Exam 2: Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Marketing Strategies

A sustainable competitive advantage is one that cannot be copied by a firm's competitors.

A marketing strategy that successfully generates sales may not be deemed effective if it is extremely costly.

Firms that truly adopt the marketing concept develop a distinct organizational culture based on a shared set of beliefs that makes customers' needs the pivotal point of the firm's decisions about strategy and operations.

A marketing strategy is a written document that specifies the activities to be performed to implement and control a firm's marketing activities.

A strategic window is:

In the context of the strategic planning process, corporate strategic planners focus on dimensions such as competition, diversification, differentiation, environmental focus, and interrelationships among business units.

The BCG analytical approach is more of a diagnostic tool than a guide for making strategy prescriptions.

Describe the process of strategic planning. How does this process help marketing managers?

Marketing managers can take each of the following corrective actions for reducing a discrepancy between established performance standards and actual performance except:

Scenario 2.1 Use the following to answer the questions. Southwest Airlines has a history of being able to retain its employees due to the atmosphere and culture of the company. Employees have been known to dress up in costume on an airplane, engage in "games" with the passengers, and generally provide a fun atmosphere for traveling. While other airlines have low rates of customer satisfaction, Southwest tends to maintain a high rating with its customers. Recent gas price hikes have caused most airlines to charge for checked luggage and to fill every flight to its maximum, adding to the negative experience of airline travel. Southwest keeps its costs low through several methods, one being that they do not serve meals on flights, or provide pre-boarding passes. The typical flight is two hours or less and occurs between several selected cities rather than flying to practically anywhere in the country. Southwest is known for its low fares, its dependability, and its on-time flights. -Refer to Scenario 2.1. Southwest's low fares, dependability, and its on-time flights represent its:

The primary way to reduce the discrepancy between planned and actual performance is to rewrite the performance standard.

Give a brief account of a strategic business unit (SBU).

Which of the following statements about the marketing mix is incorrect?

Give a brief account of the four product categories used in the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) product-portfolio analysis.

If Orca Motor Company, an American multinational automaker, measured and evaluated the quality of its goods, services, and processes as compared with those of the best-performing companies in the automobile industry, it would be engaging in the process of:

Orion Inc. is in the process of preparing a written document specifying the marketing activities to be performed to implement and evaluate the organization's marketing strategies. This document is called the:

The marketing plan of an organization is not made accessible or shared with all its key employees.

Scenario 2.1 Use the following to answer the questions. Southwest Airlines has a history of being able to retain its employees due to the atmosphere and culture of the company. Employees have been known to dress up in costume on an airplane, engage in "games" with the passengers, and generally provide a fun atmosphere for traveling. While other airlines have low rates of customer satisfaction, Southwest tends to maintain a high rating with its customers. Recent gas price hikes have caused most airlines to charge for checked luggage and to fill every flight to its maximum, adding to the negative experience of airline travel. Southwest keeps its costs low through several methods, one being that they do not serve meals on flights, or provide pre-boarding passes. The typical flight is two hours or less and occurs between several selected cities rather than flying to practically anywhere in the country. Southwest is known for its low fares, its dependability, and its on-time flights. -Refer to Scenario 2.1. Maintaining the current culture of "fun" for Southwest Airlines' employees is most likely a(n):

The Evergreen Corporation conducts a SWOT analysis of its competition, and sees a marketing opportunity for its new Evergreen restaurant. It develops its marketing plan to include the type of products it will sell, the location for the restaurant, and the pricing it will use. Evergreen's plan includes a marketing objective to make a profit of 5% in the first year of operation. So far, the owners of the Evergreen restaurant have eliminated a key piece of the marketing plan, which is .

J.C. Penney is presently involved in a process of assessing marketing opportunities and resources, determining marketing objectives, redefining marketing strategies, and developing guidelines for implementation and control. It is evident, then, that J.C. Penney is involved in the process of: