GUIDELINES ADVANCED MARKETING PRACTICUM 4 …imm-gsm.s3.amazonaws.com/2014/Docs/Tut-Letters/Final...

Practicum Final Report Semester 1, 2014

GUIDELINES

ADVANCED MARKETING

PRACTICUM 4 (AMP401)

FINAL REPORT

The copyright of all IMM Graduate School of Marketing material is held by the

IMM GSM. No material may be reproduced without prior written permission from

the IMM GSM.

Revised: November 2013


CONTENTS

Section

Content Page

1 Introduction 3

2 Learning objectives 3

3 Final Report requirements 4

3.1 Planning the Final Report 4

3.2 Report Structure 5

4 Final Report – Theoretical overview 6

4.1 Process for Strategic Audit 6

4.2 Critical reflective analysis and new trends 7

4.3 Using models and theory as tools to do an audit 11

4.4 Further Examples of Application of Models 18

5 Final Report – Technical & Quality Issues 21

6 Evaluating the Final Report 22

6.1 Academic Considerations 22

6.2 Technical Considerations 23

6.3 Mark Allocation 23

7 References 24


Final Report: AMP401 Practicum

1. Introduction

In the Midway Report you were required to select a specific marketing area of activity

or product and document a Strategic Marketing plan or Marketing strategy. To

achieve this you were required to document marketing activities taking place within

the organisation and compile a report around one of the main activities.

The Midway Report thus forms the first part of the experiential approach designed to

complement the course work so that your business and education experience is

enhanced. You will by now have observed that what happens in practice is not what

is taught in the theory. However, with some reflective thinking you may well find that

there is far more overlap than what first meets the eye, and it is this reflective

thinking that we want to reinforce in the final report.

The Final report thus takes the process a step further by using models and theory as

tools to further interrogate and audit the specific content of your report. (see Report

Structure) Take note – this final report is not about discussing the theory behind the

models, but about applying the theory and models critically audit your report.

2. Learning Objectives

Before commencing on your Final report, read your Midway Report guidelines again

and reflect on the obvious and underlying objectives of this module. The emphasis

given in the Final report will be on a subset of the overall objectives given in your

Midway Report guidelines. Emphasis will thus be given to:

A critical reflective analytical approach to work related marketing activities

Developing experience in applying management and marketing theory and

models to a wide range of marketing applications


Practice introspective learning, (ie. Critical self-reflection) analysing how

decisions are made and how theory can be applied to the practice of

marketing.

Seeing the broader picture (ie the obvious problems are not always the issue

Identifying a role you can play in the organisation

The Final report must be submitted on the due date as indicated on the course

schedule.

3. Final Report Requirements

3.1 Planning your Final Report

Plan the report layout so that the report has a logical flow and moves from broad to

specific. See section 3.2 of this learner guide for a structure for your Final Report.

Decide what theoretical models you are going to consider and plan the flow

according. For instance – which models are you going use to look at the macro-

environment; the industry environment; the internal marketing environment?

Consider whether you need to speak to more people in order to do a proper audit –

who, where and when do you have to speak to, what do you need to ask them in

order to gain the information you need for the audit?

The easiest way to ensure such a logical flow is to draw up a framework / plan for

the report, and then to populate the sections in the framework – see layout and

structure guidelines later in this document.

Obviously you cannot be expected to intervene in the work process and query what

models are being applied. But you can reflect on the process. You can also ask at a

convenient time as to which marketing models were, or could be, appropriate.

Whatever the answers, you need also to go back to all the theory you have covered

in the course work, be it Strategic marketing, Brand management or Global

marketing and so on. Reflect also on what you have recorded in your Midway Report

and ask yourself ‘have I considered appropriate marketing models or theory?’


Now that you are ready to start the strategic audit and critical reflective analysis you

revert to your Midway Report consider the structural outline for the Final Report:

3.2 Report structure

To compile the final report, copy and paste certain sections as below, from your

Midway Report. Then select a new font colour to write in. Only the new colour

sections will be marked. That which is written in the new colour should not exceed 10

– 15 pages. Your final report should be uploaded onto the eLearn website and

structured as follows:

(INSERT ) AMP401 Cover page (available on the IMM GSM website) To include the cover page onto your Final Report, locate it on the IMM GSM website. Then print, complete and sign the cover sheet. Now scan it to your email address. Once you receive it, open the file, click on the cover page image and select copy. Go to your word document and select paste. This should place your cover sheet onto your document. Table of content Table of figures

1. Introduction / Problem Context (1 page) this is a new section that should be Written in a new colour font of your choice.

