Able Corporation - Essay Example

Running Head Able Corporation Able Corporation Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts 03 May 2009 Management plan links the environment context, control types, and consequences, showing how these contingencies influence the selection and use of marketing controls. This framework offers useful conceptual material for further development of strategy implementation propositions for emerging enterprises. Strategy choice and implementation are the primary determinants of strategy success. The analysis of strategy performance over time provides important diagnostic inputs into the development of strategy choice concepts. The early discussion highlights the importance of matching the strategy choice with the conditions of the environment and the organization's skills and resources. The long-term importance of selecting a sound initial strategy has research support. In order to define the identity of Able Corporation, it is important to take into account the nature of business and market strategies. Research suggests marketing strategy should be conceptualized and investigated within the context of the organizational mission. Most marketing strategy frameworks address the role of organizational mission but few empirical investigations actually take mission into account. Perception of market needs does not mean that an opportunity exists for any particular company (Fill, 1999). Available opportunities must be related to the particular company's resources, including its personnel, financial, and physical resources. Profitable courses of action vary with individual corporate postures and goals. The overwhelming majority of innovative opportunities will be rejected. But it is necessary to screen the many to find the few that do relate to the resources and the mission of the company (Johnson and Scholes, 1998). This function of innovation relates to specifying the company's innovative opportunity by identifying the various practical alternatives that exist to remedy the discovered dysfunctioning. This is a job in which the technician can assume a major responsibility. An analysis of total company operations and methods in the light of market opportunities is helpful in sifting the opportunities to arrive at the few that are most relevant and profitable for the company's current situation (Doyle and Stern, 2006). Because of different organizational goals and missions, each organizational type defines a unique strategic situation. The first group was labeled "mom and pop shops." These firms are extremely small and possess little marketing expertise or resources. The second group are stable, high-payoff companies. These enterprises have achieved some success and may have acquired substantial marketing expertise within a limited market. Such firms have no aspirations for future growth. A third group is composed of growth-oriented small firms. These are new ventures with a mission defined by aggressive growth (Johnson and Scholes, 1998). In order to prioritize the implementation steps, it is important to analyze a current market situation and take into account possible changes and market fluctuations. The extent to which a marketing strategy should be modified over time is an important strategy choice issue. Successful enterprises select and retain a strategy on a continuing basis. This issue has critical implications for the new enterprise, particularly when entering a new product-market where the lack of experience in the market provides little or no direction concerning strategy choice. Entrepreneurship research also provides insight into two important marketing strategy options: strategic alliances and product diversification. Small firms are also utilizing collaborative marketing strategies. In an empirical study of entrepreneurial high-technology firms, small firms at a competitive disadvantage with rivals in their industry were likely to utilize joint ventures or other cooperative strategies to launch new products (Doyle and Stern, 2006). Implementation has received increasing attention as an important determinant of marketing strategy performance. The implementation of marketing planning, interaction of marketing personnel with other functional areas, and marketing strategy implementation as a make or buy choice are exemplars of work in this area. Yet, both conceptual and empirical work provides little insight into the potential moderating effect of firm stage of development on implementation (Hollensen, 2007). Control of marketing systems and strategies is an important element of implementation. Empirical evidence that control systems evolve over time within the firm has been reported. A metamorphosis of marketing control systems was found as firms grew in age and size. A preliminary integration of implementation research within both fields indicate propositions for future investigation. Overall, the propositions suggest no single marketing control system is equally appropriate for all types of tasks, environmental situations, or firms (Fill, 1999). The host country environment presents another set of macro and micro environmental factors. On the macro environmental level, technological, economic, cultural, legal, political, and ethical forces need to be evaluated. On the micro environmental level, the factors become more specific; they include (1) buyer-seller relationships, (2) nature of supply and demand, (3) market price mechanism, (4) nature of competition, (5) barriers to market entry, and (6) nature of distribution. The mode of entry will generally reflect the degree of commitment of the firm to the host country market. Second, once the firm selects the host market entry mode, it must consider the internal mode of