Chapter 10: Marketing Implementation and Control 10-1
Chapter 10: Marketing Implementation and Control
I.
Marketing Implementation Defined
A.
Marketing implementation is the process of executing the marketing
strategy by creating specific actions that will ensure that the marketing
objectives are achieved.
B.
Marketing strategies almost always turn out differently than anticipated
because of the difference between intended marketing strategy and
realized marketing strategy.
1.
Intended marketing strategy is what the organization wants to
happen—it is the organization’s planned strategic choice.
2.
The realized marketing strategy is the strategy that actually takes
place.
3.
The difference between the intended and realized strategy is more
often than not the result of the way the intended marketing strategy
is implemented.
II.
Issues in Marketing Implementation
A.
Planning and Implementation are Interdependent Processes
1.
While it is true that the content of the marketing plan determines
how it will be implemented, it is also true that how a marketing
strategy is to be implemented determines the consent of the
marketing plan. [Exhibit 10-1]
2.
Certain marketing strategies will dictate some parts of their
implementation.
B.
Planning and Implementation are Constantly Evolving
1.
The reality of marketing is that critically important environmental
factors are constantly changing.
a.
As customers change their wants and needs, as competitors
devise new marketing strategies, and as the organization’s
own internal environment changes, the firm must
constantly adapt.
b.
Changes sometimes occur so fast that once the organization
decides on a marketing strategy, it is already out of date.
c.
Because of the interrelationship between marketing strategy
and marketing implementation, both must constantly adapt
to fit the other.
2.
The organization must be flexible enough to alter its marketing
implementation to counter changes in its customers’ preferences or
the competitive environment.
C.
Planning and Implementation Are Separated
1.
Top managers carry out strategic planning, but the responsibility
for implementing marketing strategy falls on lower-level managers
and frontline employees. [Exhibit 10.2]
Chapter 10: Marketing Implementation and Control 10-2
2.
II.
These managers and employees often fail to identify with the
organization’s goals and objectives or to understand the marketing
strategy because they are separated from the planning process.
The Components of Marketing Implementation
A.
Marketing implementation involves a number of interrelated components
and activities that must work together for strategy to be implemented
effectively. [Exhibit 10.3]
B.
Goals and values among all employees within the organization are the
“glue” of successful marketing implementation because they bind the
entire organization together as a single, functioning unit.
1.
The primary means of creating shared goals and values is through
employee training and socialization programs.
2.
Shared goals and values stimulates organizational commitment
where employees become more motivated to implement the
marketing strategy and meet customer needs.
B.
Marketing structure refers to how an organization’s marketing activities
are organized.
1.
In a centralized marketing structure, all marketing activities and
decisions are coordinated and managed from the top of the
marketing hierarchy.
2.
In a decentralized marketing structure, marketing activities and
decisions are coordinated and managed from the front line of the
organization.
3.
Decentralization means that frontline marketing managers are
given the responsibility of making day-to-day marketing decisions.
B.
Systems and processes are collections of work activities that take in a
variety of inputs to create information and communication outputs that
ensure the consistent day-to-day operation of the organization.
C.
An organization’s resources can include a wide variety of assets that can
be brought together during marketing implementation. These assets may
be tangible or intangible.
1.
Tangible resources include financial resources, manufacturing
capacity, facilities, and equipment.
2.
Intangible resources such as marketing expertise, customer loyalty,
brand equity, corporate goodwill, and external relationships/
strategic alliances are equally important.
3.
A critical and honest evaluation of available resources during the
situation and SWOT analyses can help ensure that the marketing
strategy and marketing implementation are within the realm of
possibility.
D.
The quality, diversity, and skill of an organization’s work force are all
important considerations in implementing marketing strategy. Human
resource issues are becoming more important to the marketing function,
especially in the areas of employee selection and training, evaluation and
Chapter 10: Marketing Implementation and Control 10-3
E.
III.
compensation policies, and employee motivation, satisfaction, and
commitment.
1.
Employee Selection and Training. One of the most critical aspects
of marketing implementation is matching employees’ skills and
abilities to the marketing tasks to be performed.
2.
