The firm’s success depends not only on how well each department performs its work but also on how well the various departmental activities are coordinated to conduct core business processes. List and briefly describe the five core business processes outlined in the text.
The following are the five-core business processes discussed in the book:
Human resources management
Businesses require a human resource to accomplish different tasks within the organization; management scholars and experts think that human resources are the most variable asset that organizations whether in the private, public, or government organizations have. How well the human resources are sourced, developed, and retained in the organization is the work of management. Developing an efficient team is the role of management that starts with planning human resources to appraisal, motivation, rewards, and ends with the termination of the employment contract.
Marketing Sales and marketing
The goals and objectives of an organization can only be attained when the produced goods get their way to the final consumer; marketing is an integral business process where a manager puts in efforts that ensure that products/services get to their final customer. One duty of a marketing manager is the determination of a market segment. Market segmentation is a continuous process used by marketing managers to determine the markets for their products. A segmented market is a homogenous subset of the main market. It has some similarities in characteristics; they demand similar goods. To be able to sell, there is a need to simulate the mind of potential customers to buy one’s products.
Supply chain management and inventory management
An organization requires raw materials for its operations. When the products have been produced, they require getting to the final customers in the right state, time, and place. How adequate materials are fetched and integrated into the system guarantees or deny a company continuous production. Adopting effective supply chain management is one practice of strategic management. It ensures a company has an adequate supply of materials when they are needed and the end customer gets final products.
Financial management and budgeting
To effectively produce, a company needs to have an operating budget and the system of operation be effected; financial managers have the role of ensuring they come up with a monetary figure that their organizations need to meet for effective operations. The management should ensure that they follow the set standards to attain the financial parameter data as projected.
Communication processes
Business communication is vital for success in all businesses. Success in this context means, being able to accomplish a particular task or to achieve a specific objective. Good business communications in relationships with either fellow staff or customers are needed to prosper. Business success can be measured in terms of the practicability of business relationships, which is directly proportional to the quality of communication.
in an economy of change, continuous innovation is necessary. Most companies rarely innovate, some innovate occasionally, and a few innovate continuously. Comment on why a company should continuously develop new products.
Modern business arenas are changing fast, to remain competitive in the arenas, a business needs to continually innovate and develop other ways of accomplishing tasks as well as come up with new products that meet consumers’ needs effectively. In the business world, small, medium, and large-scale businesses need to develop new processes, products, strategies, and paradigms so as they can remain afloat and have a competitive advantage. Innovation is defined as a continuous process of selecting, developing, and commercing new commodities, processes, approaches, and business models.
The major reasons why a business should keep innovating are:
- To remain competitive and afloat in the changing business arenas
- To improve consumer satisfaction and loyalty to the business
- To cost cut and improve sales in the company
- To diversify and get more business to the company
Marketers use four broad groups of variables to segment consumer markets. Identify these groups and how they are used
A market segment is a homogenous subset of the main market, which shares similar characteristics that make them demand/require similar goods. A segment is also stimulated by similar innovations. After developing a marketing segment, the next step is to develop mechanisms to enable sales in the target market. One of the ways to enter the target market is the marketing mix. An effective marketing mix ensures that goods are available to the target customer when they need them and they are affordable. Having the marketing segment in mind, then the company can know the kind of products that will be produced; the following are the broad groups’ segment methods:
Gender
The products the company is selling facilitate segmenting the market in gender line; some products can be sold to women or men only, some are unisex products; when the company has this in mind, it can know the approach to use in reaching the segment. Men’s products cannot be marketed the same as women’s products thus after segmenting the next step will b effectively be determined.
Age
Different products target different ages; understanding of the needs that certain age requires will assist a company in designing and customizing its marketing strategies to that effect. For example, if the target market has been chosen to be children, product packaging and advertising will either target the children’s attention or coined to get the eye of a parent. Using this parameter of segmentation, the level of education of the target market is important in placing one’s products.
Income
The income of consumers affects the much they can buy; when setting prices this is a crucial factor to consider. It also determines the packaging and sometimes ingredients used.
Location
People in different locations demand different goods and services; on the other hand, the cost of the goods may vary in places depending on the costs incurred when delivering the commodities.
Please answer the multiply choices
Marketing management is ________.
- monitoring the profitability of the company’s products and services
- developing marketing strategies to move the company forward
- the art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping, and growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value
- Assessing the competitive environment in which firms operate.
The ________ concept holds that consumers will favor those products that offer the most quality, performance, or innovative features.
- product
- marketing
- production
- selling
- holistic
Holistic marketing incorporates ________, ensuring that everyone in the organization embraces appropriate marketing principles, especially senior management.
- profit objectives
- share of customer
- internal marketing
- external marketing
- product marketing
The ________ holds that the organization’s task is to determine the needs, wants, and interests of target markets and to deliver the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors in a way that preserves or enhances the consumer’s and the society’s well-being.
- customer-centered business
- ethically responsible marketing manager
- societal marketing concept
- ethical marketing approach
- holistic marketing
The ________ process consists of analyzing marketing opportunities, selecting target markets, designing marketing strategies, developing marketing programs, and managing the marketing effort.
- marketing planning
- opportunity analysis
- Positioning
- Targeting
- segmentation
The ________ in the value chain covers the sequence of bringing materials into the business (inbound logistics), converting them into final products (operations), shipping out final products (outbound logistics), marketing them (marketing and sales), and servicing them (service).
- operations processes
- manufacturing processes
- primary activities
- secondary activities
The firm’s success depends both on how well each department performs its work, and on how well the various departmental activities are coordinated to conduct ________.
