Q.
a) Discuss two (2) elements of a company's internal environment and how each may affect a company's marketing operation. (10 marks)
b) Discuss three (3) variables within the company's micro environment and how they affect its marketing activities. (15 marks)
(25 marks, 2019 Q5)
A.
This question was asked before in:
a) Elements of a company's internal environment affecting marketing operation.
Internal environment of a company can be its staff composition, its finances, its culture and its product pipeline and research and development.
The internal environment also includes its market competitors, suppliers, stakeholders and distribution channel. Although some of this environments are outside of its control, it is affected by these factors. When there is a launch of competitor (new competitor), the company needs to adjust its marketing strategy to deal with this new competitor.
Supplier also is a factor to consider its position in dealing with production and product improvement. When supplier limits supply, the company might have to reduce production and thus its marketing strategy might have to accommodate for a different distribution method. For example, the buffer stock with wholesaler might need to be reduced.
b) Three (3) variables within the company's micro environment affecting marketing.
Micro environment is part of internal environment. Examples are below.
- Human Resource.
- Finances
- Founder's philosophy
1. Human Resource - its staff composition - sales force. If there are only a limited experienced sales staff, then its execution of marketing strategies might be affected.
2. Finances - if its finances face difficulties, then the marketing expenses need to be reduced, and thus the ability to carry out marketing operation will be impaired.
3. Founder's philosophy - this is related to the founder who might insist on his traditional way of keeping to his own customers. Take for example, some founder philosophy is about trust and personal touch. In marketing of today's social media, people are not being contacted by phone calls but by messages and emails.
Some characteristics of founder's philosophy might be outdated. So, if the founder insists on door-to-door marketing, telemarketing and print media, then the social media marketing method might not be accepted by the company as the main stream promotional strategy.
Ref:
Earlier posts.