Exam 2: Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

Tub King is a small company that refinishes antique claw foot bathtubs,antique sinks,and provides training for bathtub refinishing.The company's management is currently conducting a formal study of its current strengths and weaknesses by looking at the company's profit and sales histories and searching for opportunities and threats by studying consumer trends.Tub King is conducting a(n):

Novartis Novartis, a Swiss drug maker, is planning to purchase a majority stake in Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical Company, a Chinese vaccine maker. Novartis has agreed to pay $125 million for the company that holds a 3% share of China's $1 billion vaccines market. The market for vaccines is growing 20% or more in developing nations of Asia, Africa, and Australasia. In the past, vaccine use has been limited to basic shots against diseases such as polio, tuberculosis, and measles, but as the economies of these countries grow, government and private healthcare spending focuses on preventing diseases such as hepatitis B, cholera and rotavirus, tetanus, and others. Some critics are against the acquisition, claiming that prices will increase. Novartis claims it is not interested in raising prices but rather to expand Tianyuan's product offerings. -Refer to Novartis.Tianyuan has a relatively small market share of a high-growth market in China. How would this company be classified in Novartis' portfolio matrix?

InBev bought Anheuser Busch.How will this purchase affect InBev's marketing mix?

The development of a target market strategy begins with a marketing audit.

A business unit that usually generates more than it needs to maintain its market share is called a(n)_____ in a portfolio matrix.

Novartis Novartis, a Swiss drug maker, is planning to purchase a majority stake in Zhejiang Tianyuan Bio-Pharmaceutical Company, a Chinese vaccine maker. Novartis has agreed to pay $125 million for the company that holds a 3% share of China's $1 billion vaccines market. The market for vaccines is growing 20% or more in developing nations of Asia, Africa, and Australasia. In the past, vaccine use has been limited to basic shots against diseases such as polio, tuberculosis, and measles, but as the economies of these countries grow, government and private healthcare spending focuses on preventing diseases such as hepatitis B, cholera and rotavirus, tetanus, and others. Some critics are against the acquisition, claiming that prices will increase. Novartis claims it is not interested in raising prices but rather to expand Tianyuan's product offerings. -Refer to Novartis.Novartis is creating and maintaining a fit between its objectives and resources and evolving market opportunities in developing countries. Novartis is engaging in:

Which of the following statements about marketing audits is true?

DeFeet International DeFeet International started as a cyclist sock company. The founder, Shane Cooper, said that the existing socks for cyclists were just not of great quality so he made socks for his cycling team by knitting them inside out. The socks were of special materials aimed at giving the cyclist the most comfortable fit. These socks were not the traditional white socks but bright, bold, and flashy colored socks with cool graphics. These high tech socks were priced around $10 a pair. Their web site says "DeFeet is Made for Driven Soles." Soon cycling elites like Lance Armstrong and Greg LeMond were sporting the DeFeet brand. The company branched into running, hiking and snow gear. Their products include socks, armskins, calfskins, boxer briefs, gloves, and shirts for the serious athlete. They also have a custom department where socks, armskins, and gloves can be customized with any motif including sponsor types of logos like Michelin, Pabst Blue Ribbon, or BP. Even kids can enjoy DeFeet's high quality socks. DeFeet's products can be found in retailers across the world, in more than twenty countries, like Israel, Australia, Belgium and the United States. More than two-dozen online retailers also carry their products. -Refer to DeFeet.DeFeet's _____ is what its customers give up to obtain their apparel.

A production costs analysis could be a part of a company's SWOT analysis.

When the Internet auction company eBay opened a version of the company called eBayfrance for the French market,that was an example of market penetration.

A portfolio matrix is a tool for allocating resources among products or strategic business units on the basis of relative market share and degree of innovation.

What is a marketing objective? Name three criteria for good marketing objectives.Use the criteria to write an objective for a business with which you are familiar.

Name and describe the three requirements for effective strategic planning.

When a florist shop begins to sell burial caskets to its customers,it is engaged in product development.

John R.Harland Company is best known for printing checks.Its Financial Solutions division develops software for mortgage companies,which is a growing industry.This division is currently not producing at the desired level of profitability,but Harland plans to turn the division into a success by acquiring other companies that develop similar software.Harland would be engaging in a _____ strategy.

A planning manager visiting a company's health and beauty aids division discovers the division has no effective method for allocating resources,nor for evaluating actual results against planned results.He suggestion to the division would likely be to prepare a:

All of the following are common reasons why companies fail to achieve a marketing objective EXCEPT:

The company that manufactures Molson beer,which is typically consumed by males,launched an alcoholic lemonade beverage to attract more females.This launch of a new product to attract a new market for Molson's products is an illustration of a _____ strategy.

What is an SBU? If properly created,what characteristics should an SBU have?

With hospitals nationwide facing budget cuts and slimmer profit margins,Dekalb County's Medical Center decided to cash in on one of the most consistently profitable services--delivering babies.It initiated a three-year project to build a $55 million state-of-the-art women's center with 18 labor and delivery suites.When the hospital decided to commit its resources to obstetrics,it was engaging in: