Formal marketing controls are overt in their attempt to influence employee behavior and marketing performance. Informal controls, on the other hand, are more subtle. Informal marketing controls are unwritten, employee-based mechanisms that subtly affect the behaviors of employees, both as individuals and in groups. Here, we deal with personal objectives and behaviors, as well as group-based norms and expectations. There are three types of informal control: employee self-control, social control, and cultural control.
Employee Self-Control Through employee self-control, employees manage their own behaviors (and thus the implementation of the marketing strategy) by establishing personal objectives and monitoring their results. The type of personal objectives that employees set depends on how they feel about their jobs. If they have high job satisfaction and a strong commitment to the firm, they are more likely to establish personal objectives that are consistent with the aims of the firm, the marketing strategy, and the firm’s goals and objectives. Employee self-control also depends on the rewards employees receive. Some employees prefer the intrinsic rewards of doing a good job rather than the extrinsic rewards of pay and recognition. Intrinsically rewarded employees are likely to exhibit more self-control by managing their behaviors in ways that are consistent with the marketing strategy.
Social Control Social, or small group, control deals with the standards, norms, and ethics found in workgroups within the firm.The social interaction that occurs within these workgroups can be a powerful motivator of employee behavior. The social and behavioral norms of workgroups provide the “peer pressure” that causes employees to conform to expected standards of performance. If employees fall short of these standards, the group will pressure them to align with group norms. This pressure can be both positive and negative. Positive group influence can encourage employees to increase their effort and performance in ways consistent with the firm’s goals and objectives. However, the opposite is also true. If the workgroup’s norms encourage slacking or shirking of job responsibilities, employees will feel pressured to conform, or risk being ostracized for good work.
Cultural Control Cultural control is very similar to social control, only on a much broader scale. Here, we are interested in the behavioral and social norms of the entire firm. One of the most important outcomes of cultural control is the establishment of shared values among all members of the firm. Marketing implementation is most effective and efficient when every employee, guided by the same organizational values or beliefs, has a commitment to the same organizational goals.Companies such as Lockheed Martin and Lexmark have strong organizational cultures that guide employee behavior. Unfortunately, cultural control is very difficult to master, in that it takes a great deal of time to create the appropriate organizational culture to ensure implementation success.
Scheduling Marketing Activities
Through good planning and organization, marketing managers can provide purpose, direction, and structure to all marketing activities. However, the manager must understand the problems associated with implementation, understand the coordination of the various components of implementation, and select an overall approach to implementation before actually executing marketing activities. Upon taking these steps, the marketing manager with the responsibility for executing the plan must establish a timetable for the completion of each marketing activity.
Successful implementation requires that employees know the specific activities for which they are responsible and the timetable for completing each activity. Creating a master schedule of marketing activities can be a challenging task because of the wide variety of activities required to execute the plan, the sequential nature of many activities (some take precedence over others and must be performed first), and the fact that time is of the essence in implementing the plan.The basic steps involved in creating a schedule and timeline for implementation include:
Employee Self-Control Through employee self-control, employees manage their own behaviors (and thus the implementation of the marketing strategy) by establishing personal objectives and monitoring their results. The type of personal objectives that employees set depends on how they feel about their jobs. If they have high job satisfaction and a strong commitment to the firm, they are more likely to establish personal objectives that are consistent with the aims of the firm, the marketing strategy, and the firm’s goals and objectives. Employee self-control also depends on the rewards employees receive. Some employees prefer the intrinsic rewards of doing a good job rather than the extrinsic rewards of pay and recognition. Intrinsically rewarded employees are likely to exhibit more self-control by managing their behaviors in ways that are consistent with the marketing strategy.
Social Control Social, or small group, control deals with the standards, norms, and ethics found in workgroups within the firm.The social interaction that occurs within these workgroups can be a powerful motivator of employee behavior. The social and behavioral norms of workgroups provide the “peer pressure” that causes employees to conform to expected standards of performance. If employees fall short of these standards, the group will pressure them to align with group norms. This pressure can be both positive and negative. Positive group influence can encourage employees to increase their effort and performance in ways consistent with the firm’s goals and objectives. However, the opposite is also true. If the workgroup’s norms encourage slacking or shirking of job responsibilities, employees will feel pressured to conform, or risk being ostracized for good work.
Cultural Control Cultural control is very similar to social control, only on a much broader scale. Here, we are interested in the behavioral and social norms of the entire firm. One of the most important outcomes of cultural control is the establishment of shared values among all members of the firm. Marketing implementation is most effective and efficient when every employee, guided by the same organizational values or beliefs, has a commitment to the same organizational goals.Companies such as Lockheed Martin and Lexmark have strong organizational cultures that guide employee behavior. Unfortunately, cultural control is very difficult to master, in that it takes a great deal of time to create the appropriate organizational culture to ensure implementation success.
Scheduling Marketing Activities
Through good planning and organization, marketing managers can provide purpose, direction, and structure to all marketing activities. However, the manager must understand the problems associated with implementation, understand the coordination of the various components of implementation, and select an overall approach to implementation before actually executing marketing activities. Upon taking these steps, the marketing manager with the responsibility for executing the plan must establish a timetable for the completion of each marketing activity.
Successful implementation requires that employees know the specific activities for which they are responsible and the timetable for completing each activity. Creating a master schedule of marketing activities can be a challenging task because of the wide variety of activities required to execute the plan, the sequential nature of many activities (some take precedence over others and must be performed first), and the fact that time is of the essence in implementing the plan.The basic steps involved in creating a schedule and timeline for implementation include:
- Identify the Specific Activities to Be Performed. These activities include all marketing program elements contained within the marketing plan. Specific implementation activities, such as employee training, structural changes, or the acquisition of financial resources, should be included as well.
- Determine the Time Required to Complete Each Activity. Some activities require planning and time before they can come to fruition. Others can occur rather quickly after the initiation of the plan.
- Determine Which Activities Must Precede Others. Many marketing activities must be performed in a predetermined sequence (such as creating an advertising campaign from copywriting, to production, to delivery). These activities must be identified and separated from any activities that can be performed concurrently with other activities
- Arrange the Proper Sequence and Timing of All Activities. In this step, the manager plans the master schedule by sequencing all activities and determining when each activity must occur.
- Assign Responsibility. The manager must assign one or more employees, teams, managers, or departments to each activity and charge them with the responsibility of executing the activity.
A simple, but effective way to create a master implementation schedule is to incorporate all marketing activities into a spreadsheet, like the one shown in Exhibit 9.7. A master schedule such as this can be simple or complex depending on the level of detail
included within each activity. The master schedule will also be unique to the specific marketing plan tied to it. As a result, a universal template for creating a master schedule does not truly exist. Although some activities must be performed before others, other activities can be performed concurrently with other activities or later in the implementation process. This requires tight coordination between departments marketing, production, advertising, sales, and so on to ensure the completion of all marketing activities on schedule. Pinpointing those activities that can be performed concurrently can greatly reduce the total amount of time needed to execute a given marketing plan. Because scheduling can be a complicated task, most firms use sophisticated project management techniques, such as PERT (program evaluation and review technique), CPM (critical path method), or computerized planning programs, to schedule the timing of marketing activities
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