Improved Computer Mouse for Ease of Use

Every organization gives top priority to its performance and productivity and whatever comes in its way to improve performance is sorted out applying appropriate techniques and technology. In today’s world of globalization, business organizations are determined to attain the competitive advantage and be one step ahead of their competitors employing the latest technology and strategies. This report talks about the issue of discomfort and inconvenience faced by an organization’s employees that affected its workforce adversely due to prolonged use of conventional computer mouse. When an organization faces such issues, it directly affects its performance, productivity, work efficiency that ultimately results in reduced profitability. In order to resolve such issues, organizations must take in time measures to mitigate the effects of such situations so that they do not have to compromise on their market position among the competitors and business profitability.

The affected case study organization sought the help of a Canadian company Deanmark Ltd that came up with a revolutionary product, the AirMouse. The best advantage of using this device is that user’s just have to wear it as a glove and use it for making cursor movements and other browsing, selecting, etc activities on the computer screen. Employing latest research and using the most advanced technology this AirMouse was designed and produced by Oren Tessler & Mark Bajramovic. This mouse was designed with an objective to provide relief from arm pain and hand ache faced by most of the technical professionals who spend hours on the PC. This simple electronic device makes use of optical laser and can be operated for a week without recharging. This product being clinically tested works by aligning itself with the user’s ligaments of wrist and hand thus providing needed relief from pain and discomfort. This simple device increases user speed, efficiency and accuracy as the user can operate it placing his hand in a neutral position and transmitting much of your victor force which is not possible using a traditional mouse (coxworth 2014).

Cost Benefit to the Organization and Integration and Implementation of AirMouse

Delta Matrix being a big organization in terms of number of employees working for the company (2000 employees) can greatly benefit from implementing this innovative AirMouse technology. As the company faced employee performance related to prolonged usage of traditional mouse, I think implementation of this innovative technology can really enhance performance, productivity and profitability for the business. Considering the durability and usability of AirMouse, as stated by the makers of this device to be around 5 years, cost factor should not be a concern for the company as better results in the long run are guaranteed. Being economical and easy to use, this AirMouse is sure to meet any user requirements in regards to better convenience, comfort and enhanced usage.

As this device is wireless in nature, it will not require any specialized requirements for its integration or implementation throughout the organization. No special training for the staff is needed for operating this device. Being less complex than a traditional mouse, this AirMouse is quite easy and user friendly to use and can be work on hand in seconds.

As per the negotiation between the manufacturing company and Delta Matrix, the company agrees to sell this device in 2200 pieces with a cost of $ 50 per piece. However, Delta Matrix has successfully managed to buy this device at a discounted price of $ 42 per piece. This amounts to a total cost of $ 92400 AUD. Delta Matrix, after a careful analysis and observation on employee performance using this innovative AirMouse and realizing positive outcomes through its implementation, finally decided to make a deal with the manufacturing firm of AirMouse. This study was conducted on 100 employees who used mouse extensively in their work. Encouraging results were found with the use of AirMouse. The company hopes to improve its performance and enhance work efficiency post implementation of this innovative device. Being eco friendly and user friendly, this device is bound to provide great relief to the employees of Delta Matrix that usually faces issues such as work breaks, employee absenteeism, health complaints, lack of performance due to discomfort resulting for fatigue, stress and pain in arms and hands etc. These issues will be addressed in complete once this innovative mouse is integrated and implemented within the organization.

Importance and Scope of Interpersonal Communication

The term intercultural communication refers to the exchange of information that takes between two or more different cultures. The word ‘inter’ means between and cultural pertains to the set of beliefs and customs practices in a region. Communication implies exchange and sharing of information between people. Therefore, in broad terms, intercultural communication is the communication that takes place between two or more cultures through people as a medium of exchange of ideas and thoughts. 

Culture in a broad sense refers to the values, ethics, customs and beliefs that are practiced in a region by the native people or inhabitants of that land. Culture takes time to evolve going through several generations and after becoming a part of tradition and part of people’s life, it becomes an integral component of their everyday life. A region is known by the set of these beliefs and customs that are derived from culture.

Communication being an effective tool of exchange and sharing of thoughts and information is a primary medium to convey messages. Intercultural communication facilitates in bridging the gap between cultures and allowing a better channel of understanding the differences that exist between two or more cultures. Thus, communication plays a crucial role in mitigating the barriers due to cultural differences and allows building a better understanding.

The concept of intercultural communication holds good importance not only in life in general but in conducting international business in particular. This is because in international business community, it investigates how people belonging to varied cultural and ethnic backgrounds come closer to work and communicate with each other despite of difference in their beliefs, customs, color, race and culture.

Because of the concept of globalization and internationalization of businesses, the idea of intercultural communication is gaining more and more significance. The demand is ever increasing as these businesses well understand that there are many barriers and limitations when performing business in a foreign land. If intercultural communication is not given adequate importance and attention, there are high chances of misunderstandings and confusions. In order to mitigate the barriers and minimize the limitations, it is very important for the companies to completely understand the cultural differences and save themselves from spoiling their business relationships in the foreign lands.

