Unit 41 Contemporary Issues in Marketing Management Assignment CRM

Program	Diploma in Business
Unit Number and Title	Unit 41 Contemporary Issues in Marketing Management CRM
QFC Level	Level 5

Task 1: Introduction

In contemporary issues in marketing management CRM the first section of the report emphasis will be given on the relationship marketing in a contemporary business context. The effective ways to enhance the customer relationship management and the recommendations for improving the customer relationship management will be focus on this section.

Explain the concept of knowledge management and its role in relationship marketing

Knowledge Management is the process where the organization gives emphasis on gathering, collecting and analyzing knowledge in the forms of documents, information, resources etc. in order to crate superior value for the organization (Zheng, Yang and McLean, 2010). With the rapid development of technology, the approaches of the knowledge management have changed. The use of the data mining technique in the form of software is the most effective and comprehensive approach that extract the actual information which is needed for the purpose of the organisation (Liao and Wu, 2014). For example the data mining software can collect the feedbacks of the customers of D &D Enterprises and sort them as per the nature in order to give enhanced value to the customers. The activities and the process involved under the knowledge management can be understood clearly from the below picture.

                                      Figure 1, Knowledge Management Process

Relationship marketing is one of the strategies used by the business organization for the sake of creating long term profitable relationship with the clients or customers (Kumar, 2015). Enhancement of the customer’s loyalty is one of the objectives of the relationship marketing. Knowledge management plays an important role in the relationship marketing by extracting the required information from the clients, market in order to meet the requirements. The satisfied customers of D and D Enterprise will consider the re-purchase and influence others to select D and D Enterprise with the help of relationship marketing. This relationship marketing is only possible when the required information about the client’s taste and preference will match the value offered by D and D Enterprise. The marketing cost is high in both the aspects as it involves the investment on market research and promotions but at the end of the day it is the satisfied customers that can maximise the revenue collection for a long term period (Verhoef, 2013).

1.2 explain the ways that ICT (Information and Communications Technology or Technologies) can support the customer (AC1.2) relationship management process in a particular organisation

ICT is the Information and Communication Technology. The transmission of the information from end to another is the communication process which is supported by the technology in order to reduce the time of transmission and also to get a quick action (Sin et al, 2010). The utilisation of the hardware, software, devices for the communication like e-mail, satellites mobile phones fall under the category of ICT.

There are several ways that ICT support the customer relationship management in the following way:

Direct mail from the D and D enterprise to the registered clients via email is the effective form. The organisation can send their online news letter regarding the fresh arrivals and discounts information to the clients individually with a low cost. The feedback forms can be attached with the website of D and D, where the customers can share their opinions based on the concerned parameters. The responses will be sorted by using the data mining software in order to analyse the issues and the strengths of the business. The use of the central database management in the ICT will help to integrate all the branches of D and D Enterprises at London. It will help to maintain the stock update and support the customers to find their required items. The effective and quality service will increase the satisfaction level of the customers (Al-Debei, and Avison, 2012). 1.3 describe the benefits of customer relationship management in a selected organisation similar to D&D Enterprises

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) involves the process of collecting and analysing the information from the customers or the market in order to establish a long term profitable relationship with the customers of the organisation. The information that is collected is being sorted and analysed in order to address the issues faced by the customers from the products or services of the organisation (Oliveira and Martins, 2015). The objective of the CRM is to attract the new customers and to retain the existing customers that lead towards the accelerated sales growth (Chang, Park and Chaiy, 2014). One of the popular retail organisation is Tesco who are standing on the third position in the world ranking by the terms of profit has adopted the CRM techniques in order to achieve the desired targets.

“Customer Question Time” of Tesco is being conducted twice or thrice a year in all the stores where the customers are allowed to share their opinions regarding their purchase. Based on the responses the top management modify their services to meet the requirements. For example, online store of Tesco is the result of the responses of the customers. In a particular survey, the customers have agreed with the time crunch and busy schedules. Thus the idea to serve the customers effective, Tesco has also added their online services to the customers. Now the online service facilitate the customers during the busy schedules and help to retain Tesco in the first position with 28% of the total market share under the super market chains in UK (Statista, 2016). The cards allotted to the customers on some significant amount of purchase are also the approach under the CRM where the customers feel privileged and consider Tesco for the purchase decision. Thus the improvement of the services can satisfy the customers which will definitely gear up the profit volume for a long time span.

