Individually, write a critical review of the current issues facing academia or practitioners, answering the dilemma: Planning is neither within the grasps of contemporary marketers, nor a realistic possibility? Include within the report a short personal account (300 words max) of how the review changed or strengthened your understanding of the relevance of planning (2500 words)
Introduction
In the twenty-first century, global economic conditions create incentives for new market entry and expansion strategies, the environmental factors affecting these strategies become more and more complex with intense completive pressures and the speed of technological change. All companies need strategies to meet changing markets. No one strategy is best for all companies. The managers typically feel that the pace of technological change and the speed of global communications mean more and faster change now than ever before (Johnson and Scholes, 2002). As the environment changes, so businesses must adapt in order to maintain strategic fit between their capabilities and the marketplace (Jobber, 2004). In cope with the environmental pressures on the company and managing the resources at its disposal and their complex interplay, a clear sense of direction is invaluable (Cannon, 1998). Therefore marketing planning is more and more essential to provides both the vision and the direction for the company.
Marketing planning is a systematic process that involves assessing marketing opportunities and resources, determining marketing objectives, recommending valid marketing strategy, developing a detailed marketing mix programmes designed to implement the specified marketing strategy, and scheduling and costing out the actions necessary for implementation (Dibb, et al, 2001). ...