A test file downloaded from internet

The following lecture programme based on the book might be used. I have made some notes on what
might go into the lectures.
Lecture 1
Marketing Strategy: introduction and overview
Strategic Windows: their nature.
The nature and purpose of strategy and how it is formulated. The nature of marketing strategy and how
this should take account of the interests of various stakeholders when involving such things as,
product/service development and delivery, promotional mix, support services, manufacturing and
production processes, R&D, and material purchasing affect the stakeholders.
Other factors in the business environment that influence marketing strategy: political, economic, sociocultural and technological (PEST).
Marketing and competitors: how a firm must be able to position itself competitively in the minds of its
customers so that its products and services stand out very favourably in important respects in
relationship to competitors.
Matching the firms products / services with opportunities and threats in the market place. The limited
periods during which the fit between the key requirements of a market and the particular competencies
of a firm competing in that market are at an optimum. Investment in a product line or a market area
should be timed to coincide with periods during which a strategic window is open. Correspondingly,
withdrawal should be considered where something which was a good fit, is no longer a good fit. Ways
in which a market can evolve and how firms might develop a competitive strategy to take advantage of
Strategic Windows.
Lecture 2
Portfolio Analysis
How organisations create their own environments rather than simply adapt to
existing ones. How they select the strategic windows of opportunities and threats
through which they want to look out into the world and develop and market
product and services to meet the needs of what they observe to be required in the
face of environmental turbulence.
How well the fit between an organizations products/services meet the needs
presented by the windows of opportunities and threats is a fitting start for
exploring the subject of strategic marketing. It introduces the many factors that
impinge on the firms ability to operate in a strategically successful manner. These
factors are both internal and external to the organization and form subjects in
their own right which will be explored in subsequent lectures.
Central to the success or failure of a business is the health of its product (or
service) mix. The product life cycle concept is a useful conceptual framework
within which to study how firms can vary their marketing strategies. At different
stages in the product life cycle certain marketing strategies seem to be more
appropriate than others. The life cycle concept also points to the different earning
patterns of products or services at various points in time. It indicates that it is
necessary to have a balanced portfolio of products services in terms of cash
generating capabilities in order to ensure steady-sales and profits at all times.
Since products will generate different cash flows and profits over their lives it
means that the firm has to constantly review its product mix, prune its product
lines and introduce new products from time to time in order to maintain long-run

profits and stay in business.

Discuss product portfolio models e.g. the BCG (Boston Consulting Group) matrix
and the the Directional Policy matrix. Point to the use and limitations of such
models e.g. that they are useful diagnostic tools but more formal and detailed
planning mechanisms are required to evolve and evaluate detailed strategies.
Lecture 3
Analysis of the business
Understanding a business in depth is the goal of self analysis and is based on
detailed current information on sales, profits, costs, organizational structure,
management style and other factors. Approaches include: focus on marketing
competencies and the resource-based view of the firm which are central to any
thinking about self analysis from a marketing perspective. Next there is value
chain analysis which examines the elements upon which a competitive advantage
can be based. Other useful frameworks include Kays distinctive capabilities and
the Balanced Scorecard. Then there is shareholder value analysis which provides
a financial evaluation of a business. These might be briefly discussed and
illustrated.
One should also mention sales and profitability analysis along with the need to
implement more qualitative measures of analysis which try to ascertain customer
perceptions of the organization and its products or services.
Creativity in business is an important issue and there is a need be aware of problems associated with
negative mind sets and blocks to creativity. Discuss how such problem can be circumvented and
illustrate some of the creative problem solving techniques mentioned in the chapter in the book.
Note: this is a lengthy chapter in the book with many techniques and topics that can be developed
substantially. It may be advisable to have more than one lecture on Analysis of the Business and to
spend more time on the various elements involved.
Lecture 4
Industry Analysis
How understanding the nature of the industry and how it changes is thus crucial
to understanding the process of how strategic-windows can be opened and closed
by external forces.
The difference between industries and markets and whereas markets can be
looked upon as groups of customers with similar buying needs, industries are
collections of organizations with common products and technologies. How
knowledge of markets and industries helps to identify competition.
Examine how as industries progress through their life cycles, the nature of
competition and consumer demand changes and that this then affects the
opening and closure of strategic windows. The strategies and problems that firms
adopt or encounter when operating in different stages of the industry life cycle or
in different types of industrial settings differ. Emphasize that an understanding the
stage of the industry life cycle in which a firm is operating is imperative.
Introduce the notion of strategic groups.
Illustrate SPACE analysis which summarizes a large number of strategic-issues in a
few dimensions. It relates industry strength to competitive advantage and the

