A company that I think might be successful following a production orientation is McDonalds. The production oriented approach holds that all that a company makes is the focal point of attention by the managers (Blythe, 2014). Production orientation at McDonalds ignores the diversity of the needs by customers and generalizes them to one goal of producing a quality brand. McDonalds is the largest chain of Hamburger fast food restaurants. McDonalds has more than 36,500 outlets in countries (McDonalds Official Website). The production orientation is upheld since the foodstuffs offered at McDonalds are basically similar in all countries of operation.
A firm in this industry may be particularly successful since the production process involves repetitive recipes that are same in all countries of operation. The foodstuffs at McDonalds particularly the hamburgers have been known to stand out amongst those from competitors such as KFC and thus the company’s major focus is in maintaining the quality of the foods and probably making improvements (McDonalds Official Website). A food making company is bound to achieve economic success by following this approach since the needs addressed by food are typically similar in all human beings and thus maintaining the quality should be the main focus of such a company. The production oriented approach allows just this and the company assumes that once the quality of the products is assured, the products will sell with little marketing effort (Hooley et al., 2012). This approach will further favor food companies since foodstuffs are perishable and the concept allows a company to have a belief that they will sell all their products provided they are quality assured and are traded at a fair price.
Can A Company Be Successful Without Using A Portfolio Matrix As A Strategic Planning Tool?
Yes. A company or a firm can succeed with no use of portfolio matrix as a way to strategize on planning tool. Portfolio planning uses various matrices to assess the prospects of success in a firm through evaluation of the specific industries involved (Reed, 2010). The portfolio matrices offer suggestions to take corrective action in the industries and provides guidelines on how to allocate the resources. All these roles of the portfolio matrix can be achieved by other means. The matrix is developed by employees who key in the specifics of the industries and the firms accounts. The matrix is thus not a basic need in organization but only serves as a tool to make work easier.
With reference to Reed (2010), portfolio matrix planning overlooks the realities of competition in the world of business. The process focuses on just two factors ignoring other prospects that determine the success odds of a business. It just focuses on resource allocation and the success probabilities of each of the industries in a firm. Proper accounting and management can be used instead of this matrix. The portfolio matrix planning method may cause motivational problems among the employees in an organization. This is because the total belief in the matrix underestimates the cognitive ability of the employees in determining how to allocate resources among the different firms in an organization. The portfolio planning matrix cannot suggest possible business opportunities that a company may pursue but rather deals with the present issues in the company. A competent workforce is thus more productive and efficient than the portfolio matrices of planning and an organization that does not use the matrices may succeed against all odds.
Describe Several Reasons for Studying Marketing
The core aim of all businesses is to stand out among their competitors in offering quality products and making immense profits. Marketing is the chief strategy in making a business achieve this aim. Managers and employees in a business may need to study marketing to advance their skills in customer relations, understanding the business environment and the concept of profitable production at large. Studying marketing impacts these skills to an individual and the approach and relationship that they have in reaching out to potential customers with a product is greatly enhanced. Through studying marketing employees to an organization understand consumer behavior thus enabling their organization to tailor its products to address the specific needs and wants from their customers (Kotler and Armstrong, 2014). Marketing thus helps in an organization’s strategic planning.
Managers ought to study marketing to understand the various strategies that can be employed in aspects such as pricing, distribution, promotion and segmentation among their customers. Knowledge on marketing enlightens on the business environment making managers and employees in an organization to adjust their strategies as per the internal and external environment factors. The internal environment as taught in marketing involves controllable variables in an organization while the external environment is majorly constituted by factors that are beyond the control of an organization. Studying marketing allows managers to alleviate the extreme demerits that can be accrued from the uncontrollable factors by impacting to them marketing skills and knowledge on how to cope with the dynamic and competitive world of business (Blythe, 2014).
References
Blythe, J. (2014). Principles & practice of marketing. Los Angeles: Sage
Hooley, G., Piercy, N., and Nicoulaud, B., (2012) Marketing Strategy and Competitive positioning. India: FT Prentice Hall
Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2014). Principles of marketing. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson
McDonalds Official website. Accessed on 23 August 2016 from www.mcdonalds.com/
Reed, P. W. (2010). Strategic marketing: Decision making and planning. South Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning.