1.4 Make justified recommendations for the improvement in customer relationship management for the selected organisation

Customer Relationship Management is the process which integrates all the data and information in order to bring modification in the product or service offering, activities and functions for attracting the new customers and retaining the existing customers by matching the requirements of the customers (Finnegan and Currie, 2013).

The recommendations for improving the relationship management of Tesco need certain considerations:

The feedback collection should be encouraged widely in order to gather more responses from the customers. The information regarding the feedback collected must be communicated effectively to encourage the participation. The front line employees of Tesco can give relevant information about the buying practices and attitudes of the customers. Thus participation is necessary in order to extract important information from the employeesData warehouse and Data mining software should be modified periodically in order to add more functions which could support the CRM more effectively (Greenberg, 2010). Task 1: Conclusion

In order to conclude the first section has shown the essence of knowledge management in the relationship marketing of the organisation. Apart from that, customer relationship management has been highlighted with the benefits and ways. Lastly improvements have been figured out to enhance the  customer satisfaction .

Task 2

2.1 carry out a stakeholder analysis for a voluntary sector and a public sector organization

Stakeholder can be the individual or a group that is involved in the business affairs of the organisation directly or indirectly. The decision process of the organisation can be influenced by the stakeholder’s presence. Thus it is necessary to conduct stakeholder’s analysis for addressing the interest and power level of the stakeholders associated with the organisation (Freeman, 2010). Stakeholder analysis can be done by conducting stakeholder mapping in the follow way for a voluntary sector and public sector organisation of UK.

                            

                                  Figure 2, Stakeholder Mapping

Parameters	Explanation	Volunteer Organisation (British Red Cross Society) Examples	Public Sector organisation (NHS) Examples
Promoters	It is the dimension in the stakeholder mapping who holds high power and high interest on the affairs of the organisation. Managing them by sharing all the updates of the strategies, development of the action plan is needed (Luoma-aho and Vos, 2014).	The donators, trustees of the organisation	Department of Health London
Latents	These are the groups who have high power but less interest in the affairs of the organisation. Creating superior value for these groups are necessary	Patients	Legal residents of England
Apathetic	They have a low power with low interest. Thus priority will be less towards this groups	Business organisations	Patients admitted in the private nursing homes
Defenders	These groups show high interest level with less power. Thus keeping informed with all the updates are required	Employees	Employees

                                                Table 1, Stakeholder Analysis

2.2 describe the nature of the relationships with customer within two selected not-for-profit organisations

In the context to determine the nature of relationships, the two selected organisations are British Red Cross Society and British Heart Foundation.

• British Red Cross Society: is the division of International Red Cross and they are responsible to provide emergency services to the vulnerable patients by providing ambulance service, first aid service in the events or occasions etc. Based on their activities it can be observed that they are directly approaching the people by providing the service. Face to face interaction can be observed in this organisation where the members used to communicate directly with the patient’s family member or patients. Almost 33, 000 volunteers are working with this society who is directly communicating with the people (British Red Cross, 2012).
• British Heart Foundation: is responsible to raise fund on the diseases like cardiovascular infections, damages etc. The customer base for this organisation is very large as they need to work worldwide to seek for the help and also to provide support to the patients suffering from the infections (BHF, 2016). In these circumstances, both the direct and indirect relationship with the audience can be observed. The direct relationships will be observed for the researchers in the medical field supported by the British Heart Foundation.      

2.3 Compare methods used in marketing within the public, private and voluntary sectors

Marketing is the process that creates supreme value for the customers of the organisation in order to maximise the satisfaction level as well as to extract more profit in return. Marketing programs or the 4P’s are given priority under the marketing activities for attracting the people towards the brand (Wilson and Gilligan, 2012). In the context of private, public and voluntary sector the approaches of the marketing are different from each other which can be compared in the following way:

Marketing elements	Public Sector	Private Sector	Voluntary sector
Product	In case of National Health Service, the product or the service is to conduct immediate treatments for the general public regarding the infectious disease and also design regulation for the improvement of the health care system in England without any profit motive (Kapferer, 2012)	The product for the private sector like mc Donald’s restaurant is to serve quality foods and services to the customers for creating satisfaction and to achieve the desired profit.	It is the sector which focuses to serve the public for enhancing the betterment of the concerned society. The emergency service like ambulance or first aid of the British Red Cross society.
Price	They do not charge any price from the public but they are funded by the taxes of the common public and Department of Health	They charge prices for different items in order to recover the manufacturing cost.	Donations are the ways that are common for this sector.
Place	Anywhere in England	The specific outlets are the distribution points	Emergency service to all the areas in UK
Promotion	Mass media, college visits, conferences are considered as a promotional tools	Advertisements in the newspapers or televisions are observed in order to persuade the customers.	The volunteers of this sector used to aware the public about their services.

                                        Table 2, Comparison table

2.4 Explain the key issues involved in marketing in a selected virtual organization

Virtual organisation is type of the organisations which prefer internet technologies for delivering the product or services to the customers. The customers need to interact with the organisation via internet in the form of e-mail, website, social media etc. The sales force will not persuade the customers by visiting or via distributors rather it is the promotional tools which are responsible to attract the customers towards these virtual brands.

The issues which are involved in marketing activities of a brand like Amazon are as follows:

The sales force of the organisation is the backbone that is responsible for generating the revenue. In case of virtual organisation, the sales force cannot interact face to face with the customers but they can use the online mediums like e-mails, websites for creating interest among the customers (Vakola and Wilson, 2014). Push sales cannot be possible for the virtual organisation with the help of the distributors. Thus pull promotion is the only way to convince and attract the people towards the organisation Amazon. When the organisation like Amazon focuses on the quality of the product then it is difficult to convince the customers without touching the product. Thus confusion is there in the mind of the customers which can be only removed from the word of mouth marketing. Task 3

3.1 describe the use of the extended marketing mix in a selected service sector business

Traditional  marketing mix  considers only 4 P’s of marketing but with the changing taste and preference along with high competition the marketing mix has been extended in to 3 more P’s that are people, process and physical evidence. The utilisation of the extended marketing mix ensures high customer’s satisfaction and differentiation of the product/service of an organisation (Den-Hertog et al, 2015). In order to observe the use of the extended marketing mix, organisation like Mc Donald’s can be selected.

In this section the areas like ethical and social issues of the organisation or industry will be discussed by taking the fashion industry. The unethical and unsocial approaches are considered in order to achieve more profit which will be discussed by highlighting the role of Corporate Social Responsibility. 

                                               Figure 3, Extended Marketing Mix

The elements under the extended marketing mix can be analysed from the following discussion:

• People: The employees of Mc Donald’s are considered to be the people who are responsible to provide quality services to the customers. Adequate training, development programme from Mc Donald’s university, financial and non financial benefits are provided to the employees for increasing their level of competency, skill and motivation in order to give efficient services. Thus it is required to assess their performance level from time to time in order to maximise the productivity of the organisation.
• Process: Process is the ways that the organisation manages its operation. Mc Donald’s is a global organisation having their existence in over 100 nations and a well defined process is needed to maximise the level of output. They manage the operation by inviting franchisees in several countries for extending their operation. In all the restaurants be it under the franchisees or company owned must have one manager and one supervisor for  decision making  the operation smooth and sound. The process should be transparent and understandable for the employees in order to give their best contribution.
• Physical Evidence: The management of Mc Donald’s gives emphasis on the hygienic and clean environment for attracting the customers towards their restaurant. Secondly, the universal brand logo of Mc Donald’s which is highlighted as “M” also creates a difference with other brands. The restaurants at different locations also serve as a part of the physical evidence which creates an interest among the customer to visit (De Chernatony, 2010). 3.2 explain how the product/service mix can be used to enhance value for the customer and organisation Product Mix is generally the available product lines of an organisation. It can be differentiated in to the length, width and depth of the of the product mix. On the other hand service mix is the combination of the different services of an organisation in the service sector for enhancing the value for the customer.

                            

                                                    Figure 4, Service Mix,

Service mix is differentiated in to three categories that are core service, facilitating service and enhancing service. In order to analyse the utility of the service mix, Mc Donald’s can be selected.

• Core Service: The core service of Mc Donald’s is to serve fast foods to the guest at their outlets. The main objective of Mc Donald’s is to provide quality and delicious food to the people in order to sustain the long term relationship. The core service needs to be strong in order to satisfy the customers in the terms of value propositions (Verhoef et al, 2012).  
• Facilitating service: This is a service which is related with the core service. For example, the billing process, payment, sharing the information to the customer, taking the order, providing the order etc. are the facilitating service which is needed to support the core service of Mc Donald’s.
• Enhancing Service: It is the last category where the extra or enhanced services are being provided to the customers in order to create customer delight. For example, consultation service, safekeeping the baggage, parking zones etc. are the enhancing service which will convince the customers to consider the future arrivals and referrals for the particular outlet (Perreault, Cannon and McCarthy3.3 Explain how difficulties peculiar to the marketing of services can be overcome with reference to a particular organisation                                

It is very common that an organisation will have to face several difficluties in marketing of the services due to the high competition, changing taste and prefernce, demographics andc culture of the market, economic conditions etc. For example eBay is the US based e-commerce company specialised in selling products via online. When they plan to serve the market of China, they have undertaken the same theme of the promotion like US and UK and the results was zero (Du, 2014). The promotion was not effective in the market of China due to the unfamilarity of the brand eBay and also due to the strong place of nationalised brand of China that is Alibaba. The declining sales influenced the management to stop the operation at China and focus on the market reserach to address the issues. After the market reserach it was observed that the people of China prefers Chinese language and the familarity of the brand ebay was missing. On the other hand Alibaba transcripts their website with the Chinese language and engage local vendors for the supply of the products which has triggered their market share near about 80% in China. In respct of this issues or problems, the theme of the promotion by eBay was changtes and local vendors are selected for the providing the online services to the people of China. Thus it can be observed localisation plays a major role in marketing of the services for the global brands.

3.4 explain the role of IT (Information Technology) in services marketing management in a selected organization

Information Technology is the computerised application used for collecting, retrieving and sharing the information for the specific purpose of an organisation. The advancement in the technology influences the utility of IT in the business practices. Service marketing is the process that the organisation delivers quality and innovative service to its target audience (Powell and Dent-Micallef, 2013). In respect with Mc Donald’s, the role of IT can be observed prominently. The objective of Mc Donald’s is to serve quality foods with enhanced service to its guest. Thus aligning with the objective smart tables in the kiosk is installed in some restaurants of UK that will help the customers to select their items without waiting for the waiter. Digital innovation is done in order to make the service friendlier to the guest and the computerised system will serve the food quickly. The modernised IT system will help to maintain the records at the central database efficiently at a less time and errors in the calculating the total sales will be reduced for the organisation. Installation of the IT system comes with the cost that includes the installation and maintenance but at the end of the day effective service can be guaranteed to the customers that will increase the customer’s equity of the organisation (Homburg, Kuester and Krohmer, 2013).   

                            

                                        Figure 5, Smart Kiosk at Mc Donald’s,

Task 4: Introduction

4.1 Explain some of the current issues of ethical and social concern to marketers in a particular industry

The fashion industry has a wide connection with the ethical and social concern in order to marketing their products. High competition and changing taste and preference influence the fashion sector towards unethical and unsocial behaviour for attracting the customers.

Ethics comes with the business practices that are sound and sustainable for the society. In order to achieve high profit, the organisations in the fashion industry violate their ethical approach of their business (Murphy, 2010). The use of the pesticides in the cotton field is affecting the local people and environment of the place. Around 819 million USD out of 2 billion USD are referred as a toxic by World Health Organisation (WHO). Still the firm engage these methods for increasing their production output. The activists across the world are reported about the long working hours, unhealthy working environment, outsourcing of the cheap products and extraction of fur from the animals which is influencing the ethical part of the business (Schlegelmilch, 2011). Designing the price by following the market skimming objective is also exploiting the customers to purchase the products with a high price are the ethical concern related to the fashion industry. Social concerns can be the promotions which are misleading the people towards the unwanted purchase and some designs are also affecting the culture of a particular place. This all are followed in order to maximise the profit and motivate the people for considering the purchase.