Employee Evaluation and Compensation Policies. The key is to
develop an evaluation and compensation program that ties
employee rewards to performance levels on required marketing
activities.
a)
An outcome-based system evaluates and compensates
employees based on measurable, quantitative standards,
such as sales volume or gross margin levels.
b)
Behavior-based systems evaluate and compensate
employees based on subjective, qualitative standards such
as effort, motivation, teamwork, and friendliness toward or
problem solving with customers.
3.
Other important factors in the implementation of marketing
strategy are the extent to which employees are motivated to
implement a strategy, their overall feelings of job satisfaction, and
the commitment they feel toward the organization and its goals.
Leadership provided by an organization’s management and the behaviors
of employees go hand in hand in the implementation process. Leadership
includes how managers communicate with employees, as well as how they
motivate their people to implement a marketing strategy.
Approaches to Marketing Implementation
A.
The command approach is where marketing strategies are evaluated and
selected at the top of the organization and forced downward to lower
levels where frontline managers and employees are expected to implement
them.
1.
Advantages are:
a)
It makes decision making easier, and
b)
It reduces uncertainty as to what is to be done.
2.
Disadvantages are:
a)
It does not consider the feasibility of implementing the
marketing strategy.
b)
It divides the organization into strategists and
implementers, with no consideration for how strategy and
implementation affect each other.
c)
It often creates employee motivation problems because
employees are not motivated to implement strategies in
which they have little confidence.
B.
The change approach is similar to the command approach except that it
focuses explicitly on implementation.
1.
The organization’s structure can be altered; employees can be
transferred, hired, or fired; new technology can be adopted; the
Chapter 10: Marketing Implementation and Control 10-4
C.
D.
IV.
employee compensation plan can be changed; or the organization
can merge with another firm.
2.
As opposed to the command approach, the manager taking the
change approach toward implementation is more of an architect
and politician, skillfully crafting the organization to fit the
requirements of the chosen marketing strategy.
3.
The change approach is used quite often in business today,
sometimes with great success.
In the consensus approach, top managers and lower-level managers work
together to evaluate and develop marketing strategies.
1.
Managers from different areas and levels of the organization come
together as a team to “brainstorm” and develop the marketing
strategy.
2.
It moves some of the decision-making authority closer to the front
line where managers are more sensitive to the needs and wants of
the organization’s target market customers.
3.
For the consensus approach to be truly effective, managers at all
levels within the organization must communicate openly about
strategy on a daily basis, not just during formal strategy
development sessions.
The cultural approach carries the participative style of the consensus
approach to the lower levels of the organization. Top managers using this
approach is to shape the organization’s culture in such a way that all
employees—top managers to janitors—participate in making decisions
that help the organization reach its objectives.
1.
Employees are allowed to design their own work procedures, as
long as they are consistent with the organizational mission, goals,
and objectives.
2.
Employees must be trained and socialized to accept the
organization’s mission and to become a part of the organization’s
culture.
Internal Marketing
A.
Internal marketing refers to the managerial actions necessary to make all
members of the organization understand and accept their respective roles
in implementing marketing strategy.
B.
Under the internal marketing approach, every employee has two sets of
customers: external and internal.
1.
External customers are the people who shop at the store.
2.
Internal customers are the people who work in the store.
3.
This same pattern of internal and external customers is repeated
throughout all levels of the organization.
C.
Internal marketing is seen as an output of and input to both marketing
implementation and the external marketing program. [Exhibit 10.5]
Chapter 10: Marketing Implementation and Control 10-5
1.
D.
V.
Internal products refer to any employee tasks, behaviors, attitudes,
and values necessary to ensure implementation of the marketing
strategy.
2.
The increased effort and changes that employees must exhibit in
implementing the strategy are called internal prices.
3.
Internal distribution refers to how the marketing strategy is
communicated internally.
4.
All communication aimed at informing and persuading employees
about the merits of the marketing strategy comprise internal
promotion.
Implementing an Internal Marketing Approach
1.
The recruitment, selection, and training of employees must be
considered an important component of marketing implementation.
2.
Top managers must be completely committed to the marketing
strategy and overall marketing plan.
3.
Employee compensation programs must be linked to the
implementation of the marketing strategy.
4.
The organization should be characterized by open communication
among all employees, regardless of organizational level.
