Module Assignment
This assignment is completed using the paper below.
For this part of your process improvement plan, determine your process's goals and objectives. Keep in mind that your goals should be specific, realistic, and include a deadline. The board and stakeholders will need to know when the new process or revised process will be fully integrated. This will also help you to stay on track throughout the process.
For this part of your process improvement plan, use what you learned in the module and the discussion to apply depth and critical thinking; go beyond the surface and delve deeper. Really demonstrate the value of the process that you proposed in Module 3.
Highlight what your new process will accomplish, including:
a. What do you hope to accomplish by implementing the new process?
b. When specifically do you plan to fully integrate the new process? Create a timeline.
c. Specifically demonstrate the value of your process to the organization.
d. Explain how your chosen management theories helped you develop the goals and objectives.
Things to Remember!
· Your paper should be at least one-and-a-half pages in length, not counting a cover or reference page.
· Justify your recommendations by including in-text citations and references.
· Format following APA guidelines
Introduction
In the contemporary business context, marketing of products is one of the most important operations that a company will take on. It has been an evolving discipline and companies can be left behind if they are stagnate regarding their marketing operations. One of the more notable abstract charters in marketing is called the marketing mix methodology. The marketing mix methodology once had 4Ps to explain the fundamentals of marketing, however with time this has significantly changed. The 7Ps strategy has added the much-required layers of depth to the marketing mix. The marketing mix can be referred to as the methodology used by businesses and marketers to aid in determining a product or brand offering. The theory suggests that the four (seven) Ps can be utilized to enable marketing of products in an organization. The rationale behind the selection of this theory is that fact that it critically reviews how customer satisfaction can be achieved, also given the fact that all organizations aim to maximize their profits through marketing.
In this context, the major issue at hand is improving the customer service delivery ("6. Marketing-Mix optimieren," 2013). This will be achieved by incorporating the marketing mix theory into Apple's process weaknesses and turn them into strengths. Also, this paper will review and determine if the marketing mix theory can be integrated successfully into Apple's current processes. This will be facilitated by a critical review of the weaknesses compared to the strengths of the marketing mix theory. The paper will give insights and evaluate if the process of Apple needs to be changed or revised. Additionally, it will show that the new process will produce better results than the old process and provide better service to Apple's customers. This will be achieved by providing data that point out the weaknesses and inefficiencies of the old process and how the new processes will address these inefficiencies (Kucuk, 2016).
According to (Thommen (2015) the marketing Mix can be elucidated as follows. Product, place, price, and promotion. In the product context, the product should fulfill the customers' expectations. Also, it should work and provide what the customers expect to get. The major weakness of the process is that fact that Apple has not been vigorous in producing other products compared to the production of it's iPhone. This indicates that the product should meet the expectations, therefore, according to the marketing mix the other products other than iPhone should also fulfill the customers' expectations. The theory suggests that products should be available where the targeted customer gets it's at their convenience, in Apple's case that would be in Apple stores but again shipping is a huge problem. According to the marketing mix, the organization's products should be available via e-commerce, online and other platforms that can be used to make the products available to the customers. Apple Inc. is mainly focused on providing the best quality of iPhone at the expense of Mac PC (Meffert, Burmann, & Kirchgeorg, 2014). This is a glaring weakness as one product may not be beneficial as two therefore, Apple should ensure that they upgrade their products equally to increase profits. Also, the prices of the products should continue to reflect the value and quality of the products. It's worth noting that customers (particularly Apple) are usually happy to pay a little more for something that works well for them. Another tenet of the marketing mix is promoting the products; factors of promotion include advertising, PR, sales promotion, personal selling via social media, word of mouth among others. These are major communication tools that can be used in an organization to get word out about their products. According to the marketing mix, the message should be designed in a manner that will attract customers, informative yet appeals to their emotions. This means that Apple's shipping issues can also be addressed communications tools. Apple should focus on producing other products and upgrade its Mac line, subsequently, they must also include these products into their promotions process. Promotions increase sales thereby increasing the market share of the company, promotions also help to increase the customer base of a company. Another benefit of advertising is that it increases the chances of innovation when coupled with customer feedback. The consumers propose how they want their products to function (Meffert, Burmann, & Kirchgeorg, 2014).
Apple has very well developed policies, as a matter of fact many businesses have adopted Apple's policies on different aspects of their own business. Despite their few weaknesses which are normal in a company, they still have well-developed policies and processes. Therefore, redesigning these processes is the best measure for Apple Inc. The shipping process should be revisited, and the philosophy possibly changed. The shipping department at Apple should incorporate the marketing mix, to ensure that their price, product, place, and promotion processes have all been addressed. This involves incorporating the explanation and sentiments on each tenet of the marketing mix. This will ensure that all shipping concerns are well tackled in the organization (Meffert, Burmann, & Kirchgeorg, 2014).
Reflection
Having incorporated the marketing mix methodology, the results should be different because it was determined that the weakness pointed out by the SWOT analysis can be mitigated by the marketing mix theory. It is evident that the four Ps lead to improvement of the process, at the same time, this approach will aid in improving the customer's service delivery, streamlining the delivery process, employees' satisfaction with improved motivation or career development, and developing a shared organizational vision (Thommen, 2015).
Better still, the marketing mix methodology provides a platform for prudent allocation of resources both human and financial. This results in customer satisfaction and profits to the firm, additionally this theory helps in allocation of roles and responsibility. One of the most imperative challenges is to create a team atmosphere in the marketing process. By virtue of specialty, some are accountable for product management, others selling, and physical distribution. This is mainly enabled by the marketing mix (Thommen, 2015). Also, the marketing mix aids firms in planning their marketing on the basis of a set of particular criteria and helps in implementing the objectives therein. This can be achieved by separating the 4Ps and focusing on implementing the objectives of each P. Better still, the marketing mix can provide a competitive advantage to a firm over its competitors, after using this theory and incorporating its particular allocation of resources, meeting its objectives and its overall contribution to the overall well-being of the firm.
References
Marketing-Mix optimieren. (2013). Marketing, 384-408. doi:10.15358/9783800646920_384
Kucuk, S. U. (2016). Marketing-Mix Modeling. Visualizing Marketing, 83-93. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-48027-5_7
Meffert, H., Burmann, C., & Kirchgeorg, M. (2014). Marketing-Mix. Marketing, 357-768. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-02344-7_4
Thommen, J. (2015). 8 Marketing-Mix. Marketing, 167-172. doi:10.24096/9783039097135-167.