Factors To Consider In Assessing Marketing Opportunity, SMART Objectives, Risk Management, E-Commerce Best Practice Model, Labor Relations, And Packaging

The Five Factors to Consider in Assessing Marketing Opportunity

The five factors which business organisations need to consider while assessing marketing opportunity for feasibility are political factors, socio-economic factors, legal factors, technological factors and environmental factors. The political factors deal with the type government and the bilateral relationship of the government which the business organisations can use to enter host markets.

The socio-economic factors bring into light aspects like foreign currency exchange rates and GDP of the home country as well as host countries. The legal factors take into account the aspects like professional taxes and other laws which they have to comply in the home as well as host countries. Similarly, the environmental factors come into play while implementation of environmental policies, waste disposal and water usage. This aspect is intricately related to the technological and legal factors because both the factors come into play while disposing of wastes.

SMART Objectives – SMART objectives is used to aid in the management of goal setting in a formal work environment (Wolf and Akkaraju 2014). With the application of the various aspects under consideration, the concerned individual will be able to work efficiently. First is the element of specific. The individual should try to achieve a goal which is simple and manageable and can be executed within the concerned time frame. Second is the element of measurable. This means that the work should be motivating to the individual and meaningful. Third is achievable. The target should be simple enough that it can be achieved. Fourth is the element of relevance. The work should be realistic in nature and should be reasonable. Finally is the element of time. This is the most important element as the work should be completed within the given time frame.

The three examples of measurable objectives related to international objectives are:

Profit:

Business organisations can measure the achievement of of profit, one of their important objectives by comparing the profits for the preceding years. An increase in revenue would be recorded in the profit and loss account.

Customer base:

The customer base of a firm is reflected in the increase or decrease in sales turnover. An increase in sales would reflect increase in customers’ base and vice versa.

Share index:

Share index shows that capital generation power of the company in the securities market and is directly associated to revenue generation. An increase in share prices of companies show that the company in question is able to pay higher returns to shareholders owing to increasing revenue generation. The increase in share capital appears in the balance sheet or as an annexure to it.

SMART Objectives

. Achieving targets in the international market framework is not easy, there are many criteria which have to be satisfied in order to achieve success in the international economic market. For estimating such success, it is necessary to be the position of the competitors in the same sphere and also, the concerned organization should see what are the changes in the revenue earned from the previous financial year.

. Strategic objectives help an organization to formulate in a formal way a statement which outlines the various objectives which needs to be achieved. This is mainly done in order to achieve a particular strategy. For this purpose, the organization can use the Balances Scorecard Methodology where a strategy map is used. This helps in showing the continuous progress of the project. A strategic objective also has an accompanying Key Performance Indicators. The value of this is that it measures objectively the performance of the concerned objective. This further helps the organization to make effective decisions.

In order to be a good and efficient organization, it is necessary that there should be a risk management strategy. This helps the organization to take necessary actions while dealing with the clients (Hopkin 2018). For the smooth execution of the project, there are several components which needs to be considered. First, is the component of definition. The risks should be clearly compartmentalized in accordance of their risk factor so that necessary steps can be taken to deal with it efficiently. Second is the component of assumption. The various milestones in the project should be assumed completely and accurately in order to realize what are the requirements of the project and how the risk can be handled properly.

Third is the component of risk breakdown structure. The risk should be categorized in order to see which part requires more attention. Fourth is the component of probability impact matrix. This component gives an analysis of the probability and the structure of impact used by the register which takes note of the risk. Fifth is the component of confidence estimates. This helps to measure what are potential deviation of the project under study. Last is the component of Risk Register. This register takes a note of the various risks faced by the project. This in turn helps the project management to formulate a plan which will help them to tackle the risks effectively.

. Australia has framed an e-commerce model which is termed as Australian E-Commerce Best Practice Model. This Model provides a guideline to the various consumers to better express their grievances and feedback which will aid in the consumer protection in e-commerce. The Model also provides a formulated formal code of conduct which can be followed voluntarily by the various industries and individual while dealing with their customers in the online platform. It is also the legal requirement of the country in general.

