Marketing and Reflective Thinking free essay sample

Distribution decisions can sometimes give a product a distinct position in the market. The choice of retailers and other intermediaries is strongly tied to the product itself. Manufacturers select mass merchandisers to sell mid-price-range products while they distribute top-of-the-line products through high-end department and specialty stores. The firm’s sales force and communications decisions depend on how much persuasion, training, motivation, and support its channel partners need. Whether a company develops or acquires certain new products may depend on how well those products fit the capabilities of its channel members. Some companies pay too little attention to their distribution channels. Others, such as FedEx, Dell Computer, and Charles Schwab have used imaginative distribution systems to gain a competitive advantage. Functions of Distribution Channels Distribution channels perform a number of functions that make possible the flow of goods from the producer to the customer. These functions must be handled by someone in the channel. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing and Reflective Thinking or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Though the type of organization that performs the different functions can vary from channel to channel, the functions themselves cannot be eliminated. Channels provide time, place, and ownership utility. They make products available when, where, and in the sizes and quantities that customers want. Distribution channels provide a number of logistics or physical distribution functions that increase the efficiency of the flow of goods from producer to customer. Distribution channels create efficiencies by  reducing the number of transactions  necessary for goods to flow from many different manufacturers to large numbers of customers. This occurs in two ways. The first is called  breaking bulk. Wholesalers and retailers purchase large quantities of goods from manufacturers but sell only one or a few at a time to many different customers. Second, channel intermediaries reduce the number of transactions by  creating assortments—providing a variety of products in one location—so that customers can conveniently buy many different items from one seller at one time. Channels are efficient. The  transportation and storage of goods  is another type of physical distribution function. Retailers and other channel members move the goods from the production site to other locations where they are held until they are wanted by customers. Channel intermediaries also perform a number of  facilitating functions, functions that make the purchase process easier for customers and manufacturers. Intermediaries often provide  customer services  such as offering credit to buyers and accepting customer returns. Customer services are oftentimes more important in B2B markets in which customers purchase larger quantities of higher-priced products. Some wholesalers and retailers assist the manufacturer by providing  repair and maintenance service  for products they handle. Channel members also perform a  risk-taking  function. If a retailer buys a product from a manufacturer and it doesn’t sell, it is â€Å"stuck† with the item and will lose money. Last, channel members perform a variety of  communication  and  transaction  functions. Wholesalers buy products to make them available for retailers and sell products to other channel members. Retailers handle transactions with final consumers. Channel members can provide two-way communication for manufacturers. They may supply the sales force, advertising, and other marketing communications necessary to inform consumers and persuade them to buy. And the channel members can be invaluable sources of information on consumer complaints, changing tastes, and new competitors in the market. The Internet in the Distribution Channel By using the Internet, even small firms with limited resources can enjoy some of the same competitive advantages as their largest competitors in making their products available to customers internationally at low cost. E-commerce can result in radical changes in distribution strategies. Today most goods are mass-produced, and in most cases end users do not obtain products directly from manufacturers. With the Internet, however, the need for intermediaries and much of what has been assumed about the need and benefits of channels will change. In the future, channel intermediaries that physically handle the product may become largely obsolete. Many traditional intermediaries are already being eliminated as companies question the value added by layers in the distribution channel. This removal of intermediaries is termed  disintermediation, the elimination of some layers of the distribution channel in order to cut costs and improve the efficiency of the channel. COURSE DESCRIPTION The course is an introduction to the language and issues of marketing with an emphasis on learning to develop responsive marketing strategies that meet customer needs. The course focuses on basic marketing concepts, the role of marketing in the organization, and the role of marketing in society. Topics include market segmentation, product development, promotion, distribution, and pricing. Other topics, which will be incorporated into the course, are external environment (which will focus on integrative topics with marketing, such as economics, politics, government, and nature), marketing research, international/global marketing with relevance to cultural diversity, ethics, and the impact of technology on marketing. COURSE PERSPECTIVE We all have many experiences with