5.
Organizational structures, policies, and processes should match the
marketing strategy to ensure that the strategy is capable of being
implemented.
Evaluating and Controlling Marketing Activities
A.
A marketing strategy can achieve its desired results only if it is
implemented properly.
B.
A firm’s intended marketing strategy often differs from the realized
strategy (the one that actually takes place).
C.
Typically, there are three possible causes for this difference:
1.
The marketing strategy was inappropriate or unrealistic.
2.
The implementation was inappropriate for the strategy or was
simply mismanaged.
3.
The internal and/or external environments changed substantially
between the development of the marketing strategy and its
implementation.
D.
To correct any of these problems, marketing activities must be evaluated
and controlled on an ongoing basis.
E.
Formal marketing controls are mechanisms designed by the marketing
manager to help ensure the implementation of the marketing strategy.
1.
Input control is where the marketing strategy cannot be
implemented unless the proper tools are in place for it to succeed.
2.
Among the most important input control mechanisms are
recruiting, selecting, and training employees.
3.
Other examples of input controls include resource allocation
decisions (manpower and financial), capital outlays for needed
Chapter 10: Marketing Implementation and Control 10-6
F.
G.
H.
VI.
facilities and equipment, or increased expenditures on research and
development.
Process control mechanisms include activities that occur during
implementation that are designed to influence the behavior of employees
so they will support the strategy and its objectives. [Exhibit 10.6]
1.
One of the most important process control mechanisms is the
system used to evaluate and compensate employees.
2.
Management commitment to the marketing strategy is the single
most important determinant of whether the strategy will succeed or
fail.
Output control mechanisms are designed to ensure that marketing
outcomes are in line with anticipated results - setting performance
standards against which actual performance can be compared.
1.
In setting performance standards, it is important to remember that
employees are always responsible for implementing marketing
activities, and ultimately the marketing strategy.
2.
One of the best methods of evaluating whether performance
standards have been achieved is to use a marketing audit to
examine systematically the firm’s marketing objectives, strategy,
and performance. [Exhibit 10.7]
Informal marketing controls are unwritten, employee-based mechanisms
that subtly affect the behaviors of employees, both as individuals and in
groups.
1.
There are three types of informal control: employee self-control,
social control, and cultural control.
a)
Through employee self-control, employees manage their
own behavior (and thus the implementation of the
marketing strategy) by establishing personal objectives and
monitoring their results.
b)
Social, or small group, control deals with the standards,
norms, and ethics that are found within work groups within
the organization.
c)
Cultural is concerned with the behavioral and social norms
of the entire organization.
Implementing Marketing Activities
A.
Through good planning and organizing, marketing managers provide
purpose, direction, and structure for marketing activities.
B.
The manager must understand the problems associated with
implementation, understand how the various components of
implementation are coordinated, and select an overall approach to
implementation before actually executing marketing activities.
C.
The manager must be good at motivating, coordinating, and
communicating with all marketing personnel.
D.
The manager must establish a timetable for the completion of each
marketing activity.
Chapter 10: Marketing Implementation and Control 10-7
E.
Successful implementation also requires that employees know the specific
activities for which they are responsible and the timetable for completing
each activity.
1.
Identifying the specific activities to be performed.
2.
Determining the time required to complete each activity.
3.
Separating the activities that must be performed in sequence from
those that can be performed simultaneously.
4.
Organizing the activities in the proper sequence.
5.
Assigning the responsibility for completing each activity to one or
more employees, teams, or managers.
Questions for Discussion
1. Debate question: Which is more important: planning the marketing strategy or
implementing the marketing strategy? Forget for a moment that they are equally
important. What arguments can you make for one being more important than the
other?
2. If you were a marketing manager, which approach to implementation would you
be most comfortable using, given your personality and personal preferences?
Would your approach be universally applicable to any given situation? If not, how
would you adapt your approach? Remember, adapting your basic approach means
stepping out of your personal comfort zone to match the situation at hand.
3. What do you see as the major stumbling blocks to the successful use of the
internal marketing approach? Given the stratification of employees in most
organizations (e.g., CEO, middle management, staff employees), is internal
marketing a viable approach for most organizations? Why or why not?