Risk Management

The Consumer Protection Framework in Electronic Commerce requires the companies to use ethical means to market their products on the ecommerce portals. The laws debars companies from furnishing false statements about products to customers.

The Government of Australia has formulated several important guidelines for protecting the consumers in the sphere of electronic consumption. The consumption of electronic products is increasing at a rapid pace and the better protection of the electronic commerce will benefit the progress of many business and consumers (Renz 2016). The main purpose of the Australian Guidelines for electronic Commerce is to boost the confidence of both the businesses and the consumers in their dealing with each other when they are involved in the electronic commerce of business to consumer framework.

1. Environmental Standards – The protection of the environment is the highest priority of the world today. Various policies have been formed by the States of the world to conserve and protect the environment. The Government of Australia has also formulated several policies to take care of the environment such as The Environment Conservation and Biodiversity Act 1999 (Waterton and Saul 2018). This Act is applicable on the individuals and businesses both. All of the entities in Australia has to take measures to ensure that the biodiversity in Australia is maintained and for this purpose, the reduction of carbon footprint is very essential. The Act helps the people to conserve the environment is a formally guided manner (Perera 2014).

Human Rights – Human rights are the basic requirements of any individuals for their dignified standard of living. Thus, the protection of the human rights is essential for the living beings (Levin 2017). The various agencies of the world such as the United Nations has taken stringent measures in order to ensure that the right to equality and right to freedom of the people is maintained such as, formulating policies against discrimination of people based on their genders. The Government of Australia has formulated a policy which ensures that a minimum wage is paid to the workers which will help the people to live a dignified standard of living.

Labor Relations – Labor relations is very important for the smooth functioning of an organization. It is the employers who help in the setting up of the organization, however, it is the employees who are essential for the production in the organization. The main intention of every organization is the generation of higher revenues, which is possible only when the productivity level increases. Thus, the employers must ensure that their employees do not have any kind of dissatisfaction with them in the organization. As a result, maintaining a healthy labor relation where the employees are kept satisfies and happy.is very essential in any organization.

Packaging – The products and services sold by the organizations needs careful packaging with attention and care. While buying a product from the market, the common masses will first look at the product. The more appealing the product is to a person, the more chances there is to buy the product. Thus, packaging plays a very important part in the marketing of a product. Packaging is also considered as a marketing strategy of an organization when looked at it from this point of view. Careful packing of the product will aid in the long lasting impact of the product, protect it from any harm and damage and also, attract the people to buy the product.

The Australian E-Commerce Best Practice Model

Risk Management – Every organization has to execute a number of projects in an efficient and effective way. Moreover, the work has to be done in a time bound manner. Thus, there is a pressure on the project managers to complete the projects in a hurry. This might lead to committing of several important mistakes. This, there is a necessity among the various organizations to formulate a risk management plan which will help to compartmentalize the risks in a formal manner. The management then can take decisions of how to deal with the risks of the risks in a simple way. Risk management is thus an important component of any organization (Tham, Campbell and Boese 2016).

