “ways”, “means” or “methods”. Furthermore, there is wide acknowledgement of the influences of contextual factors upon the strategic decision-making process.

It was found also that “methods” could be usefully classified into competencies and networks and “context” classified into external and internal. After examination of the literature sources, competencies were classified into “learned” and “inherent”. Learned competencies were defined as including those acquired in some formal structured way through education and training and represent skills which can be readily measured and assessed, while inherent competencies were defined as those characterising behaviours and thinking traits generally acquired outside formal educational and training processes. The results of the multidisciplinary literature review were grouped into steps, methods and context.

The specific steps which emerged included: decision emergence, diagnosis and initial intelligence gathering, selection of decision criteria and weights, data collection and analysis, alternatives development and evaluation, emergence of favoured decision option, final detailed assessment and final commitment. Furthermore, while the normative literature implies some degree of sequentiality of steps in process (Johnson and Scholes, 1999), nevertheless considerable support remains for the iterative option.

Results from the literature pertaining to methods suggested that the methods used in conducting the steps in the strategic marketing decision-making process could be classified into learned and inherent competencies and internal and external networks.

Furthermore, the inherent competencies identified included intuition/gut feel, heuristics, creativity and strategic thinking, while the learned competencies included rationality, formality, written activity and analytical tools utilised. Assistance sources outside the firm included professional experts, financing bodies, public supported agencies and other businesses. The separation of steps from the methods employed to conduct them implies that the theories to date of strategic decision making, expressed as they are as all-embracing descriptors such as “rational”, “formal”, “incremental” and “satisficing” (Mintzberg, 1993; Whittington, 1993; Ansoff, 1987), inadequately model strategic marketing decision-making practice. Implicit in acceptance of such theories is that all steps in decision process are carried out in essentially similar fashions. This has been one factor mitigating against the emergence of a universally accepted theory of strategic (marketing) decision making generally (Ansoff, 1987, author's brackets).

Q2. SWOT ANALYIS

A scan of the internal and external environment is an important part of the strategic planning process. Environmental factors internal to the firm usually can be classified as strength (S) or weaknesses (W), and that external to the firm can be classified as opportunity (O) or threats (T). Such an analysis of the strategic environment is referred to as a SWOT analysis.

There is a significant renewal for Motorola in 1997 -- one that included management changes, a ...