Various theories have been presented from time to time on the issue of intercultural communication and to help interpret the basis of intercultural communication. With the help of these ideas and theories, it is possible to eliminate the possible misunderstandings by providing basic guidelines on how to address the situations.

The issue of intercultural communication affects from person to person depending on the status they hold in a foreign land. For example, the issues faced by businessmen in a foreign land may be very different from the problems faced by a university student within the campus of his university. The situations tend to bring new scenarios and challenges that they need to face according to the circumstance. Students who study in foreign lands often face such tricky situations that arise due to the difference between cultures and beliefs. One commonly faced barrier is ethnocentrism that is present in many individuals which implies that one’s culture is superior to another person’s culture. The levels of ethnocentrism (low or high) determine how easy going and comfortable an individual is in getting along with people around him and exchanging cultural information among the group members.

Those individuals whose ethnocentricity is very high will face the maximum barriers as compared to those people with low levels of ethnocentricity. These people feel suspicious and hostile towards other fellow mates and tend to oppose and criticize other international pupils coming from different cultural and ethnic background. On the reverse side, people with lower levels of ethnocentricity are more curious, inspired and interested by the intercultural interactions and consequently experience the advantages of increased intercultural competence.

The concept of intercultural communication has far reaching consequences due to the fact that important decisions relating to business, economics, politics, health, education and culture affect the nationals of more than one country and therefore the question of whether communications between different cultures and nations and between the involved parties and people possess the same understanding is extremely important. Individuals, who are very much interested and keen to know, understand and learn about things and culture from other nations show improvement in their behavioral and communication patterns as compared to people who are less interested in intercultural process.

The process of globalization and international business implies that we cannot perform business being in isolation on the contrary we need to establish contacts with the rest of the world in order to perform better and remain in the competition. Numerous literatures on the impacts of intercultural communication on business, academic field and politics is provided by various authors and scholars revealing the significance of communication in improving the relationships and bonds.

In today’s world that is increasingly connected, organizational success to a great extent depends on how effectively the organizations are engaged in intercultural communication. The boundaries of intercultural communication is so broad and wide that it encompasses various disciplines such as politics, military, education, science, tourism, entertainment etc.      

  

Marketing Practices and Strategies

Marketing Management and Strategies

Introduction

            Organizations across the world are keen to adopt innovative marketing practices to ensure they derive maximum competitive advantage in the market the business operates in. Regardless of the nature of business marketing holds tremendous importance today amid highly volatile and competitive business environment due to the fact that businesses across the world are increasingly implementing effective and appealing marketing strategies to market their products and services  using traditional as well as online medium. Since virtual world today is deemed to be far more effective and instantaneous in educating, informing, and spreading awareness about a particular product or a service, organizations are increasingly employing innovative marketing strategies using social media platforms, blogs, portals, and networks with an objective to gain quick and lasting popularity, market share, and competitive advantage imperative for business success. This report provides valuable insights on how implementation of advanced technological tools and effective marketing strategies enabled a business in gaining desired market share, popularity, and success.     

Background

                Foodmandu is an renowned name in Nepal as a leading fast food service provider in the country that specializes in Indian, Nepal, Chinese, continental cuisines. The business is known for its quick and hot delivery of items across the city of Kathmandu. The business efficiently serves diverse consumer base and targets people of all age groups and income class. Foodmandu occupies over 80 percent of market share in terms of revenue being a leader food service provider followed by Bhoklagyo and Kantipur. Targeting a diverse segment of consumers that visit the country as tourists and the natives, Foodmandu ensures quality and fresh food items in time at economical prices. Realizing the increasing trend of tech savvy consumers and communication barriers in local dialects Foodmandu has lately launched an online portal and mobile application that allows consumers across the region to place instant orders, make payment using various options including debit/credit cards, cash, and wallets, and ensure delivery of hot and fresh food items within 30 minutes of order receipt (Lee et al, 2017). The launch of web portal and mobile application has immensely aided the businesses in efficient management of orders, payments, and consumer information thus providing great convenient to consumers and the business (Foodmandu, About us, Foodmandu.com, Food Delivery Service for Home and Office, 2017).      

Research Methods

                In order to better understand consumer tastes and preferences this study employed qualitative as well as quantitative method of survey using appropriate techniques and tools.  The study included primary method of survey using questionnaires wherein appropriate set of questions relevant to the needs and requirements of this study were included in order to better understand the position of business in terms of popularity, value proposition, consumer satisfaction levels, marketing effectiveness, and other critical aspects that directly and indirectly influence the business. The research would therefore include both digital as well as conventional print medium for gathering information form consumers or users of the business in order to collect reliable and valid primary data.     