2. Strategic Audit (+/-10-12 pages) This is extracted from Section 3 of your Midway Report, and is comprised of: Title and focus of the selected marketing activity (give it a name). External analysis including risk analysis if appropriate Internal analysis including risk analysis if appropriate

To write this section, copy and paste it from the Midway Report, in its original black font. Then select a different colour font to clearly designate between any new work added and proceed with the critical theoretical reflection and critical reflective comments for that which you have copied over, writing in a new colour font.


For example: (you may include other aspects or subsections as per your Midway Report, the below is merely an example) 2. Strategic Audit:

2.1 External Analysis

o Situational analysis

o Competitor analysis

2.2 Internal Analysis

o Product analysis (or other analysis, as applicable) depending on your

particular problem

o Risk analysis, etc.

3. Recommendations (1 page max) This is a new section that should be written in a new colour font of your choice

4. Reference list (please check your referencing)

Note: The IMM GSM regards plagiarism in a very serious light and uses a software

package called “Turnitin” that is used to monitor the level of copying and plagiarism

on submitted assignments.

4. Final Report - Theoretical Overview

4.1 – Process for putting together a Strategic Audit

The Midway Report started off looking at the marketing projects and activities in the

company as a whole. Then the scope narrowed to marketing strategy and projects

and activities within your area of responsibility or interest. The foundation of the

Midway Report is used to conduct an audit, which will comprise your Final report. An

audit is simply critically reviewing what has been done and in this case what has

been done in your report.

The requirement for the final report is a Strategic Audit, focussed mainly on the

external and internal analyses you have done in your Midway Report.


As a start, critically reflect on what you have documented in the context, as well as

the external and internal analyses sections in the Midway Report. Secondly to do the

strategic audit you have to choose the appropriate theory and models with which

to audit (benchmark) the marketing issues identified in the external and internal

analyses sections of the Midway Report. You have to substantiate your choice of

theory and models – e.g. why those are the most appropriate models to use to

analyse those particular issues?

The theory and models serve as tools with which to explore the marketing issues in

the Final report. It will not be acceptable simply to re-submit the Midway Report in a

new guise simply by changing a few words. You will thus need to demonstrate a

critical reflective approach.

4.2 Critical reflective analysis and New Trends

You will be required to argue your audit analysis in terms of text book theory and

current literature. More specifically you are required to audit the process you have

followed the in the light of new marketing perspectives. For example – if you have

done an external analysis of your customer base profile did you use the old system

of LSM levels, or did you consider the new approach of demographic profiles as

suggested by Chang (….)?

To do this you are required to read at least 4-6 marketing magazines, some of which

should be IMM’s own magazine, Strategic Marketing. At least one of these

magazines should provide you with new perspective on marketing. In your strategic

marketing audit you will need to reflect if such trends have at least been considered

within your organisation and thus applied in marketing plans including the marketing

plan you have submitted in your Midway Report.

The Midway Report is a factual review of marketing and marketing related activities

within the organisation. It does not necessarily represent the optimum or best view

with respect to current up to date theory and marketing perspectives. In order to

achieve a holistic work integrated learning outcome the Final report needs to take


the process one step further and apply critical reflective analysis to the facts

recorded.

What does it mean to do critical reflective analysis…? Perhaps it might be helpful to

first look at what is understood by the concept “reflection”: Collins Concise Dictionary

(2001, p.1259) defines reflect as: “… think, to meditate, to ponder”; while reflection is

described as “ .careful or long consideration or thought.”

Using this as our working definition one can argue that reflection is not simply giving

facts nor is it simply asking questions. It requires actions such as thinking;

comparing; evaluating issues from different perspectives and considering the

practical implications of certain decisions or actions.

Critical reflective thinking requires experience, hard work (perseverance), the

knowledge and application of marketing theory and the application of a critical

reflective thinking framework (Kolb, 1984). Both the application of marketing

knowledge and critical reflective thinking are therefore essential for the success in

this module and must be evident in the final report.

Work Integrated Learning refers to the application of knowledge of marketing theory

to practical, work related issues. The application of marketing knowledge to work

The following components illustrate some of the principles of critical reflective

analyses:

Comparing what the company does in terms of marketing to what

other companies do, or to what the theory suggests

Identifying gaps and problem areas in terms of the marketing

processes or activities.

