Feedback on Business Report (1 Viewer)

[terminator69]

My report writing skills are pretty poor (not really sure what to include besides situational analysis) so I'm just looking for some feedback on my report from q.26 of 2004 paper as my teacher is too lazy to mark it. Thanks.

You have been engaged as a consultant by the managing director of Business Basic Phone
Company to prepare a report for the Board.
In your report: propose a marketing strategy that would enable the business to expand its
market share; explain the impact of this new strategy on effective employment relations; and
recommend strategies for managing this change effectively.

Business Report – Business Basic Phone Company​

Situational Analysis​

Business Basic Phone Company is a retailer selling mobile phones to a business-related target market. They own several physical premises in shopping centres and have regular opening hours of 9am to 5pm. Despite BBPC owning multiple outlets, it is still likely they are a small business with less than 20 staff (the exact number was not stated). They are also in the tertiary sector because they provide products and services in a retail fashion. They have been operating for years and already have an established product and target market. This would place them at the maturity stage in the business life cycle, however, this acknowledgement of a limited target market would suggest they are entering post maturity and developing a new product range is a method for the business to survive at such a stage.

SWOT​

Strengths: The company has an established premises located inside shopping centres and are employing full time staff. It has a predetermined target market and a suitable product range to reflect the customers they are aiming to attract. This gives the business stability and a scaffold to run a successful business.
Weaknesses: Due to their niche being mobile phone retailing, BBPC have to rely on major deals with larger businesses to maintain a comfortable cash flow.
Opportunities: To combat a changing market taste they have the ability to expand their product range to target a mass market of consumers looking for different types of phone products and services. Investigating the medium they use to conduct business and seeking out unique alternatives (such as internet based) means they could expand as well as increase turn over.
Threats: They face an increasing competition in the mobile phone market as well as a changing consumer taste. Changing retail methods and expectations for mobile phone products and services by consumers means the business will have to assess their current strategies or business plan to accommodate the change in market. A failure to manage such things would trigger a decline in profitability and bring on liquidity issues.

Strategies​

Product: BBPC currently offer a limited product range due to their niche market. They should consider adapting to consumer tastes and a mass market to give them the opportunity to sell a broader range of physical headsets, differing payment plans and payment options as well as offering extended warranty and superior customer service.
Price: If the business is failing to attract enough customers, charging a premium price for quality products and support may not be the most appropriate approach to maximise turnover. Modifying the balance between net profit and support provided may lead to discovery of a solution that consumers will be more content with.
Place: Their current premises located in shopping centres may not be ideal for a business audience. If they insist on remaining with a niche market, alternative locations may be considered. As well as location, the medium used (shop front) could be alternated to include mobile sellers and/or accommodating a website. An internet presence is a cost effective tactic to efficiently introduce customers onto new products or services. This is because they can have easy access to pros and cons and product details, which makes it more efficient for the customer than in-store.
Promotion: techniques such as advertising, competitions or sales advertising (discounts etc) would be great avenues to explore to provoke the generation of new customers. Despite this, the financial boundaries should be considered because promotion can be very expensive. It is easy to spend a lot more capital than expected and there is no guarantee it will achieve the expected outcomes.

Employment Relations Impact​

A new strategy such as a change to the product, price, place or promotion should be considered first and weighed up with the possible effect on employment relations before it is executed. Employment relations refer to the relationship between employer and employee. It involves issues such as equal opportunity, training and relationships in the workplace. Strategies impacting on the place may impose transport difficulties and may even create redundancies if they were to move online. People are generally resistant to change and inertia can drive them into becoming uncomfortable when new strategies are implemented. The freeze-unfreeze model would assist in giving employees more structured assistance and guidelines for the transition.

Executive Summary​

Business Basic Phone Company is a mobile phone retailer that has potential to witness declining growth and profits in the near future due to changes in the environment and external factors such as competition and changing consumer taste. A report has been requested to seek advice so the business can remain competitive.
It is recommended that the business evaluate their current use of the 4 Ps and modify them to extents that would allow the business to become more competitive and still retain suitable profits. They could consider aiming towards a mass market, introducing new and cheaper products and services, changing their medium of delivery from a shopfront to an internet website or mobile seller and adapting adequate promotion to increase cash flow and market share.

 

[InBetweenDreams]

I would structure the question like this, (just follow the question layout and your guaranteed a good mark):

1) Executive Summary
2) Market strategies- so suggest 2-3 marketing strategies (but dont spend to long on this) that can help the business expand its market share efficiently and effectively
3) Impact that these strategies might have on employment relations e.g. how the marketing strategies you suggested might impact employees and how you may rectify these issues
4) Recommend how to manage the change so again suggest 3-4 recommendations and how these will be implemented

your swot analysis isn’t too bad its just that it doesn’t directly engage with the question you need to make sure it flows like a business report should, so you can use swot analysis etc but make sure they are only part of the report and when you use them integrate them into the report

this is from the marking guidlines

(relate cause and effect in relation to the impact of a marketing
strategy on effective employment relations e.g​

redundancies, need to retrain staff or make changes in work practice; and effects such as recruitment of
suitable staff, training and development or flexible working conditions.)

(Excellent responses provided detailed reasons in favour of strategies for managing the change
effectively. These may have included identifying the need for change, setting achievable goals, creating
a culture of change and use of change models.)​

 

[terminator69]

When you say 2-3 market strategies do you mean 2-3 different recommendations for each P?