Introduction
Globalization presents both opportunities and challenges; releases and restricts; It generates the largest markets ever known and allows potential participants to be smaller than ever. If the future business world presents a greater number of paradoxes, then globalization will generate many of these.
In an era of globalization and highly competitive products or services, as it is in the changing world of marketing, it is necessary to be alert to the demands and expectations of the market, for this it is vital to ensure the success of companies make use of techniques and tools, one of them is to carry out a market study, and in conjunction with a series of investigations such as competition, distribution channels, product sales locations, and how much advertising exists in the market, in addition to price analysis, etc.
Currently, companies have to compete not only with companies from the same region, but there is increasing competition with other companies from other places and countries, due to the globalization that has been occurring. For this reason, companies must look for ways or formulas that direct them towards higher productivity and quality in order to be competitive.
It is very common for entrepreneurs to be unclear about what they sell. Many times it seems irrelevant to ask what we sell. Obviously, all sellers know the products they offer to consumers. But they don't necessarily know what consumers are looking for in our products.
Description
Why do some companies succeed, while others fail, if they supposedly sell the same thing?
The pace of change accelerates, the business environment will be very different, to survive you must have very clear goals and ideas, the solution is to analyze current trends, socially and demographically, in technology, in global competition, in service providers, in small businesses, in ethics and social responsibility.
Companies must be prepared to change at the pace of current trends, or else they will have to resign themselves to disappear, a fundamental rethinking and radical design of business processes to achieve improvements in cost performance, quality, services and speed is what organizations require today.
Strategic management involves deciding the "Course of the company" and what is required to achieve them. It involves analyzing the environment of the company, in order to assess future opportunities and threats, it consists of formulating objectives and establishing goals as precise plans in order to achieve them.
The plan must be effective and not only cover external opportunities, but also internal ones, the final goal is to formulate the future course, that is, how does the company plan to compete in the market ?, and thus compete effectively and meet its long-term mission.
Strategy is what gives realism to a plan, since it constitutes the art of directing a set of operations aimed at achieving a goal, since the strategy refers to the procedures that must be established to reach the objectives and goals.
Lorenzo Couttenye stated: when the strategy is developed and executed correctly, involving the entire human team, and ensuring that there is always harmony between the theory, its internal application and external communication, the business reaches unsuspected levels of excellence, and begins to germinate an identity of its own that will make it more appetizing in the eyes of your clients and prospects, even when there are other businesses that are determined to continue playing at having the lowest price.
The defining challenge of competitiveness has changed, especially in advanced countries and regions. The challenges of a decade ago were restructuring, reducing costs, and increasing quality.
Today, continuous improvement of operations is taken for granted, and many companies can acquire and apply the best current technology. In advanced countries, the manufacture of standardized products using standardized methods does not allow for a sustainable competitive advantage.
General analysis
How should we do to succeed and not fail?
Strategic decisions are the options that determine the direction and success of organizations. Although many of those responsible for taking them are CEOs, entrepreneurs and leaders, it is increasingly common to see that middle managers also receive this responsibility. This is why organizations are more horizontal than they were in the past and are more customer-centric than ever, as well as being driven by the forces of change and complexity, which are increasingly intense and accelerated.
In order to gain a competitive advantage, you must remain vigilant, and be constantly tracking changes in your environment. You also have to be agile to alter strategies and plans when the need arises.
Most specialists think that in the turbulent environment in which businesses operate is complex, therefore, the best method today is continuous analysis. This enables the company to act quickly, take advantage of opportunities before competitors, and thus respond to threats from the environment before significant damage has occurred.
It is not necessarily possible to think that in order to compete in a fully globalized market you can compete with low prices, the analysis of trends is an indicator of what we can do to continue in the market, and the decisions we can make regarding the turn that must Organize if you want to continue producing and / or selling.
If we process all the information we have obtained from the environment, we must communicate it to the entire organization, as well as to all departments and at different levels.
Upgrade:
What should we do?
It is true that there is a natural resistance to the approach because many entrepreneurs think that knowledge is power and that sharing it reduces the value of a company. On the contrary. Everyone in the company should share the task of conducting the analysis. When all employees analyze part of the environment and all the information thus obtained is distributed throughout the organization, this society is called the learning organization.