Recognising patterns and differences in these approaches

Taking it further – finding additional information when required

Considering the advantages and disadvantages of the different

approaches in terms of budget, resources, meeting customer


related issues, however, can only take place through critical reflective thinking and

the application of appropriate marketing models as well as an awareness of current

trends.

Critical reflective analysis is not easy and you will require a good base from which to

work. A good base will be marketing models as these models reflect a considerable

depth of marketing theory. A second base is to read what is happening in the market

and marketing magazines would be a good start for this.

Mapping the new trends that you discover as illustrated in the following diagram, can

provide a useful holistic “picture” that can assist you in deciding which new market

trends are most applicable; or has the most potential in terms of the focus of your

final report.

Note: The exercises below do not need to be submitted with your final report,

but will assist you in identifying critical reflective elements and theoretical

discussion points.

Fig 3: Consider the various new trends found in the magazines


Reflect on which of the new trends you found in the magazines are relevant to your

area of focus for the final report.

Exercise 1:

Read 2-3 copies of the IMM Strategic Marketing magazine and 3-4 other

marketing journals or magazines. Make notes of the new trends in marketing

that you encounter in those publications. Identify the new trends that are applicable

to the focus area of your final report. Discuss it with your marketing manager to gain

a second opinion. List 2-3 new trends applicable to the focus area of your final

report. This is a self-study exercise and must not be included in your final report.

New trends:

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

You should have a clear understanding of the auditing (benchmarking) you need to

do for the final report at this point. Similarly you will have studied recent trends in

marketing that is relevant to your final report. Remember to keep note of the sources

where you have found suitable material that you will use in the report – referencing

those sources is an important aspect of this module. Otherwise you may run the

risk of being accused of plagiarism.


4.3 Using models and theory as tools to do an

audit (benchmarking)

The next step in the process is to find 2-4 relevant models which you can apply and

use to audit (benchmark) the identified marketing approaches and activities against.

By applying the models to the issues you will be able to explore the issues in more

depth, gaining a deeper understanding of where the gaps, bottlenecks and barriers

are in the processes and activities.

Benchmarking is the process of comparing one's business processes and

performance metrics to industry bests or best practices from other industries.

Benchmarking usually look at processes, and focus on performance measures such

as quality, time and cost (Wikipedia, 2013).

You can find theory, strategic and marketing models in most of the handbooks you

have from previous courses, as well as in online EBSCOHost articles and marketing

magazines. This step requires development of suitable search terms to use when

browsing for relevant theory or models on the online databases or the internet

Suitable search terms

When looking for theory or models relevant to your study, you will have to use words

that will describe the information you are looking for. “Search terms” refers to the

descriptive words or terms applicable to your topic and underlying themes.

Finding suitable material takes time and patience. When using search terms to look

for relevant material on the online database or internet, it is recommended that you

Start with the general term

“Knowledge is knowing... or knowing where to find out”.

(Toffler, no date, in Literacyla, 2012)


If you find a lot of material when using the general term, you can start using

more specific terms

If you do not find what you are looking for, try using other ways to describe the

concept you are looking for.

Begin with the key terms or concepts – then expand the search.

If, for instance your topic deals with the management of customer expectations you

can

Start with the search term ”models customer expectations OR you can try

changing the wording in the search to customer needs; customer

management or customer requirements.

Sort the theory and models according relevance and usability. Make sure

the models you pick contain concepts or components that speak to the issues

you picked up in the Midway Report and are investigating in the final report.

If the search produces many models, you can refine the search to reflect your

specific topic more closely, for example:

o Models Customer needs and after sales service

Models Communication process in sales encounters

Models Complaints management.

Aftersales quality

o Customer retention systems

o Etc.

Play around with the words to see what theory or models come up that deal

with the issues relevant to your research topic – even if the models deal with

research in other industries.


Exercise 2: Draw up a table of search terms for the themes or categories for

your topic. This is a self-study exercise and must not be included in your final

report.

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

Exercise 3: List the names and references for 4-6 models most suited to audit

(benchmark) the marketing issues identified in the external and internal

analyses in the Midway Report. This is a self-study exercise and must not

be included in your final report.

