Exam 18: Ethical Marketing in a Consumer-Oriented World: Appraisal and Challe

A good S.W.O.T. analysis helps a manager focus on a strategy that takes advantages of the firm's opportunities and strengths while avoiding its weaknesses and threats to its success.

Given the American economy's basic objective of meeting consumers' needs as THEY-the consumers-see them, it is sensible to evaluate our MACRO-marketing system in terms of:

MACRO-marketing:

Use this information to answer the following question that refer to the EI (Electech Inc.) case. Electech, Inc. (EI) produces a line of semiconductors for electronics products manufacturers. These items range in price from $5-$100 and are used in products the buyer is producing. EI also designs and builds computer networking equipment. The prices of these items range from $5,000 to $100,000. These are used to control production equipment. Usually, they are custom-made to the specifications of the buyer-the firm that will use the product in its own production process. EI sells nationally through independent sales reps-paid on commission-who work in the large industrial centers across the country. EI is more concerned with the quality of these reps than with the number of them. All of them also sell other lines. EI also uses five full-time salaried salespeople who work out of its corporate headquarters under a sales manager. The home office salespeople are "technical specialists" who sell almost all the networking equipment, while the "reps" mostly sell the semiconductors. Sometimes, however, the reps will send in leads to customers who want networking equipment. EI also sells some of its semiconductors through a Los Angeles wholesaler who carries stock for West Coast customers. There are many producers and importers of semiconductors in the U.S.-but several firms have captured large shares of the networking equipment market. EI has held its own, and in fact, over the past five years has increased its market share of these products to over 25 percent-because of its better technical designs. Industry-wide prices of the more or less homogeneous semiconductors have been forced further and further down over the last seven years-as have industry profits. The price of networking equipment is set by adding a standard markup percent to the direct cost of the items-for overhead and for profit. Following industry practice, all prices are quoted at the seller's factory. EI publishes a catalog, which is revised periodically. Also, it exhibits in most equipment trade shows. What kind of products are EI's semiconductors FOR MOST CUSTOMERS?

Which of the following is a NOT a key trend affecting marketing strategy planning?

To meet the new competition, prices of the old products usually

Use this information to answer the following question that refer to the CPI case. Conservo Products, Inc. (CPI), with annual sales of $200 million, is a well-known producer of a variety of paper products, almost all of which are made from recycled materials. Picnic plates account for about 70 percent of CPI's sales. The rest of the firm's sales come from custom-designed materials-such as box liners and spacers, small boxes, and disposable products-like trays, towels and napkins. CPI's picnic plates are sold through "sales reps" to grocery wholesalers and retail grocery chains. The sales reps are paid a 5 percent commission on all sales in their assigned territories. They usually handle related-but noncompeting-lines for several other manufacturers. Along with their selling duties, the sales reps help CPI with local advertising and sales promotion efforts. Orders for the custom products are obtained by area managers who are paid a straight salary to call on business and institutional customers. The area managers are trained paper specialists and often help their customers design the products they order. The picnic plates are priced to give CPI a 90 percent markup on the cost of producing the product-with the cost figured by taking the total factory cost for the previous year and dividing that total cost by the number of units produced and sold during that period. The firm's invoices read "F.O.B.-Delivered" and "1/10, net 30." Customers are allowed to deduct 3 percent from the face value of the invoice for buying plates in carload quantities, and another 2 percent for advertising them locally. The custom products are sold "F.O.B. mill"-with CPI offering a price for each job. Competition is strong from many other manufacturers who are able to offer very similar products which meet the customers' specifications. CPI forecasts that sales will increase to $250 million by 2012. However, much of this growth is tied to picnic plates-a market in which the firm has about a 7 percent market share and faces aggressive price competition from many smaller firms with greater brand familiarity. Further, CPI has been late with more than 50 percent of its plate orders due to scheduling conflicts with orders for custom products. CPI offers the grocery wholesalers and retail chains:

Use this information to answer the following question that refer to the EI (Electech Inc.) case. Electech, Inc. (EI) produces a line of semiconductors for electronics products manufacturers. These items range in price from $5-$100 and are used in products the buyer is producing. EI also designs and builds computer networking equipment. The prices of these items range from $5,000 to $100,000. These are used to control production equipment. Usually, they are custom-made to the specifications of the buyer-the firm that will use the product in its own production process. EI sells nationally through independent sales reps-paid on commission-who work in the large industrial centers across the country. EI is more concerned with the quality of these reps than with the number of them. All of them also sell other lines. EI also uses five full-time salaried salespeople who work out of its corporate headquarters under a sales manager. The home office salespeople are "technical specialists" who sell almost all the networking equipment, while the "reps" mostly sell the semiconductors. Sometimes, however, the reps will send in leads to customers who want networking equipment. EI also sells some of its semiconductors through a Los Angeles wholesaler who carries stock for West Coast customers. There are many producers and importers of semiconductors in the U.S.-but several firms have captured large shares of the networking equipment market. EI has held its own, and in fact, over the past five years has increased its market share of these products to over 25 percent-because of its better technical designs. Industry-wide prices of the more or less homogeneous semiconductors have been forced further and further down over the last seven years-as have industry profits. The price of networking equipment is set by adding a standard markup percent to the direct cost of the items-for overhead and for profit. Following industry practice, all prices are quoted at the seller's factory. EI publishes a catalog, which is revised periodically. Also, it exhibits in most equipment trade shows. What kind of products are EI's networking equipment?

Thanks to much publicity, the marketing concept is now practiced by all firms.

Which section of a formal marketing plan for a new product is most directly related to deciding which segmenting dimensions are most important in choosing a target market?

Which of the following statements DOES NOT indicate that a marketing manager is about to make a serious mistake?

Which of the following is a strategic decision area that is a part of the price component of the marketing mix?

Regarding timing, a marketing plan:

Consumer satisfaction at the micro level cannot be measured because firms cannot determine how well their products satisfy customers.

Regarding our MACRO-marketing system, advertising:

According to the text:

In measuring consumer satisfaction, marketing managers should remember that:

The marketing manager:

Regarding our MACRO-marketing system:

Regarding marketing strategy planning: