MBA630 Application Assignment 1

Unit 1: Application Assignment

Let’s review to make sure all of you understand the expectations for this course:

I’m sure all of you know that the initial post is due Wednesday; I request that you not wait until Sunday to submit your peer posts; this does not provide adequate opportunity for peers to engage throughout the week.  I will deduct points for this.

Application Assignments are due on Sundays.

1) Do not restate the case or ‘copy and paste’ material from external sources. ALWAYS identify the target market first; this will provide you with opportunities to identify areas of potential growth in the future for each company (every case has areas of weakness).  This is where you formulate your initial viewpoints and use external resources to support your perspectives.

2) Do research regarding trends in the particular industry of the case study.

3) You are not to render opinions; there must be viable support for your views. Support your recommended approaches from #2 with external resources (the textbook is not an external source nor is Wikipedia).

4) Be sure you are following proper APA formatting (citing quotes, including page numbers, citations and references match, references include the source of the reference (not just in the ‘retrieved from’ link).  Online articles are NOT digital resources; (digital resources are company web pages and blogs).  Therefore, always include the article source in your reference!

Introduction

Understanding the marketplace, customer needs and wants is essential for success in the dynamic marketing environment in which organizations exist.  Major environmental forces shape marketing opportunities, pose threats, and affect the organization’s ability to build customer relationships.  To develop effective marketing strategies, the environment in which the organization operates must be well understood.

Directions

Mini-case studies: The students are expected to answer the questions associated with the case. These questions are intended to elicit thoughtful reactions to contemporary marketing strategy initiatives and challenges. The students are expected to carefully read the assignment instructions, then thoroughly and explicitly address each component of the corresponding case study questions.

The responses should reflect higher level cognitive processing (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation), which is essential for someone in any industry, as marketing decisions affect all levels and stakeholders within the organization and in the external marketplace/marketspace.

There is no minimum number of references that need to be utilized to support the completion of this assignment; however, it is generally understood that any good case study analysis will incorporate the appropriate quality and quantity of scholarly sources to support any suppositions and recommendations.

The submission will not exceed four (4) pages in length, excluding the title and references pages.

The document must adhere to the APA writing style.

Finally, the document should be prepared as a Microsoft Word document and uploaded to Submit Assignment.

Case Study: GEEK Squad – A New Business for a New Environment

1. Read the case pages 95-97 in your text. Also review the announcements regarding how to approach these assignments.

2. Watch the video supplement to the case at link  tv/13e/v3-5 (Links to an external site.) .

3. Respond to the following case question. (Disregard the questions in the text.) You have been asked to consult with the Best Buy marketing team. They are specifically looking for recommendations as to specific promotional activities you would recommend to encourage consumers who currently use independent installers to switch to Geek Squad. To aid you in formulating your recommendations, you  should consider past and present consumer purchasing patterns;  conduct an environmental scan for Geek Squad using each of the five environmental forces (social, economic, technological, competitive, and regulatory); and identify key trends likely to influence Geek Squad in the near future.

HINT:

You will be consulting with Geek Squad/Best Buy regarding opportunities for the future; the company will be facing some challenges in the years to come.  To help you, consider the hints below:

1) Utilize some recent market data resources to identify trends that Geek Squad could capitalize on; the technology industry is a dynamic one thus requiring you to research current trends.

2) Be sure to address the 5 environmental variables to build your strategy.

3) Remember, don’t cut and paste market data, but cite it appropriately to support YOUR viewpoints based on market trends.