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

4. _________________________________________________________________

5. _________________________________________________________________

6. _________________________________________________________________

The marketing issues identified in the external and internal analyses in the Midway

Report will indicate whether you need to consider the macro, micro or the internal

organisational environment for the audit in your Final report – or perhaps you will

have to consider more than one of these environments.


Fig 4: Factors to consider in the macro-, micro- and the company environment

Exercise 4: Looking at the marketing problems in your Midway Report – which

these environments do you need to look at, and the related models. This is a

self-study exercise and must not be included in your final report.

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

Example 1

Say for instance in the Midway Report two problems stood out – the company was

losing market share; and many customers were moving away from doing business at

your company (micro-environment).

A very useful model to consider in this case is Porter’s five forces model.


Fig 5: Industry environment -Five Forces model (Porter, 1985, in Porter 2008)

The components in the diagram of the model can triggers questions that will help you

consider the issues in relation to the problem identified before. For instance - the

loss in market share and customer moving to competitors may be due to:

New competitors entering the market; and /or

Competitors engaging in a price war, and /or

Competitors selling similar products (substitutes).

Based on your particular marketing problem, you can now critically reflect on the

underlying reasons for the problems. This is a clear illustration of how models can

help you think the problem through.


Example 2

Using the same problem as in the example above – that of the company losing

market share; and many customers moving away from doing business at your

company - one can now look internally at the company’s marketing strategy or

approach (company-environment). The following model is only one of many that can

be used to investigate these problems better…

Question

Did you use this model in your Midway Report? If so – did it help you

understand the underlying issues within the problem better?


Fig 6: The Four P's of Marketing (adapted from McCarthy, 1975)

This model can assist you in auditing / benchmarking your company’s marketing

approach regarding the 4 P’s. If you do not have the answers to all these questions,

go and ask someone in the company who can assist you with finding the answers.

Then critically reflect on the gaps and issues in the current marketing approach.

Quality versus quantity: It is more important to choose 4-6 models based on their

ability to help you consider the underlying issues within the marketing problem

(quality); than dumping a large number of models that do not really help you gain

better understanding of underlying issues (quantity).

More examples of how to choose and use models are given in the appendices of this

document.

Online activity

Look at the following slideshow online for an interesting application of Porter’s

models used to compare well-known companies:

http://www.slideshare.net/dipalij07/porters-generic-strategies-with-examples

http://www.slideshare.net/dipalij07/porters-generic-strategies-with-examples


4.4 Further Examples of the application of Models

The Framework as an example of how to use appropriate models

Example:

Section 2.1 Strategic Audit

External analysis

Loss of Market share: Industry analysis

Note that the subheading here does not give a model name but refers to the theme

and the environment that will be considered in this section.

As mentioned previously – a useful model here would be Porter’s five forces model –

see figure 4. Think about how these forces play out in your company’s target market

– can you answer the questions posed in that model for your own company? If not

who do you need to speak to in order to get more information?

What do those answers tell you in terms of the areas where the company is

competing; they are under threat from competitors; how competitive the company

marketing products ranges and prices are when compared to what is available in the

market place…? Where are the gaps and the risks to the company in the market

place?

Perhaps this calls for some detailed market analyses – similar to the example given

below.


Fig 7: Market analysis: Formal food retail shares in South Africa, 2009 (The Merger

of Walmart and Massmart Economic Issues, 2011)

Such an analysis could lead you to consider the company’s marketing strategy and

approach – the next subheading?

Marketing strategy and approach

The questions here would be – how is the company planning to compete in this

market…? A useful model to consider here could be Ansoff’s Growth Vectors (1965).

This model also provides another way to view the difference between analysis and

an audit

The first model gives you the choices to be made – is the company perhaps planning

to penetrate a new market…?

Shoprite 33%

Pick 'n Pay 31%

Spar 24%

Woolworths 11%

Massmart 2%

Share of Retail Food Sales


Fig 8 : Ansoff’s Growth Vectors , 1965

The second model gives you a breakdown (audit) of the relative risks for the various

strategies:

Fig 9: Risk associated with strategy (Ansoff’s Growth Vectors , 1965)

In your Midway Report you may have documented the strategy as a product launch.

However, in your audit you need to reflect more specifically as to whether this was

for market penetration purposes, or new product development purposes, etc. Once

you have done this you need to reflect further: Were the various risk factors taken

into consideration?

