Part A: Written report

In preparation for this assignment, you are required to read the following article:

Horáková, H, Švarcová, M & Volf, L 2017, ‘Marketing planning process – reflection on the complex of activities that affect all aspects of business lifeOpen this document with ReadSpeaker docReader’, Marketing Science & Inspirations, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 43–53.

According to the learning materials (Topic 2), ‘the strategic marketing planning process needs to include an analysis of marketing opportunities, selection of target markets, conduct of a situation analysis, development of marketing strategies, planning of marketing programs (the marketing mix), and management of the marketing effort (annual-plan control, profitability control, strategic control)’.

Identify and explain two or three key components of the ‘strategic marketing planning process’ which you believe are the least effectively conducted by an organisation with which you are familiar. Also explain the likely impact(s) of those identified planning activities on the organisation’s marketing performance – that is, explain how the organisation’s marketing performance is likely to be affected by the ineffective conduct of those components of the marketing planning process. Ensure you provide in-depth reasoning to support your selection and to explain the impact on performance. You should focus your analysis on just one product (physical good or service) or product range. Please note that this assignment is about the ‘Marketing Planning Process’ rather than the ‘Marketing Plan’.

In your analysis, ensure you consider comments made in the above-mentioned article, ‘Marketing planning process – reflection on the complex of activities that affect all aspects of business life’, including the argument that planning activities carried out by the organisation ‘must be in concert, must fit into the overall direction of the target company’s tasks [and] are a collective support for the company goal as a whole’ (Horáková, Švarcová & Volf 2017, p. 45).

Provide adequate information about your chosen organisation and product (physical good or service) or product range, so that the marker can assess your response appropriately. However, limit this information to about 150 words or less since it does not contribute directly to your marks. The company information does not contribute to your word count.

Important note: 

The above-mentioned steps of the ‘strategic marketing planning process’ are based on various holistic concepts of marketing management discussed in Topics 1–5 of the learning materials. Even though definitions of these steps can be found in relevant chapters of the textbook, we encourage you (as an MBA-level student) to explore frameworks from other sources as well.

In a nutshell, interpret these steps (market opportunity analysis, selection of target market, conduct of a situation analysis, development of marketing strategies, planning of marketing programs, and management of the marketing effort) as a set of coherent actions that an organisation should employ to fulfil its mission and reach its business goals. 

You are required to use at least four academic references for this report.

All references must be from credible sources such as books, industry-related journals, magazines, company documents and academic journal articles. Ideally, relevant academic journal articles should be used for academic discussion.
Your grade will be adversely affected if your report contains no/poor citations and/or reference list and if the word length is beyond the allowed tolerance leve