            In order to ensure that consumers are well aware of the responses they are providing during the survey, the study ensured that users of the mobile site that are registered with the businesses and were provided with a digital survey wherein they can record their responses and submit digitally. Printed questionnaire was provided to visitors post their meals, lunch, or dinner and requested to participate in the survey that would not take more than 10-12 minutes of their time. The responses obtained from printed and digital channels were then collected, analyzed, processed, evaluated, and meaningfully interpreted in order to derive an appropriate inference. The facts and information thus obtained shall provide realistic insights and every piece of information on business goodwill, performance, popularity, consumer perceptions and business value, position against competitors, etc. The results of the study shall immensely help Foodmandu to develop and implement effective marketing and promotional strategies to derive maximum market space.

                The methods selected for the study were carefully chosen since it ensured that the participants of study are well aware of the business, its products and services offered and their responses are reliable and accurate. Since digital questionnaires provided through the online platforms enable consumers complete the surveys quickly, printed surveys on the other hand may take some time for consumers to understand what the study was about and their role in the process. Consumers were explained clearly about their roles and importance in the study to ensure research ethics and transparency are adhered to. All research related ethics, moralities, and procedures were followed to ensure consumers enjoy full liberty of participation without any compulsion or force. Customer responses and their participation were purely at their own will without any external force.          

Target Market

                Being a major player in food industry, Foodmandu has a significant role to play in fulfilling consumer needs and preferences by serving delicious and timely meals at economical prices across the region. Foodmandu in order to satisfy consumer tastes, needs, and demands is keen to develop and innovate its products and services with an aim to provide even better quality of products and services at competitive prices to its esteemed consumers. In order to effectively address consumer needs and demands based on survey responses, Fooodmandu has altered and improved some of the key aspects of its business. This includes targeting youth that are always in search for new tastes and prefer instant food in today’s time starved business world. Since Kathmandu is a hub for visitors for tourists across the world, it is important that Foodmandu provides state of the art services, products, and conveniences to ensure the needsa dn preferences of diverse customer segments are effectively met. This is critical for the success and growth of the enterprise. It is important to understand that tourists from Europe, Asia, America, and Australia visit Kathmandu and since they are well versed with the tastes of highly competitive businesses operating across the world such as Dominos, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and others it is therefore important for Foodmandu to consider their needs and preferences to ensure the business remains their first choice during their stay in the region. Based on the outcomes of the study it can be known that the local youth is keen to adopt new tastes and eating trends by preferring pizzas, burgers, continental meals, and trying out various menus served across the world, it is therefore important that Foodmandu is equipped to serve variety of tastes and needs efficiently and effectively to gain greater market share and remain a leading food service provider in the country.   

            It can be understood that the business also has to consider the tastes and preferences of diverse local consumers that are unevenly distributed demographically across the region that includes people of different age grougs, genders, occupations, income, nationality, and races. These consumers show regularity and loyalty towards the business and therefore it is important that Foodmandu consider the tastes and preferences of the locals as top business priority in order to sustain and compete in the region.   

Current Value Analysis

            The current value analysis of the business reveals that Foodmandu has better prospects and tremendous opportunities of growth in the region due to the fact that the business serves over 80% of people and connects consumers of diverse demographics in the city of Kathmandu. Tourists, citizens, and commuters across the region rely on the quality food and services offered by Foodmandu. Since Foodmandu offers variety of dishes and is highly suitable for breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the day, people can avail prompt service anytime ay cost-effective prices and be rest assured of the quality of food served. The unique tastes, timely service, reliability and higher quality of products make the business a top provider in the city.

Brand Value and Consumer Perceived Value

                Due to the highly competitive products and services offered by Foodmandu and the huge volume of reliable and loyal consumers the brand value of Foodmandu is substantially greater than any of its competitors. However, it must be understood that the outcomes of study conducted for the enterprise reported logically acceptable inferences that have been elaborated herein.

            Customer perceived value can be defined as the difference between a prospective consumer’s evaluation of advantages and prices of products or services in comparison to the competitors (Dovaliene, Masiulyte & Piligrimiene, 2015).    

            Consumers that are residents of Kathmandu, the influx of tourists from different parts of the world, and travelers need quality at cost effective prices with a sense of reliability of product and service. Therefore, Foodmandu, heeding to consumer voices on tastes, preferences, price, quality, variety, and demographic factors adopted efficient and effective strategies to ensure consumers remain satisfied at all costs, stay loyal with the business, and derive maximum mutual benefit from the relationship. As compared to the quality standards, variety of products offered, and promptness, and reliability of products and services of competitors, Foodmandu exceeds consumer expectations beating all its competitors and guarantees satisfaction consequently winning customer trust and loyalty.    

The brand value and customer perceived value are mainly based on the 4Ps critical aspects of marketing mix-

Product- Quality products and quick service making it an unbeatable provider in the region

Price- offers highly competitive prices than any of its competitors

Places- operates within the city limits in 3 different locations ensuring region wide accessibility and prompt service   

Promotion- extensively employs traditional as well as modern technological tools of advertising and marketing such as social medial platforms, blogs and web portals, and print mediums such as local dailies, magazines, and banner ads (Goi, 2009).         

