K M Mahmud Hasan’s Website

” When people think about training, they just think about become wiser than others, but I think people get more smarter after training ” – K M Mahmud Hasan, Feb, 2010

The actors and forces outside marketing that affect marketing management’s ability to build and maintain successful relationships with target customers.

1. Microenvironment

The actors close to the company that affect its ability to serve its customers, the company, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customer markets, competitors, and publics.

2. Microenvironment

The larger societal forces that affect the microenvironment-demographic, economic, natural, technological, political, and cultural forces

Functional Form

When an organization grows beyond the affairs that can be handled by a single group and one boss, it usually adopts a functional structure. This creates an initial division of labor in terms of functions that need to be performed by the organization such as production, sales, engineering, finance, etc

In a functional structure, activities are grouped together by common function, from the bottom to the top of the organization. All engineers are in engineering department which is headed by VP of Engineering. Activities are coordinated vertically within the function by hierarchical supervision, rules and plans. Planning and Budgeting is by function.

Employees in each department get differentiated, adopting similar values, goals, and orientations. Similarity encourages collaboration, efficiency, and quality within the function but makes coordination, cooperation or integration with other departments more difficult.

This form requires a good deal of information processes among the functions. This is usually coordinated by a General Manager.

Strengths of Functional Structure:

• Works best when the dominant competitive issues and goals of the organization stress functional expertise, efficiency and quality.
• Promotes economies of scale.
• Promotes in-depth skill development of employees by providing a well-defined functional career ladder that allows employees’ exposure to many activities in their own functional expertise.

Weakness of Functional Structure:

• Inability to respond to environmental changes that require coordination between departments.
• Each employee has a restricted view of the overall goals of the organization.
• Dispersed accountability.

Best Suited for small to Medium sized organizations where the firm’s strategy calls for a single or closely related set of products/services to be produced efficiently.

Divisional Form

• Groups diverse functions into divisions.
• Organized according to the various outputs of the organization (marketing, manufacturing, and R and D are in same division).
• May have one product, region, or market-segment.
• Cross Functional Coordination is maximized.
• Employees identify with division rather than function.
• Budgeting and Planning on profit basis because each division can run as separate business (thus accountable for profit/loss).
• Promotions based on management and integration skills rather than functional expertise.
• Very autonomous.
• Excellent when environmental uncertainty is moderate to high and dominant competitive issue and goal of organization is innovate, satisfy clients, or maintain market segment.
• Adapts quickly to changes in client/market needs.

Disadvantages:

• Lose economies of scale.
• Coordination across divisions can be difficult.
• In-depth competence and technical specialization may be weakened because employees invest in division rather than functional specialty.

Works best in: Medium to Large sized firms that operate in heterogeneous environments and produce multiple products, operate in different businesses and markets, serve different clients, and / or sell products in different geographical regions.

Hybrid Forms

Most large companies don’t have pure functional or divisional structure. They combine the two to form hybrid structures.

Two hybrid types:

1. Project or product groups may be overlaid on the functional structure so that these groups facilitate coordination across functions.
2. Some key functions such as manufacturing or sales that require economies of scale and specialization may be centralized and located at headquarters, thus superimposing a functional structure on a divisional one.

Matrix Form

This form provides benefits of both the functional (technical expertise) and divisional (horizontal coordination) structures. It simultaneously implements both functional and divisional structures. Example: Engineer assigned to engineering department and to specific project. He reports to both project and department manager.

Strength is that it enables the organization to meet multiple demands from the environment. Organization can adapt to changing external environments and provides an opportunity for employees to acquire either functional or general management skills.
Problem is determining responsibility and authority. Spend a great deal of time in meetings. Dual reporting and assignments can cause role ambiguity, hamper career development, and weaken ties with professional reference groups and employees.

Fails usually because one side of the authority structure dominates, or employees have not learned to work in a collaborative fashion.

Network Structure

• Division of labor is realized in terms of different types of “knowledge workers” who may act as individual contributors or be a part of a cluster defined in terms of the expertise it provides.
• Coordination takes place primarily through cross-functional teams. These teams bring together different combinations of knowledge workers and operate under little formal supervision.
• Decision rights are pushed as far down as possible.
• A flatter organization means no need for middle managers.
• Informal structure.

Advantage: Adaptability (fast and responsive to environmental demands).
Disadvantage: Resources are often duplicated and accountability is diffuse and poorly defined.
Best Suited for: Volatile (unstable) environments that change rapidly and dramatically and when innovation is the primary basis for strategic advantage.