This learning organization must deal with analyzing the macro environment, analyzing the industry, competition, the consumer, analyzing the product, as well as the internal environment of the same organization.
Regarding the economy, it should be analyzed for example: inflation, unemployment, income, consumption, profitability, investment, trade balance to mention some indicators that cannot be overlooked, the political climate, laws, taxes, minimum wages legal, unions, labor codes, levels of education, schools, hospitals, in the technological field, latest advances in production processes, and the most important today the ecological aspect, in order to be committed to bioethics and the social.
At the moment we analyze these variables, we are preparing to face the threats and opportunities that the environment can offer us, that is, to anticipate the impact that the organization may suffer.
We cannot forget the microenvironment, which allows us to assess our strengths and weaknesses that we have in the organization in its internal part, understanding strengths as the capacities that are within the organization, and with which we hope to achieve the proposed objectives. Not so the weaknesses, which are constituted in the limitations that are inside the organization and that at the same time are those that slow down the progress towards the achievement of the objectives.
For the analysis within the organization, the following aspects should be considered:
- Human resourcesLeadership styleBusiness systemsComputer systemsOrganizational structure
The work of Management is complicated, demanding and has a special touch, which is why managers must exert great influence to achieve an adequate level of efficiency and productivity, while the degree of effectiveness is given by personal effort, to which must have the ability to choose and apply methods or techniques that are appropriate for a given situation.
Therefore, today's organizations are confronted with greater requirements that result from the different trends, from which they are distinguished, among them:
- Competition for the marketSuccessful industrialization processesDemand differentiationShortening production cyclesImplementation of radical innovations: new techniques of which those related to organizational concepts stand out, forcing the redefinition of the borders between the different disciplines, for example, between computing and telecommunications.
Knowing in advance that the resource that will differentiate and that will give the key in this situation so that it is sustainable and sustainable in the long term, is knowledge.
In a knowledge-based company, on the other hand, it is the productivity of the individual worker that makes the system productive. Drucker (Norma, page 121).
Discussions:
Why should we do it?
Knowledge creation is achieved through a discovery of the synergistic relationship between tacit and explicit knowledge in the organization and through the design of social processes that create new knowledge by converting tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is personal knowledge, difficult to formalize or communicate to others. Explicit knowledge is formal knowledge, easy to transmit between individuals and groups.
To understand the role of knowledge in the valuation of companies, it is important to consider the value structures that are given to all organizations today.
The value of organizations:
Before defining the value of an organization it is important to first know the meaning of the word "value". From the shareholders' point of view it can be defined as the monetary value of the company's shares, Market value = number of shares x share value
Price Water House Coopers (PWC) defines the value of organizations as follows:
Market value = tangible assets + intangible assets
Where:
- Market Value: Number of shares x value of each share. Tangible Assets: These are the assets measured in accounting. Intangible Assets: Any resource associated with intellectual capital.
With this value scheme we can analyze the level of importance of intellectual capital in various organizations.
Intellectual Capital: To better understand this concept, it is important to see some of the descriptions that some experts make on the subject:
"It is the sum of everything that everyone in a company knows, which generates a line of competitiveness for it." Thomas A Steward. Intellectual Capital USA 1,999.
It consists of the knowledge, applied experience, organizational technology, consumer relations and business contacts that an organization possesses and that allow it to reach an advantageous position in the market ”. Guillermo Pérez Bustamante
Intellectual Capital: These are the non-financial resources that enable responses to market needs to be generated and help exploit them. These resources are divided into three categories: Human capital, Structural capital and Relational Capital.
Human Capital: These are the capacities of individuals in an organization that are required to provide solutions to clients. Within this category are the individual and collective capacities, leadership, experience, knowledge, skills and special abilities of the people participating in the organization.
Structural Capital: They are the organizational capacities necessary to respond to market requirements. Within this category are patents, know-how, business secrets in the design of products and services, accumulated knowledge and their availability, systems, methodologies and the organization's own culture.
Relational Capital: It is the depth, (penetration), Width (Coverage), and profitability of the organizational rights. Within this category are Brands, Consumers, loyalty, reputation, channels and special contracts.