- core strategies
- satellite businesses
- Core values
- core business processes
- core technologies
One conception of holistic marketing views it as “integrating the value exploration, ________, and value delivery activities to build long-term, mutually satisfying relationships and co-prosperity among key stakeholders.”
- value creation
- value proposition
- value research
- value management
Which of the three key areas of strategic planning deals specifically with devising a long-term game plan for achieving long-run objectives?
- creating a viable business opportunity
- producing a strategic fit
- developing an investment portfolio
- establishing a viable strategy
- expanding core competencies
The ________ is the central instrument for directing and coordinating the marketing effort.
- strategic plan
- marketing plan
- tactical plan
- customer-value statement
- corporate mission
Which of the following terms matches the phrase “it is a single business or collection of related businesses that can be planned separately from the rest of the company”?
a. Strategic business unit
- diverse business unit
- growth business unit
- niche market unit
- growth business unit
- niche market unit
Which of the following terms most closely matches “the shared experiences, stories, beliefs, and norms that characterize an organization”?
- organizational dynamics
- a business mission
- an ethical/value statement
- corporate culture
The ________ consists of the whole cluster of benefits the company promises to deliver; it is more than the core positioning of the offering.
- customer promise
- mission statement
- corporate pledge
- corporate-perceived value
- value proposition
________ can track customer satisfaction directly and also gauge consumers’ willingness to recommend the company and brand to others.
- Periodic surveys
- Mystery shoppers
- Customer loss rates
- Customer focus statements
- All of the above
________ describes the net present value of the stream of future profits expected over the customer’s lifetime purchases.
- Activity-based costing
- Customer profitability analysis
- Customer value analysis
- Customer-perceived value
- Customer lifetime value
The aim of customer relationship management (CRM) is to produce high customer ________.
- value
- loyalty
- satisfaction
- profitability
Customers who enthusiastically recommend the company and its products and services to others are known as ________.
- potentials
- advocates
- members
- prospects
When a consumer considers a product or service, he or she will choose whichever product or service delivers the highest ________.
- customer-perceived value
- customer-perceived cost
- consumer discount
- consumer relationship
________ is defined as “a deeply held commitment to rebuy or patronize a preferred product or service in the future despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behavior.”
- Customer satisfaction
- Customer value
- Loyalty
- Customer profitability
When Bob found out his friend was thinking about buying a new car, he strongly recommended that his friend looks into the newest line of Ford sedans. Bob is best characterized as a(n) ________ for Ford.
- first-time customer
- member
- partner
- advocate
Michael Porter has identified five forces that determine the intrinsic long-run attractiveness of a market or market segment. Which of the following would NOT be among Porter’s five forces?
- Industry competitors
- Technological partners
- Substitutes
- Buyers
- Potential entrants
When entry and exit barriers are high, ________.
- the profit potential is high, but firms face more risk because poorer-performing firms stay in and fight it out
- firms easily enter and leave the industry, and returns are stable and low
- few new firms can enter the industry, and poorly performing firms can easily exit
- firms enter during good times but find it hard to leave during bad times, resulting in chronic overcapacity and depressed earnings for all
A competitor’s share of industry sales is known as the firm’s ________.
- share of market
- share of mind
- share of heart
- share of competitive space
- share of the psychological field
Using the market approach, ________ are companies that satisfy the same customer need.
- partners
- competitors
- entrepreneurs
- innovators
- followers
A firm that serves small market segments not being served by bigger firms is known as a ________.
- market challenger
- market leader
- market follower
- market niche
The “best defense is a good offense” would be a policy under which of the following market leader defensive strategies?
- Position defense
- Flank defense
- Contraction defense
- Preemptive defense
- Lateral defense
All of the following are considered market follower strategies EXCEPT ________.
- counterfeiter
- cloner
- imitator
- innovator
- adapter
New-to-the- world products are ________.
- new products that create an entirely new market
- new products that allow a company to enter an established market
- new products that supplement established product lines
- new products that provide greater perceived value and replace existing products
- existing products that are targeted to new markets or market segments
Company ________ and intermediaries are a particularly good source of ideas. These groups have firsthand exposure to customers and are often the first to learn about competitive developments.
- marketing departments
- competitors
- sales representatives
- top management
________ means presenting the product concept, symbolically or physically, to target consumers and getting their reactions.
- Perceptual mapping
- Brand-positioning mapping
- Ideation
- Concept development
- Concept testing
________ means presenting the product concept, symbolically or physically, to target consumers and getting their reactions.
- Perceptual mapping
- Brand-positioning mapping
- Ideation
- Concept development
- Concept testing
Companies use financial measures to evaluate the merit of a new-product proposal. The simplest to use is called ________, in which management estimates how many units of the product the company would have to sell to break even with the given price and cost structure.
- conjoint analysis
- risk analysis
- regression analysis
- ANOVA analysis
- breakeven analysis
Marketers usually identify niches by ________.
- dividing a segment into subsegments
- conducting VALS tests
- allowing consumers to gravitate toward product brands
- examining the demographics section of The Handbook of Marketing
- producing products that can be used in a variety of ways
________ combines operationally driven mass customization with customized marketing in a way that empowers consumers to design the product service offering of their choice.
- Consumptionization
- Viral marketing
- Virtual marketing
- Regionalization
- Customization
If a marketer decides to segment a market based on neighborhoods, the marketer will have chosen the ________ method of segmentation.
- demographic
- psychographic
- geographic
- cultural
- social class
A housewife requests a new treadmill for her birthday. Concerning consumer decision roles, which role is the housewife currently playing?
- Initiator
- Influencer
- Decider
- Buyer
- Gatekeeper