Exam 2: Developing Marketing Strategies and Plans

The first step in the business unit strategic-planning process deals with which of the following?

Most large companies consist of four organizational levels: the corporate level,the ________,the business unit level,and the product level.

Partner relationship management is now considered as a core skill fundamental to the development and maintenance of strategic alliances.

A company that seeks to increase its sales and profits through backward,forward,or horizontal integration within the industry is said to be employing a(n)________ strategy.

A principle of the value chain is that every firm is a synthesis of activities performed to design,produce,market,deliver,and support its product.

Once Starbucks had established its presence in thousands of cities internationally,the company sought to increase the number of purchases by existing customers with a ________ strategy that led to new in-store merchandise,including compilation CDs and high-speed wireless access.

Unlike its competitors in the online air travel industry,Travelocity provides its customers with a greater variety of services such as cruise reservations,package tours,hotel bookings,and car rentals.This is an example of a(n)________ strategy.

MasterCard and Visa may team up with university alumni associations to offer affinity credit cards that typically display an iconic image associated with the university on the card itself and may include an incremental donation program associated with purchases made using the card.The best description of this form of alliance would be called a ________.

Abbott Laboratories warehouses and delivers 3M's medical and surgical products to hospitals across the United States.The best description of this form of alliance would be a(n)________.

Explain what happens in a SWOT analysis during the strategic planning process.

Activities involved in building deeper understanding of existing consumers and what the product offerings mean to them would be a part of ________.

A clear,thoughtful mission statement provides employees with a shared sense of purpose,direction,and ________.

Value delivery process can be divided into three phases,out of which "choosing the value" implies ________,which is the essence of strategic marketing.

Another name for a company's value delivery network is "distribution chain."

Core competencies tend to refer to areas of special technical and production expertise,whereas ________ tend to describe excellence in broader business processes.

The new-offering realization process involves all activities in defining target markets and prospecting for new customers.

James Frank has been put in charge of gathering marketing intelligence,disseminating it within his organization,and eventually directing action on the information.Mr.Frank's task is best described as part of the ________.

Identify and give examples of the four major categories of strategic alliances.

A marketing plan should open with a situation analysis.

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.