operations. Although internal mode of operations is even less likely to represent a "steady state" abroad than at home, it will typically have some degree of permanence after an initial period of experimentation and securing of a viable market share (Paley, 2006). The third strand of strategy implied in the model pertains to the overall internationalization process, that is, the critical choice of first country to enter, the selection of additional countries and modes of entry, and operations in each additional country. The gradual transformation of the firm from a parochial to a global outlook with concomitant changes in organization and resource allocation patterns needs to be considered within the context of the outlined three strands of strategy. The performance resulting from the dynamic interaction of firm and host country market can be measured in terms of the objectives and plans of the entrepreneur or the entrepreneurial firm using conventional financial criteria, but also taking into account the values of distribution channel members, customers, the host country, the home country, and other interested parties. Generally, makers of standard, low-margin products would not have an easy time, even if they tried. In many instances, transportation and other economies of scale in international operations would work against small firms. The single most important factor in explaining the exclusively domestic orientation of the majority of U.S. small firms is the size of the domestic market. Why take on foreign customers and competitors as long as there is great potential at home Contrast this with another equally industrialized country, Sweden, whose market may be one-fifteenth that of the United States (Walker et al 2006). The marketing control system has an external and an internal aspect. External control refers to control of the marketing system external to the firm. Here control in the sense of influence and coordination is exercised. For example, external control is concerned with the power necessary to link the manufacturer to middlemen and customers in order to achieve an integrated marketing operation (Paley, 2006). Control deals here with the progression of raw materials to finished products, and with such marketing correlates as the product specification and package design necessary to develop customer, and ultimately consumer, utility through brand and product lines that satisfy wants and needs. Conflicting standards may have to be resolved. Components may be welded into a system through the efforts of a dominant unit. Evaluation of the current situation, the goals and targets, and the deployment of resources enables review of the marketing program's effectiveness. This leads to the adjustments that may be made, if necessary, in either the sales or profit targets, the marketing mix, or both (Reed, 2005). Marketing principles of Able Corporation should be based on ethical and moral standards adopted by the industry. Regardless of the perspective adopted, whether that of the economist, behavioral scientist, or business executive, markets form the arena in which competition occurs. They do not merely represent the raw collision of harsh business interests and unbridled business actions. Rather, they are communities of exchange. For competition in the marketplace occurs within ethical boundaries that the competitors do not readily transgress. Markets are subjected to numerous contradictory pressures. For instance, society desires the preservation of small business, yet craves the benefits of efficient mass producers and distributors. It limits competition but seeks the low prices of vigorous competitive effort. it wants the lowest prices for consumers but high wages for labor. Society covets optimum economic values for individuals and companies (such as low prices and high profits) as well as conflicting social and ecological standards. Marketing is the activity that differentiates business organizations from many other organizations. Moreover, marketing has an influence which, in any organization, extends well beyond its usual functional boundaries. Thus, the fundamental strategies of the business are conceived of and accomplished on the basis of market needs, forces, and opportunities (McDonald and Christopher 2003). In sum, markets become the major thrust in planning, directing, and organizing business operations. Marketing's responsibilities beyond the profit motive and its contributions to human and public welfare are included. This view recognizes that marketing can no longer be justified and accepted purely on economic grounds, but must also face up to its societal responsibilitiesgreater involvement in the critical national and international problems of our times. From this perspective "marketing is a social process; it is more than a business technique or even an economic activity. References Doyle, P., Stern, Ph. (2006). Marketing Management and Strategy. Financial Times/ Prentice Hall; 4 edition. Fill, C. (1999). Marketing Communication: Contexts, Contents, and Strategies 2 edn. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Hollensen, S. (2007), International Marketing: A Decision-Oriented Approach. Financial Times/ Prentice Hall; 4 edition. Paley, N. (2006). The Manager's Guide to Competitive Marketing Strategies. Thorogood. Johnson, G., Scholes, K. (1998). Exploring Corporate Strategy. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall. McDonald M., Christopher M. (2003). Marketing: A complete Guide. Palgrave Macmillan. Reed, P. (2005). Strategic marketing planning, Thomson Victoria. Walker, O. C., H. W. Boyd J. Mullins and J-C. Larreche, (2006). Marketing Strategy: a Decision-Focused Approach, 4th ed ., McGraw-Hill, Boston. Read More