            Competitors of Foodmandu have always failed to ensure quality, promptness, and variety of products and services to consumers consequently failing to emerge as parallel competitors to the business. The consistency in quality, performance, and productivity by Foodmandu ensured consistent rise in its consumer volume and gain of market share. Additionally, it is found that consumer want to stick to the business for reaping long term mutual benefit and enjoy their preferred cuisines offered at current prices. This ensures that Foodmandu has a long way to go on the path of success and growth. 

Customer Value Proposition

                Consumer value proposition, according to Merritt (2018), states why a consumer would want to buy products or services offered by a business, in this context- Foodmandu. In regards to foodmandu, the following are the salient features of the business that justify customer value proposition-  

Ø  Prompt home delivery of ordered food items

Ø  Cost effective food and nominal service charge, delivery charges

Ø  Telephonic, Web and mobile presence of the business that makes order placement, item selection, and payment possible instantly

Ø  Highly responsive and friendly approach

Ø  Attractive deals, competitive prices, guaranteed quality, and benefits to loyal consumers making it a first choice    

Competitor Value Proposition

            Competitor value proposition is a statement that describes how a product or service beats its competitor strategies and adds value to a business (Hassan, 2012).The following are some of the unique features and advantages of Foodmandu that add value to its business and act as effective factors in regards to competitor value proposition-    

Ø  Business owned delivery vehicle for round the clock service

Ø  Cost effective and matchless prices than competitors

Ø  Facility for online payment using various options such as wallets, bank transfer, etc.

Ø  Special discounts for loyal consumers, on festivals, and for memberships

Ø  Special discounts on high orders up to 25% on orders over 1000 Nrs.   

Value Positioning

            Value positioning of a product can be defined as a way of conveying the advantages of a product offered by a business to convince consumers that the products  offer the greatest benefits over other business competitors. Foodmandu realizing that value positioning is an integral component of marketing systematically elaborates its products and services by responding to key consumer concerns such as-

·         Who are the targets of the products and services- all demographics included   

·         Why should consumers buy the products – top quality of products and prompt service

·         Clear definition of the product and brand- Quality at cost effective prices

·         What benefits are served by the products – Fresh, hot, and timely meals/food

·         How is Foodmandu better than its competitors – better, healthier, cheaper, timely, and tasty

·         Unique selling points that demonstrate the positives of Foodmandu and its products over its competitors (What's the Difference Between a Value Proposition and a Positioning Statement? - Actuation Consulting, 2014).     

Marketing Promotional Plan

                Realizing the increasing scope and tremendous opportunities in and around the region, Foodmandu is all set to employ some innovative and effective ways of marketing to reach every corner of the region and with an objective to maximize its profitability. Foodmandu well understands the importance of technology and its implication on a business and therefore it is committed to develop and employ advanced marketing tools and technology using social media networks, blogs, and mobile platforms to effectively market its products and services and reach maximum number of consumers in and around the city. The business aims to reach every segment of consumers regardless of age, gender, race, income group, employment status, and other identifiable metrics. Foodmandu as a responsible player in the market does understand the changing needs of diverse consumers across the region and therefore aims to implement diverse marketing and advertising strategies targeting people of all age groups, income class, and social levels of customers to ensure all consumers feel a sense of belongingness towards the business and can vail quality food at their doorstep (Lorette, 2018).

            Foodmandu shall employ variety of advertising and marketing mix stratgeies that will mainly include product, price, place, and promotion targeting various places within the region, different and competitive pricing on products suitable for all income groups, develop and serve diverse products that are delicious, healthy, and nutritious and employ state of the art innovative and effective technological tools to market its products.       

Elements of Marketing Mix

                The 4Ps critical components of marketing mix model, namely, product, price, place, and promotion are to be included in the marketing campaign to ensure products is capable to generating anticipated business advantage (Martin, 2014). In order to develop an effective marketing and promotional strategy, Foodmandu must primarily consider 3 critical components, namely, market segment refers to the industry type- food, target customer refers to the all consumers throughout the identified demographic parameters, and competitors refers to the key competitors of business, namely, Kantipur and Bhok lagyo.     

            The 4Ps of the marketing mix model are sufficient to develop an effective strategy that addresses several aspects of the business and marketing campaign. The product, price, place, and promotion ensures customer know and understand everything about the product that the business offers, pricing, distribution across the regions through outlets, and lastly, promotion using various mediums such as print and electronic mediums (Marketing Mix Definition - 4Ps & 7Ps of the Marketing Mix, n.d.).     

            By adopting and following the above mentioned parameters it is possible to generate mas awareness among the consumer community, build loyalty, develop brand name, improve value perspectives, and offering competitive differentiation.           

