Marketing mix includes the “set of marketing tools that a firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target segment”. Marketing mix refers to activities that a firm carries out to effectively promote its products/services. This is done by adjusting the four Ps of the marketing mix: Product or service, Price, Placement, and Promotion. […]
Organisation Structures for Effective Management: Books & Journals
Essential Reading Bhattacharyya, D. K. (2009) Organisational Systems, Design, Structure and Management, 1st ed), Himalaya, Mumbai. Buchanan, D. A. & Huczynski, A.A. (2013) Organisational Behaviour: An Introductory Text (8th ed), Prentice Hall, Hemel Hempstead. Handy, C. (1993) Understanding Organisations, (4th ed) Penguin, London. Recommended Reading Boddy, D. (2011) Management: An Introduction. (5th.ed), Prentice Hall, Hemel […]
What is Strategy?
Strategy involves setting goals, determining the best course of actions and allocating resources to achieve those goals. Here’s an introduction to Strategy and Strategising. Strategy is a set of processes and activities which involves: assessing environmental changes to identify opportunities and threats, assessing internal strengths and weaknesses and ability to respond to environmental change, creation […]
AIDA model explained
AIDA (acronym for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action) is an advertising effect model that identifies the various stages in a customer’s journey. It is a popular marketing model, especially for the digital medium. One of the best known classic marketing models, AIDA traces journey of a customer through Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action. Stages of […]
Country Risk Analysis
Doing business or investing in foreign markets, especially emerging countries, carry a certain element of risk. The risks could be from the government that may decide to make changes to the country’s foreign investment rules, or it could be a small buyer deciding to cancel a contract due to some economic concerns. Country risk refers […]
Organisational Behaviour: Books, Journals and Resources
Organisational Behaviour: Books, Journals and Resources Best Organisational Behaviour Books Bhattacharyya, D. K. (2009) Organisational Systems, Design, Structure and Management, 1st ed), Himalaya, Mumbai. Buchanan, D. A. & Huczynski, A.A. (2013) Organisational Behaviour: An Introductory Text (8th ed), Prentice Hall, Hemel Hempstead. Handy, C. (1993) Understanding Organisations, (4th ed) Penguin, London. Boddy, D. (2011) Management: […]
Types of organizations
Organizations consist of several factors such as functions, people, resources, etc. Differing organisational goals and objectives implies a varying degree of importance on each of these factors, that eventually give rise to different types and structures of organizations. Daft, Murphy and Willmott (2010) identify and discuss the differences between small and large organizations and for-profit […]
Marketing: Books, Journals and Resources
Best Marketing and Marketing Planning Books, Journals and Resources Best Marketing Books Here are the best books on marketing. Baines, P., Fill, C. and Rosengren, S., 2017. Marketing. Oxford University Press. Baran, Roger J., and Robert J. Galka. (2013) CRM : The Foundation of Contemporary Marketing Strategy, Taylor & Francis Group, 2013. Brassington F. Essentials […]
Operations: Books, Journals and Resources
Best Operations Books, Journals and Resources. Operations: Best Books Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A. and Johnston, R. (2016), Operations Management, 7th Edition Operations: Journals Abdallah, A.B., Dahiyat, S.E. and Matsui, Y., (2019). Lean management and innovation performance: Evidence from international manufacturing companies. Management Research Review. . Arlbjørn, J.S., Freytag, P.V. and De Haas, H., (2011). Service […]
STRATEGY Books, Journals & Resources
STRATEGY Books, Journals & Resources. Strategy Books Assen, M.V; Berg, G.V.D and Pietersma, P (2009). Key Management Models. 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. p1-77. EXPLORING CORPORATE STRATEGY (J JOHNSON, G, SCHOLES, K, & WHITTINGTON, R.) Evans, V (2014). Strategy Tools. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. p23-67. Grant, R.M (2016). Contemporary Strategy Analysis . 9th ed. […]
Theory of the Firm
The theory of the firm, a microeconomic concept (in neoclassical economics), states that a company’s main goal should be to maximize profits, to create as big a gap between revenue and costs as possible by allocating resources to maximize net profits. The theory of the firm influences decision-making in several business areas, including resource allocation, […]
General Measure of Enterprise Tendency (GET) test
The General measure of Enterprising Tendency test (GET2) is a measure of enterprising tendency; developed for educational use and self assessment. The General Enterprise Tendency (GET) test measures five entrepreneurial attributes such as: Need for achievement Need for autonomy Creativity Risk taking Internal locus of control Website: http://www.get2test.net Problems with psychological testing of entrepreneurs include the varying […]
PESTLE / PESTEL Analysis: Tool to assess the Macro-Environment
PESTLE analysis consists of components that influence the business environment and each letter in the acronym denotes a set of factors that directly or indirectly affect every industry. The Pestle analysis allows marketers to analyse the major environmental factors and examine the effect of these factors on marketing planning and implementation. What is PESTLE / […]
3 Levels of Strategy
A strategy refers to the set of actions that managers in a company take to increase their company’s performance. The strategy formulation task is the task of selecting strategies, whereas strategy implementation is the task of putting strategies into action. Strategies can be divided into various categories such as Corporate-level strategies, Global strategies, business-level strategies […]
Resource Based View (RBV)
The resource-based view (RBV) of strategy asserts that the competitive advantage & superior performance of an organisation are explained by the distinctiveness of its capabilities. It is sometimes also called the ‘capabilities view’. Proponents of RBV (such as Birger Wernerfel, Prahalad and Hamel, Barney) suggested that a firm should look within the firm to find […]
Personal Selling: Tool of the Communication Mix