Summary: “An organization’s structure is not an end in itself. It merely sets the context for managerial action. The most wonderfully designed structure provides no guarantee that the desired actions will follow. … Structure is just one useful tool that managers can employ to achieve this objective.”

Notes on Organization Structure

Organizations exist to enable people to coordinate efforts and get things done. The structure of an organization serves the following functions:

1. The specialization, standardization, and departmentalization of tasks and functions
2. Coordinates activities through hierarchical supervision, formal rules and procedures, and training and specialization
3. Defines boundaries and interfaces with the environment

Organization Structure

Things to think about when designing an organization’s structure:

1. Division of Labor – how various tasks should be divided
   • the extent of horizontal and vertical specialization
   • the grouping of activities
   • key trade-offs: highly specialized jobs focus attention and develop skills, but extreme specialization increases coordination costs and leads to monotonous jobs.
2. Coordination Mechanisms – the need to coordinate the independent activities of the members. Examples of vertical and horizontal coordination: direct supervision, rules, procedures, plans, budgets, meetings, and task forces.
3. Distribution of Decision Rights – how information flows and who should make what decisions. Ideally, decision rights should go to the people with the best information, typically people working on the front line.
4. Organizational Boundaries – deciding what to do inside and outside the boundaries of the firm. This includes making decisions about horizontal and vertical integration, make-versus-buy, and strategic alliances.
5. Informal Structure – managers should be aware of the informal relationships in an organization and know how changes in an organization will affect those relationships.
6. Political Structure – there are political coalitions inside organizations that have competing agendas and viewpoints. A manager needs to assess the political landscape in the organization.
7. Legitimate Basis of Authority – Rank, title, expertise, charisma, and social status are all sources of authority that define legitimate authority.

Basic Forms

• Functional

The functional form groups activities by common function, from the bottom to the top of the organization. Similarity within each department encourages collaboration, efficiency, and quality but makes coordination and cooperation with other departments difficult. The general manager is responsible for setting procedures that cut across functions and for mediating conflicts between departments.

The functional form works when the competitive issues and goals of the organization stress functional expertise, efficiency, and quality because it promotes economies of scale. This form is best suited for small to medium-sized firms where the strategy calls for a closely related set of products and services to be produced efficiently. The weakness of functional form is its inability to respond to environmental changes that require coordination between departments. Another weakness is that each employee has a restricted view of the overall goals of the organization.

• Divisional

The divisional form is organized according to the various outputs that enable an organization to produce goods and services. All the necessary resources such as manufacturing, R & D, and marketing are contained within each division. Coordination across functions within each division is maximized. Employees identify with their division rather than their function. A corporate headquarters oversees the divisions but the divisions are given the freedom to make their own decisions.

The divisional form works in an uncertain environment. The division can respond to the requirements of individual products, customers, or regions and adapt quickly to changes. A disadvantage is that the division loses economies of scale. Another problem is that coordination across divisions can be difficult and in pursuing their own goals, divisions may work at odds with each other.

• Hybrid

Most large corporations do not have either a pure functional or a pure divisional structure, but some combination of both. Two hybrid structures exist, in one form, project or product groups may be overlaid on the functional structure so that these groups facilitate coordination across functions. In the other form, some key functions that require economies of scale are centralized. By combining characteristics hybrid structures can take advantage of both forms of structure and avoid some of their weaknesses.

• Matrix

This form is applied when the organization needs both technological expertise within functions and horizontal coordination across functions. Both the functional and divisional structures are implemented simultaneously. Employees report to two managers with equal authority.

The strength of the matrix is that it enables the organization to meet multiple demands form the environment. Resources can be flexibly allocated and the organization can adapt to changing external environments. A basic problem is determining the responsibility and authority relationships between functional and project managers. Also, people spend a lot of time in meetings.

Emerging organizational structures

Labor is divided among specialists who act as the building blocks of the organization. Coordination takes place through cross-functional teams that are more or less permanent. Teams have varying responsibilities and operate under little supervision. Decision rights are pushed down as far as possible and middle management layers are reduced. The boundaries between the organization and its environment become blurred as partnerships and strategic alliances are formed. A dynamic, informal structure dominates. The formal structure is meaningless. Authority is based on expertise and the resources one possesses.

The main advantage of this structure is its adaptability, however resources are often duplicated and accountability can be scattered and poorly defined.

