CW2 Individual Written Assignment
Integrated Business Management
In this report, the brief ideology of integrated business management and its operations are done. To begin with, the concept so marketing and supply chain management are explained in detail. The marketing of a product with respect to the organizational business process is most essential one.
Marketing is a series of activities which is required to sell a product to its customers. There are many strategies which is involved in the marketing of products and to deliver it to the potential customers. The supply chain is the one which deals with the activities of the business organization in the case of converting raw material into products.
Both the concepts are targeting the customers and also to satisfy them with the intendent products developed by the organization.The study is done with respect to the organization Unilever which is originally related to the consumer goods and products.
As the company is about to have various range of products in it there would need an excellent combination of marketing and also maintaining the supply chain of the organization. A brief is made with respect to the integration of the advertising and supply chain management of the Unilever company. It also summarizes all the facts which is discussed in the report.
Marketing is the process of activities which is involved in the case of promoting the business with respect to selling or buying the product or service. The idea of marketing is involved with the advertising, sales and delivering products to the customers or the other business.Marketing the products of an organization will enhance its growth in the competitive environment (Iwu, 2009). It does also involve in the case of finding the customer needs and to determine that it can be possible to produce by the organization. The success of the company is also depending on bow it market the product or services.Marketing also dealt with the actions which would draw in customers and maintain a relationship with them for a long. Marketing is a vast area which includes certain concepts like brand, design, pricing, market research, consumer psychology, communication and also measuring effectiveness (Urbonavicius, 2008).
The marketing is done as business to business (B2B) which targets other business by means of supplying products or services. Another one is B2C which targets the individual people who purchases products and use services (Székely, 2016). It deals with the people who are directly consuming the product for their own use. There are various types of marketing which is as follows; payment based advertising, relationship related marketing, influencer marketing, cause marketing, internet marketing, social media marketing, transactional marketing and diversity marketing.
Fig 1: Marketing mix(Išoraitė, 2016)
Marketing mix is referred to the set of actions or strategies which is used by the organization for the purpose of promoting its brand or product in the competitive marketing area. Marketing mix is comprised of 4Ps which is as follows; price, promotion, product and place (Arachchige, 2002). Price refers to the amount which is given for the product and it is comprised of different strategies which consider about direct and indirect factors. Product is referred to the item which is about to be sold in the market. Place refers to the sale which is made with respect to the product. It does need a good distribution or place to sell the products which is been produced. Promotion is defined as the set of activities which is done to make the product or service to the people. The promotional activities include advertising, voice, incentives, and consumer schemes (Goi, 2009). In short it can be said as integrated marketing communications campaign. Each component of the marketing mix is helpful in supporting the objectives of the product which is intended to market.
By means of understanding the components of the marketing mix with respect to the product, it would yield more effective and successful marketing plan. Market orientation is the approach which is used to prioritize and identify the requirements and desires of the customers in producing products which would satisfy the same (Slater, 2010). It is must for any organization to satisfy the client’s requirements and is classified into orientation of production, product, sales, marketing and societal. It is regarded with the mindsets, values, beliefs and behaviours of companies along with the systems which would control and structure the organization.
Concepts of Supply chain Management
In business environment, supply chain management is the concept of maintaining the flow of goods and services which does also include all the processes of transformation of raw goods to products. It is also meant with the concept of streamlining the business supply side activities for the case of maximizing the value of customer and gaining the competitive advantage in the market (practices, 2004).Supply chain management is essential which is dealt with the suppliers in developing the products as efficient as possible. The main concept is various activities which is involved in making out a final product with the raw materials or components.
Supply chain activities are as follows; product development, sourcing, production, logistics and the information systems which would be needed to coordinate all the above said activities. The supply chain firms must have an effective and efficient strategy in case of running supply chains with the intended organization (Burgess, 2006). The supply chain activities are comprised of certain aspects like plan or strategy, source (raw materials), manufacturing, delivery and logistics along with the return system. The supply chain is helpful in minimizing the shortages and also keeps the costs down for the organization. It is more evident that it is connected to network of individuals, organization, resources, activities and technologies which is required for the manufacture and the sale of a product or service (Muysinaliyev, 2014). Supply chain management is integral part of the business activities as it would boost the customer service, reducing cost of operation and also increases the financial standing of the organization.