Ecuador has entered the third millennium, with the challenge of becoming a competitive nation, in order to measure itself against the most important nations in the world. In this way, Ecuadorian companies are identifying their competitive advantages to exploit the market.
Small and medium-sized industries reveal a development and adaptation to dynamic conditions of change, including competitiveness, continuous improvement, computer development as a whole, moreover, there are even industrial organizations that are unable to respond promptly and accurately to these demands of the globalized environment.
In addition, the consumer is the one who finally defines the needs and characteristics of the products, where the design and the sale price are being more individualized.
For this, the central plan of any business is the marketing strategy, in which not only the market but also potential customers should be analyzed. It should be noted that the sale differs from the marketing in that it focuses on the customer before that in the product, inasmuch as it analyzes the customer's needs and thus segments the market, by identifying customers it creates a commercial mix aimed at the specific segment (see graph), the segmentation promotes the global estimation of what we know as the supply and demand, this comparison allows us to quantify the size of the market that the company can cover, one more reason to be able to sell more and not covered by low prices.
The marketing mix
Product
- DesignFeaturesQualityQuantityVariations PackagingBrandService
Price
- Price list Discounts Credit terms Repetitive purchases Payment method
Promotion
- AdvertisingDirect MarketingSales PromotionsCouponsPackagingJoint PromotionLoyalty ProgramsPublic Relations
Place
- geography retail channels opening and closing times order picking order fulfillment delivery or distribution
Graphic: Marketing strategy process
Marketing strategy process
Marketing starts from the knowledge of consumer needs, attitudes and behavior, it is the most important part so that companies can sell more, not only from low costs, as Lorenzo Couttenye says, it begins by discovering, why Do your current customers buy from you? What is the most powerful reason that motivates them to buy your products or services, without counting the price as a reference? Then the marketing plan includes qualitative aspects such as the quantitative aspects for the quantification of demand. (sales).
All this framed in achieving sustainable competitive advantage that yields a good level of profits, by combining the resources and opportunities of the business, taking into account the way of adapting in the competitive environment.
For new or beginning companies, the foundation on which they rely is the business plan, either implicitly or explicitly.
If we come up with a conceptual framework a detailed investigation of consumer markets, this is important for the different forecasts, which give rise to production flows, investment and economic viability, this will position the market, not as the cheapest, but as the most valuable.
The situation described applies to organizations that carry out market research, that is, sales projections are limited to calculations, in order to define the type of consumer that the company will serve, the volume of business by product, the promotional systems and prices, supported by a strategic diagnosis.
In other words, the business process includes the following steps:
- Planning business activities Directing plans (execution) Controlling plans, planning to execute fundamental duties of managers.
These tasks are connected to a continuous process, which managers must carry out, with this it is expected to arrive at feedback which is important in order to make changes in plans or those that lead to new plans.
Jerome McCarthy says, "The task of planning the strategy to guide the entire firm is called strategic (managerial) planning, that is, the managerial process of developing and maintaining a balance between an organization's resources and its business opportunities."
This planning means that you must find attractive opportunities and develop profitable business strategies, now what is a business strategy?
The commercial strategy is to know a target market and develop a related commercial mix.
- Target market: this means having identified a homogeneous group, that is, similar in characteristics to which you want to attract. Commercial mix: they are just the controllable variables that the company expects to offer to the target group.
Following these steps, you can sell more and not only at low costs, for this I am going to refer to a specific example of the present time that by looking at trends you can achieve the results that shareholders, owners and employees hope to obtain.
When should we do it?
