Do Business Well

A healthy partnership is based on one crucial understanding: Neither partner is perfect. If potential partners are afraid to admit their imperfections, or are trying diligently to correct them, or are reluctant to ask for help, neither will be on the lookout for a productive partnership. They will be nervous of confessing to too many faults and suspicious of anyone who offers.

Strangely, most companies actively encourage this kind of behavior. Job descriptions, for even the simplest roles, run to two or three pages, presumably in hopes of capturing every minute task that the perfect incumbent should be able to perform. Training classes and development plans target those few behaviors where you consistently struggle. Everyone talks of the need to “broaden your skill set.” Continue Reading »

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The key role of research in effective marketing planning was introduced. The marketing audit comprises research and analysis of the internal and external environment as follows:

• The internal audit reviews existing marketing activities and assesses their effectiveness in terms of contribution to revenue, brand enhancement, customer service, customer retention, market share or sales leads.
• The external audit considers the micro-environmental influences (customers, suppliers, partners, distributors and competitors) and macro-environmental influences (political, economic, social, technological and legal) within which the company operates.

The circles representing different aspects of the business environment show that from a company’s perspective, the various components of the micro-environment are intimately connected with the operations of its business, but the macro-environment is one step removed. This means that a company has some degree of control over the micro-environmental influences, but cannot directly influence the ‘bigger picture’ of the macro-environment, which would include such issues as interest rate changes, new legislation, etc. By conducting a marketing audit, a company can at least monitor and be aware of the implications of likely changes in the macro-environment, even if it cannot directly control them.

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