Budget Allocation for Marketing

                Based on the results of the survey, Foodmandu realizes that adequate allocation of capital is required for implementing an effective marketing strategy. Based on the business needs and objectives, Foodmandu is determined to dedicate or invest 20 percent of the forecasted revenue towards marketing activities for the new locations. Another 10 percent towards on business transformation and 8-10 percent on established business.  

            Foodmandu is committed to reach every consumer within the region employing state of the art technological tools, social media platforms, web interface, and mobile interface. It will also make use of print and electronic medium of advertising and marketing such as cable networks, newspapers, and magazines (What's the Difference Between a Value Proposition and a Positioning Statement? - Actuation Consulting, 2018).       

            In order to grow and succeed, Foodmandu requires to maintain consistency in performance and productivity and maintain the effectiveness of marketing and promotional strategies by effectively addressing competitor strategies and by adopting ways that keep its consumer engaged with the business, win their trust and satisfy their tastes and preferences consequently benefitting the business through a long lasting mutually rewarding relationship.

Conclusion

            The discussion and analysis presented in this report suggests that Foodmandu emerges as successful businesses across the region due to the implementation of effective marketing strategies and promotional campaigns. The report has provided vital insights on how effective use of technology, marketing mix, targeting the consumers, and product positioning could lead a business to performance consistency, increased productivity, and higher profitability that result in the transformation of the business and expansion.          

Samsung & the Marketing Environment

Samsung

             Samsung has evolved into a highly innovative and technologically sophisticated brand by producing highly creative and user friendly smartphones that appeal to consumers of all segments, regions, and economic classes. The company constantly endeavors to bring out the best in technology through rigorous research and development to ensure its products are advanced, highly innovative, and superior in quality to its competitor’s products. The company’s success is evident form its worldwide popularity and business success. Samsung became the world’s second largest mobile manufacturer in the year 2003 overtaking Motorola. The company’s performance and success showed consistency as years passed and it was in the year 2009 that Samsung overtook Hewlett Packard to become the world’s largest technology business by accomplishing net revenue of $ 117 Billion. The company aspires to achieve annual revenue of over $ 400 billion within the next 10 years.

            The success and glory of Samsung is self-explanatory considering its performance, productivity and rising business ambitions. With increasing demand from consumers for highly sophisticated, user friendly, light weighted, and durable mobile phones, Samsung has all it takes to become a pioneer and global leader in mobile communication technologies. With technological superiority, implementation of effective marketing strategies too plays a key role in determining business success. This essay will discuss how marketing environment influences Samsung operations in Japan and provide insights on the company’s marketing objectives and strategies.     

The Marketing Environment  

Organizations operating in Japan need to overcome various challenges in order to ensure their business activities are executed efficiently to realize anticipated business benefits. These challenges are identified as external forces that constantly interfere with organization’s functions and therefore it is extremely important that organizations are capable of effectively addressing these external factors to ensure a smooth business journey operating on foreign soil. PESTLE analysis enables organizations to evaluate various factors that impact their business performance and productivity. IT includes Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Law factors as discussed in detail below-

Political- it refers to the political setup of a country where the firm operates. It includes factors such as tax, labor, legislation, tariffs, and political stability. Samsung needs to effectively address the political barriers in order to succeed in Japan.

Economic- Japan today adopts a policy for free market economy and western forms of enterprise capitalism. Economic factors are the key determinants of a firm’s success and expansion operating in foreign lands. Any changes in interest rates can generate significant impact on Samsung’s organizational performance and productivity. Changes in exchange rates affect the export commodities and costs and supplies of import goods further impacting businesses in positive or negative way  ("PESTEL Analysis Of JAPAN | Japan").    

Social- this factor mainly includes the people, culture, and society as a whole. Since Japan is a culturally conservative yet technologically superior nation, people stick to traditional values, culture, religion, and adopt conventional perspectives towards life. Samsung needs to ensure that its products are designed and developed so as to meet people’s tastes and preferences. Since 99% of Japanese speak their native language and adopt it as first language, it is important for firms to ensure they understand and incorporate these small yet critical aspects of life when marketing.

Technology- it refers to technological competence in the market and in case of Samsung, there are many competitors in Japanese market that pose threat to its growth and success. Japan’s telecom sector is one of the highly competitive markets in the world revolutionizing the world through VoIP and triple play services and continued 3G competition among wireless operators. However, regardless of competition, Samsung enjoys a brand name that creates a stiff resistance to new comers in the form of barriers to entry. The company needs to ensure it always brings the best of innovative products for its consumers to stay ahead of competitors.           

Environment- it is important that Samsung effectively addresses the critical issues concerning environment considering the potential environmental hazards caused due to company’s business activities by acting in a socially responsible way.   

Legal- it refers to factors that include governmental regulations, business policies, and corporate laws, that determine the ways a firm needs to execute its business activities. Samsung needs to act in complete adherence to Japanese legislations to ensure the firm can efficiently conduct its business activities. Laws such as labor laws, trademark law, and consumer contract act are some of the important laws governing businesses in Japan ("PESTEL Analysis Of JAPAN | Japan").

