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Discuss the business unit strategic planning process. Answer: The business unit strategic planning process is a critical part of any organization's strategic management process. It involves the development of a strategic plan for a specific business unit or product line, which outlines the unit's goals, objectives, and actions needed to achieve those goals. The following are the key steps in the business unit strategic planning process: Analyze the Business Environment: The first step in the strategic planning process is to analyze the business environment, which includes identifying the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis). This analysis should also consider factors such as industry trends, customer needs, and competitive landscape. Set Objectives and Goals : Once the business environment has been analyzed, the next step is to set specific objectives and goals for the business unit. These objectives should be aligned with the overall...

Describe briefly strategic marketing orientation and how it differ from other concept. Answer:  Strategic marketing orientation is a business approach that focuses on developing and implementing marketing strategies that are aligned with the overall business strategy and objectives. This orientation places the customer at the center of the marketing strategy and emphasizes the importance of understanding and meeting the needs and wants of the target market. Strategic marketing orientation differs from other marketing concepts, such as production orientation, sales orientation, and product orientation, in the following ways: Customer focus: Strategic marketing orientation places the customer at the center of the marketing strategy, while other concepts focus on production, sales, or product. Long-term perspective: Strategic marketing orientation takes a long-term perspective, focusing on building customer relationships and creating value over time, while other concepts may have a ...

Q: Describe the major trends and forces of marketing that create challenges for strategic marketing in the new digital landscape. Answer: The new digital landscape has transformed the way businesses market their products and services. There are several major trends and forces in marketing that create challenges for strategic marketing in this new landscape: Rapid technological advancements: The fast pace of technological advancements has created a challenging marketing landscape for businesses to keep up with. This includes advancements in social media, search engine algorithms, and other digital marketing technologies that require continuous learning and adaptation. Increased competition: The digital landscape has made it easier for businesses to enter new markets and reach customers, which has increased competition across all industries. This makes it more challenging for businesses to stand out and capture the attention of potential customers. Evolving consumer behavior: With ...

Suppose you are a marketing manager of a top-ranking multinational company in Bangladesh. As a marketing manager, you are to perform so many duties and responsibilities.  (a) What do you mean by expanded responsibilities of a marketing manager?  (b) Can you mention the basic roles and responsibilities of a marketing manager? Answers:  (a) The expanded responsibilities of a marketing manager refer to the diverse set of duties and functions that a marketing manager is expected to perform to ensure the success of the company's marketing efforts. Marketing managers are responsible for the planning, development, and execution of marketing strategies that are aligned with the overall business goals and objectives. They are also responsible for managing the marketing team, allocating resources, and ensuring that the marketing campaigns are successful. Marketing managers are expected to be innovative and creative, able to identify and respond to emerging market trends, and adapt ...

Strategic Management: Strategic management is the process of formulating and implementing strategies to achieve an organization's long-term goals and objectives. It involves analyzing the internal and external environment, making decisions about resource allocation, and executing strategies to achieve the desired outcomes. Basic functions of strategic management: The basic functions of strategic management are essential for organizations to achieve their long-term goals and objectives. These functions include forming a strategic vision, setting objectives, crafting a strategy, implementing and executing the strategy, and evaluating strategy . Let's discuss each of these functions in detail: Forming a strategic vision: This function involves developing a clear and compelling vision of the organization's future. The vision should be based on the organization's mission, values, and goals. It should provide direction and motivation to employees and stakeholders, and guide...

Sunk cost and relevant cost are two important concepts that are used to make business decisions. The main difference between them is that sunk costs are costs that have already been incurred and cannot be recovered , while relevant costs are costs that will be incurred in the future and can be affected by a business decision . Example of Sunk Cost: A sunk cost is a cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered, regardless of the future business decision. For example, a company has invested $10,000 in a marketing campaign for a product that is no longer selling well. The $10,000 spent on the marketing campaign is a sunk cost because it has already been spent and cannot be recovered, even if the company decides to discontinue the product. Example of Relevant Cost: A relevant cost is a cost that will be incurred in the future and can be affected by a business decision. For example, a company is deciding whether to accept a special order for a product that requires additiona...