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Marketing research (also called consumer research) is a form of business research. The field of marketing research as a statistical science was pioneered by Arthur Nielsen with the founding of the ACNielsen Company in 1923.

Marketing research is a systematic and objective study of problems pertaining to the marketing of goods and services. It is applicable to any area of marketing. Research is the only tool an organization has to keep in contact with its external operating environment. In order to be proactive and change with the environment simple questions need to be asked:

• What are the customer needs and how are they changing? How to meet these changing needs? What do the customers think about existing products or services? What more are they looking at?
• What are the competitors doing to retain customers in this environment? Are their strategies exceeding or influencing yours? What should you do to be more competitive?
• How are macro and micro environmental factors influencing your organization? How will you react to this environment?

Authors have defined Marketing Research in many ways:

• Kotler (1999) defines marketing research as ‘systematic problem analysis, model-building and fact-finding for the purpose of improved decision-making and control in the marketing of goods and services’.
• The American Marketing Association (AMA, 1961) defines it as ‘the systematic gathering, recording and analyzing of data relating to the marketing of goods and services’.
• Green and Tull have defined marketing research as the systematic and objective search for and analysis of information relevant to the identification and solution of any problem in the field of marketing.

The aim of marketing management is to satisfy the needs of the consumer. Marketing research helps in achieving this. Marketing research is a systematic and logical way of assessing ways of satisfying customer needs.

According to all the above definitions, Marketing Research starts by stating the problem or the issue to be investigated; indicate what kind of information is required to resolve the problem; identify where and how to get it; specify the methodology for analyzing the research findings; sum up the research findings and then suggest the best solution for marketing decision making.

Scope of marketing research:

Marketing research can be used in:

· Product Management: One of the major scope of marketing research is to manage the current products and new products. In product management Marketing Research is helpful in

• Competitive Intelligence – To understand the competitive product strategy.
• Prelaunch strategy for new products
• Test Marketing – To monitor the performance of the brand by launching in a select area and then taking it across the country. In other words it is a small-scale product launch used to determine the likely acceptance of the product when it is introduced into a wider market.
• Concept testing - to test the acceptance of a concept by target consumers.

· Sales analysis: Marketing research is used to study the sales trend and make suitable strategies when required. It is used to

• Assess market potential
• Estimation of demand for a product
• Market share estimation
• Study seasonal variation for a product
• Market segmentation studies
• Estimate size of the market
• Need analysis to find out where the product fits in

· Corporate Research: Marketing Research is used to analyze the corporate effectiveness. Some examples are:

• Assessing the image of the company
• Knowledge of the company activities

· Advertising Research: Advertising is an arena in which Marketing Research is extensively used. Some scope are:

• Readership feedbacks – Mainly carried out for newspapers and magazines
• Advertising Recall – To assess the recall of television or other advertising and thereby assess its effectiveness.

· Syndicated Research: This is compiled by agencies on a regular basis and sold to organizations on subscription basis.

All of these forms of marketing research can be classified as either problemidentification

research or as problem-solving research.

A similar distinction exists between exploratory research and conclusive research.

• Exploratory research provides insights into and comprehension of an issue or situation. It should draw definitive conclusions only with extreme caution.
• Conclusive research draws conclusions: the results of the study can be generalized to the whole population.

Research can also be:

• Primary Marketing Research: It is research conducted by an organization for its own purpose which addresses its requirements. It is generally expensive but is specific and objective to the organization’s requirement.
• Secondary Marketing Research: This is used if the organization is considering extending its business into new markets or adding new services or product lines. This type of research is based on informationobtained from studies previously performed by government agencies, chambers of commerce, trade associations and other organizations. This also includes Census Bureau information.

In other terms this is research published previously and usually by someone else. Secondary research costs less than primary research, but seldom comes in a form that exactly meets the needs of the researcher. It can cater to anyone who wishes to use the data.

This data can be found in local libraries or on the Web, but books and business publications, as well as magazines and newspapers, are also great sources.

Hence, Primary research delivers more specific results than secondary research, which is an especially important while launching a new product or service. In addition, primary research is usually based on statistical methodologies that involve sampling as small as 1 percent of a target market. This tiny representative sample can give an accurate representation of a particular market.

With the advance in technology a lot of software have been developed which help in primary market research online and offline thereby making analysis and interpretation easier.

The ideal way to conduct Marketing Research is to do secondary research first and then do the primary research for the data not available form secondary sources.