financial strength of a firm. The Boston Consultancy Group competitive advantage

matrix may also be introduced and examined. This recognizes that strategic
groups within an industry have different levels of profitability and it helps to
classify the competitive environments that coexist within an industry.
Lecture 5
Market Analysis
Examine the purposes of market analysis to assess its prospects for participants
and understand the dynamics of the market. One needs to identify emerging key
success factors, trends, threats and opportunities and to develop strategic
questions that can guide information gathering and analysis. Measuring the size
of the market, identifying the trends and being able to predict how the market is
going to develop in the future are critical factors in understanding the state of
strategic windows.
Long-term forecasts are most useful for medium- and long-term strategic planning
purposes, whereas short-term forecasts enable organizations to monitor the
effectiveness of earlier long-term forecasts. Illustrate both methods, including
qualitative scenario generating approaches for long term forecasting.
Market size and projected market growth rates are not the only important
dimensions of market analysis. Point to the some of the factors which influence
the profitability of a market at its various stages of development. Understanding
the key factors which govern a firms success take us from simply looking at the
profitability of a market to the consideration of cost structures, distribution
systems and related trends and developments.
Lecture 6
Analysing competition
The nature of competition and the factors which influence should be explored along with how firms
identify competitors and how they use product positioning to obtain a competitive advantage. Attention
should be given to how firms define their marketing strategies and analyse the competitive positions of
rivals. Consideration should also be given to the various sources of information available to firms that
enable them to gauge competitors strengths and weaknesses.
Competing successfully depends not only on an ability to identify customer wants and needs but also
upon an ability to be able to satisfy those wants and needs better than competitors are able to do. This
implies that organizations need to look for ways of achieving a differential advantage in the eyes of the
customer. The differential advantage is often achieved through the product or service itself but
sometimes it may be achieved through other elements of the marketing mix.
One might illustrate and discuss Porters five forces model to portray the various factors which
influence competition and how this influence is effected.
Attention should be given to how one identifies competition since this may not always be quite
straightforward. It is important to be able to correctly identify different types of competitors so that
suitable reaction to their marketing strategies and tactics can be put into practice as and when required.
The various bases of competitive advantage might be illustrated and reference is made to Porters
strategic thrust typologies. This might then be followed by a discussion of the various typologies of
competitors that can be identified and the kind of strategy each one employs. Various competitor
typologies should be consideredleader, challenger, follower, nicheralong with their implications
for approach to marketing strategy

Attention should also be given to ways and methods of obtaining information about competitors actual
and planned activities. In particular, attention is given to market signalling actions and their
interpretation. How firms might assess competitors strengths and weaknesses and the sources of
information that should be consulted to make this possible should be examined.
Lecture 7
Analysing the Business Environment
Discuss and illustrate how organizations need to respond and adapt to changing
environmental conditions if they intend to survive and that they can even
instigate changes in the environment which are in their own interests. Both
demand an understanding of those factors and forces which bring about change in
the environment. Ideally, an organization should adapt to changes as they occur,
even anticipate them in advance or systematically instigate changes to its own
advantage. An inability to do so can put organizations in positions where their
short- and long-term survival is jeopardized.
Point out that it is usual to distinguish between the internal and the external
environment. The former usually comprises the various assets and resources
possessed by the organization. That is its workforce, plant and machinery, know
how, financial resources, etc. The latter refers to people, institutions and
developments, etc. which exert an external influence on how the organization
performs. Of course, with the emergence of strategic alliances and networks (to
be discussed in a later lecture) such a definition of boundaries does tend to
become more blurred.
Firms need to anticipate the changes that are likely to take place in the
marketing environment in the foreseeable future. However, as noted above, it is
not simply a matter of adapting to change. Organizations can also exercise their
own influence on the environment. Among the ways that this can be achieved is
the development and commercialization of new technological ideas. These new
technologies then become part of the business environment and in their turn
have an impact upon what other organizations can do. Give some illustrations.
Considerable control can be exercised over its internal environment by a firm, but
a firm cannot exert control in the same way or to the same extent over the
external environment. It can only attempt to influence it. There are various ways
of influencing events in the external environment. These may include activities
such as lobbying among legislative groups. The latter is what organizations often
do when trying to influence the formulation of European Community directives
which can have an impact on such things as product design safety standards, etc.
Lecture 8
Analysing the customer in the market place
In studying buyer behaviour, a distinction should be made between complex
decision-making situations and those in which little consideration is given to the
purchase being made. Where a product is relatively expensive and possibly
technologically complex, prospective purchasers often go through a complex
search and evaluation process prior to making a purchase.
Various models of consumer behaviour have been developed over the years. The
models reflect the different buying situations in which consumers find themselves.
Examples of these are shown in the text and can be accessed on the Powerpoint
slides. Factors influencing consumer behaviour must be considered as well as