Personal Selling: Tool of the Communication Mix Personal selling concerns interpersonal communication and the role is largely one of representation. Personal selling is a highly potent form of communication simply because messages can be adapted to meet the requirements of both parties, who meet face-to-face, as the communication develops. Objections can be overcome, information provided […]
Direct Marketing
The key role of direct marketing is to reach target audiences with personalized and customized messages that aim to provoke a change in the audience’s behaviour. A secondary role of direct marketing is to collect customer information, in order to feed future strategies and campaigns. In order to reach audiences with call-to-action messages, direct marketing […]
Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP)
STP (acronym for Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning) is a three-step framework in marketing that enables firms to develop specific, actionable, and effective marketing strategies . Using the STP approach, marketers first identify distinct customer segments based on similar needs and benefits. Once the various segments are identified, specific segment/s are selected based on their attractiveness based […]
Ethical Theories: Overview
What is Ethics? Moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity. The branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles. More definitions by Crane and Matten (2010, p.8). “Morality is concerned with the norms, values and beliefs embedded in social processes which define right and wrong for an individual or […]
Kant’s Ethical Theory: Kantian Ethics, Categorical Imperatives, Morality
German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) is one of the most important philosophers although he is not very easy to understand. Kant was not a consequentialist, but attempted to base his moral theory on human reason rather than on feeling, as the utilitarians do. Kant starts off with the basic question, “What is a moral belief?” […]
What is segmentation in marketing?
Market segmentation refers to the division of a market into different groups of customers with distinctly similar needs and product/service requirements. The variables used for segmentation include geographic, demographic, behavioural and psychographics. Let’s understand more about Market segmentation using definitions, explanations, and examples. Related: STP process in Marketing What is Market Segmentation? Market segmentation is […]
Market Targeting Process in Marketing
Target marketing involves selecting the appropriate target market/s from the entire market and effectively marketing to them. It is a common practice in marketing to divide the market into various smaller homogeneous segments and then target the more lucrative ones which are likely to be receptive to the products in order to generate more sales. […]
What is Positioning in Marketing?
In Marketing, Positioning is a concept that outlines how a business should market its products/services to customers. In positioning, the marketing team creates an image for the product, for its intended audience. The positioning process Positioning is the act of designing the company’s offering and image so that they occupy a meaningful and distinct competitive […]
Swimming with the Sharks by Joris Luyendijk: Book Review
In his book ‘Swimming with the Sharks’, the author Joris Luyendijk tries to find out what were the real reasons for the 2008 crash, and if sufficient measures have been taken post the crisis to prevent such instances from happening again. When Luyendijk starts on this assignment, the first thing he notices is that the […]
Michael Lewis Liar’s Poker (Book Review)
Michael Lewis Liar’s Poker (2006 [1989]) London: Hodder “Fuckspeak” in Finance: A Sociological and Gender Retrospective (Book Review) ‘”The fuckin’ frogs are getting their faces ripped off,” said the Pirhana, meaning the French [government] were losing a lot of money’ on a bond issue (p82). The “Pirhana” was one of the senior traders who came […]
TOWS Matrix
The TOWS Matrix is a framework that enables businesses to come up with business strategies based on its SWOT analysis, by connecting the internal as well as the external factors (Weihrich, 1982). Considering the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities (SWOT) and these in mind, further strategies are formulated. Advantages of Using the TOWS Matrix A TOWS MATRIX […]
What is Organisational Lifecycle?
Every organization goes through different phases; an organizational life cycle divided into the following phases: Existence / Start-up (or Birth): Early days of the company. Survival: Organizations try to expand their business (try to achieve growth) Maturity phase: Company reaches the peak from where it becomes difficult to grow further. Renewal Phase: Companies may reinvent […]
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)
Mergers and Acquisitions An acquisition is when you buy another business and end up controlling it. A merger is when you integrate your business with another and share control of the combined businesses with the other owner(s). Mergers and Acquisitions are often treated together in the literature, legally they are transactions of a different kind. […]
Finance and Accounting for Managers
Finance and Accounting for Managers. Managers need to have enough information about finance/accounting that will help them make good decisions based on financial data, and enable them to evaluate company performance. Here, we will understand the nature and importance of Finance and Accounting, understand the difference between Financial and Management Accounting, understand the limitations of […]
Corruption Theories
Characteristics of Corruption: Occurs and takes on various forms and functions in different contexts. Petty vs Grand Corruption Collusive vs Extortive “Corruption is indeed one of the greatest evils of our time. Corruption rewards those who do not play by the rules and also creates a system of distortion and diversion thereby destroying all efforts […]
Bottom of Pyramid (BOP) Markets & doing Business in these Markets
In economics, the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) refers to the poorest group of people in the world, which is also the largest as it comprises of about two-thirds of the global population. These people are often not targeted by the mainstream businesses, which means they don’t get access to products and services that others […]