Other risk factors may be in the decision on how and whether to respond to a

competitor’s market penetration strategies, like the example below:


Fig 10. Risk analyses - The threat of Google's free offering (Based on Bryce, Dyer

and Hatch, 2011)

The Midway Report is thus the starting point i.e. to ascertain what is being done in

the company (or in your particular section). The second stage (Final report) is to

ascertain what the appropriate theoretical principles are relating to those marketing

activities in your section, and to what extent they have been applied (gaps) /applied

successfully (barriers /bottlenecks).

A Strategic marketing audit demands not only an external analysis (situational

analysis ) but also an internal analysis e.g. a resource based view e.g. production

capacity, sales capacity etc.

5. Final Report - Technical and quality issues

The final report must be presented as a professional business report, in MSWord

format. The following structural guidelines apply to the final report:

All final reports must be uploaded on eLearn.

All final reports should be in MS Word.

All final reports must follow the structural outline laid out in this learner guide

(see section 3.2)

All pages must be computer generated.

All pages should be consecutively numbered and the report should contain a

table of contents.

All sections and subsections should be clearly marked with headings and a

logical numbering sequence.

Any supporting material should be placed in an appendix. These appendices

must be clearly labelled and the information in each appendix should be

referenced within the body of the final report.

Use Arial 12 font, 1.5 spacing, and justification

All diagrams must have the figure number, title of the diagram and the source

given at the bottom of the diagram.

All tables in the text must have the table number, title of the table and the

source given at the top of the table.


Check that all the sources given in the text are listed in the reference list; and

vice versa.

6. Evaluating the Final Report

What the examiners will look at when marking the paper.

Important: A different coloured font must be used to indicate the comments

and the reflections made as part of the audit done on the external and internal

analyses copied and pasted from the Midway Report.

Without new content in a different colour, the report cannot be marked and

you will forfeit the marks.

6.1 Academic considerations

These are some of the key academic considerations that will be taken into account

when marking your final report.

Relevance of context and themes

Marketing issues emanating from Midway Report external and internal

analyses

Relevance of models to themes

Choice of models – link to themes

Quality not quantity – choice of suitable model or models per area that

really helps them with audit, instead of dumping any model that seems

remotely connected.

Use of the models to conduct a strategic audit

How effectively the models were used

Critical reflective discussion

Not discussing the theory or the models, but applying them

Recommendations practical, relevant and appropriate


6.2 TECHNICAL considerations

Please upload your Final Report onto the eLearn website.

These are the technical considerations that will be taken into account when marking

your final report.(see section 5 for details on technical issues when compiling the

final report)

Language

Style of writing (critical reflective)

Structure of the dissertation (e.g. title page, contents page, numbering, etc.)

Typing/spelling errors

Reference list

6.3 Mark allocation

Introduction /context (1 page max) 15%

Strategic audit (10-12 pages max) 60%

Recommendations (1 page max) 10%

Referencing in text and reference list 5%

Structure, language and spelling. overall quality 10%

Total 100%

Note:

No marks are allocated for material in the addendums – make sure important

issues and models are in the main document.

Keep to the page limits set out above

This Final report contributes 60% towards the final mark (Midway Report - 40%)

Please contact the practicum coordinator if you have any questions:


Rabia Carvalho

011 628 2064

[email protected]

7. References

Ansoff, H I.,1965. Corporate Strategy, New York: McGraw Hill; (1986) London

Bryce, Dyer and Hatch, 2011. Competing Against Free. Harvard Business Review,

June 2011.

Collins Concise Dictionary, 2001. 21st Century Edition. HarperCollins Publishers,

Glasgow.

Literacyla, 2012. Quotes [online] Available at < http://www.literacyla.org/quotes.htm>

Accessed on 10 December 2012.

McCarthy E.J, 1975. Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach. Fifth edition, Richard

D. Irwin, Inc.

Porter M.E., 2008 The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy, Harvard

Business Review. January 2008, p.86-104

The Free Dictionary 2013a. Inductive reasoning [online]. Available at

<http://www.thefreedictionary.com/inductive+reasoning > Accessed on 10

February 2013.

The Free Dictionary 2013b. Deductive reasoning [online]. Available at<

<http://www.thefreedictionary.com/deductive+reasoning> Accessed on 10

February 2013.

Wikipedia, 2013. Benchmarking [online]. Available at

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmarking. Accessed on 10 February 2013.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.literacyla.org/quotes.htm

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/inductive+reasoning

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/deductive+reasoning

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmarking

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