similar factors influencing the buying decisions in business to business

transactions. The chapter provides an overview of the principle behavioural
factors influencing customers in the purchasing and these might be explored or
summarized in the lecture.
Firms undertake marketing research to help identify why people buy or do not buy products and
services. It also provides information for making marketing mix decisions (pricing, product,
distribution and promotion). Research can be undertaken both in-house and by specialist marketing
research companies. Research can be tailor-made to a clients requirements or bought
off the peg if a suitable omnibus research report is available.
The research process involves: problem definition, consulting company records
and published data sources, deciding whether field work is required and if so what
is the best research method, specifying the location and size/ type of sample,
collecting the data, analyzing the data, evaluating the results and setting down
recommendations for action.
Various methods are used in marketing research including surveys, experiments
and observational methods. Since virtually all research involves working with
sample data, a key aspect of research concerns how the sample is taken from the
population. Quota sampling and simple random sampling methods are widely
used in practice.

Note: The chapter contains topics that have been extensively written about and might readily be split
into two lectures. One lecture might look at Customer Behaviour while the other looks ay Market
Research.
Lecture 9
Sustainable competitive strategy and generic strategies
In order to keep the strategic window open it is necessary to maintaining a
sustainable competitive advantage. In consequence, one should note that
competitive advantage should be market led.
One should explore and examine the nature of core competencies and interpret
their importance as the basis of gaining a sustainable competitive advantage in
the market place. Along with these core competencies are a number of generic
strategies that an organization can seek to follow or implement. Each of these
generic strategies should be examined in turn. That is low-cost, focus and preemptive strategies and differentiation strategies. The latter leads on then to the
consideration of product and service quality, customer focus and relevant issues
relating to brand management.
Lecture 10
Segmenting, targeting and positioning
Discuss how the market that the organization sees through the strategic window
is a very complex entity and provide some illustrative examples. In evolving
strategies to take advantage of the opportunities that exist within it, the
organization has to divide it into manageable chunks at which it can direct its
relevant resources and capabilities. Give some illustrations of how firms seek to
do this.
Discuss how segmentation, targeting and positioning pay dividends to
organisations by accepting that there are different demands in the market place

and that a product or service needs to be tailored-in specifically to meet these

differing demands if it is to stand the best chance of success.
Note that the first step in the process of achieving this is to research the market
to and identify how it might best be segmented into buying groups that are
significantly different from one another in terms of their buying behaviour and
product or service requirements. Give an illustration.
Explain that having analysed the market along appropriate lines so that there are
identified segments to the market, the next step is to decide which represent
financially viable propositions as far as the organization is concerned. Some may
be too small or others too competitive. It is the task of targeting to define those
that promise the kind of returns on investment that will help the organization
achieve its objectives.
Lastly there is the question of how to place or position oneself in the minds of the
users in the targeted segments so that the product or service the organization has
to offer stands out from those of competitors. Competitive positioning is the last
of the three steps. Give some examples of positioning strategies.
Lecture 11
Marketing Mix Strategy
Explain how the organization has to communicate with the customer through the strategic window.
This can be achieved in a variety of ways ranging from spoken and written communications
(advertising, selling, etc.) to more symbolic forms of communication (the image conveyed in the
quality of the product, its price and the type of distribution outlet chosen). This is the function of the
marketing mix. The point is that the elements of the marketing mix should not be seen as individual
entities, but as a set of interrelated entities which have to be set in conjunction with one another and in
the context of the strategic window presented.
Positioning products in peoples minds and making them attractive to market segments requires careful
formulation of the marketing mix. Getting the right blend of the product, promotion price and
distribution is essential to put the carefully carried out analysis into operation. The aim is to portray an
image for the product or service that will match with how one wants the product to be visualized in
peoples minds, i.e. its positioning. Image is not only reflected in the promotional messages which are
directed towards the market target but also in the pricing strategy, the mode of distribution and, of
course, in the appearance of the product or service itself.
Topics that can be covered relate to the product as a complex entity, stressing the quality dimensions;
product mix policy; distribution; pricing; and people, processes and physical evidence. Finally, there
are strategic considerations to be taken into account with respect to marketing communications. This is
a very complex area since there are several promotional methods and each requires detailed
consideration of matters relating to qualitative marketing communications as well as, in the case of
advertising, choice of media.
Note: the material in this chapter might be divided into several lectures depending on the depth
lecturers want to take study of the individual elements of the marketing mix.
Lecture 12
Growth Strategies: product market expansion
The lecture might examine the strategic alternatives that are available.
Essentially this involves the various strategies outlined in the well known Ansoff
matrix (market penetration, product-market expansion and diversification) along
with vertical integration strategies. The lecture might explore the rationale behind
these strategies.