Hence, secondary research lays the groundwork and primary research helps fill in the gaps. By using both types of market research, organizations get a better picture of their market and have the information they need to make important business decisions.

Research always starts with a question to which we seek an answer using scientific methods. We define the question as a ‘Problem”.

Research is often described as an active, diligent, and systematic process of inquiry aimed at discovering, interpreting and revising facts.

The word research is derived from the French language; its literal meaning is ‘to investigate thoroughly’.

Undertaking research is basically applying scientific methods to find solution to a problem. It is a systematic and explorative study carried out to analyse and apply various solutions to a defined problem.

Research can be classified into two broad categories:

1. Basic Research and
2. Applied Research

Basic research

Basic research is also called fundamental or pure research. As the name itself refers, Basic Research is of basic nature which is not carried out in response to a problem. It is more educative, towards understanding the fundamentals and aim at expanding the knowledge base of an individual or organization. It does not have any commercial potential.

Applied research

Applied Research on the other hand is carried out to seek alternate solutions for a problem at hand. Applied research is done to solve specific, practical questions; its primary aim is not to gain knowledge. It specifies possible outcomes of each of the alternatives and its commercial implications.

Applied research can be carried out by academic or industrial institutions. Often, an academic institution such as a university will have a specific applied research program funded by an industrial partner interested in that program. Electronics, informatics, computer science, process engineering and drug design are some of the common areas of applied research.

Applied research can further be divided into:

1. Problem-solving research: It involves research oriented towards a crucial problem facing the organization which may be issue specific.
2. Problem-oriented research: The research is oriented towards a crucial problem facing the organization. It is undertaken inside the organization or by an external consultant on its behalf. This research is conceptual in nature and newer innovative techniques of problem-solving are applied.

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Recruiting Generally

Successful recruiting is centered on techniques to attract a large pool of
qualified applicants.

Internal Job Postings

Because they already possess working knowledge of your organization’s
policies, procedures, and so on, current employees are an immediately
available and important applicant pool for job vacancies. Job vacancies
may represent desirable promotions (upward moves) or transfers (lateral
moves).

In general, all vacancies should be publicized through internal physical
postings on bulletin boards, at meetings, or through the organization’s
website or Web blog. These postings will help you discover qualified employees
within your organization and could help in meeting equal employment
opportunity (EEO) commitments.

Many organizations limit how soon or how often a current employee
can apply for any opening. For example, an employee must be with the
company for at least a year and in his or her current job for six months to
become eligible to apply for a vacancy.

It is neither legally necessary nor operationally desirable to give present
employees first refusal on all vacancies; however, a promotion-and-transfer
system can build employee trust and enhance morale.

Note: A common problem with internal recruiting is that managers
will deliberately sabotage the promotion chances of their best employees
in order to retain them.

Employee Referrals

Current employee referrals, especially from good performers, are an effective
job applicant source. People generally make friends with people similar
to themselves.

Good people want to work with good people. Hard workers gravitate
to other hard workers. Therefore, referrals from your best performers are
likely to be highly desirable applicants. And, word of mouth is a strong
method of advertising open positions. Also, referred applicants tend to
have a more realistic picture of an organization and can be reached at
practically no cost.

Note: A major disadvantage of employee referrals can be the current
worker’s expectation that all referred applicants should receive job offers.
Also Note: Employee referral programs may be perceived as discriminatory
in practice.

External Sources

The Internet, certainly including the company’s own website, is becoming
a primary source of attracting talent. External to the organization and to
the Internet are an array of recruiting sources including, but not limited
to, newspaper and trade publication advertisements, educational institutions,
labor and community organizations, job fairs, state agencies, professional
search firms, online recruiting sites, employee leasing, temporary
agencies, billboards, and past employees.

Minimum Requirements

Start with developing the minimum job requirements including:

• Summary Statement—provides a synopsis of the major purpose of
  a position and its role in the department.
• Duties—major subdivisions of work performed by one individual.
• Tasks—work operations that are logical, essential steps in the performance
  of a duty. The ‘‘tasks’’ section of the description defines
  the methods, procedures, and techniques by which duties are carried
  out. It should show:
• • What is done (action)
• How it is done (procedures, materials, tools, or equipment)
• Why it is done (purpose)
• Begin each task statement with an action verb in the first-person
  present tense (e.g., write, calibrate, analyze, coordinate, approve, accept,
  devise, or develop).
• Degree of Supervision—supervision either given or received.

Once you have the essential minimum requirements, put them into your
job template.