1. Anti-discrimination Legislation – The Government of Australia has instituted a strong anti-discrimination legislation which prevents the discrimination among human beings on the basis of gender, race, class and religion and various other aspects which can make a particular group of people feel humiliated in respect of another (Cotter 2016). For this purpose, the Age Discrimination Act was instituted in the year 2004 which states that old people should be allowed to work if they are efficient in their working capability. The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 prevents the organizations from discriminating against people on the basis of any ground. The Racial Discrimination Act of 1975 prevents the organizations to make biases against individuals belonging to different races (Sappideen, O’Grady and Riley 2016). Thus, there is an urgent need in the society to treat people equally based on their working capability.
2. Consumer Laws – In the present market structure, it is the consumers who have all the power. They are the ones who dictate what will a firm produce (Micklitz et al. 2015). Thus, there is a need to protect the consumers and their wants and desires. For this purpose, the Government of Australia institutes a consumer Protection law known as the Competition and Consumer Act of 2010. The Act aims to protect the consumers from being charged arbitrary prices and also seeks to ensure that quality products and services are provided to them (Howells and Ramsay 2018).
3. Extra-territoriality provisions of the Trade Practices Act – The age of globalization has brought in new challenges to the native market as it faces a lot of competition from the firms originating from the outside markets who sell their products and services a t a lower price in the native market. In order to protect the Australian market and its native organizations, The Government of Australia has formulated the Competition and Consumer Act of 2010. This Act enforces the Extra-territoriality provisions of the Trade Practices Act by formulating certain anti-trade competition against the outside firms operating in Australia.
4. Foreign Investment Limits – The Government of Australia has imposed certain regulations on the issue of foreign investment by the way of the Corporations Act 2001 and the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975. According to this, no foreign investor can invest more than twenty percent in an Australia firm without taking an approval from Treasurer of Australia’s Commonwealth Government and the Foreign Investment Review Board.
5. Labor Laws – The protection of the laborers working in any organization should be the priority of the managers of the concerned organization as it is due to the work of the laborers that the productivity level of the organization increases (Gonzales et al. 2015). Australia has several important labor laws such as the employment and Labor Law of 2018. This Law states the various conditions of employment, the stringent actions which can be taken by the law in the case of discrimination against the workers and so on.
6. Legal aspects of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements – Australia has several important free trade agreements with many countries of the world. The bilateral trade agreements that Australia has signed with a few countries are legally binding on both the countries to ensure that quality product and services is provided to the people to both the countries. In the context of multilateral trade, Australia is one of significant members of the World Trade Organization. In this platform, Australia has signed many important trading agreements with a number of countries and they are legally binding on both the parties.
7. Privacy Laws – The Government of Australia formulated Privacy laws way back in 1988 to protect the important data and information of the people (O’Rourke and Antioch 2016). The Privacy Act of Australia contains thirteen important Australian Privacy Principles which guidelines the access to the information of a concerned individual (Greenleaf 2014).
8. Taxation Law – The taxation laws in Australia is very effective and stringent. Taxes are collected from the public at both the State and at the Federal Level (McLaren 2015). However, the burden of taxes is not so high which will have a negative consequence on the public. They do not feel burdened by the taxes which are paid to the Government of Australia and to their respective State Governments.
9. World Trade Organization Dispute Resolution System – The World Trade Organization is a platform which looks after the freedom of trade existing between a host of countries (Matsushita et al. 2015). This often leads to many conflicts amongst the nations of the world which needs to be resolves in a civilized manner. Thus, a dispute resolution system was instituted in the WTO which helps to solve the disputes related to trade.

Marketing approach	Advantages	Disadvantages
Global	1. Sets a standard marketing approach to be followed in all the subsidiaries. 2. Ensues better control over ethics and performance standards. 3. Easier control over fund management earned from and spent towards the marketing campaign.	1. The global marketing strategies may not be aligned to the market conditions of the host countries. 2. The marketing strategies formed may be not be appropriate for the host market conditions since the managers at the headquarters may not be familiar with the local market conditions.
Customised	1 Adapted to the individual market conditions and thus yield better results. 2. Can be adapted in response to market changes. 3. Yields higher profits. 4. Leads to empowerment of the subsidiaries, thus boosting the power of the apex management as a whole.	1. The apex leaders may view this as weakening of the apex management control over the company. 2. The increase in power may lead to increase in corruption. 3. Forming of a central cum subsidiary strategy would be compatible with global companies but does not suit small and medium scale companies since the process is extremely expensive.
Online	1. Access to a global consumer base. 2. Simultaneous promotion and receiving order for sale is possible without any extra staff requirement. 3. Customer base and sale of goods not limited to local customer base. 4. Generates high revenue	1. Exposes firm to data theft. 2. Expensive since payment gateway and online advertisement attract immense costs. 3. Not appropriate for companies with minimum resources.
Product or promotion adaptation	1. More appropriate to market needs. 2. Generates higher revenue.	1. Requires use of TQM and hence expensive. 2. Continuous market research is am expensive process
Product or promotion standardisation	1. More appropriate to market needs. 2. Generates higher revenue.	1. Requires use of TQM and hence expensive. 2. Continuous market research is am expensive process
Segmentation by criteria	1. More appropriate to market needs. 2. Generates higher revenue.	1. Requires use of TQM and hence expensive. 2. Continuous market research is am expensive process

The main marketing objectives which business organisations seek to achieve are high profits and higher brand equity of the brands they own. The third marketing objective can be considered as the outcome of these two objectives which is gaining higher market position. The fourth marketing obtain is expansion of product line by acquisition of new firm owning top assets.

