wsjo hnd in bussinessmarketing plan marketing planning internal business resources karolina...

WSJO HND in Bussiness Marketing Plan

MARKETING PLANNINGinternal business resources

Karolina Janiszewska


Business resources can usefully be grouped under several categories

• Financial Resources• Human Resources• Physical Resources• Intangible Resources


Financial Resources

• Financial resources concern the ability of the business to "finance" its chosen strategy.

• For example, a strategy that requires significant investment in new products, distribution channels, production capacity and working capital will place great strain on the business finances.

• Such a strategy needs to be very carefully managed from a finance point-of-view.


An audit of financial resources would include assessment of the following factors

• Existing finance funds– Cash balances– Bank overdraft– Bank and other loans– Working capital (e.g. stocks, debtors) already invested in the

business – Creditors (suppliers, government)

• Ability to raise new funds – Strength of relationships with existing investors and lenders – Attractiveness of the market in which the business operates (i.e.

is it a market that is attracting investment generally?)


Human Resources

• The heart of the issue with Human Resources is the skills-base of the business.

• What skills does the business already possess? • Are they sufficient to meet the needs of the

chosen strategy? • Could the skills-base be flexed/stretched to meet

the new requirements? An audit of human resources would include assessment of the following factors:


An audit of human resources would include assessment of the following factors

• Existing staffing resources – Numbers of staff by function, location, grade, experience,

qualification, remuneration – Existing rate of staff loss – Overall standard of training and specific training standards in

key roles – Assessment of key "intangibles" - e.g. morale, business culture

• Changes required to resources – What changes to the organisation of the business are included in

the strategy (e.g. change of location, new locations, new products)?

– What incremental human resources are required?


Physical Resources

• The category of physical resources covers wide range of operational resources concerned with the physical capability to deliver a strategy


Physical Resources include

• Production facilities– Location of existing production facilities; capacity; investment

and maintenance requirements – Current production processes - quality; method & organisation – Extent to which production requirements of the strategy can be

delivered by existing facilities

• Marketing facilities– Marketing management process– Distribution channels

• Information technology– IT systems – Integration with customers and suppliers


Intangible Resources

• It is easy to ignore the intangible resources of a business when assessing how to deliver a strategy - but they can be crucial.


Intangibles include

• Goodwill The difference between the value of the tangible assets of the business and the actual value of the business (what someone would be prepared to pay for it)

• Brands Strong brands are often the key factor in whether a growth strategy is a success or failure

• Intellectual Property Key commercial rights protected by patents and trademarks may be an important factor in the strategy


Strategic resource balance sheet

Financial Resources– Bank overdraft

– Bank and other loans

– Cash balances

Human Resources– rate of staff loss– staff experience,

qualification

Physical Resources

Intangible Resources

evaluation-2 -1 0 1 2


Product Life Cycle

• The stages through which individual products develop over time is called commonly known as the Product Life Cycle.

• The classic product life cycle has four stages– introduction – growth – maturity – decline.


PLC

introduction growth maturity decline

sales

time


Introduction Stage

• At the Introduction (or development) stage market size and growth is slight.

• It is possible that substantial research and development costs have been incurred in getting the product to this stage.

• In addition, marketing costs may be high in order to test the market, undergo launch promotion and set up distribution channels.

• It is highly unlikely that companies will make profits on products at the Introduction Stage.

• Products at this stage have to be carefully monitored to ensure that they start to grow. Otherwise, the best option may be to withdraw or end the product.


Growth Stage

• The Growth Stage is characterised by rapid growth in sales and profits.

• Profits arise due to an increase in output (economies of scale) and possibly better prices.

• At this stage, it is cheaper for businesses to invest in increasing their market share as well as enjoying the overall growth of the market.

• Accordingly, significant promotional resources are traditionally invested in products that are firmly in the Growth Stage.


Maturity Stage

• The Maturity Stage is, perhaps, the most common stage for all markets.

• Iit is in this stage that competition is most intense as companies fight to maintain their market share.

• Here, both marketing and finance become key activities. Marketing spend has to be monitored carefully, since any significant moves are likely to be copied by competitors.

• The Maturity Stage is the time when most profit is earned by the market as a whole. Any expenditure on research and development is likely to be restricted to product modification and improvement and perhaps to improve production efficiency and quality.


Decline Stage

• In the Decline Stage, the market is shrinking, reducing the overall amount of profit that can be shared amongst the remaining competitors.

• At this stage, great care has to be taken to manage the product carefully. It may be possible to take out some production cost, to transfer production to a cheaper facility, sell the product into other, cheaper markets.

• Care should be taken to control the amount of stocks of the product. Ultimately, depending on whether the product remains profitable, a company may decide to end the product.


BCG Matrix

Market share

Market growth

rate

high

low

highlow

DOGS

? STARS

CASH COWS


All internal company resources creates strengths or weaknesses

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