4.2 Explain the concept of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) with reference to a particular organisation

Corporate Social Responsibility is the approach which the business houses are followed in the areas like economic, social and environmental for enhancing the sustainable future. It is the responsibility of the organisations to contribute equally to the society due to the use of the resources in the business purpose. A give and take principle can be observed with the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility. In order to understand more clearly the concept of CSR, selection of the organisation that is Burberry PLC from the fashion industry can be done (Juholin, 2013).

In order to reduce the negative impact on the environment, sustainable cotton farming is being focused by the top management of Burberry in Peru by associating the local suppliers. Around 26% of the fertilisers and 68% of pesticides are being reduced for farming the cotton. Better Cotton Initiative is being launched where the sustainable farming of cotton is being emphasised (Pfeffer, 2015). In respect with the social environment, employees all over the world are selected as per the fair policies. Equal importance is given to the male and females. Wide range of benefits is being provided to the committed employees in order to retain them for a long term. 1% of the net profit is being given to the charitable purpose. Burberry foundation is being established to provide scholarships to the student of the Royal College of Art and also provide support to the British Fashion Council. Tin this ways the organisation is supporting the societies, communities and environment for enhancing the sustainable future.

4.3 Evaluate the role played by a selected pressure group in influencing ethical and social marketing policies for a selected organization

The social pressure groups can be the communities, farmers, human activists, Governments who influence the organisation like Burberry in ethical and social aspects.

The role of the selected pressure group can be evaluated in the following way:

• Communities: The communities play a major role in order to influence the ethical and social marketing policies by organising a movement or by giving petitions. The positive part is the safeguard against the exploitation by the organisation Burberry. The customers will be aware against the unethical and unsocial approaches. On the other hand the negative side can be the false motive to harm the company’s goodwill in the market which will minimise the profitability and customer’s base (Tilt, 2014).
• Farmers: The use of the harmful pesticides and chemicals are causing the skin and heart disease which are being highlighted by the farmers in the ways like non-cooperation with the suppliers and management of Burberry. This non cooperation will motivate the organisation to change their business practices and ensure safety towards the farmers. Sometimes these are done in order to create pressure on the organisation for increasing their daily wage rates and that can maximise the cost of the operation.
• Human activist: The protest of the human activist against the unsafe business practices influences the management to modify their ethical and social marketing policies. The positive side is to support the sustainable future and the negative side is the creation of the pressure in order to lose the competitive advantage (Tilt, 2014).
• Government: It is the Government who are responsible to stop the promotion regarding the deceptive advertisement of the organisation by setting up the agency like Advertisement Standard Agency (ASA). The misleading advertisements are banned and ensure safeguard to the society. Sometimes it is done in order to influence the business towards negative. 

Task 4: Conclusion

In order to conclude this section has effectively given insight in to the unethical and unsocial approaches of the fashion industry. The role of CSR in the organisation Burberry is discussed by drawing examples and lastly the role of the social groups are evaluated by drawing the positive and negative side.

References for Task 1,2,3,4

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BHF (British Heart Foundation), 2016, Who we are (online), available https://www.bhf.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are , Accessed as on 27.9.16
British Red Cross, 2012, Introducing the British Red Cross, Available http://www.redcross.org.uk/~/media/BritishRedCross/Documents/About%20us/GC_Intro_BRC_2012.pdf , Accessed as on 27.9.16
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Homburg, C., Kuester, S. and Krohmer, H., 2013.  Marketing management : A contemporary perspective. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Juholin, E., 2013. For business or the good of all? A Finnish approach to corporate social responsibility. Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, 4(3), pp.20-31.
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Kumar, V., 2015. Customer relationship management. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Liao, S.H. and Wu, C.C., 2014. System perspective of knowledge management, organizational learning, and organizational innovation. Expert systems with Applications, 37(2), pp.1096-1103.