Fig 2: Supply chain process
As the supply chain is dealt with the customer satisfaction and it requires delivering the goods at right time. It is involved with both the physical flow and information flow which is linked together which comprised of activities like transformation, progress, stock of goods and materials along with coordinating the supply chain partners with their plans and to control the flow of goods and materials with respect to the supply chain.
Supply chain management is keen on identifying the potential problems, optimizes the prices, improvement of delivery reliability, reduction throughput times and also improves the allocation of inventory (Hamid, 2018). Lean supply chain is involved in the reduction of costs and also helps in lowering the waste which is incurred as much as possible. It is more useful in the case of high volume of purchase which is done by the larger organization. Lean supply chain is a complex structure and also minimizes the transportation and shipping of supplies by cutting out unnecessary transport costs (Ngwainbi, 2008).Agile supply chain is about dealt with the case of adapting to changing situations in the organization and it is of highly flexible. It is working with the concept of competency, responsiveness, flexibility and quickness to manage how well it operates on a daily basis in the organization.
Illustrative example – Unilever Ltd
In recent days, integrated business management is familiar among the business organizations. Integrated business management is dealt with the planning the business process which would incorporate the sales and operative principles throughout the supply chain, portfolios, strategic planning in order to acquire seamless management process (Gulledge, 2010). The integrated business process will be helpful in maximizing he business profit by means of reducing the risks which is associated with the business activities. It helps in the achievement of targets which is associated with the following things like revenue and demand, service levels, inventory levels, profits and also cash flow of the organization (excellence, 2007).It is of strategy which is use to align the business activities in a coherent manner to enhance the business operations in an effective manner.
Unilever Company is chosen for the explanation of the integrated business management with respect to that of marketing and supply chain management. The organization is dealt with products like food, energy drink, ice-cream, beverages, cleaning agents, beauty products along with the personal care products. As the company is involved with wide range of products in it there must be seamless integration with its business activities or operation to maintain its reputation among the competitors. By adopting this strategy, Unilever could be able to have better performance, improved productivity, reduced risk of errors and also saves time and cost (Madhani D. P., 2012).
The company will integrate its marketing and supply chain management activities which would rule out the consequences in the existing business operations.By collaborating the business operations, it is easier to get insights about the marketing needs and also information which is related to products availability, prices, market demand, order tracking, marketing campaigns and marketing initiatives (Danmei, 2016). Based on the details acquired, the information will be processed to the supply chain management to produce the products with respect to the customer needs.This kind of integration will be helpful in blurring the lines between customers and suppliers.The increased understanding of the market demand Unilever can able to focus on the customer requirements which would alternatively support the development of products.
Because of its integration, the supply chain would be able to have market awareness which is an added value in case of development of products and services to the customers.The marketing is about to help Unilever in case designing programs which would help their subsidiaries to grow their own business along with the supply chain management team (Madhani P. M., 2010). Due to this integration, the marketing and supply chain management of the Unilever will work together to promote the growth of the business in the business environment. The company can also advantageous in maintaining its brand by means of strengthening its business activities and also allows to have joint marketing campaigns. The marketing methodologies could be able to provide a balance in the supply chain management of Unilever company.
From the integration, it is known that the company would focus on customers more when compared with the production process and it is attained with the help of its partners. It also improves the communication, collaboration, support by increasing the supply chain efficiency which would result in gaining strong competitive edge for the company.By adopting the reward programs the distribution partners are encouraged to do more business with the Unilever which will ultimately increase the revenue for both of them (Mentzer, 2009). By means of integration process, supplier selection, development is carried out in an efficient manner. Marketing in supply chain would be helpful in building the relationship between parties through efficient communication and its associated programs.
The report is made of intrinsic details of the integrated business management which is been a most important aspect of any organization. There is an ideologyrevolving in the business organizations that integration of the business activities most inherent to make the business prosper in this competitive world.All the concepts related to market a product is explained in detail. It summarizes the necessary concept so marketing and the importance of it in business organization to promote the growth.Another one is supply chain which would essential for organization in the development of products which would satisfy the customer needs. The integration of marketing and supply chain management is most important as it both would affect the performance of the organization. Unilever organization is chosen as example to discuss about the integrated business management. A discussion is made how well the marketing and supply chain management of Unilever is essential in enhancing he business to a greater extent.It also remarks about the necessary for integrating the business operations which is related to the organization. Thus, it concludes that integration of business management is leading to the growth of the organization to a greater extent.
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