I am talking about the organic products market, in the whole world the tendency to consume organic products is changing the consumption habits of people, today it is an opportunity for people who want to undertake, for managers who want to do or create new products in relation to this new trend, here are some examples taken from: Consumption of organic breads is growing - lanacion_com.htm:
- In the constellation of whole grain products, one of the most picturesque businesses is that of organic breads. Made with cereals produced in fields in which both pesticides and chemical herbicides do not enter or even sneak in a gust of breeze, the bakery production has some peculiarities that make this business an elite case for fans of SMEs. ecological.One of the team's most prominent companies is Haus Brot. Owned by the Schneider family, the bakery, which was born about ten years ago to supply the then tiny consumer demand for food made with whole grains, and without chemical residues, today is a chain of nine stores, six of which are awarded through a system that resembles that of franchises, and three belong to the firm.A range of natural delicacies, Haus Brot is much more than a pool of bakeries with products reminiscent of the breads made by those who milled wheat, barley or rye before the industrial era or in ancient times. The outstanding fact of the firm is integration: they produce the cereals in their own agricultural-livestock establishment located in the party of Tres Arroyos, province of Buenos Aires, they store them in silos built in such a way that they do not need to be fumigated and for the Grains preserve their nutritional properties to the maximum, they grind a few hours before using them.Haus Brot produces, with the classic light brown tone that characterizes wholegrain, various types of breads, breadsticks, noodles, sweet dough enriched with raisins and other dried fruits; sells edible seeds (sunflower,flax, poppy) and packaged cereals. Per day they grind about 1000 kilos of flour that become 2000 kilos of fresh products.
The Corner of the Flowers
A different story from that of the Schneider - it does not complete the circle of raw material production, processing and sale - but it is a successful example of what can be achieved from organic whole grains, is that of La Esquina from the flowers.
Preservatives
"For it to continue expanding," he says, "it is necessary to investigate more about natural preservatives, improve their supply in Argentina and increase the supply of products such as natural fruit peels, dried fruits, honey, seeds, eggs, butter and other organic ingredients that are used to make different types of sweet or savory baked goods as national regulations require that 95% of the food used to produce baked goods be organic. "
In general, the reasons that lead consumers to buy organic foods are: the health benefits, the concern for the conservation of the environment, and the flavor and freshness that characterize these foods, although this varies substantially by region. and country.
Organic agriculture has generated in the last ten years a true "productive revolution". From the creation of legal frameworks in many countries, to the development of production, marketing and service companies. To this we must add the growing activity in the field of research and development of products, processes, packaging, etc…
With this background, the statistics that Couttenye makes us know about that 8 out of 10 companies that open their doors, do not even reach the fifth year of life, or of every 1000 people who start a business, 800 have a practically guaranteed failure But the 800 people are not alone; They are 800 diluted illusions, 800 families that have probably mortgaged part of their lives, to see die a dream that they believed triumphant and invincible.
A fairly common mistake when looking to the future is thinking that the most important thing for future success is profitability and current size. A simple understanding of the history of business shows that size offers no guarantee of long-term protection for those who have no competitive breakthrough. In addition, the fact that a company is small does not matter if it has such advances… a large size is the result, and cause, of competitive advantages. (Taken from rethinking the company, page, 37)
Companies that do not take the appropriate measures to analyze the variables that are in the environment, are condemned not only to try to sell at low prices but to disappear and as Couttenye says die a dream.
Where should we do it?
Tomas C. Kinnear, in his book presents a model of the market system which I allow myself to reproduce, by virtue of which it constitutes a guide to be able to sell more.
| Market system model | |||||
| Independent variables | Dependent variables | ||||
| Causes | Effects | ||||
| Market mix | Behavioral response | ||||
| Controllable | |||||
| 1.- pricing decisions | 1.-knowledge | ||||
| 2.- promotions decisions | 2.-understanding | ||||
| 3.- distribution decisions | 3.-taste | ||||
| 4.- product decisions | 4.-preference | ||||
| 5.-purchase intention | |||||
| 6.-purchase | |||||
| Situational factors | Performance measures | ||||
| Not controllable | |||||
| 1.-demand | 1.-sales | ||||
| 2.-competition | 2.-market share | ||||
| 3.-legal / political | 3.-cost | ||||
| 4.-economic climate | 4.-profit | ||||
| 5.-technological | 5.-return on investment | ||||
| 6.-government regulation | 6.-cash flow | ||||
| 7.-internal resources of the | 7.-income / share | ||||
| Organization | 8.-image | ||||
The independent variables are those that can be managed with some ease or control in the organization, these are the price, the product, the place and the promotion, the fact of carrying out a combination gives us the result of establishing marketing programs and in this way establish the route by which we want to travel towards the achievement of the proposed objectives (sell more).
