BSAD 150 Essay Questions (lists to memorize for final exam)
What is industry competition analysis? Explain the purpose of this analysis, describe its five key components and how one can use these components to evaluate an industry's profitability potential.
Industry Competition Analysis (Porter's 5 Forces) is a tool used to evaluate a company's many forms of competition to determine industry profitability, assess competition, and recognize how to enhance one's business strategy. The five key components of an industry competition analysis include 1) Threat of new entrants 2) Bargaining power of buyers 3) Bargaining power of suppliers 4) Direct rivalry among existing competitors 5) Threat of substitute products A company can then evaluate each of these components in relation to other companies in its industry or companies with similar market share percentages to determine where they can improve their competitiveness to create an edge to overall increase their profitability potential.
Why are integrated marketing communications important? Outline the five promotional elements and explain the major advantages related to each of the five elements.
Integrated marketing communications are important because they promote and unify a brand's messaging to make it consistent across all media that the brand uses to reach all of its target audiences. The five promotional elements include 1) Advertising - Provides an efficient means for reaching large numbers of people 2) Personal selling - allows for immediate feedback and can provide complex information 3) Public relations - often viewed as the most credible source of information in the eyes of consumers 4) Sales promotion - allows for short-term price reductions to increase demand 5) Direct marketing - allows for messages to reach consumers quickly and create relationships with them.
Why is strategic planning important? Describe the four components of strategic planning and major facts related to each of the four components of strategic planning.
Strategic planning is important because it allows a company to make an efficient plan to achieve its overall goals and objectives. It also emphasizes planning in its departments below such as marketing, HR, finance, production, and R&D. The four components of strategic planning include 1) Mission - the statement of an organization's function in society a) motivational, realistic, long-term, and focus on consumers and markets 2) Objectives - convert the mission statement into actionable steps (short- and long-term performance targets) a) measurable, meaningful, realistic, actionable, and show commitment 3) Strategies - provide the company with different paths to pursue its goals/the choice of major directions the organization will take in pursuing its objectives. a) the three types of competitive strategy are cost, differentiation, and focus 4) Portfolio analysis - help management determine which businesses to build, maintain, or eliminate or which new businesses to add.
What is the major use for the BCG matrix? Explain the rationale behind the design of the BCG matrix and describe each of its four components.
The BCG model is named after the Boston Consulting Group It's a 2 by 2 table with four cells. (relative market share on the x-axis and market growth rate on the y-axis) The major use of the BCG model is to analyze a business' SBU's and assist in long-term strategic planning. The matrix assists companies in identifying new growth opportunities and how to invest in the future. / The purpose of this tool is to help management determine which businesses to build, maintain, or eliminate or which new businesses to add The four components of the BCG matrix include 1) Star - high market share and high market growth rate 2) Question mark - high market growth rate and low market share 3) Cash cow - high market share and low market growth rate 4) Dog - low market share and low market growth rate
What are the five drivers of globalization? Describe each factor. You may use examples to illustrate your point.
The five drivers of globalization include 1) Market drivers - Worldwide, consumer preferences and needs are converging as they are exposed to similar integrated communications messages and as many economies are developing 2) Technological drivers - Telecommunications - the growth of the internet and e-commerce; Advances in transportation - the development of commercial jet aircraft, supertankers, and standardized containers for shipping 3) Government drivers - There has been a trend to worldwide trade for governments to promote free trade with other nations by reducing tariffs and deregulating many industry sectors 4) Competitive drivers - Global competition a) Companies are following competitors to enter international markets b) Companies are responding to global competition in their domestic markets 5) Cost drivers - Economies of scale; Difference in country production and service costs motivate companies to relocate (Businesses are motivated to relocate to other countries due to differences in production and serve costs.)
What are the four stages of a product life cycle and two limitations of the product life cycle concept? Describe how profits and sales change in each stage and the major marketing tasks in each of the four stages.
The four stages of a product life cycle include 1) Introduction 2) Growth 3) Maturity 4) Decline The two limitations of the product life cycle concept include 1) Length of the product life cycle 2) Shape of the product life cycle How do profits, sales, and marketing tasks change in each of the four stages? 1) Introduction - high costs, low or no profit; build customer awareness for the product 2) Growth - reduced costs, profit increases and reaches a peak level; more product versions and focus on differentiation 3) Maturity - high competition, sales reach a peak level and profit declines; maintain brand loyalty 4) Decline - sales and profits drop, competition lessens; harvesting or deleting a product
How should salespeople handle objections in personal selling? Describe the six major techniques for handling objections in personal selling.
The six major techniques for handling objections in personal selling include 1) Acknowledge and convert - involves using the objection as a reason for buying 2) Postpone - is used when the objection will be dealt with later 3) Agree and neutralize - a salesperson agrees with the objection, then shows that it is unimportant 4) Accept - Let the customer express their views, find the reasoning behind them, and attempt to stimulate further discussion regarding the objection 5) Denial - When a customer's objection is based on misinformation and clearly untrue; meet the objection head-on with a firm denial 6) Ignore - is used when it appears that the objection is a stalling mechanism or is not important to the customer
What are major business actions toward socially responsible marketing? Explain the three types of marketing actions related to societal responsibility.
The three types of marketing actions related to societal responsibility include 1) Green marketing - Green marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe and efforts to reclaim environmentally sensitive materials; the promotion of environmentally friendly products, services, and initiatives. 2) Cause marketing - Cause marketing is marketing done by a for-profit business that seeks to both increase profits and to better society in accordance with corporate social responsibility; involves a collaboration between a for-profit business and a nonprofit organization for a common benefit 3) Societal marketing - a company should make marketing decisions not only by considering consumers' wants and the company's requirements, but also society's long-term interests.