marketing from the viewpoint of the consumer. In this course, we will take the perspective of the marketing decision maker. The students will learn that there is much more to marketing than they might have expected. From the textbook, participation assignments/homework, and class discussions, students will learn about the decisions that marketers must make and tools/frameworks that will assist them in making those decisions effectively. By the end of the course, they should understand the complexity and challenges associated with making marketing decisions as well as ways to design effective marketing strategies. On the practical side, this new understanding of marketing should make each of student a more knowledgeable consumer. COURSE LEARNING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Accordingly, the course emphasizes the following: To analyze the role of marketing within the firm and society. To expose the two parts of a marketing strategy: the target market and the marketing mix. To study the four basic variables in the marketing mix: product, promotion, price, and distribution. To exercise analytical, communication, and presentation skills (through use of technological aids, such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and the Internet)—the basic tools of marketing. COURSE STRUCTURE An effective way to help students learn about marketing is the actual creation of a marketing plan for a product or service. This project is designed to accomplish such a task. The class will be divided into groups (five student’s maximum per group), each group will decide on a â€Å"fictional† consumer product or service they wish to bring to market. During the course of the semester, each of the elements of the marketing plan, coordinating with the text chapter, will be due for review. See the attached schedule for when the specific information is due. Each submission will be reviewed and presented with suggested areas for improvement, for more detailed study, or if acceptable, allow the students to proceed to the next phase in development. At the end of the semester, each group is to present their entire marketing plan to the class. METHOD OF INSTRUCTION The course is highly interactive between the class and the instructor. Through case studies/presentations, problems, and specific company client activities, students will have the opportunity to use the concepts, ideas, and strategies presented in class. Problem-solving sessions occur in both individual (primarily) and team (occasionally) settings. This course will incorporate a lecture and project-based approach to the teaching of marketing. The textbook will be used as a reference point for the discussion(s) of the marketing plan project. Students are encouraged to read and inculcate the major principles found in the textbook. The eminent Dutch psychologist, management researcher, and culture expert Geert Hofstede, early in his career, interviewed unsuccessfully for an engineering job with an American company. Later, he wrote of typical cross-cultural misunderstandings that crop up when American managers interview Dutch recruits and vice versa: â€Å"American applicants, to Dutch eyes, oversell themselves. Their CVs are worded in superlatives†¦d uring the interview they try to behave assertively, promising things they are very unlikely to realize†¦Dutch applicants in American eyes undersell themselves. They write modest and usually short CVs, counting on the interviewer to find out by asking how good they really are†¦they are very careful not to be seen as braggarts and not to make promises they are not absolutely sure they can fulfill. American interviewers know how to interpret American CVs and interviews and they tend to discount the information provided. Dutch interviewers, accustomed to Dutch applicants, tend to upgrade the information. To an uninitiated American interviewer an uninitiated Dutch applicant comes across as a sucker. To an uninitiated Dutch interviewer an uninitiated American applicant comes across as a braggart. 1 Cultural differences, while difficult to observe and measure, are obviously very important. Failure to appreciate and account for them can lead to embarrassing blunders, strain relationships, and drag down business performance. And the effects of culture persist even in life-and-death situations. Consider the example of Korean Air’s high in cidence of plane crashes between 1970 and 2000. As an analysis of conversations recorded in the black boxes of the crashed planes revealed, the co-pilots and flight engineers in all-Korean cockpits were too deferential to their captains. Even in the advent of a possible crash, Korean Air co-pilots and flight engineers rarely suggested actions that would contradict the judgments of their captains. Challenging one’s superior in Korea was considered culturally inadequate behavior. 2 The Korean Air example is particularly noteworthy for two reasons. First, if national culture can have significant – not to say existential – consequences among people of the same cultural origin, we need to be very cautious in how we deal with national cultural differences in cross-border interactions. Second, it is interesting to note that the attitudes and behaviors revealed by Korean Air co-pilots and flight engineers persisted in such a highly regulated environment like commercial aviation. National culture shapes behavior and this influence reaches beyond administrative attributes such as governmental policies, laws and public institutions. Therefore, this note focuses on how the influence of culture materializes and how cultural differences affect the operation of firms around the globe.