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Marketing Communication Strategy(Hrmg 541) Question Paper
Marketing Communication Strategy(Hrmg 541)
Course:Business Administration
Institution: Kenya Methodist University question papers
Exam Year:2010
TIME : 3 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS Answer Question ONE and any other THREE Questions
Question 1
CASE STUDY
Virtual Expatriates
The Internet and other advances in communications technologies, along with the growing reluctance of executives to move aboard, are creating a new breed of expatriate, the virtual one. According to a pricewater HouseCoopers survey of 270 organizations, there has been a substantial increase in shorter term, commuter and virtual assignments since 1997. Virtual expatriates manage operations in other countries, but don’t move there. They stay in hotels, make long visits and maintain their families at home. Some spend up to 75 percent of their working time traveling. None leave home without the ubiquitous laptop and cell phone.
Close contact with subordinates and customers is, of course, tougher for virtual expatriates. Moreover, the travel can be a killer that is, foreign bugs are often more virulent and easier to catch on long international flights (indeed, one doctor calls airplanes “germ tubes”), crime against expatriates and travelers in foreign cities is a real hazard, and living in hotels is lonely. However, virtual expatriates’ families don’t have to be uprooted, and executives can stay in closer touch with the home office. Finally, form the firm’s perspective a virtual assignment may be the only option and often a good way to avoid the extra expenses of an actual executive move.
The historical preference for expatriate managers and salespeople form the home country is giving way to a preference for local nationals. For example, one study reports that the number of U.K. Managers and professionals on international assignment dropped form a high of 30,000 in 1991 to a low of about 22,000 in 1997. At the sales level, the picture is clearly biased on favour of the locals because they transcend both cultural and legal barriers. More knowledgeable about a country’s business structure than an expatriate would be, local salespeople are better able to lead a company through the maze of unfamiliar distribution systems and referral networks. Furthermore, in some places there are now pools of qualified foreign available, who cost less to maintain than a staff of expatriates.
In Europe and Asia, many locals have earned MBA degrees in the United States; thus, a firm gets the cultural knowledge of he local meshed with an understanding of U.S. business management systems. Although expatiates’ salaries may be no more than those of their national counterparts, the total cost of keeping comparable groups of expatriates in a country can be considerably higher (often three times the expense) because of special cost of living benefits, moving expenses, taxes, and other costs associated with keeping an expatriate.
The main disadvantage of hiring local nationals is the tendency of headquarters personnel to ignore their advice. Even though most foreign nationals are careful to keep relationships at the home office warm, their influence is often reduced by their limited English communications skills and lack of understanding of how office politics influence communication skills and lack of understanding of how politics influence decision-making. Another key disadvantage can be their lack of availability; one CEO of a consulting firm that specializes in recruiting managers in china reports that ten openings exist for every one qualified applicant. Moreover, while in the United States it is common practice to hire away experienced salespeople form competitors, suppliers, or vendors, the same approach in other countries will not work. In places like Japan, employees are much more loyal to their companies and therefore are difficult to lure away even for big money. College recruits can also be hard to hire in Japan because the smartest students are heavily recruited can also be hard to hire Japan because the smartest students are heavily recruited by the largest Japanese firms. Smaller firms and foreign firms are seen in Japan as much as more risky employment opportunities.
One other consideration makes recruiting of local nationals as sales representatives more difficult in many foreign countries. We all know about Americans ‘aversion to being a “salesman”. Personal selling is often derided as a career and represented in negative light in American media Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is of course the best example. Despite the bad press, however, personal selling is the most common job in the United States. Indeed, the United States has been described as “a nation of salesmen”. But, as negatively as hr selling profession is viewed in the United States, in many other countries its viewed in even worse ways. Particularly in the more hierarchical cultures such as Mexico and Japan, sales representatives tend to be on the bottom rung of the social ladder. Thus, it can be very difficult indeed to recruit the brightest people to fill sales positions in foreign operations.
a) What lessons do you learn from this case regarding sales force recruitment? (10 marks)
b) What communication challenges do expatriates face in while executing their duties (10 marks)
c) Why do you think recruiting locals as sales people may work against the objectives of an organization (5marks)
Question 2
(a) Discuss the relevance of marketing communication in the marketing process? (6marks)
(b) “The marketing communication environment has changed with time”. Discuss (12 marks)
(c) Discuss the main steps in developing effective communication. (7 marks)
Question 3
a) Discuss in detail, how the following communicates to the potential customers
i) Product package
ii) Product features
iii) Brand name (15 marks)
b) “Price Conveys Something More than the Price” Discuss (10 marks)
Question 4
Taiwo once told Ndang’o: ‘I buy only from Bells store’. ‘Ndang’o asked; ‘Why? Taiwo replied ‘They have a big choice’, ‘It’s a lovely place to shop in’, ‘The service is good, ‘It is cheap’, ‘It has a good location, ‘They sell quality products’. Discuss the role of Place as a Component in Marketing Communication (25 marks)
Question 5
Using relevant examples, discuss the various tools and techniques of sales promotion for a just launched insurance firm (25 marks)
Question 6
a) Each element of the communications mix should integrate with other tools of the communications mix so that a unified message is consistently reinforced. For example, some major advertising campaigns are supported by PR activity, and many advertisements have press launches not for the product but for the advertisement itself. What are the benefits of integrating communication mix? (10 marks)
b) Discuss the concept of Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication and show how they are applied in marketing communication (10 marks)
c) What is multi step communication? (5 marks)
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