On the other hand, situational factors such as not being controllable become a little more complex to manage at will, that is, we have to study the environment with respect to market trends, the country's legal framework, the economic environment, it is not the same doing business in countries with relative social peace than in a country with conflicts.
The response of the behavior, as we have already studied this in the market study, so we would be prepared to face responses to the behavior of the purchase, the preferences of the buyers, the attitudes, etc.
But to understand why some companies can succeed while others fail, we must understand that people and companies buy products and services with the same characteristics, as long as it meets their needs. Now, the balance is to adapt as much as possible to the competitive environment in which you find yourself, where technology plays a very important role.
Chun Wei Choo, says in his book the intelligent organization, that the use of information to give meaning and make decisions, from a holistic view is important. "The organization that has gained an early understanding of how the environment is shaped will have a competitive advantage."
The operational plan is the one that gives value to the plan, it is the essential in the allocation of resources, so as not to fail in the company and not have to sell products at low prices, as Kriegel and Brand say in their book of sacred cows the best burgers are made, many people have stopped thinking that the low price is still important, the price is no longer king, now it is value.
Today consumers want and expect more than "cheap prices". They want certain characteristics, as well as service, comfort and quality. The days when price served as our primary sales strategy are over. A study by Gray Advertising found that consumers are less likely to compare prices than in the past.
recommendations
In all the process of preparing a business plan, relevant team members and decision-makers must be involved and, if possible, request relevant data for the plan, this is if we want to succeed as Couttenye mentions, you The main weapon is your common sense, as long as we put it to work for our benefit and the organization.
The imparting of a sense of participation between the actors and protagonists will help to implement the plan successfully, since people will be motivated and ready to go one step further.
If I want to make sustainable profits, I am going to invest in the long term, even if this has a negative impact in the short term. Managers must be committed to the business and must ensure that there is a real commitment on the part of the authorities, in addition, market leadership must never be taken for granted, it must be taken into account to enter the market so as not to suffer consequences Adverse factors, we must take care that economic crises do not affect strategy, that is, be flexible when considering that markets can offer excellent opportunities.
Conclusions
Innovation will be the tool of the future, and quality the necessary consolidation to be able to subsist in the future.
Exploiting new ideas will result in gaining competitive advantage, as well as by using intangible forces, such as strategic alliances and intellectual values.
Strategic innovation refers to new combinations of resources that create their own possibilities and opportunities for sustainable success.
Many times the objective of the company is lost sight of which is not to sell, but to make money, in such a virtue the marketing decisions are vital, it should be noted that there is no or there is no ideal marketing combination.
To focus and be able to sell more, it is necessary to use tools such as:
- Market researchResearch and developmentValue analysisFinance (analytical, financial accounting)
The director is the one who must set a clear direction of the opportunities, of the results, of the way in which the organization must advance, stop, so that people can work in a productive way. Account must be taken of the speed of change operating in the global environment, and the expectations of workers in a more competitive economy.
One way to increase the effectiveness of the Marketing Plan without using the media is through Merchandising, which deals with establishing a union between the product and the consumer. However, it must be ensured that this marketing tool is used in a consistent way in the chosen position and that it complements the other marketing mix tools.
It is recommended to carry out a sales analysis before, during and after any marketing activity. Pre-execution sales data serves as a benchmark; the results during the execution period allow to gauge the effectiveness of the activities carried out; that is, the impact produced.
Finally, the data after the execution of a marketing activity allow us to know if the purchasing habits have changed in the long term, if the measures have penetrated deeply or if ephemeral results have simply been achieved.
Bibliography
- Benchmarking-www.monografias.comDrucker P, Management in the future society, Bogotá Grupo Editorial Norma 2002Ensayo-The company as a PuzzleFriend G, and another, How to design a business plan, Lima: Editora el Comercio 2008J. Kourdi, Strategy, Keys to making decisions in business, The Economist, Buenos Aires: Cuatro Media, 2008Mercado- www.monografias.comPacek N, other, Opportunities in emerging markets, Lima: Editora el Comercio 2008Porter M, Strategy and competitive advantage, Editorial Planeta Colombiana SA 2006Wei Ch, The intelligent organization, Mexico: Castillo Hnos. SA de CV