 SWOT Analysis for Samsung <>

Strengths- the company enjoys a strong brand name, global popularity, ranks #1 in mobile manufacturing with over 22 % market share, and has strong manufacturing and marketing capabilities. The firm enjoys long standing business relationships with USA and European retailors.    

Weaknesses- despite being on top in mobile manufacturing, Samsung still struggles to match with Apple’s marketing capabilities. Furthermore, Samsung’s OS based on Google android platform is deemed inferior to Apple iOS. Competitors such as Huawei, and Xiaomi are catching up to Samsung in terms of quality and innovation.

Opportunities- the company has good opportunities as Samsung plans to deliver quality mobiles devices to corporate partners such as biotech companies, automobile manufacturers, and others. Development of innovative apps such as Gear VR, note taker and scheduling will allow the company to sell its products to real estate clients that are extensively using this app for property sales.     

Threats- the company faces stiff competition due to emergence of new entrants into the Japanese market, impact of well established brands such as Apple and scope for Chinese companies such as Huawei and Xiaomi in Japan. This has caused significant declination in demand and scope for Samsung.

Marketing Objectives and Strategies

The company aims to enhance its corporate image in the local market by way of spreading awareness about its products. In order to win consumer trust and loyalty, Samsung has planned to adopt technology and innovation through social media and e-marketing in its marketing campaigns that not only reach potential target segments of consumers but also allows the company to cut down its advertising costs and marketing costs. This is because the company faces strong resistance due to emerging successful new entrants into the market such as Huawei, and Xiaomi that has limited its scope and growth in Japanese market. Samsung aims to reach annual revenues of $ 400 within the next 10 years through innovation, technological sophistication, and product quality.          

Based on the discussion presented in this paper it can be understood that Samsung mobiles in Japan has to overcome stiff marketing competition in order to retain its reputation and market share. The company requires implementing significant research and developments in its products to overcome the current competition created by new entrants and Apple’s craze among Japanese consumers and also maintain prices in control in order to expand and grow in the market.          

Case Study On Marketing

Effective Marketing Strategies adopted by bigger companies

McDonald’s Promotional strategy and their Target market

When talking about the fast food industry, no doubt, McDonald is the most valued and a very famous brand in the world. Being a vast and huge corporation with more than 30,000 outlets and having presence in around 121 countries, the company earns a profit of 2 billion dollars per year and serves over 35 million consumers daily. With an effective strategy to target the family and the children customers, with their happy meals and best prices, McDonalds has emerged as the most successful brand in the world. McDonald initially offered very cost effective prices on their products thus gaining more and more number of family customers and adding to their profit. The company chose its locations into the suburbs and downtown areas which increased its customers to many fold thus increasing its earnings as well. McDonalds was the first Hamburger chain to do so (Greco and Michman 1995).
McDonalds primarily targeted children and designed their advertisements with the same view so that profits can be maximized and customer database could be increased. This strategy of the company invited some amount of critics and therefore is a matter of debates. Every product has a target audience and the promotional ads are designed so as to attract the target audience of a particular class. It is also possible for a commercial advert to aim at many audiences and get their identity. Although it is believed that McDonalds target only the children but in reality their adverts aim at the larger families too. A fine example of McDonald advert can be seen in an advert wherein a working mom is asking her kids what they would prefer for the dinner and the kids spontaneously reply that they would be happy to go to the McDonalds (Sutherland and Sylvester 2000).
The company has also aimed on a global fund raiser which benefits Ronald McDonald house charities and kids or children around the globe. The global corporation helps the local community children and families who are in need of any kind of assistance. Ronald McDonald house charities gets support from the owners of McDonald’s food chains operating worldwide by independent businessmen and businesswomen.
More information on this is available on the following link-
http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term paper topics /2008/06/promotional-str.html#ixzz1j2zey1ha
People of different cultures and backgrounds can be disseminated by way of promotional culture. Firms will have to be creative and come up with new ideas that can attract their target audience and bring more number of customers and business there by increasing profit. It is understood that the company enjoys the goodwill of its customers as they have been serving them and ensure them that new promotional campaigns only build trust and customer loyalty between the company and the customer. It is important to note that companies use the available resources to attract their target audiences and sometimes even after applying the right strategies things do not go in favor of the company and that is where the quality and goodwill of the company counts. McDonalds has offered the best rates and are able to give the best quality to their customers so the customer’s loyalty will keep the company always ahead of their competitors. Speaking in broader terms, McDonalds is far ahead of Wendy’s as far as profit making is concerned and also attracting the customers through innovative adverts and promotional campaigns is concerned. On the contrary to McDonalds, Windy’s focuses on women as their target audience so it would not be appropriate to measure the two company’s success using same parameters as they have different target audiences to promote their products. Even if both the giants deal in food products, their strategies are different yet they are successful in their businesses. Therefore, to conclude, it can be safely said that the food chains are making use of right marketing strategy to promote and market their products and create an impact on their customers. 

