MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Marketing Management

Marketing Management

Introduction

This paper will analyse how products can be developed to achieve a competitive advantage. In order to analyse the role of products in the attainment of competitive advantage, it is important to explore the resource based view of the firm. Resource based view allows firms to understand the effective utilization of resources to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

The resource-based view of the firm provides the theoretical framework for this study. According to the resource-based view, the competitive advantage of a firm depends on its internal sources and its own control. The RBV has further explained that resources are valuable and rare. The resources allow organizations to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of business activities.

Before focusing on the creation of a competitive advantage, it is important for business to comprehend the environment in which they are operating. It is because the environment significantly influences the operations of a business. The environmental factors influence diverse areas of businesses. The political, legal, social, and economic environment is likely to influence the operations, products, prices, and human resource system of businesses. Therefore, it is important to analyze these environmental components for the successful operations of a business.

The interaction between business and environment is close and continuous. This interaction strengthens the business operations of enterprises. The environment influences the operations of an enterprise in diverse manners. The most important environmental influence is the identification of opportunities and threats. The environmental interactions results in providing businesses with opportunities and directions for growth. The environmental factors are also likely to influence the learning process of businesses. These factors motivate businesses to acquire skills and capabilities needed to operate successfully. Environmental factors also influence the competition of businesses. It helps in analyzing the strategies of competitors

The sales force is considered to be a valuable tool for organizations. This is because salespeople provide companies with important information regarding the needs of customers and activities that complement the market knowledge of companies. The abilities of firms to process valuable information provide firm specific capabilities that are related to efficient decision making (Taylor & Pandza, 2010, pp. 156).

The knowledge of products plays a critical role in the competitiveness of a firm. Product knowledge allows companies to create value and competitive advantage. It is important for companies to possess an in-depth knowledge of products. One of the ways to manage knowledge and information in organizations is knowledge management. Knowledge management allows organizations to deliver knowledge in a professional manner. This involves dissemination of information at an appropriate time and to appropriate individuals. Knowledge management can be defined as the systematic process of acquiring, explicating, and communicating information in an organization (Standfield, 2005, pp. 44).

Products allow companies to achieve a competitive advantage through quality management. Quality management is a philosophy and set of principles aimed at transforming an organisation into one capable of achieving victories. Quality management provides any organisation the application of quality principles for meeting the many challenges of today while ultimately moving the organisation toward the future ...