For the final assessment you are to choose your own case study, i.e. pick a company, or even a non-for-profit organisation, and describe and critique its marketing. It may be the same organisation that you chose for the interim, or it need not be. The organisation you choose to analyse may be large or small, private or publically-quotes -- we put no bounds other than it must have a marketing activity. Apply as many of the concepts covered in this module as you can. You may recall in summary the concepts you use, but do not spend long describing the concept - we need you to apply it.
(I have done the Interim Assessment and have chosen the organisation APM Terminals). You must continue from there...add/change/amend etc.
We are not going to list out the key concepts here, but we shall have a list of them against which we shall be grading you paper. Nevertheless, three key words will be " marketing", "management" and "sustainability". By not specifying here a long list of concepts, we hope to ensure that you have identified them and absorbed them!
You may, indeed you should, put citations for any outside sources you call upon. Be sure to use the Harvard convention on citations and bibliography.
You would be well advised to watch the video on academic writing and to apply it. One great advantage of putting citations at the end of paragraphs is that it encourages you to use your own words without them being broken up. It also helps you stick to one theme be paragraph.
Remember, we are looking neither for a monograph on marketing management, nor for a series of definitions, nor for a summary of the material covered in the module. Instead we are looking for application to a particular case of your choosing.
Overall we shall be marking as a function:
- Application of the concepts covered in the module (this will be subdivided into concepts covered)
- Citations and bibliography
- Quality as an essay
1. I have chosen AP Moller Terminals (APMT) as my organisation for the interim. So all information can be obtained from the APMT website. Some of the concepts were done in my interim assessment and will forward. You may also note the remarks on the paper.
2. Focus on all marketing concepts especially sustainability in Marketing. The textbook we use is Sustainable Marketing by Diane Martin and John Schouten.
3. Word count must be 4000 words.
Some general concepts we did in class
1. The 4P's of the Marketing Mix: Product, Price, Place, Promotion
- consider the impact of the Internet and social media on marketing mix,
2. Branding and Promotion
3. Pricing. The "value of a thing is the price it will bring". Added value.
Marginal vs. full costing. Contribution analysis. Price setters vs. price takes.
Skimming vs. penetration.
Quantitative analysis and Contribution analysis in relation to price setting Differentiation
4. Experiential Marketing & Customer Relations - Building and managing customer relations
5. Service Quality and Gap analysis - Service Quality and how management achieves
6. Sustainable Marketing Fundamentals: 3BL + The Stakeholders Analysis .
The Triple Bottom Line serves as a guide for sustainable marketing. Consider the stakeholders who need to be integrated into a truly sustainable plan.
Some comments from lecturer
1. Service and its Management. Gap Analysis .. many of you analysing and critiquing marketing operations of an existing company for your final assessments.
- Service-mindedness is so important in maintaining a competitive advantage for all companies.
- There is good material on the syllabus which you should study now.
2. the assessment is to apply all the marking concepts you have learnt to critique the marketing of a company of your choice.
3. Applying the Gaps theory to your own organisation is good for your work and helpful for the final assessment!
Ten determinants which may influence the appearance of a gap were described by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1985)
1. Competence is the possession of the required skills and knowledge to perform the service.
2. Courtesy refers to factors such as politeness, respect, consideration and friendliness of the contact personnel; consideration for the customer's property and a clean and neat appearance of contact personnel.
3. Credibility refers to factors such as trustworthiness, belief and honesty. It involves having the customer's best interests at prime position. It may be influenced by company name, company reputation and the personal characteristics of the contact personnel.
4. Security represents the customer being free from danger, risk or doubt including physical safety, financial security and confidentiality.
5. Access refers to approachability and ease of contact. For example, convenient office operation hours and locations.
6. Communication means both informing customers in a language they are able to understand and also listening to customers.
7. Knowing the customer means making an effort to understand the customer's individual needs, providing individualized attention, recognizing the customer when they arrive and so on.
8. Tangibles are the physical evidence of the service, for instance, the appearance of the physical facilities, tools and equipment used to provide the service; the appearance of personnel and communication materials and the presence of other customers in the service facility.
9. Reliability is the ability to perform the promised service in a dependable and accurate manner. The service is performed correctly on the first occasion, the accounting is correct, records are up to date and schedules are kept.
10. Responsiveness refers to the readiness and willingness of employees to help customers in providing prompt timely services, for example, mailing a transaction slip immediately or setting up appointments quickly.