How Does Marketing Work in International Environment

International Marketing Environment

            Business organizations across the world are constantly engaged in developing and implementing innovative strategies and business practices to expand their business operations and activities on the international platform. Globalization has played a key role in eliminating the conventional barriers that deterred organizations to efficiently conduct their business operations in the international arena. International marketing environment plays a dominant role in determining how well organizations will perform on the global platform since it consists of critical components such as social, cultural, economic, legislative, environmental, and political that impacts a business in varied ways eventually determining its fate in international market. This essay will discuss and provide critical insights on international marketing environment.

International Marketing 

            International marketing is a broad concept that includes application of complex marketing mix decisions across national boundaries. In simple terms the concept of international marketing involves a firm’s marketing strategy and marketing decisions to conduct its business operations and activities internationally to ensure it derives anticipated business profit ("What is International Marketing?", 2017).

            International marketing environment impacts organizations in varied ways that may determine, depending on the capabilities of an organization, whether it would survive and sustain in the international platform or quit. Some of the critical drivers of international business include costs, market competition, technology, and business environment.

Costs- in order to ensure a strong and effective presence internationally organizations need to be financially sound to ensure they can efficiently meet business operations costs such as outsourcing, price of products or services, cost effective labor and manufacturing costs, etc. Efficient management of these costs determines the growth and success of an organization abroad.

Competition- this is a critical component that constantly drives organizations forward. Operating in international environments organizations need to ensure that their products or services are capable of competing with its competitors in terms of quality and price.

Business environment- this factor plays a key role in making businesses aware of consumer’s emerging demands and preferences allowing organizations to develop effective marketing strategies to win consumers.

Technology- today technology plays a key role in determining what is the best product or service allowing consumers to quickly compare and determine what to buy. Consumers make their purchase decisions based on the survey that conduct online on what is the best they can get for a price. Thus, these drivers constantly pose a challenging business environment for organizations compelling them to develop innovative products and strategies and earn revenue   ("4 drivers of international business", 2017).  

Absolute and Comparative Advantage

            Absolute advantage is defined as the capacity to produce a product using less of a resource than a competing entity. For example, if A produces 10 laptops and 20 mobiles in a given day and B produces 5 laptops and 10 mobiles, then it we can say that A has absolute advantage over B in manufacturing both laptops and mobiles. Similarly, countries that produce goods or products in lesser time and costs are said to have greater absolute advantage.

             Comparative advantage is the ability of a business to produce a product at a lower opportunity costs than its competitor. This implies that countries that produce products with varying opportunity costs are in a position to trade with each Advantage Versus Comparative Advantage", 2017).  

Marketing Environmental Analysis

                A business organization is affected by various external factors that constantly impact its performance and productivity in foreign lands. PESTLE analysis allows marketing experts to analyze the external environment of a firm in foreign regions since it consists of critical external factors such as Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental. However, despite the fact that all these factors exert varying yet definite impact on a business it important to understand that the economic and (Social factors) cultural factors in particular exert a dominating influence on the organization due to the fact that many countries are dominated by their traditional and cultural value systems even today that do not easily allow certain products or services of foreign origin to grow and succeed within the region. This is perhaps social factors primarily consist of cultural setup, people’s life styles, and domestic structures. For example, countries like China or Japan that is strongly ruled by their respective culture and value systems does not easily surrender their preferences and demands for the sake of modernity. Since culture forms an integral component of a country’s social setup, it can be said that the culture of a country can strongly resist or attract particular businesses, products and services. Culture determines the way people live, their perspectives towards things and life, attire, life styles, language, beliefs, customs, and creed. These important factors constantly interfere with their choices, needs, and demands restricting foreign businesses to grow. For example, western fast food chains such as McDonalds, Dominos, etc. find it difficult to sell food items made of beef since cattle is believed sacred in Hindu religion. This demonstrates that despite the fact that item of beef are highly preferred and widely sold in America and other western nations, it would never gain similar popularity and preference in India due to its strong India religious and cultural setup. It is evident that consumer buying behavior and purchase decision making are significantly influenced by the local culture, tradition, customs, and beliefs that dominate the society. Therefore, for every business, in order to become successful in a particular region or country it is imperative that it understands the country’s culture and tradition that primarily determines consumer needs and preferences. Mismatch between products or services and local culture and consumer preferences only means business failure.          

            Economic factors are deemed equally important for a country operating its business abroad. Various components such as exchange rate, taxes rates, central bank interest rates, etc. simultaneously affect a business (Smith, 2017). Other factors such as rate of inflation, rate of interest, disposable income of buyers, credit accessibility, unemployment rates, financial policies, and foreign exchange rates are known to significantly affect the performance of a business operate in foreign lands.

