Assignment 1– Situation Analysis
Situation analysis is yellow and mplan includes yellow plus all areas after the red section
Student: Name, ID,
Tutor:
Tutorial time
Chosen Topic:
introduction- what you will cover in your assignment and how ( no more than ¼ page)- note no marks allocated to this –but this will help you to focus your work
this assignment teaches you how to find information, analyse a market and develop strategies that provides your business with a sustainable competitive advantage. Another important aspect is to learn how to reference properly and how to present your information within the page limit
company overview
Provide relevant background information on the organisation that you have chosen. This may include some details of the organisation’s history, size, locations, number of employees, revenue, profitability and so on. Use the information provided in the brief about the hypothetical or real organisations and your own research – annual reports for example ( where available) and writings in the Press ( local and national)The website provides lots of links to resources ( note no marks – but please highlight how your business is different to everyone else in the market
Industry overview
Provide an overview of the industry:
• Size ( turnover, employees numbers)
• Growth ( per year)
• What are the factors of success in this industry ( access to resources such as capital or labour, understanding of customer needs, technology, patents etc)
Good source is the MINT database, consultancy reports on industries from:
KPMG, PWC, Accenture, Ernst and Young, BCG,Forrester, Gartner, industry associations ( there are 200 lobby groups in Canberra alone- ), Journals and Magazines- eg. RetailWorld, B&T and government department ( productivity commission, departments: of industry, tourism, innovation,) entry: www.australia.gov.au, www.abs.gov.au
Use page 58 of your textbook as a guide.
Uncontrollable environment
Political forces
Examine the relevant political forces affecting or potentially affecting the organisation. Political factors requiring consideration include political stability, government policy, trade agreements, and taxation arrangements. The specific political forces most relevant to your organisation will vary and may be domestic or international in nature, or both.
Economic forces
Describe the macro-environmental economic forces that influence the organisation and the market; for example, interest rates, economic growth, consumer confidence, income levels, savings levels, the availability of credit, unemployment levels and exchange rates.
Sociocultural forces
Describe the sociocultural forces at work in the organisation’s market. Social and cultural forces that may influence the organisation include religion, subcultures, multiculturalism, beliefs, attitudes and population trends. Organisations operating internationally may face quite varied sociocultural forces in each of their country-specific markets.
Technological forces
Consider how technology can be used to offer better value to customers. This should include an examination of how technology may support innovation across various aspects of the marketing mix. Technological change can offer significant opportunities and threats and should be examined based on available information.
Legal forces
Legal and regulatory forces govern many aspects of an organisation’s operations. Legal forces include legislation in place locally such as the Trade Practices Act as well as international conventions and agreements.
Competitor analysis
Examine the micro-environmental competition factors at play, including the type of competition (pure, monopolistic, oligopoly, monopoly, monopsony) and each level of competition (total budget, generic, product, brand). The competitor analysis should be broad so as to capture all relevant competition issues.
Who are your competitors?
• Direct indirect
• How are they different, similar to you ( location, size, ownership, global/local, franchise)
• What is their competitive advantage ( financial, skills, employees)
• What is your competitive advantage ( access to finance, skilled employees, patents, location
• How sustainable is your competitive advantage?
• Market shares
• Growth
• Service quality
• Positioning
• Resources
• Location
• Similar/ different marketing mix
Use a table to show how you are similar/different in your marketing mix( 4ps)
Customer/client analysis
Describe the needs and wants of the organisation’s actual and potential customers/clients. This should include current needs and wants, customer preferences, possible changes to needs and wants and the extent to which the organisation can influence customer preferences.
• How large is the target market ( use ABS figures and other)
• Demographic shifts
• Where are they located ? ( use ABS data)
Discuss the organisation’s target market segments, their characteristics and how the target market and market segments were selected. Be specific; for example, if the target market is urban 25–30 year old single males, then say so — do not say young single men.
You need to quantify your target market – How many 25- 30 year old single males are in Belconnen? (ABS data)
How will you segment the market?
Single target market?
Multiple target market?
Combined
Segmentation basis: demographic, lifestyle, benefits sought?
SWOT analysis
Strengths
The organisation’s favourable internal characteristics. Remember, strengths are factors that the organisation can directly influence. Weaknesses
The organisation’s unfavourable internal characteristics. Remember, weaknesses are factors that the organisation can directly influence.
Opportunities
External factors that are potentially favourable to the organisation. Because opportunities are external to the organisation, they are not directly controllable. Threats
External factors that are potentially unfavourable to the organisation. Like opportunities, threats are not directly controllable by the organisation.
Based on this research you then prepare the
Marketing Mix
Situation analysis plus marketing mix plus implementation details = marketing plan