MKT 115 - Business-to-Business Marketing

1. Explain how the business marketing environment affects an organization.
   1. Discuss similarities and differences between consumer goods and business marketing
   2. Describe factors that influence demand for industrial goods
   3. Identify types of customers
   4. Outline the processes which customers use in buying products and services.
   5. Explain the basic characteristics of industrial products and services
2. Contrast the needs of various organizational buyers drawn from commercial enterprises, all levels of government, institutions, as well as international buyers
   1. Describe the nature and central characteristics of each market sector.
   2. Explain how the purchasing function is organized for each of these components.
   3. Identify the importance and distinguishing characteristics of international organizational buyers
   4. Outline the need to design a unique marketing program for each sector.
3. Assess how the organizational buying process affects business marketing
   1. Describe the exchange process between buyers and sellers within the context of business marketing management
   2. Identify the different buying situations ad how they can affect the business marketer
   3. Trace the patterns over time which buyer-seller relationships may follow
   4. Discuss rational and emotional factors which may influence buyers.
   5. Explain formal evaluation systems and analytical approaches which buyers may employ when measuring value and evaluating supplier performance
4. Explain how organizational buying behavior impacts business marketing
   1. Identify the individual, group, organizational, and environmental variables that influence buying decisions
   2. Describe how a knowledge of buying characteristics allows the marketer to make more informed decisions about product design, pricing and promotion
5. Interpret how managers can base decisions on the realities of the marketplace rather than on hunch and intuition
   1. Identify the components of, and requirements for, an effective marketing intelligence system
   2. Describe the need to develop the information base as a decision support system to ensure maximum managerial relevance
   3. Discuss how to use key secondary information sources for market planning
   4. State the nature and function of marketing research in the business marketing environment
6. Explain how one breaks down the aggregate market into meaningful categories.
   1. Describe the benefits and requirements for segmenting the market
   2. Identify the potential bases for segmenting the business market
   3. Outline a procedure for evaluating and selecting market segments.
   4. Discuss the role of market segmentation in the development of business marketing strategy
7. Examine several ways in which one can predict market response.
   1. Describe the importance of organizational demand analysis.
   2. Identify the role of market potential analysis and sales forecasting in the planning and control process
   3. Examine specific techniques that effectively can be applied in measuring marketing potential and developing a sales forecast
8. Determine how strategic perspectives affect market-driven organizations and competition
   1. Discuss how organizations gain competitive advantage
   2. Identify marketing’s strategic role in corporate strategy development.
   3. Describe the multifunctional nature of marketing decision making.
   4. List the key components of the business marketing planning process.
9. Compare international market opportunities and competition to domestic situations.
   1. Describe the factors that shape a county’s competitive advantage.
   2. Identify the forces that drive globalization of a particular industry.
   3. List various international market-entry options and strategic significance of different forms of global market participation
   4. Outline key strategic marketing issues that emerge as a firm becomes more involved in international marketing
   5. Explain how strategic alliances impact global marketing strategies.
10. Examine how a firm can put together a line of products and services that respond to the needs of the customers
    1. Outline the concept of the total product
    2. Describe the strategic importance of product quality.
    3. Identify various types of industrial product lines
    4. Discuss a strategic approach for managing the existing product line
11. Explain how firms can provide customers with a continuing stream of new products and services
    1. Describe the strategic processes through which product innovations take shape
    2. Explain the role of the technology in new product planning and in commercializing technology
    3. Discuss the process of developing new products
    4. Outline an approach for developing responsive product strategy for business markets
12. Compare the unique aspects of business services and the special role they play in the business market environment
    1. Describe the unique role and special characteristics of services.
    2. Identify key purchase criteria, attributes, and choice processes associated with service purchasing
    3. Discuss special challenges associated with developing new business services.
    4. Explain the role that service plays in support of products and equipment
    5. List the nature of, the size of, and problems associated with international business services marketing
13. Evaluate different designs and ways of managing the business marketing channel.
    1. Identify the central components and alternative forms of channels
    2. Describe how one can evaluate alternative channel structures.
    3. Discuss the roles of industrial distributors and manufacturer’s representatives.
    4. Explain the methods for managing and monitoring channel performance.
14. Contrast several alternatives of developing responsive physical distribution systems.
    1. Describe the role of logistical management in marketing strategy.
    2. Identify the importance of developing an effective interface between logistics and the channel
    3. Explain the importance of cost and service trade-offs in creating effective and efficient logistical systems
15. Develop several approaches for a business marketer to assign price to a product or service
    1. Describe the role of price in cost/benefit calculations
    2. Identify the central elements of the pricing process
    3. Outline how organizations establish effective new product prices and periodically adjust prices of existing products
    4. Discuss strategic approaches to competitive bidding.
    5. Explain the role of lease marketing
16. Assess how advertising and sales promotion supplement personal selling efforts.
    1. Describe the specific role of advertising
    2. Outline the process of forming a business advertising program.
    3. Identify business media options
    4. List the methods for measuring business advertising effectiveness
17. Explain the role of the personal selling function in the overall business marketing scheme
    1. Describe the role of personal selling
    2. Outline the nature of the buyer-seller interaction process
    3. Identify the nature of the industrial sales management function
    4. List selected managerial tools that one can apply to major sales force decision areas
18. Differentiate several types of monitoring and control of marketing strategy performance
    1. Describe the function and significance of marketing control
    2. Identify the components of the control process.
    3. Explain specific methods for evaluating performance
    4. Discuss the importance to marketing strategy of execution or implementation of controls