The marketing approach to be adopted to achieve these objectives would be a multichannel marketing approach. The approach would enable obtaining large scale market coverage which in turn would lead to generation of immense revenue. This is because access to larger number of consumers increase of scope of sales generation compared to single or multichannel promotion.

The marketing approach chosen namely, omni-channel approach meet marketing objectives in several ways. First, it enables business organisations to align all the channels of promotion right from print media promotion to digital promotion towards creating immense demand and gaining feedback about the brands in target international markets. Secondly, this is followed by continuous sale of products and gaining feedback from consumers. Thirdly, the business organisations then bring about innovations according to customer expectations, thus creating more customer centric products. Thus, in other words the entire manufacturing process is driven by consumer needs of each target international using the omni-channel approach.

The marketing objectives are well aligned with consumer preferences using omni-channel marketing. The customers get opportunities to give feedback about their purchase as well consumption experiences of products. This in turn forms the basis of the product strategy which results in production of products in alignment with the consumer needs. Thus, it can be implied from the discussion that marketing objectives of multinational companies are in compliance with the customer preferences.

Human Rights

The term business culture can be defined as the method which is used to carry on business in organisations. The term embodies the mission, vision and the values which are enshrined within the management of the company.

Export operations:

Note: the red circles represent countries.

Joint venture:

The operational marketing structure of joint venture are dependent on the scale of the operations. The multinational companies enter into joint venture with resident companies to market their products. The marketing is composed mainly of the core brands of the bigger company.

Licensing:

The licensing is also follows same format as joint venture to market their goods.

Multinational organisations:

Multinational organisations have multi-layered marketing functions which are aligned to their organisational hierarchy. The apex management makes the marketing strategies which form an important part of the business strategies of the firm. While the marketing management responsibilities are in the hands of the apex management in the home country, the same rests with the market specific subsidiaries in the host markets.

Online business operations:

The marketing infrastructure of online business operations are dependent on the ecommerce portals. The marketing structure of these organisations have payment gateways attached to them.

Overseas branch:

The marketing operations of the overseas branches are taken care of by the apex management and the resident overseas subsidiary.

Strategic alliance:

The strategic alliance align their marketing with their business needs,

Subsidiary company:

The subsidiary companies commence their marketing infrastructure according to the directions of the apex management.

Answer 9(b)

Operational marketing structure	Strengths	Weaknesses
Export operations	Financial resources and manpower	Adds to the expenditure of the company
Global organisations	Financial resources and manpower	Adds to the expenditure of the company
Joint venture	Financial resources and manpower	Adds to the expenditure of the company
Licensing	Financial resources and manpower	Adds to the expenditure of the company
Multinational organisations	Financial resources and manpower	Adds to the expenditure of the company
Online business operations	Financial resources and manpower	Adds to the expenditure of the company
Overseas	Financial resources and manpower	Adds to the expenditure of the company
Strategic alliance	Financial resources and manpower	Adds to the expenditure of the company
Subsidiary company	Financial resources and manpower	Adds to the expenditure of the company

Stakeholders’ consideration as well as business returns should be considered while choosing operations.The international marketing objectives would be communicated using teleconference method. This is because the method enables the managers to conduct virtual face to face conferences.

Role	Responsibilities
Product strategy	Product managers
Pricing	Marketing and finance departments
Place	Marketing and logistics departments
Person	HR managers
Promotion	Marketing department

The five elements interact with one another by affecting one another.The marketing manager should communicate with the consumers on regular basis to ensure management of marketing effort to the greatest potential of the company.Some examples of sales and promotional activities are advertisement, digital advertisement, free samples and discounts.