There are several major types of market development strategies that international firms can use to enter new markets or expand their presence in existing markets. These include: Exporting: This involves selling products or services produced in the home country to customers in other countries. It is a relatively low-risk and low-cost way to enter new markets, but it may be limited by tariffs, trade barriers, and logistical challenges. Licensing: This involves allowing another company in a foreign market to use the firm's intellectual property, such as patents or trademarks, in exchange for a fee or royalty. It is a way to enter new markets with minimal investment, but it may result in limited control over the use of the intellectual property. Franchising : This involves allowing another company in a foreign market to use the firm's business model, brand name, and operating systems in exchange for a fee or royalty. It is a way to expand quickly with minimal investment, but it ...

Strategic Marketing: Strategic marketing is the process of developing and executing a long-term plan for achieving an organization's marketing objectives. To do this effectively, organizations must consider a wide range of factors, both internal and external, that can impact their marketing strategies. Some of the key factors that must be considered in strategic marketing include: Market analysis: This involves researching and analyzing the target market, including customer needs, preferences, and behavior patterns, as well as the competitive landscape and market trends. Segmentation and targeting: Based on the market analysis, the organization can then segment the market into different groups and select the most promising target markets for its products or services. Positioning and differentiation: Once the target markets are identified, the organization needs to determine how to position its products or services in a way that sets them apart from competitors and appeals to the...

Question:  Describe the major challenges that must be overcome to manage a supply chain successfully. Managing a supply chain can be a complex task that involves coordinating multiple parties across different stages, locations, and timeframes. Here are some of the major challenges that must be overcome to manage a supply chain successfully: Demand forecasting: One of the biggest challenges in managing a supply chain is accurately predicting demand for products or services. Accurate forecasting helps avoid inventory shortages or overstocking, which can lead to increased costs, poor customer satisfaction, and lost sales. Inventory management: Balancing inventory levels to meet demand is another key challenge in supply chain management. Maintaining too much inventory can tie up capital, while too little can lead to stockouts and lost sales. Supplier management: Managing supplier relationships is essential for maintaining a reliable supply chain. However, it can be challenging to ens...

Question:  “For a firm to succeed, all functional strategies must support one another and the competitive strategy”- Explain the statement with the importance of integration between competitive and supply chain strategies. The success of a firm depends on the alignment of all its functional strategies with its competitive strategy. In other words, a firm's various departments and functions must work together to achieve the overall goal of the organization. This is because a firm's competitive strategy sets the direction for the organization, and all other functional strategies must support and reinforce this direction. ""Competitive strategy defines the set of customer needs a firm seeks to satisfy through its products and services."" ""Supply chain strategy determines the nature of material procurement, transportation of materials, manufacture of product or creation of service, distribution of product."" One of the most critical function...

Question:  Explain the push/pull view of supply chain processes. The push/pull view of supply chain processes is a framework for understanding how products move through the supply chain. The push/pull view considers two broad categories of processes: push processes and pull processes. Push processes are driven by forecasts and are typically used to create a supply of goods in anticipation of customer demand. In other words, the supply chain is "pushing" products towards the customer, based on a prediction of what they will want. This approach can be useful for products that are predictable and have stable demand, such as basic commodities or staple goods. Pull processes, on the other hand, are driven by customer demand. They are used to replenish inventory in response to actual customer orders. In this case, the supply chain is "pulling" products in response to customer demand. This approach is more suited to products with less predictable demand, such as seasonal o...

The purchase of a can of carbonated beverage at a convenience store involves several stages in the supply chain and different flows. Here are the main stages involved: Raw Material Suppliers: The first stage in the supply chain is the raw material suppliers who provide the raw materials required to manufacture the beverage. This includes sugar, water, flavors, and carbon dioxide. Manufacturing: Once the raw materials are procured, they are sent to the beverage manufacturing facility. Here, the ingredients are mixed, carbonated, and filled into cans. The cans are then labeled and packaged for distribution. Distribution: The packaged cans are transported from the manufacturing facility to the distributor's warehouse. The distributor then distributes the product to different retail stores, including the convenience store. Retail Store: The convenience store is the final stage in the supply chain. The retailer receives the product from the distributor and stocks it on the store shelves...