The Full Story
The principles of marketing
The principles of marketing involves a range of processes concerned with finding out what consumers want and then providing it for them. This involves four key elements, which are referred to as the 4Ps.
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A useful starting point, therefore, is to carry out market research to find out about customer requirements in relation to the 4Ps.
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There are two main types of market research – quantitative research involves collecting a lot of information by using techniques such as questionnaires and other forms of surveys.
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Qualitative research involves working with smaller samples of consumers, often asking them to discuss products and services while researchers take notes about what they have to say. The marketing department will usually combine both forms of research.
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The marketing department will seek to make sure that the company has a marketing focus in everything that it does. It will work very closely with production to make sure that new and existing product development is tied in closely with the needs and expectations of customers.
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Modern market focused organisations will seek to find out what their customers want. For example, financial service organisations will want to find out about what sort of accounts customers want to open and the standard of service they expect to get.
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Retailers like Argos and Homebase will seek to find out about customer preferences for store layouts and the range of goods on offer. Airlines will find out about the levels of comfort that customers desire and the special treatment that they prefer to receive.
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A useful definition of marketing is the anticipation and identification of customer needs and requirements so as to be able to meet them, make a profit or other key organisational objectives.
Skills and Competencies
In order to correctly analyse core competencies, competition between businesses needs to be seen as much as a race for dominance of competence as it is for market position and power.
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Senior management simply can’t focus on the activities of an entire business and the skills and competencies required to undertake them, therefore management needs to focus their attention on competencies that really affect competitive advantage.
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A simple way to identify core competencies in any given market is to question why a customer is willing to pay more or less for one product/service than another. In order to be considered a core competency, it needs to be something that a business can do well above other competitors.
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The idea here is not to come up with a list of skills that are important for a given business, but rather to find those competencies which provide an advantage over the competition and act as drivers of innovation within the firm. eds to be something that a business can do well above other competitors.
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The idea here is not to come up with a list of skills that are important for a given business, but rather to find those competencies which provide an advantage over the competition and act as drivers of innovation within the firm. eds to be something that a business can do well above other competitors.
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The idea here is not to come up with a list of skills that are important for a given business, but rather to find those competencies which provide an advantage over the competition and act as drivers of innovation within the firm. eds to be something that a business can do well above other competitors.
Communication
Formal communications are those that involve the officially recognised communication channels within an organisation. Informal communication involves other forms of interactions between organisational members.
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Good communication is an important person-to-person skill in an organisation. Employees are most likely to be well motivated and to work hard for organisations where there are well-organised multi-directional communication flows. Communication flows in a number of directions:
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Downward communication involves the passing of commands from higher levels in a hierarchy to lower levels. This is sometimes referred to as top-down communication.
Upward communication involves the feedback of ideas from lower down in the organisation to higher levels. This sort of communication flow is important in the consultation of employees and enables managers to draw on good ideas from those working at grassroots levels in an organisation.
Sideways communication involves the exchange of ideas and information between those at the same level in an organisation e.g. between the various functions.
Multi-channel communication involves a range of flows of information. Information and Communications technology and the resultant networking systems enable effective multi-channel communication.