            Political factors that include government policies, taxes, political stability in a country, and business regulations impose limitations on foreign businesses and determining their functioning within a particular country.

            Technological factors that mainly include innovative software, internet technologies, social media, and electronic devices significantly determine the scope and growth of a business within a region. This is due to rapid growth of information technologies and e-commerce that has created a boom on the virtual platform.

            Legal limitations that include laws relating to products, jobs, patents, health and safety that are binding on all organizations too impact the business.

            Environmental factors such as weather, climatic and temperatures of a region that are impacted by organizational business activities influence an organization. Today, world governments are particularly concerned about the environment and therefore environmental laws are stringent and obligatory for all businesses regardless of its nature of business (Frue et al, 2017). Therefore, based on the PESTLE factors it can be understood that a business need to ensure it is capable of meeting all external constraints, rules, and obligations that are binding in order to efficiently execute its business activities in a foreign land.

           

Market Segmentation  

            The process of identifying potential consumers within a target region based on their needs and preferences is known as market segmentation. Various parameters may be applied to systematically classify consumers for conducting market segmentation. However, some of the most important are demographics factors that mainly consist of consumer related information such as age, gender, income, education, marital status, family size, occupation, creed, etc. These factors allow a business to systematically categorize its target consumers based on which product distribution can be done (Hanlon, 2017).         

Psychographic factors- as the name suggests this factor mainly relates to behavior based personality and emotional orientation that can be connected to habits, attitudes, preferences, dislikes leadership traits, etc. The difference between demographic factors and psychographic factors is that the former reveals who the buyer is while the latter reveals why consumers buy a product. Information pertaining to psychographic components can be easily gathered through surveys, interviews, consumer related data, reliable secondary sources, etc. (Hanlon, 2017)

Lifestyle factors- it mainly includes things and activities that people prefer in their lives such as fashion and accessories, clothing, food, sports, music, entertainment, and all other activities that signify people’s casual orientation towards life.          

Beliefs and values- it mainly comprises of religious, political, nationalistic, and spiritual beliefs and value systems that that even forms a partial culture in itself. For instance, Islamic bank of Britain provides banking facilities that comply with Sharia laws of Islamic religion.

Life stages- relate to the consumer’s age group that a business intends to target as its potential consumers. For example, Saga Holidays targets only people over the age of 50+.

Geography- it refers to the location or region a business considers as a target market. It could be a city, town, rural regions, and may even consider aspects such as climatic conditions and temperature.

Behavior- it refers to consumer behavior exhibited by customers of a business. It may be in the form of consumer loyalty towards a particular product or service, switching behavior from one brand to another, consumption patterns, etc.

            The process of positioning involves placement of a product or a service in a particular market so as to ensure it is sellable to the identified target consumers. Positioning is an important component of marketing concept that outlines a business on how to sell its products in a particular market. On the basis of the identified target market, the marketing department of the business creates an image for the item it intends to sell to a particular class of consumers. This is achieved by way of considering the 4 Ps, namely, product, promotion, price, and place. The intensity of the positioning strategy is directly proportional to the marketing strategy of the business. Therefore, today, organizations are keen to adopt innovating marketing strategies to ensure their products are positioned aptly and effectively to derive optimal anticipated business benefit.

            Market positioning can be achieved effectively by considering the 4 important components, namely, product, place, promotion, and pricing. Regardless of the nature of business and environment it operates in this consideration is imperative to ensure products are sellable in a particular market. However, when considering the international marketing environment it is not only important to consider all these said factors but to understand the culture and value system of the targeted region as well to derive maximum benefit from the marketing strategy. This is because of the fact that regardless of the effectiveness and intensity of a marketing plan, cultural barriers can play a determining role in business performance. An effective positioning strategy is one that not only educates and informs consumers about the product and its features but also convinces and compels him to make a purchase and derive positive anticipated experience. Market positioning can be effectively achieved in international markets by way of placing adverts in electronic as well as print formats through internet, newspapers, magazines, social media, and websites/blogs too.

Conclusion

            The discussion and analysis presented in this essay clearly reveals the critical components involved in the process of marketing. The essay has provided critical insights on the importance of marketing in international environments, product segmentation and product positioning to demonstrate that effective marketing strategies applied post thorough consideration of external influencing factors not only generates anticipated business benefits but also provides strong and loyal consumer base for the brand involved. The essay has well explained how external factors impact business performance and productivity. Based on the discussion of the key concepts and components of the subject it is highly suggested that organizations aspiring to expand internationally build an effective presence by adopting innovative marketing strategies and technological tools to ensure they reach the farthest corners of the world and consumers. In today’s era of e-commerce, implementation of technological tools such as social media and internet are indispensable and inevitable for every organization that aims to achieve a global business leadership.  

            Therefore, organizations are required to develop and implement advanced business strategies and marketing plans to ensure they are capable of sustaining in a highly competitive and volatile international business environment.