Integrated marketing refer to the integration of all the marketing channels to ensure gaining of customer attention to create huge demand and enjoy highest possible sales of products.The entire marketing activities would be controlled by the apex management of the company.

The three marketing metrics are:

Brand awareness: Awareness among customers about brands.

Customer engagement: Engaging customers

Customer retention: Retention of customers.

These marketing activities can be revived by comparing profits and ROI on sales.Performance map is the process of measuring performance of employees using graphs and tables.Market phenomenon are the market changes and their analysis can be approached by making appropriate strategies.

Labor Relations

The chosen country would be the United Kingdom and the consumer needs of the different consumer segment is different. For example, the upper class consumer prefer premium lifestyle goods.

The three international markets are France, Germany and the UK. The cross cultural communication would be digital and negotiation should be ethical.

Procter & Gamble is the world’s leading FMCG Company based in the United States of America. The business of the company spreads over the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. The company owns brands like Tide, Gillette and Olay.

The international marketing strategy of P&G consist of an omnichannel marketing approach. The objective of the company is to gain direct access to its global consumer base and build a strong relationship with end customers. The omnichannel approach of P&G consist of a combination of digital, print and audiovisual media.The operating structure of P&G consists of finance, marketing, technology, legal and HR. The apex management forms the strategy which are then communicated to the branch offices.

The international marketing performance is very high. P&G holds the top position in the FMCG market all-round the globe.P&G can improve its marketing performance by increasing its social media presence and strengthening its presence in Africa.

References:

Cotter, A.M.M., 2016. Culture clash: an international legal perspective on ethnic discrimination. Routledge.

Gonzales, M.C., Jain-Chandra, S., Kochhar, M.K. and Newiak, M.M., 2015. Fair Play:: More Equal Laws Boost Female Labor Force Participation. International Monetary Fund.

Greenleaf, G., 2014. Sheherezade and the 101 data privacy laws: Origins, significance and global trajectories. JL Inf. & Sci., 23, p.4.

Hopkin, P., 2018. Fundamentals of risk management: understanding, evaluating and implementing effective risk management. Kogan Page Publishers.

Howells, G. and Ramsay, I. eds., 2018. Handbook of research on international consumer law. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Levin, A., 2017. Bills of rights: Changing the human wrongs culture in Australia. LSJ: Law Society of NSW Journal, (38), p.42.

Matsushita, M., Schoenbaum, T.J., Mavroidis, P.C. and Hahn, M., 2015. The World Trade Organization: law, practice, and policy. Oxford University Press.

McLaren, J., 2015. The Taxation of Foreign Investment in Australia by Sovereign Wealth Funds: Why Has Australia Not Passed Laws Enshrining the Doctrine of Sovereign Immunity. J. Austl. Tax’n, 17, p.53.

Micklitz, H.W., Howells, G., Marques, C.L. and Naude, T., 2018. Dissemination of Consumer Law and Policy in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Australia. Journal of Consumer Policy, 41(4), pp.303-307.

O’Rourke, A. and Antioch, S.K., 2016. Workplace bullying laws in Australia: Placebo or panacea?. Common Law World Review, 45(1), pp.3-26.

Perera, L.C.R., 2014. A processual theory of green identity formation: the case of young environmentalists in Australia. International journal of consumer studies, 38(3), pp.289-296.

Renz, D.O., 2016. The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management. John Wiley & Sons.

Sappideen, C., O’Grady, P. and Riley, J., 2016. Macken’s Law of Employment.

Tham, J.C., Campbell, I. and Boese, M., 2016. Why is Labour Protection for Temporary Migrant Workers so Fraught? A Perspective from Australia.

Waterton, E. and Saul, H., 2018. Unstable relations: Indigenous people and environmentalism in contemporary Australia.

Wolf, A. and Akkaraju, S., 2014. Teaching Evolution: From SMART Objectives to Threshold Experience. Journal of Effective Teaching, 14(2), pp.35-48.