Deck 2: Case Study Girl Scout Cookies

Question 1

If we think of the Girl Scouts,a nonprofit organization,as a sales-oriented organization,what is its primary goal in selling cookies?

A) Still the same as any business, to make a profit.
B) Profits are secondary. The real goal is to teach business skills to Girl Scouts.
C) The goal of teaching Girl Scouts how to make money and making money are one in the same.
D) Building teams is the primary goal because troops are, after all, teams.
E) Empowering girls.

Answer 1

A
The Girl Scout councils fund two-thirds of their budgets with cookie sales and seek to maximize their profits.The primary goal of a sales-oriented organization is to achieve profitability.

Question 2

Girl Scouts selling cookies doesn't teach real marketing because Girl Scout cookies aren't something people really need.

Answer 2

False
Cookie sales have a broader purpose in teaching girls valuable lessons in marketing and career training.That said,between one-fourth and one-third of the entire civilian workforce in the United States performs marketing activities.

Question 3

Girl Scout cookies are sold to benefit a not-for-profit.So,no marketing is really involved.

Answer 3

False
The desired outcome of marketing is an exchange.The cookies are sold for money that results in a profit,not a donation.

Question 4

When the Girl Scouts of Nassau County,New York,enlisted the advice of professional sales trainer Jeff Goldberg,he emphasized __________ ,the same thing he tells adult sales forces when he teaches them.

A) market orientation
B) professionalism
C) brand focus
D) goal setting
E) all of the above

Question 5

By creating cookies geared toward specific markets,such as Dulce de Leche,the Girl Scouts tried to provide a good that people did not want.

Question 6

When Girl Scout councils shifted their focus onto better business approaches and skill development in selling their cookies,even enlisting consultants and hosting sales training seminars,which market philosophy would you say this represents first?

A) production orientation
B) sales orientation
C) market orientation
D) social marketing orientation
E) product-sales orientation

Question 7

The Girl Scouts have been selling cookies for a century and have that "long-term,mutually rewarding relationship" with America's sweet tooth.So why have their sales been lagging in the last decade?

A) Girl Scout cookies are too expensive.
B) The Great Recession is entirely to blame.
C) People don't like the new flavors.
D) Not enough Girl Scouts equals not enough "sales representatives."
E) none of the above

Question 8

Girl Scouts in Atlanta used demographics to identify residential areas with the right discretionary income to spend on cookies.This is an example of a market orientation.

Question 9

Which of the following is not one of the essential skills that the Girl Scout cookie program seeks to develop in scouts?

A) decision making
B) business ethics
C) goal setting
D) people skills
E) none of the above

Question 10

A marketing consultant hired by the Girl Scouts suggests they justify the smaller boxes of cookies as "portion control" packaging to combat obesity.Would this be in keeping with the Girl Scouts strategies of selling more cookies and its broader purpose of teaching scouts?

A) Yes, it is a perfect example of the merit of a societal marketing orientation.
B) No, this would not be good business ethics.
C) Yes, there is both a social and an economic justification that benefits the customer and the seller alike.
D) Yes, this is a good way of delivering what people don't know they want.
E) No, the smaller packages only have the purpose of saving on cutting production costs.