The importance of new product development can be explored in detail and causes
for failure in exploiting new product opportunities examined. Ways of screening
out winners and losers in terms of new product opportunities should be
considered. Leading on from new product development, diversification should be
highlighted as an important strategy in the search for new strategic windows. An
alternative strategy of vertical integration might also be explored.
Entry into export markets constitutes a specific example of market expansion as exemplified in the
Ansoff Grid. As such it might be mentioned specifically in this context.
Lecture 13
Facilitating the implementation of strategies
In the last decade of the 20th century, changes in the environment put a greater emphasis on
collaboration and partnership between organizations as a means of enabling all to benefit from the
independent strategies which they were pursuing. Marketing partnerships, strategic alliances and
networks became fashionable ways of achieving this end.
Through strategic collaboration the organization can gain access to markets and even products and
services that it would otherwise find difficult to acquire. Internal development of such products and
services might not be feasible alternatives given the organizations capabilities alone. However, it is
often on the delivery of product and services and the use of the 7ps of the marketing mix that strategic
collaboration can be beneficial. The organizations own resources alone for this purpose may be
inadequate and the implementation of strategy is thus aided by collaboration with other organizations
which are able to offer suitable expertise.
Such inter-organizational arrangements have fostered the need for relationship
marketing. The emergence of networks of collaborating organizations linked by
various forms of alliance has become a dominant form of strategic development in
many different industries. Service quality and internal marketing have both come to the fore in
terms of importance as a result of the focus on relationship marketing.
Ways and means of assessing level of service quality have been developed and a whole new emphasis
on internal marketing of the customer focus ideology has sprung into being. In order to get staff to
implement the company focus strategy, management itself is now seen as needing to treat its employees
as internal customers to whom messages and other forms of two-way communication have to be
directed and received. The lecture might introduce some of the current thinking both on service quality
measurement and on internal marketing.
However, collaboration alone is not sufficient. It is through good customer relationship management
and an internal marketing philosophy and approach that the alliance or network heightens the
probability of successfully implementing strategic marketing decisions. Good customer relationship
management ensures a receptive audience for new product and service ideas. Good internal marketing
helps to ensure that the entire network or alliance will be customer orientated which in turn will help to
guarantee the best chance of implementing strategy successfully.
Lecture 14
In order to get the best out of opportunities presented by strategic windows it
requires a systematic approach to planning and implementing marketing
strategies. The lecture might examine the putting together of the marketing plan.
Plans and strategies do not implement themselves and there are often problems
in implementing strategies. There is often resistance to change and new ideas.

The lecture might consider the various sources of resistance to implementing

strategies and look at the role of communication in overcoming this resistance.
Getting people to accept the need for new strategies through good
communication is a key element in the process of effecting change. Various
communication models and methods which are relevant should be highlighted.

Questions at the end of the chapters

By and large these can be answered by referring to the text so no further comment is necessary.
Case Studies
Lecturers often prefer to set their own questions on case studies. Here I restrict myself to making some
general observations on the case studies which may be useful in answering many questions that may be
posed and related to the case studies.
Chapter 1
Mirela Fashions
1. The organization is constantly trying to identify and explore opportunities in order to survive
and be profitable.
2. Yes. Its manager focuses on the market and tries to identify opportunities which the
organization can explore and face market threats.
3. Yes. The owner knows that the organization cannot compete successfully with the high
demand for imported fashion brands and hence, it decided instead to focus on satisfying the
needs of those customers that want made-to-measure garments i.e. wedding dresses, evening
gowns, and any made-to measure clothing item.
4. Increase of imports of both reputable fashion brands and wedding dresses. Increase of
competition may lead to a decrease in the prices of imported goods and hence there may no
longer be a demand for made-to-measure clothes. Perhaps the organization should consider
expanding its operations in new markets.
5. Customers: good quality products, affordable prices (the organization should explore ways to
keep costs to a minimum in order to be able to be more competitive).
Employees: job security (the organization can perhaps expand its operations to new markets
demographic and geographic in order to increase its customer base).

Use of Powerpoint files provided.

These relate to the individual chapters in the book and also the 14 lecture sessions outlined above. They
can be used as adjuncts to the lectures.

A test file downloaded from internet