Strategic Marketing Management:Planning and Control

Rationale

In the more turbulent conditions that have already charaterised the 1990s it is more important than ever that organisations carry out regular marketing planning activities. However, there are still a number of organisations both large and small, for whom marketing planning is an informal and irregular business activity which is not properly understood. Marketing Planning is widely recognised to have many benefits for a company, and this module is intended to enable participants to put together marketing plans by introducing the relevant frameworks, tools and concepts. Later course modules will build upon these foundations.

Aims

To ensure that delegates are made aware of all the major aspects of the planning and control elements of the marketing management function.
To provide delegates with an understanding of and an ability to evaluate the contribution of marketing management to corporate management.
To examine and be familiar with all aspects of the planning process and its application to marketing.
To be able to use the tools of analysis and decision making in the preparation of marketing plans.
To appriciate the characteristics and planning needs of organisations in a varierty of sectors so that the marketing mix can be tailored in its detail to meet the wants/needs of the identified market segments and achieve specified strategic and tactical objectives.
To have an understanding of the issues associated with the effective implemetation and control of marketing plans and how the principal barriers to implementation might possibly be overcome.
To appriciate the need to understand the dimensions of the international environment within which marketing decisions are increasingly made.

Learning Objectives

On successful completion of this module, delegates will be able to:

Understand a wide variety of marketing techniques and models.
Apply these techniques/models to the marketing planning process in competitive and collaborative environments.
Undertake comprehensive analyses of markets, customers and competitors.
Conduct detailed marketing audits, both internally and externally.
Determine marketing objectives and strategies.
Prepare a straight forward marketing plan.
Design appropriate marketing mixes for particular market segments.
Initiate appraisal and control systems for marketing planning.
Specify the marketing research needed to formulate effective marketing plans.
Understand how the barriers to the effective implementation of marketing plans might be overcome.

Indicative Content

Introduction to planning and control: The Management Process.
The relationships between marketing planning and corporate planning.
The basis of planning and control: the cycle of control and the nature and role of strategic, tactical and contingency planning.
Management and marketing information systems: the contribution of marketing plan.
The implications for planning and control of organisational structures and managerial cultures.
Where are we now? Strategic, Financial and marketing Analysis.
The tools for market and marketing analysis: marketing auditing and SWOT analysis; segmental, ratio and productivity analysis; competitor and customer analysis. The key dimensions of financial analysis; profit and loss account and balance sheet evaluation.
Approaches to reviewing marketing effectiveness and measuring marketing capability. The dangers of strategic wear-out.
Where do we want to be? Strategic Dimension and Strategy Formulation
Missions and objectives.
Structural market and environmental analysis.
Market segmentation, targeting and positioning.
The formulation of marketing strategy; the development of a meaningful and sustainable competitive stance; strategic marketing planning and issues of responsibility; models of portfolio analysis; the influence of market structure and position upon strategy; the implications of product and market evolution for planning; PICS; experience curves; the growth matrix and gap analysis. The bases of competitive advantage and the contribution of the value chain to improving margins. Issues of customer care.
Critical factors for success.
Sales, profit and technological forecasting.
How might we get there and which way is best? Strategic Choice and Evaluation.
The strategic and tactical management of the marketing mix and each of its constituent elements. The dimensions of relationship marketing.
The resource implications of mix decisions. Sources of funds.
Modelling approaches and their contribution to understanding patterns of market response; buying behaviour models; diffusion of innovation; experimentation; test marketing; competitive response modelling; matrix analysis; short-run financial - CPV analysis; long-run financial - NPV analysis.
Feasibility studies and risk eveluation.
How can we ensure arrival? Strategic Implementation and Control.
The dimensions of effective marketing feedback and control systems: basic control concepts and their application throughout the planning and implementation process.
Problem areas and organisational considerations: the role of internal marketing.
Management controls: budgets; programming and scheduling; networks; performnace evaluation; ration analysis; variance analysis; corrective responses; bench marking.
The auditing process as a control mechanism and feed into the next planning cycle.

Implementation Strategy

The workshop is a notional 36 hour programme.
The workshop will be delivered in a 4 day block. Each block will normally consist of a number of formal lectures and delegate-centered learning activities designed to formalise and consolidate distance learning.

Indicative programme:

Day One: Introduction to Planning & Control:
The Management Process

Where are we now? Strategic & Marketing
Analysis
Day Two: Where do we want to be? Strategic
Direction and Strategy Formulation
Day Three: How might we get there and which way
is best? Strategic Choice and Evaluation
Day Four: How can we ensure arrival? Strategic
Implementation and Control

The learning strategy will consist of two parts:

PART ONE: will consist of a distance learning programme. This component of the course will be supported by a module guide and a study text. This will enable the course member to actively apply the course ideas to their own organisation and managerial experience. At every stage in the module course members will be able to relate what they are learning to what their organisation is doing or should prehaps be doing! This will be facilitated by a number of exercises and tasks contained wihtin the module guide.

PART TWO: being the workshop programme, will be based on extended day learning sessions. The length of each session facilitates a range of teaching/learning strategies. A typical session might commence with a review of and general discussion on the reading, or any interesting developments in the marketing field pertinent to that session. There would normally then be a short formal lecture(s) or discussion(s) on the major topics for the session as detailed in the programme. Delegates will be encouraged and indeed are expected to discuss how various topics impact on them in the role of a marketing manager and to contrast theory identified in the readings with practice. Where appropriate, short case studies will be attempted in small groups with a requirement to present the findings. There will then be a feedback and summary of the issues by the tutor.

The main learning implementation methods will include: lectures, case studies, small and large group discussion, role play, practical exercises and self study.

Assessment Strategy

Assessment for this module will be in two parts:

Part one (30%) will consist of multiple choice, true/false question tests. Each test will consist of about fifty questions which will be coded to Blooms's Taxonomy in terms of cognitive complexity with respect to level (easy, medium, hard) and type (application, recall or comprehension). Course members will be required to achieve a pass in each paper.

Part two (70%) will be by an individual written assignment: approximately 3,000 words on a current planning issue usually based on the course members organisation. Typically, delegates will be required to apply theory to analyse the current situation and make recommendations to achieve an improvement in the situation by the explicit use of marketing planning techniques and concepts.

Reading

Nene/BPP Text	Strategic Marketing Management: Planning and Control	Included in the module guide
Wilson RMS, Gilligan CT & Pearson	Strategic Marketing Management	CIM/Butterworth-Heinemann (1992)
McDonald M	Marketing Plans: How to prepare them, How to use them'. 3rd Ed.	Butterworth-Heinemann (1995)
Piercy N	Market-led Strategic Change	Butterworth-Heinemann (1992)